Black Betty
- Thread starter jagermeister
- Start date
lmao
No.... not that Betty... THIS Betty:
[video=youtube;R044sleOW6I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R044sleOW6I[/video]
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Here's a picture of Betty doing some swimming today. Just in the past few days she has really developed a love for water. She can't get enough of it!
Good stuff man! I need to get Hank back out on the pond. He has been chomping at the bit but until night time temperatures stay warmer I don't want him soaked to the bone.
Awesome thread Jim! You have a great looking dog there TOO. I've really enjoyed reading your progression through this training program and am very impressed with the way it's going for you. You two are developing a great bond.
I've never owned a hunting dog before but your making it look very rewarding. Thanks for sharing this and I'll definitely be tagging along with your thread.
I've never owned a hunting dog before but your making it look very rewarding. Thanks for sharing this and I'll definitely be tagging along with your thread.
Fullbore
Senior Member
It's way more rewarding than I ever imagined, Ric. Frustrating at times, yes... But worth every minute.
Here's Betty tonight getting some bird exposure. She's getting birdy as hell as of late. Just a couple days ago she somehow caught a sparrow out of the air while outside going potty. She is obsessed with birds... And obviously I have no complaints about that! lol
Rutin
Senior Member
That's awesome! I just bought some pigeons yesterday myself. I wish I would of exposed Sarge to live birds earlier. He has never had a problem with dead ones but yesterday was his first time with live birds. Took him about 10 mins to get used to them moving around. Then he started getting pissed and everytime one tried to fly away he'd nab it quick. Def a fun process watching their minds change! Sounds like Betty is ALL ABOUT IT all ready!
Oh man she is one birdy dog! I took her out to a friend's dog training grounds on his property today and we released a bunch of quail. It took her a few repetitions to figure it out, but she finally made the connection and starting hunting them. She didn't really lock up on any solid points but she did search out and flush a few quail. She also retrieved 3 of the quail that we shot which made me really happy. I had fairly low expectations for her today, but she really surprised me.
Haven't updated this thread in a long time. Unfortunately I haven't taken any recent pics to add.
Betty's progress is coming along nicely. A few weeks ago she had some digestive issues and was really sick for 4 or 5 days. We've since switched foods and got that all worked out, though. She's still hovering around 42 pounds and turns 8 months old this week. We've collar conditioned to all basic obedience commands and we're currently working through Force Fetch. She's moved past ear-pinch pressure and is now fetching to collar pressure. Her hold and return to heel is getting pretty solid, which has me pretty happy. In the next day or so we'll be working on Force To Pile and then moving on to some T drills.
Very soon I'm going to start busting out the real birds from the freezer. Dove season is right around the corner and I'd like to get her retrieving real birds before then. I also plan on getting her around other dogs more and introduce her to some distractions.
All in all she's looking great and doing awesome for an 8 month old pup. I'm really looking forward to hunting with her this fall.
Betty's progress is coming along nicely. A few weeks ago she had some digestive issues and was really sick for 4 or 5 days. We've since switched foods and got that all worked out, though. She's still hovering around 42 pounds and turns 8 months old this week. We've collar conditioned to all basic obedience commands and we're currently working through Force Fetch. She's moved past ear-pinch pressure and is now fetching to collar pressure. Her hold and return to heel is getting pretty solid, which has me pretty happy. In the next day or so we'll be working on Force To Pile and then moving on to some T drills.
Very soon I'm going to start busting out the real birds from the freezer. Dove season is right around the corner and I'd like to get her retrieving real birds before then. I also plan on getting her around other dogs more and introduce her to some distractions.
All in all she's looking great and doing awesome for an 8 month old pup. I'm really looking forward to hunting with her this fall.
Rutin
Senior Member
Good deal, its def a fun journey when you invest the time, energy, and money that we have into these guys. The self gratification alone is worth more than any amount of money when you see your hard work paying off! Keep up the good work bud, she's progressing nicely! Should have Sarge back in a week so I will have to do an update as well.
Zach
Zach
Good update Jimbo! Not in the same category as you and Rutin, but the mother and father of our Golden just had another litter, and I'm thinking about getting a male and working real hard with him as a shed dog. I believe had I spent the time with our female golden, she could have done it, I just didn't have the time or the information back then.
Raising a dog is a great thing, especially a good hunting dog! It sounds like your dog is coming along great!
Raising a dog is a great thing, especially a good hunting dog! It sounds like your dog is coming along great!
Thanks, Greg. I think a Golden would be an awesome shed dog. And I don't think it'd be all that difficult to train them to find sheds... Make it fun and they'll damn near teach themselves. Hell, Betty loves to chew on antlers so much, she's learned exactly what the word "antler" means. All I have to say is, "Where's your antler?" and she goes running around the house to find one. She'll ignore all her other toys as she's searching and she'll come running with an antler in her mouth. I don't know how she learned it. I bet if I really wanted to I could transition that search away from the house and into the field. It's just really difficult to train for a bunch of different things at once. I've got my hands full as it is! lol
Great update.
My Golden would be an awesome bird dog if he wasn't completely gun shy. No fix in it either. Just has sensitive ears.
My Golden would be an awesome bird dog if he wasn't completely gun shy. No fix in it either. Just has sensitive ears.
Just got home from a good training session with Betty girl. We went to a place where we could add some distance to her "back" pile. Backed her up to about 50 yards and she ran some very nice pattern blinds. Towards the end of the session I got the dummy launcher out for the first time. When it comes to bumpers, both on land and water, she is a very steady dog for being only 8 mo old. But the launcher was new to her and the BANG really got her adrenaline going... It was too much for her to handle and she broke on the first two launches. She really liked that sound of the gun. For the first time that I've noticed, she actually got a little vocal with me just before launching. She just couldn't wait to run out there and get it. So I resorted to tying her up to a nearby telephone pole to keep her from breaking. After the launch, I waited for her to sit there calmly before sending her out after it. Two more repetitions of that and we were gone. Beautiful day to be outside training a pup!
Great to hear Jimbo! Makes me look forward to the next pup in the spring. What has been the best guidance for you in your training? Books, web, DVDS?
For me, the best guidance has been a little bit of everything. Being a new trainer, I soaked up as much information as possible from as many sources as possible. I've got DVD's, books, magazines, and countless hours on retrievertraining.net and youtube. I keep everything I see and read in the back of my mind, while I still follow (for the most part) a single training program. I've been following Smartwork by Evan Graham. It's very easy to follow and interpret, which makes it an excellent choice for both seasoned and beginner trainers. I will say though that I've had to adapt and modify various training tactics and steps. For example, Smartwork recommends putting your dog through Force Fetch prior to collar conditioning to all obedience commands. Well with Betty, this didn't really work that well. She did fine dealing with ear pinch pressure during force fetch, but when it came time to incorporate the collar, she just didn't know how to deal with the pressure. It was a foreign stimulus paired up with a relatively new and foreign command (fetch). So I took a few steps back and collar conditioned to the basic obedience commands. That fact that she KNEW already what these commands mean, without any confusion whatsoever, she had an easier time dealing with the collar stimulus and learning how to "turn it off." I know... blah blah blah. Moral of the story is, following a set training program is great and I highly recommend it, but you still have to be able to adjust your training regimen as needed. Having multiple books and internet sources available makes this much easier to accomplish.
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Here is a picture taken tonight of Betty and her brother Silus. Si is about 65 pounds or so... You can see just how petite Betty is in comparison. Some people might be concerned with having a Lab her size, but I'm really liking it so far. She's fast as hell and has energy for days. Plus, she'll be a breeze to lift into a boat! lol
