# Everything BUT a retriever!



## bah0916 (Dec 5, 2008)

Hey guys (and girls):

I have an interesting situation forming with our 9 month old, intact GR 'Baker'. He loves to play, is very intelligent, and very well behaved. He knows and understands all the obedience commands we have trained him with, but a simple game of fetch in the back yard seems to be a sticking point. He loves to chase bumpers and sticks into rivers/ponds/the ocean, but he gets distracted/uninterested in the back yard. I'm not sure what it is, but he doesn't retrieve well at all and tends to lose interest rather quickly (sometimes right away; usually after a handful of attempts). Short of verbal and food rewards for retrieving, we have never really trained him formally on how to retrieve and whatnot; he has just always shown that inherent desire that the retriever lines have. 

With that being said, I would like to begin training him on retrieving waterfowl in the water and under hunting conditions. I was hoping to get pointed in the right direction as far as books/dvds/websites go. Any advice would be great!


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Hello!
It is not uncommon at this age for puppies to get distracted and only have the desire for 2-3 retrieves at a time. Does he chase the item if you throw it, but just lose interest after that?
If you want to train the right way you'll sit yourself down with Mike Lardy's Total Retriever articles. I have read Evan Graham's books as well, they are good, but I felt not as detailed, and they both follow essentially the same plan. I have heard that Stawski and Spencer are good books as well, but haven't read them.
Best of luck!


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## bah0916 (Dec 5, 2008)

He chases it if I drum up enough interest. Sometimes he brings it back a number of times, sometimes he runs to it and looks at it, and other times he just stares up at me! There really is no descernable pattern, as he will sometimes retrieve for a solid 10 times, and other times not do a thing. Very unpredictable, aka frustrating 

Thanks for the heads up on literature. Any particular books out there to read first? I have perused a number of training books, but was never quite sure which one to purchase.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

There might be something on the product section on the top of the forum.


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

Yeah, attention spans seem to be rather short at that age.

When I have Gilmour at my Mom's house on saturdays, I have to walk him when he needs to go. Or every 4 hours, whichever comes first.

He is _impossible _to get to go pee while on the leash. He'll stop, look like he's about to go, he's leaning... he's leaning... here we go!... almost there!....

And dammit someone will close a car door or something and that's the end of it. No Pee 

It's a good thing he seems to have a bladder the size of a super-tanker.


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

Anney touched on a good point. When you are first teaching retrieving I have always been told no more than 3-4 retrieves at a time. You want to leave them wanting more, rather than getting bored of the game. Good luck!


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Spencer's book (Marshes and Meadows) is an easy read full of good advice. I'd start with that one the move on to Lardy/Graham. Graham is very indepth and takes a bit more to read, but is well worth it.


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