Hey ya'll...As I proceed through this experience with my new puppy, I cant help but feel helpless at times cause I dont know what the hell Im doing...wondering if anyone else feels as I do. I would really appreciate and invite fellow newbies to share your progress reports with me. Maybe we can all learn something from each other. As you well know, it can be a bit intimidating at times to ask stupid questions to experienced trainers, so I encourage your replies here so we can have a heart to heart discussion with each other since we're all in the same boat.
My CBR pup (Tanner) is a 12 week old deadgrass male with very sharpe teeth . He is great fun and has a natural ability to heel and sit to my left upon command...thank god . I picked him up when he was 7 weeks so we've had 5 weeks to get to know each other. I take him every where I go including work, so we can socialize with as many people as possible. Right now we are to the point that we can work on general good citizenship as well as 2 or 3 retrieves 2X a day (I use 1 canvas dummy,1 deadfowl puppy trainer, and 1 goose wing). We take two long walks along the river as we randomly get a sit, heel,and come in there too. mostly good executions, but no corrections other than showing him the right way. Sometimes I throw the goose wing into the thick cover when he's not looking and send him in after it with a "find it" expression. He loves this game. Upon our return to the truck we try to remote sit and I "over" cast him with treats to the left or right. He loves this one too.
I am currently reading The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete, the 10 minute retriever by John and Amy dahl (good CBR book), Water Dog by Wolters, and Retriever Pups by Bill Tarrant. So far, I like 10 minute retriever the best. I also have Mike Lardy's Total Retriever vidoes ($140.00 set ) but well worth it. Im not the point of applying his techniques yet because we are still too young, but I can tell they will be worth the $$$. Am I crazy or do ya'll have all this stuff. I have puppy treat crumbs in every pocket, my arms are filled with pin sized scabs, and my house is a mine field of puppy toys. It seems as though the cheapest part of Tanner was purchasing him from the breeder. All in all, I am having great fun with Tanner and I wouldnt trade him for a million ducks...yes ducks. I cant wait to see him every morning!
What I count on mostly is that everything that I am doing with Tanner are ideas suggested by experienced handlers and it will work out. I keep saying to myself these ideas will shine one day when Tanner is a mature well oiled gun dog. I say to myself, "be patient!"
Jake Latendresse Ft.Collins,CO

Jake,

I must have missed this post.

You are crazy. That is to be expected though, so don't worry.

Yeah, I've got all of that stuff. The cheapest thing you ever buy is the dog!

PB

We just purchased our first chesapeake also. He was 8 weeks old when we bought him and he is now 9 1/2 weeks old.

I also have spent a lot of money in the last 2 weeks buying books, videos, canvas dummies, treats, etc. Some of that money was wasted - like on an obedience video that features only golden retrievers and shelties (not exactly the same personality as a chessie).

At times this past week, I would have sworn the dog was retarded - but turns out he was ignoring me. It took him about a week to reallly warm up to me and now he looks forward to going out on a leash and learning.

He had no training before I bought him and the bare minimum in human socialization - so I feel like the last week has been playing catch up to where he would have been with a better breeder. But he's learning fast and is eager to please (now that he respects me and has bonded with me).

We have 3 little kids, so we've spent alot of time on bite inhibition with him. He still nips but at our kids some but gently and nips less everyday.

I've just started to work with retrieving with him. He will always chase and pick up the dummy but out of about 10 throws he has only brought it back to me twice. Any advice on starting him correctly would be GREATLY appreciated so that he doesn't develop any bad habits.

Dan and Gail

Dan and Gail,

Congratulations on the new addition to your home. It's a ton of fun. Remember he's 9 1/2 weeks old. He's still a baby. Puppy's need to be puppies. 10 throws in one seesion is to many. One, two MAYBE three. Quit retrieving when pup still wants more. Also, I'm assuming you are using puppy bumpers that puppy actually can pick up and carry without extra effort. You don't want to discourage pup or not let him be successful.

9 1/2 week old puppies and 5 year old finished Master Hunters can all be "retarded". They are dogs, and dogs do crazy things.

Teach in small steps and short training sessions. Make sure you and pup are having fun.

BVM

[QUOTE] Dan and Gail
We just purchased our first chesapeake also. He was 8 weeks old when we bought him and he is now 9 1/2 week.

At times this past week, I would have sworn the dog was retarded - but turns out he was ignoring me.

How do you know he was "ignoring you"? puppies have a very short attention span and they are always looking for other things to do. And with 3 small kids I'm sure there's probably all kinds of excitement.

He had no training before I bought him

He was 8 weeks, what exactly was he suppossed to be trained on?

He still nips but at our kids some but gently and nips less everyday.

This will take awhile, puppies get excited easy .

but out of about 10 throws he has only brought it back to me twice.

Go in a hallway in your home, close all the doors, sit on the floor, pup in lap, toss whatever his favorite toy is (use this toy only when doing this)When he gets it and starts to run back and around you, catch him, say good boy give him some pats and do it again. He will soon learn it is a fun game.

Thanks for your posts Bob and Linda.

By 10 throws, I meant 10 total - I never throw more than 3 times in a session. Actually last night I threw twice and he returned both the bumper both times, so we stopped there on a very good note.

Linda - good responses.
As far as knowing he was ignoring me - That's hard to say - he has a way of looking right through me and tuning me out. He does this less and less every day. Whether it's ignoring me or short attention span, it's definitely improving.

The nipping is still improving and he never nips hard at all - our kids are learning to not be scared of him when he does this and that helps.

"He was 8 weeks, what exactly was he suppossed to be trained on?"

