# Bumper vs. bird



## KennyC (Apr 28, 2010)

So my Golden has been doing very well on the bumpers these last 3 weeks or so. I threw a bird for him a hand full of times and he retrives but not with the same enthusiasm as the bumpers. Why is this and is this behavior OK? He literaly goes nuts for the bumpers and loves the smell of the birds. I don't know if he dosen't like the feel in his mouth or what.


----------



## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

not enough birds. start using birds more so he begins to get the prey drive for birds and you will see him come alive for birds and have more desire for them then bumpers.


----------



## KennyC (Apr 28, 2010)

Thanks, will do. Can I still use the bumpers or should I avoid using them all together?


----------



## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Your dog needs to be force fetched. It's the entire foundation of a dogs retrieving career. Force fetch teaches a dog to pick up and hold what ever you tell him to now matter what it is. Retrieving should never be an option. They have to do it without fail every time. Once the force fetch is taught, your dog will know that when it is sent on a retrieve it's mandatory, not optional. And when they have something in their mouth they'd better be cutting an line straight for your side.


----------



## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

i would still use them because you still want the dog to like bumpers but i would cut back on them a bit and use as many birds as you can get until you get him birdy. live pigeons will work the best if he is old enough as some young dogs do get a bit nervous around the movement but that is usually short lived once they realize it is a bird and the prey drive starts to emerge. if your dog is nervous with live pigeons use a dead one for a while but i would put him on as many birds as you can in the next little while. eventually your dog might need to be force fetched like tex-o-bob mentioned but i would wait on that until either the dog shows you he just absolutely hates birds or starts to mess around with the birds on the retrieve. it is best to get the dog birdy before force fetching is done but some dogs just dont want to pick up a dead bird so it is needed for some dogs but give the dog a chance to want to pick them up naturally before you FF the dog. FF is a good thing to do for most bird dogs so i would suggest it eventually but build up as much natural instinct as you can before you worry about going down that road.


----------



## JuddCT (Sep 7, 2007)

My WPG was recently force fetched and she understands exactly what TEX was saying. Retrieving is not an option. However, there is definitely more "spring" in her step if she is retrieving a bird.


----------



## tshuntin (Jul 13, 2008)

How old is the dog? Are you following any sort of training program? How far along are you in training?


----------



## KennyC (Apr 28, 2010)

He is just over a year old. I am not following any training program. Initially I thought he was going to be a house dog despite what I wanted but we were at the lake one day and off into the water he went and just couldn't get enough. I started throwing some sticks and he just couldn't stop. He loved it. This went on for 3 days. So when I got home I picked up 2 new bumpers, 1 of the plastic and one you add sent to. I threw the rubber one and off he went. So I wanted to see if he still had the drive to fetch in the water so we got into the pool and I threw the bumper. Yep, he was on. So I hang them from my decoys in the garage. Now when we go into the garage he goes right to where they hang and waits for me to get one down and he goes NUTS! I wanted to get him proffessional traing but I just can't afford it. I really don't know what I am doing but we are trying together. I have treats that I give him after we are done each day but I have to keep them out of sight because they distract him and he just wants the treats, so I keep them in the garage till we are done. One other thing I am noticing is that when he returns he stops short of me and lays the bumper down and then lays down with it. Where would I get the birds from? Another thing is that I haven't shot over him since he was a pup. Should I take him to the marsh this year or wait? Thank you guys for the help.


----------



## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

sounds like he has the drive so you just need to mold that into what you want out of him. you can usually pick up pigeons on ksl.com and occasionally on the utah bird dog forum classifieds page. with regards to gunfire, do not shoot around him until after you get him extremely birdy and retrieving birds. that will lessen any chance of him getting gunshy from just shooting around him before he gets birds. once you get him birdy, adding the gun fire is really pretty easy so work on the birds before hand. if you are looking to get him trained for hunting i would suggest getting a DVD to help out with some of the training. he will need some formal obedience training and some work on teaching him to retrieve on command. if he is dropping bumpers at your feet and lay down with it, dont make a big deal about that at this point, just pick it up and throw it again so he starts to learn the reward is another retrieve and not the object. right now it appears with that behavior he thinks the dummy is the reward so getting it away from him quickly and getting him on another retrieve will help teach him the retrieve is the reward. eventually he may need to be force fetched but dont worry about that yet, there are other things you need to teach him before you worry about force fetching. that can be done at any time so no hurry there. a good obedience training program and then teaching to be steady and retrieve on command is more important at this stage. go to my web site www.trainingyourretriever.com and there is a great DVD by chris akin, duck dog basics, that can help with a lot of what you need to work him on. i also give free training classes for customers who get their dog gear from me so i can also help out if you need some gear and buy from my web site. be patient with him but get a plan and start working him on it. let me know if i can help in any way.
Jeff


----------



## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

oh, and about taking him hunting. i would by all means take him out as long as you worked him on birds and then worked him on the gun before hand. even if he is wild and not trained very well yet by then, if you treat those hunts as a training session he will learn a lot by going. they might not be pretty hunts but they can be valuable training for him. work him now on obedience, birds and then gunfire and then i would definitely take him out. i took my very first lab, Sprig, when he was 6 months old and he wasnt trained very far at that point but the experience he got was invaluable so get him ready with some obedience and the other things i mentioned so you can take him out this fall. he wont learn anything by staying home and with a little training now he will be able to get more out of those hunts.


----------

