# Hunt Training Timeline



## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

I start when they come home playing to get a good retrieve. (Keep it fun) I have canvas puppy bumpers and a puppy Dokken. I throw it two or three times and they bring it back. I try to get them to keep it and sit before I take it. I also start them being two sided from the beginning. I lure them from a front sit to a “here, heel, sit” on each side. If you do obedience it’s a left finish, but on left and right. I also introduce water really early. I have a 12 week old puppy that I’m currently doing all of the above with a couple times a day for a few minutes. It’s all about keeping it fun and teaching a little at this point.

I’ll start a fetch and hold, but no ff until his adult teeth are in. I also make sure that as he matures someone else starts throwing bumpers to stretch him out.

Check out Sound Beginnings by Jackie Mertens and Bill Hillmans puppy series on video.

Just remember to keep it fun!


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Starting at 7 or 8 weeks, lots of walks in fields, near ponds, woods, just exploring and taking in all the sights, sounds and smells. It builds a pups confidence. Take a toy or bumper along toss it sparingly, only two or three times at first. Make retrieving a very big deal, the highlight of the day, always quit with the pup wanting more.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

I like Connie Cleveland's Performance Puppy course, about $100, I think. Covers 8 weeks to 6 months and works on foundations for hunt and OB training.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Further elaboration and or blather….
One of the most important things in training a puppy/dog Is to be constantly reading them and figuring out what they need. Your dog is always telling you something if you pay attention. 
If your puppy is confused, simplify the lesson. If he is bored make it exciting and fun. Always challenge them but never overwhelm them. Make sure a puppy always feels successful. One of my goals is that my dogs will never know failure. I want them thinking that if they keep trying they will always succeed. This starts with very little things.


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## myluckypenny (Nov 29, 2016)

I had a lengthy conversation about developing puppies with a very successful field trialer. One of her more interesting approaches is that she uses a fluffy toy for puppies to retrieve vs. a bumper (linked it below). Her reasoning is that it sits up higher in the grass and its easier for the puppies to hold in their mouths. One thing I think newbies always do wrong is they think developing a dogs hunting ability is important. You want puppies to use their eyes not their nose. So don't throw retrieves into tall grass for a long while. You want the pup to have a high success rate and think he's the best retriever ever. That attitude will benefit them when going into formal basics and things start getting harder. 









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Other than that, get your puppy swimming while young if possible. You want a very confident water dog!


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

myluckypenny said:


> You want puppies to use their eyes not their nose.


Absolutely, we are teaching them to mark and retrieve, hunting is secondary.
Stuffed toys with squeakers even ducks that quack are great for puppy retrieves.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

It is great if you can introduce a pup early to water and birds, but there is a lot of genetics going on there. If there are readers out there thinking they might like to try hunt training, but think they can't because they didn't do any work with the dog when he was a puppy, think again.

None of my three goldens were in swimming water before they were 6 months; only one of the 3 had a "planned" introduction. The other two were accidental. My first golden, Maple, was introduced to ducks and gunfire at the age of 3, when a friend gave me a duck and said to be very careful about gunfire. She loved retrieving ducks and the gunfire was a non-event. 

The second dog, Pinyon, had a damaged nose because of a puppy injury (bitten by an adult dog; had to have his upper gums and soft palate reattached to bone; damaged growth plates in his muzzle; he breathes almost entirely from one nostril). He liked splashing in the kiddie pool but I decided early on that I would never encourage him to swim. He would be my OB dog. When he was about 6 or 7 months, we took him and the other two dogs, Maple the golden and Alder the poodle, for a hike around a local lake. I tossed a bumper for Maple. Pinyon watched her do one retrieve. On the next toss, he went for the bumper after Maple and launched himself so far off the bank, he landed in water too deep for him to touch bottom. I was in shock seeing a flailing yellow shape under water. I started to run into the water to rescue him when his head popped up and he swam to shore. I figured that that was the end of water for him. No way. He was hooked. He launched himself in the next time, but didn't go under and never went under again. We ended up having to leash him up that day so Maple could have her turn. It still makes me anxious to watch him do long swims holding a duck, but he loves the game so much, I went ahead and got a JH on him. That was going to be the end of it, but he liked casting games, so I taught him to do land blinds and then, two weeks before a test, took the plunge (pardon the pun) and gave him a crash course on water blinds. The SH was going to be the end until 2020 when Covid shut down all the OB trials and I went from planning to sell my two wingers to buying 2 more so I could introduce him to triples. We dipped a toe into Master tests after a couple months of working on triples, and then returned to OB to chase OTCH points. This spring, with the OTCH done, we are back to training for Master. 

Hawthorn did not get introduced to water until he was about 6 months because there was so much toxic algae that summer when he was younger. His introduction to water was more planned.


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## JanGold (10 mo ago)

PalouseDogs said:


> I like Connie Cleveland's Performance Puppy course, about $100, I think. Covers 8 weeks to 6 months and works on foundations for hunt and OB training.


I have an Obedience training set of DVDs from a previous Golden by Connie Cleveland. She is really good.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

PalouseDogs said:


> Hawthorn did not get introduced to water until he was about 6 months


True of many fall puppies in cold climates. Jake was born November 30 and it was April or May before he got in the water.


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## xRoan (Jul 7, 2021)

Thank you for all the great advice! Keep it coming!

Colt got introduced to water quite by accident as well. He was a July baby, meaning we picked him up in October and by the time he was old enough to start swimming it was too cold. The park we play in has a pond and he had just been introduced to birds. It was early March, and I had just let him off-leash to start throwing bumpers, and a big ol’ green-headed Mallard landed on the edge of the melting ice. He launched into the water without a second thought and was immediately hooked. Didn’t care how cold the water was lol. Seven months later he jumped 21’ 3” off of a dock at his first-ever NADD event.


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## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

SRW said:


> True of many fall puppies in cold climates. Jake was born November 30 and it was April or May before he got in the water.


We took ours to a local indoor dog pool (ours was a november baby too) to make sure she got in the water asap. There was no turning back after that. She doesn't care if it is a pool, pond or puddle, she's in it!


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