Has anyone ever F-F prior to pups adult teeth coming in? Would this be just too young to even consider with the maturity rate of avg. 'peake pup?
just discussion,
Dave B.

Dave,
I never have and "probably" never will. My primary goal in FF is the fetch on command part. I've FF numerous cbrs and labs. Neither breed, of either sex, have been ready mentally, physically or training advanced far enough for me to try prior to about 6 months.
It may be able to be done but I think it would take a lot of most puppies. Secondly, what is it going to gain you in the grand scheme?

Tim

I agree Tim. This really doesn't make much sense. First of all, you never really know how the force-fetch program is going to go. It varies with each dog. What if, for the dog in question, things took longer than expected and you found yourself still working out the "kinks" when the dog's adult teeth started to come in. Would you suspend the training for awhile, possibly losing the ground you've gained? Or, would you persist with the training, possibly encouraging a bad attitude due to discomfort experienced by the dog? A second consideration is that force-fetch for many trainers is just the beginning of a sequence of steps that leads to a comprehensive "yard" program (ie., walking fetch, collar conditioning, force-to-pile, three-handed casting, etc.). Once I've started down this path I don't like to interrupt the continuity of the training. The goal isn't to push, but instead to create a smooth progression. For this reason, I will sometimes wait until a dog is 9 or 10 months old before starting force fetch. The dog may have been ready at 6 or 7 months, but for one reason or another (mostly bitter cold weather) I would not have been able to maintain the training progression had I started at 7 months.

Thanks for the replys, I guess I enjoy the whole process so darn much I just can't wait to start all over again Seriously though I had heard of this being done on another forum before but like you couldn't see any possible benefit
Dave

Dave,

This was a really good post with several legitimate replies. It would be nice to see more of this kind of information flowing on this website. There are some really talented folks out there that have worthwhile information to contribute.

By the way, I know of several successful trainers that have started the force-fetch early but it has been done on dogs that have a very high tolerance to pressure, are "mouthy" and have lots of "bottom." They were put thru the "collar" program at a younger age with the end result being the acquisition of skills that allows the dog a greater understanding of blinds and lines to marks thru handling and collar correction.

If you are a "lonely" trainer like me with very little help other than Mr."Bumper Boy", a young dog handling and on the collar, allows some creative diversity in your training. With a steady young dog, you can leave him "sitting" on line, walk out in the field and throw all kinds of great singles for him (multiples too). Maybe even shoot him a flyer or two. Handle him back to your starting point and start over. If necessary, the means are there to correct him quickly and efficiently. Oftentimes you can give your dog as many marks in an hour as he would see all day on a Pro's truck. It is not the same as having lots of help, gunners, holding blinds, etc. but a lot can still be accomplished in a very short period of time.

Although I have never force fetched early, I certainly would not be opposed to trying it on the right dog. Probably would try it on Lab first.

Keith