Jinx first retrieve

As some of you may know, I have been doing much of Jinx' training (with pointers from Bruce). It started off as convenience because I was able to take breaks at work to let the dog out and feed him when he was a puppy, but I've really enjoyed working with him. I've done dog training before: when I was a kid, I trained a couple of our dogs, usually to do goofy things like shaking hands, rolling over, or jumping over objects. I trained Scout and Jem in basic commands (sit, stay, heel, etc). Training a hunting dog is a whole other level of effort. Actually, I've learned having a well trained dog takes continuous effort: training should never stop, but you want a hunting dog to do more than sit, stay and come so there's more to work on.

I think from the time we started training (about 9 weeks) until he was five months old, I only missed 2 days of training. I still try to work him every day. We got him introduced to a hunting enviroment last year by bringing him with us to the hunt club. He didn't hunt but got familiar with the club, heard gunshots, sat in a blind, met other hunting dogs, retrieved a dead bird, and jumped and swam in the lake. Besides basic training (sit, heel, stay, come, down), Jinx works off voice commands, hand signals and whistle. He'll sit while I throw a few bumpers in different directions or a few in a line and I can (usually) direct him to the bumper I want. I've had pretty good success with blind retrieves (retrieving when he doesn't  know where the bumper is).

There have been many frustrating days along the way. Many. Many. Many frustrating days. I have had to learn to be patient and to try new approaches when the dog is not doing what I'm asking. I've had to occassionally back off and keep training fun so he stays enthusiastic (he's not as manic about retrieving as Lucky). Just like a child, he's had the terrible twos and the teen years where he doesn't care about pleasing me and is constantly challenging me so we go backwards and review.

So, you may ask, how did Jinx do on his first hunt this weekend?? Not too bad, actually. The first two birds, he was a bit startled by the gunshot and Lucky retrieved the birds before he knew what was happening. Shot three we put down a couple of doves and I sent him after one that was about 10 ft away. This is where the training paid off: he naturally wanted to pick up the bird, but was not sure what to do then. I whistled 'come' and he was so conditioned to respond that he did and I took the bird from him before he had a chance to think about it. Good dog! Shot four, he had put two and two together, realizing that shot meant bird, and came running to look for the bird. Good dog! We got a few more doves, Jinx retrieved a few more, including two at once. Glutton.

I am glad we still have Lucky to retrieve for us this year. Jinx needs a bunch more work before he's a good retriever. Our number one issue I think is that he'll be inclined to chomp the bird and not give it to me. Not good traits for a bird dog so I've got some training and managed retrieves to address that. But all in all, not a bad start.