Here is the list of things that I have begun.

1. Sit, Stay, and Here
A. These are working wonderfully, and I have begun phasing out treats.

2. Live pigeons, and Retrieve to hand
A. I use a small nylon rope to ensure retrieving to hand, but about 50% of the time he does it without any assistance

3. Introduced to water
A. Actually he loves water, and retrieves bumpers out of it with ease

4. Introduced to gunfire
A. I started off slowly, and he took has no problems with it


My question is where do I go from here. He is only 12 weeks now, so I don't want to take him out on a "REAL" hunt. But I want to continue heading in the right direction! Any suggestions on were to go from here would be appreciated!

Josh

Josh, Kent is soooo Rightttt! Thanks Kent!! As stated, whatever you try to teach Guage, remember one thing at a time and let him master it before moving on to something new. (otherwise, you may not get a secnd chance to 're-learn' what he missed). Also, judge his enthusiasm and willingness to work and let that decide how much training to do. Don't push him.
At 12 weeks, Guage sounds right where you want him now. Enjoy the ride now because he'll grow-up so quickly and you'll miss these puppy days. -Charlie

Hey, Charlie, you might be a PhD, but you don't know how to spell !!!

Gauge is spelled GAUGE, not GUAge as you keep spelling it in your responses.

Couldn't resist!

Kathy

Kathy, Thanks. Actually typing is hard to do - have Lyme disease very bad in joints. My fingers are swollen and have to bang on keyboard with what ever finger will comply. The 'u' is closer to the 'g' than the 'a' so I hit that first.
My fingers are probably bigger than Kents' (that's big - tehehe). Actually, Kent's chessie is probably bigger than me,only 130lbs at 5'8". (Kent, I know where you will be going on this...). Kent, how is the hunting comming?? Charlie

Josh,
here's my 02 for what works well with a 12 wk. old pup: I like to take them to class, either puppy kindergarten or basic good manners, as soon as they've had all their shots. My pups are usually the stars of the class and a lot of it is repetition of things they already know, however the class environmnent with other dogs is invaluable for socialization and proofing commands with distractions. You can usually find obedience classes quite easily and even if you are the only one in the class who has loftier ambitions for your dog than a house pet, it's still great exposure.

And if you haven't already, join a local retriever club because that, too provides good socialization as well as intro to other like minded people to train with and great opportunities to introduce guns and live birds.

Let's see some pictures of Gauge!

I also do classes with my dogs, even when the material is so familiar to me. It's great for the dog's socialization and it provides some structure for my training.

Also, I've heard it said by field and obedience people alike that a dog doesn't know a behavior (any bevaior, but let's use "sit") until they have been trained on it in 5 to 7 different locations. Most dogs don't generalize as well as people do, so you can honestly get that "What the heck are you talking about???" look from a dog when you take it somewhere new, even if that dog knows "sit" backwards and forwards at home.

Claire

At 12 weeks Enjoy, Explore, Expose:
- take walks, off lead if possible, thru fields with cover, ditches, mounds, streams etc. Throw in 2-3 retrieves along the way for fun.
- keep him around other people for fun and retrieving
- other people throwing bumpers and birds (distance is not the goal)
- continue with obedience in short controlled but not stressful sessions.

Have fun this size doesn't last long!

Tim

quote:

Also, I've heard it said by field and obedience people alike that a dog doesn't know a behavior (any bevaior, but let's use "sit") until they have been trained on it in 5 to 7 different locations. Most dogs don't generalize as well as people do, so you can honestly get that "What the heck are you talking about???" look from a dog when you take it somewhere new, even if that dog knows "sit" backwards and forwards at home.

Claire, this is pretty much true of any new phase of training with a pup especially, i.e. as soon as you change the location, the weather, or your mood, often times the dog can't grasp the concept even though they may have done it a million times in your backyard. Move to your front yard, the park, class or a neighbor's and they don't understand.

The initial mistake of a novice is to get angry with the dog, rather than to ask why the dog is confused and proceed by reviewing the steps to accomplish the exercise, praising the dog for trying, and going forward in a positive manner from there. This also why the chessies get a bad rap for being "stubborn", when in fact they aren't. But chessies need to fully understand what you want or they usually won't follow with the asked behavior.

If a dog won't do something, I always ask myself "why". Am I not being clear? Have I changed something in my demeanor or the training location? Am I wearing sun glasses when I usually train without glasses or with my regular glasses? It's little things like this that make a big difference with the dog's brain, and forcing them when they are confused won't get you anywhere.

It took 3 or 4 years to get the last leg on my Rusty's UD because of a breakdown on one exercise in Utility. And, it took us that long working with many trainers to finally figure out what the problem was, and I was the one who figured it out. Once we figured out what it was, and used a slightly different method to do the exercise, he finished his UD shortly thereafter with a 1st place and the only qualifier in a class of 20!!

If people could only understand how the chessie mind works, their goals would be accomplished a lot faster.

Kathy Miller

Yes, Kathy. That was exactly my point.

Claire