The only knowledge I have on this is what I read. Many of the books I have say that He should have had quite a bit of training at this time. One book "Before you get your puppy by Ian Dunbar" says that by 8 weeks the puppy should be well on the way to being housetrained, should be able to Sit, Come, Stay and Roll over on command, and should have already been around countless people - otherwise, according to him, the dog will be "developmentally disabled and never reach his full potential".

Well after having the dog for only 10 days, I can honestly say that I don't hold much stock in that book. Max is learning very quickly now and is seems pretty happy with himself when he figures something out. He also is very comfortable meeting new people - being neither afraid or aggressive.

I'll try the toy in hallway thing - sounds like a good idea. At this point I just want to make sure he's having fun so that he looks at retrieving as a game.

Any other advice is greatly appreciated - remember we are novices to the extreme and don't even begin to pretend that we know what we're doing (which is why we're here).

Thanks,
Dan and Gail

There is one good use for Ian Dunbar's books...KINDLING!

The guy is an animal rights person, very much anti-breeder. His writings imply that puppies should be fully trained by eight weeks. Bunk! A puppy with that kind of severe control work at an early age will be too neurotic for words. They are babies! Did you start teaching your kids algebra as soon as they were born? Well, they will have to know it some day, so why not? You must be a bad parent!

Sure pups need to be exposed to different people, different places, different experiences, but that is YOUR job, not the breeder's. Before eight weeks of age, that kind of exposure is dangerous, as they don't have their shots and can be exposed to diseases.

Dunbar's book is a way of promoting his personal belief that dog breeders are all irresponsible, as almost 100% do not do the things he "recommends". At 7-8 weeks (the age most puppies go to their new homes), pups are just about equal to a child in pre-school. They are really ready to start learning how to learn at that age. It should be play training type stuff. Before that, they are infants. Not truly capable of learning anything so structured as "sit", "come" and certainly not housebreaking.

Anyway, don't be too hard on your breeder. I noticed in your first post something about not having gotten the pup from a "better breeder". Don't use Dunbar as your yardstick for what is a good breeder and what is not. The guy is not qualified to judge such things, and certainly holds considerable bias against all breeders.

Lisa

Great advise Ladies!

The most important item at this EARLY stage is a phenomenon of a pup's "fear period". All pups experience it, only in varying degrees. It usually occurs around the 10th-12th week--length,duration,and intensity varies with each individual.

I've had pups that you would have barely noticed. The most severe[a bitch out of the next GREAT, ELUSIVE OUTCROSS to Decks!HAH!], I washed out at 4 months!

I'm a big fan of nature hikes--expose them to "the wild out-doors", just me and the pup[well, now it's me the pup the the kids!]. As we are rambling along and the pup isn't paying attention to me, I'll pull a puppy bumper out, give a big"whoop! WHOOP!" and let him watch me give it a heave! They usually tear after the bumper; when they get to it I make a BIG fuss and run the other way, so they chase me with it in their mouth--"good puppy!".

"Zeena, the Warrior Princess"[my daughter's favorite show at the time]--during her "fear period"--of which I was unaware, on one of these hikes, going for one of these retrieves, lost her footing and tumbled into a small clump of red brier. She must have swore that the bumper inflicted the pain--never to retrieve again! Even after a month of "kenel rest/solitary confinement" and plenty of clipped-wings! An abrupt end you may say, well, if her desire to retrieve wasn't strong enough to overcome a little red brier, she'd never make the long haul with me! Both of us were glad I made that decision.

She made a very nice pet for a good friend of mine! The moral of the story--be very attentive to any changes in their behavior during this time. Keep them close to home; do not expose them to any unusual/peculiar circumstances if at all possible. The sudden onset of changes in behavior will disappear as fast as they came-on [a week or so!].

Best of luck in all your K - 9 endeavors!

Sincerely

Bruce

Lisa -
Thanks for your insight. I was probably being too hard on the breeder - As I look at how well this pup is coming along, I feel pretty good about where I got him.

Thanks for your input on Dunbar - I had already coming to the conclusion that he was a quack - but it's good to hear supporting evidence

Bruce -
Thanks for the advice - I've been taking him with me whenever I go someplace that he can go. So far he's very friendly with no signs of fear or aggression. But I'll definitely be watching out for his Fear period and hopefully handle it correctly. Thanks for the forewarning.

Dan

Hi John - How is Tanner doing at this point? New to the site and am reading through many posts. I'm getting my 2nd Chessie in a few weeks. How has the training been progressing and what conclusions have you come to as far as whose information works with your Chessie?

Hello Everyone,

Congratulations on the new puppies...I have a 16 week old pupyy out of Butch Goodwin's kennel in Idaho...That makes three for me.

I could not agree more with Bruce and Lisa...they are just puppies and what they learn and/or experience now could have na negative impact for the rest of there lives.

As regards to training books,videos etc.......you need to take a look at what you are training for? Field trials, hunt tests, gundog etc.....For example:


1. For Fieled trials obviously you would by Mike Lardy's tapes.( No brainer) these would work for hunt tests also!

2. For gundogs I highly reccomend Butch Goodwin's new training book " Retrievers from the Inside out"....it comes in Cd rom formatt with over 600 pages, video clips, diagrams etc.

3. There are also numerous other authors like John and Amy Dahl and for young puppy stuff I would have a Look at Hey Pup fetch it Up by the late Bill Tarrant and Jackie Mertens Puppy video.


Good Luck and remember they are puppies first..babies really!

Paul MacKinnon
Atlantic Flyway Gundogs

p.s Hope everyone is having a great hunting season!

Jake- howdy! I'm down in Longmont and working in FC. I've ben looking to cobble together a training group of newbies such as myself (mine's 8 months old and training me as much as I am training her) If you're interested, email me: geoffs@psdschools.org