Contact Us    Help    Site Map    About Us   

Introducing feathers

hello, I was wondering at what age should you introduce your pup to feathers, say wings attached to a dummy?? also, what is the proper way to introduce them to gunfire? I have a 6 month old female lab and she is full of desire and energy when retrieving. somewhat jumpy on the stay and delivery to hand needs some work. I am afraid she will run off with the dummy and chew it up. any suggestions would be very much appreciated!!!! thank you in advance
sincerely,
Steve

Steve,

At six months old, I would not demand too much from the pup. If she runs away with your bumper, it is because she does not yet know what is expected.

After the dog has gone through the force fetch and recall training, she will deliver reliably every time. This part of a retrievers training is critical and it should be done by an experienced trainer to ensure success. See the other articles in the "Ask the Trainer" forum about the force fetch for more information.

I usually introduce a pup to feathers and birds at a very young age, ten weeks or so. If you are worried about her chewing up the bumper, I would hold off until after the force fetch is done.

Best of Luck,

Bill Corcoran
Highland Retrievers
bcorc4@aol.com
Highland Retriever


<< Back to Q&A

follow us on: