Lab is scared of ducks.... PLEASE HELP!

[kaandrew]

I have an 10 month old black lab. I recently started making his training a little more rigorous and decided to introduce actual birds to him. First I tried to let him just play with the duck, he immediatley went to his kennel and hid. I coaxed him out and tried throwing the duck without him looking and then working him back to it.... no dice. I tried tying a wing to his dummie, got close and then bolted. Finally I tried rubbing the dummie down with the wing to get a scent on it and he wouldnt play with it for hours. Please someone help me with this. I really want to hunt him next year but I'd like to know if I should give up and just call him a house dog?

[gundog]

Have you got friends with dogs?

Do you train with anyone?

Some other dogs might help bold him up a little.

[kaandrew]

I do and when I mention this problem they just say he is a house dog anyway. I decided to train by myself with the help of my roommate. I did think about getting someone elses dog to help but when my dog is around another he is completley unfocused and I wind up getting too frustrated to train for more than 5 seconds.

[windycanyon]

I never start my pups with ducks. I throw in wings of various species w /my litters or tie one to a line on a pole to lure pups and get them excited. At ~6 or 7 wks, the pups get their first live (wing harnessed) pigeons which flop around but never go at puppies --unlike some ducks we've encountered! Until the pups show a clear measure of confidence in flushing wild birds on our walks, and do alot of pigeon retrieves, they never see a live flier. Heck, Sonya's first live flyer was on the water series at Natls this year at almost 1! She did awesome on both live fliers that day, despite only ever getting dead ducks in training, but I have seen plenty of other dogs be scared of the flopping critters at tests and refuse to pick them up. It's all about confidence building, and yes, it does help that my older dogs "teach" my youngsters that flushing up birds, etc, is great fun! I'd just focus on offlead walks out in the wild if at all possible w/ other friends and their dogs. I'm doing that w/ some friends' dogs right now... all 3 of their dogs are learning what great fun it is to go out w/ my 6 on our walks! It's probably been a bigger task to convince the owners that their dogs will be fine offlead! So anyhow, I'd just step back and not push to "Z" before you teach the A's and B's. -Anne

[kaandrew]

the duck was not alive it was one I brought home with me two or three hours after shooting it. I tried the wing and he wouldnt get near it.

[windycanyon]

Okay, maybe the blood smelled bad to him. ??? How does he respond to live birds like quail out in the wild? How is his prey drive in general?

[olducker]

Sorry but YOU need the wing @ 3 months old ?/// hmmm go with harnessed pigeons or FF :P

[tkpaul]

My first question is "Has your dog been through force fetch?" Sounds like an issue with FF. Some experienced dogs will go through this when seeing a canadian goose for the first time. I wouldn't give up on your pup just yet.

One trick is to remove the wing and tape it to your bumper with electrical tape. This should help with bird introduction.

[imported_queenofthedogs]

has your dog ever been punished for messing with 'garbage-y' things? [we all do it!] he may be thinking this was some kind of test.
i heartily second those who say 'work SLOWLY up to it'... your dog's age is IMO not very relevant, his level of experience is.

[theboysmom]

When you are outside with him, do you call his attention to "tweety birds" or any bird in general to get him excited about them? I do think to start out slowly is your best bet - little birds like quail or pigons and let him chase/ play with them so he understands birds are fun. I also think you should not be comparing him to your friends dogs and where they are at in training as I think this is helping you to become frustrated with him. He may take alot of time, but I think you are "writing him off as a house dog" too soon. What are your expectations for him? Have you considered his personality in how you are training him? Our female was not keen on feathers in her mouth as a puppy, we never pressured her and always made it fun, it took a while but she did retrieve birds and toward the end of her life she was an awsome upland bird dog that we have incredible memories of. Also since you are doing the training yourself, have you gotten any books on how to train? I've found reading several books and tailoring what they say to fit my dogs personality's make our hunting experience's alot of fun. Good luck