I've been meaning to share this for a while now... just haven't had much free time lately. A few weeks ago I brought home the newest addition to our family, Killbuck Creek Black Betty. She's a Pointing Labrador Retriever and she just turned nine weeks old on a couple days ago. She's ornery as hell, but she's really smart and I think she'll be a great hunting companion. Crate training and housebreaking have gone really well. She rings a bell on the back door to go outside and runs to her kennel on command pretty reliably... extremely reliably if I'm holding a bowl of kibble. lol
Betty is the product of Lakota's Hurricane Cruz and Killbuck Creek Molly, both pointing labs. Cruz is a 4xGPMR and HRC and is considered one of the best pointing labs in the country right now. As you all know, I waterfowl hunt a lot more than I upland hunt. I went with a pointing lab because 1)they seem to be relatively smaller and more sleek than most labs these days, 2)having that pointing ability is an awesome bonus, and 3)my boss' dog Molly had the litter. lol
Here's some video footage of Molly in action, pointing some chukars and pigeons...
[video=youtube;F3LX2JmpOO4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3LX2JmpOO4[/video]
A few pics of Black Betty...
I haven't introduced her to any birds yet, but I've shown her a frozen duck wing a couple times and she went nuts over it. When the weather finally cooperates I plan on planting a few pigeons for her to see how she responds. Right now we're just working on manners and going on field walks once a day. I've also been running her on 2-3 retrieves per day... no longer than 20 feet for now. They say not to flood the dog with too many retrieves at a young age so they don't get bored of it. In the latter stages of training, fun retrieves will be a form of reward for the dog. In just 3 weeks I've seen the truth in this line of thinking. The first week and a half, Betty showed little interest in retrieving... She'd run after something, but seldom bring it back to me. Now, when she sees me grab a bumper, she immediately jumps in excitement and retrieves it every time. I build the excitement for a couple retrieves, then take it away, leaving her wanting more. Paint rollers work great as "bumpers" for pups, BTW.
Hopefully like Rutin, I can update this thread from time to time as Betty's training progresses. As most of you know, when I get into a new hobby I tend to go "all-out." This dog ownership thing will likely be no different. I'm hoping to help Betty win a few ribbons when it's all said and done. A titled pointing lab with this kind of lineage can spit out pups that'll fetch $1000-$1500 each. Cha-ching.
Betty is the product of Lakota's Hurricane Cruz and Killbuck Creek Molly, both pointing labs. Cruz is a 4xGPMR and HRC and is considered one of the best pointing labs in the country right now. As you all know, I waterfowl hunt a lot more than I upland hunt. I went with a pointing lab because 1)they seem to be relatively smaller and more sleek than most labs these days, 2)having that pointing ability is an awesome bonus, and 3)my boss' dog Molly had the litter. lol
Here's some video footage of Molly in action, pointing some chukars and pigeons...
[video=youtube;F3LX2JmpOO4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3LX2JmpOO4[/video]
A few pics of Black Betty...
I haven't introduced her to any birds yet, but I've shown her a frozen duck wing a couple times and she went nuts over it. When the weather finally cooperates I plan on planting a few pigeons for her to see how she responds. Right now we're just working on manners and going on field walks once a day. I've also been running her on 2-3 retrieves per day... no longer than 20 feet for now. They say not to flood the dog with too many retrieves at a young age so they don't get bored of it. In the latter stages of training, fun retrieves will be a form of reward for the dog. In just 3 weeks I've seen the truth in this line of thinking. The first week and a half, Betty showed little interest in retrieving... She'd run after something, but seldom bring it back to me. Now, when she sees me grab a bumper, she immediately jumps in excitement and retrieves it every time. I build the excitement for a couple retrieves, then take it away, leaving her wanting more. Paint rollers work great as "bumpers" for pups, BTW.
Hopefully like Rutin, I can update this thread from time to time as Betty's training progresses. As most of you know, when I get into a new hobby I tend to go "all-out." This dog ownership thing will likely be no different. I'm hoping to help Betty win a few ribbons when it's all said and done. A titled pointing lab with this kind of lineage can spit out pups that'll fetch $1000-$1500 each. Cha-ching.