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This site is dedicated to my current Yellow Lab "HOMER"
Sunrise in the blind. Nothing is more enjoyable than sharing it with your friends and a well trained Retriever. This blog is a journal of how I trained my first gun dog "Homer". I am in no way a professional trainer, but in less than a year, using only 4 DVD's , I trained Homer. Homer will do blind retrieves well over 150 yards away and he's just over 1 year old. Training him has built an inseparable bond between us. Homer is strictly a hunting retriever we do not compete in field trials. Training your own dog is a ton of fun, you will save thousands of dollars, and the bond created is 100 times better than sending him to a "PRO". Below is a picture of me and Homer with his first Mallard. I hope this site will help you decide to train your own gun dog.
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Training Homer has been a lot of fun, but it hasn’t been all peaches and cream. Like you I’m not training hunting dogs for a living or field trials. I just wanted a competent retriever that could be handled to a fall, not go broke or spending all day training him. Being a […]
Our last limit for the year. The Mallard was a 100+ yard blind. I sent Homer along the river bank about 90 yards , over 20 yards of water to a sandbar, fetch and return. GREAT JOB HOMER. NO STICK CHASER WOULD HAVE MADE THAT RETRIEVE!!!!!
Homer himself defiantly made training him a snap so to speak. The main reason is superior breeding. Outstanding hunting instinct, temperament, STRONG retrieving desire, and willingness to please were all “built in” to Homer. Homer’s breeders are experts in field trails and like me are completely addicted to bird hunting.
The old saying “ You can’t […]
Well I have to admit dog training collars are a huge asset if you use them right. They can however be a HUGE problem and cause more problems than they correct if you don’t use them correctly. I’ve seen trainers literally “Lock” a dog up by over use of the collar. The dog […]
I’d like to know from some of you, what your views are about “SPOILING” your hunting dog. I personally love to give Homer LOTS of love and attention. He is a family pet as well as an OUTSTANDING field dog. Homer gets to stay in the house , he has a soft blanket in his […]
Hunting dog training is easy if you know what makes a dog tick. How the dog views you will decide if you can train him successfully. For gun dog training it is essential the dog views you as the ALPHA early in his life. With Homer, I established myself as the ALPHA […]
I got Homer in January of 2005, as a 12 week old “Started” pup, read my ABOUT section to learn more about me and Homer. In just 8 months working with him about 15-30 minutes a day, Homer was a VERY competent retriever at the start of the 2006 Dove season . […]
Homers first couple of months was spent on the basic Sit, Stay , Here commands. During this time he also got LOTS of retrieves I worked with him daily for about 30 minutes a day. I would throw about 15 retrieves a session. I alwas ended the session with him “wanting more”. I did […]
At around 17 weeks old Homer was ready for the advanced training needed to be a “REAL” gun dog. I was walking Homer at heal at least 3 times a week and he had “HEAL” down pat. Up until now I was not getting on him for “BREAKING”(taking off at the throw […]
Live birds create an excitement in gun dogs that simply cant be matched with dummies. Homer was no different, at 18 weeks he was doing exceptional in the yard with dummies. I trapped some pigeons for live training and MAN the wheels came off. On the first few birds, he broke, chased the birds, ignored […]
Homers first experience with live birds also taught ME the importance of the force fetch and HOLD. Homer like all young dogs did not like pigeons because of the feathers in his mouth. Homers second live pigeon was hit lightly, he brought it back to me and spit it out at my feet. THE BIRD […]
At six months old Homer was learning lots of new things. Now that he had his “Basic Training” down pat Homer was ready for “BASEBALL”. This was the beginning of his advanced “Handling” training. Baseball is how Homer learned to take hand signals to the left, right, or straight back. The game was made very […]
During Homers first couple months I did not make his retrieves very difficult. Once he turned 6 months old the “Marked” retrieves were made much more difficult. I was now starting to expect him to mark in areas I normally hunt. Here in the Southwest Deserts upland hunting is for quail, in steep brushy canyons. […]
Now that Homer was responding great to baseball it was time to teach him to take off after a bird he did not see fall. Up till now I only used his name to send him after a bird or dummy. With a blind retrieve I use the command “BACK” and a hand signal too […]
In my last post I talked about teaching line. Homer and I struggled with this part of his hunting dog training for quite some time. Hind sight is always 20/20 and looking back I think most of the problems Homer had were “Trainer” problems. I’ve learned in dog training, many things that seem like dog […]