Fetching Help

Hi everyone just looking for some advice with training my Brittany to fetch downed game.

He is 1.5 years old and have been training with him this year this is new to me and the pup. I have worked with him on pointing and shooting over him which we are good on both of those minus some fine tuning that needs to be done on the steadiness side of things. He loves live birds ducks, pigeons, chukars, I would assume pheasants as well but we have little exposure to them. When I send him to fetch on command he runs over to the downed game all excited and will stop and smell it then wants nothing to do with it (turns and looks at me then will return to me or go off looking for other birds). Is this a problem with not enough exposure? We get our when we can but not near as much as we should. I know you can force fetch and everyone has their own opinion and beliefs on that, but I don't believe I have the time for that as I travel for work and am home on weekends only.

Just looking for some advice on this problem, I would rather not look for a personal trainer at this point maybe in the spring time and I know already where I will go for that. Has anyone else had this problem with pointers?

You will be told to FF the dog. I've heard this behavior can be typical for Britannies. It can be overcome w/o FF, but either will require time from you or sending the dog to a trainer. Does he fetch dummies?

"Does he fetch dummies" is the important question here. But regardless, if you travel for work and are only home on the weekends, you'll need a trainer for this I think.

I had a lab that did that the first year. he would swim out bump the bird with his nose turn around and swim back minus the bird. all it took to fix it was I would walk down to the water and make go back and forth till he picked it up. after going back and forth he got tired and finally got it in his head "if I pick this up he's going to let me out" so after a lot of time wasted swimming around he figured out what he was there for. as my son would say to him "dads the boss, not you"

Felix,
The behaviour you get is related to the behaviour you allow. The longer the issue persists, the harder and tougher the fix may be.

So it's up to you whether you wish to tackle the training yourself or find someone who can help you. At present I would say you don't have the time to fix your problem(your statement) so if that's the case be prepared to accept what you get. The likelihood of the dogs behaviour changing and improving is slim.

Just a footnote about FF. It is badly understood and often poorly carried out to the extent that people shy away from a simple teaching technique that cleans up much in the process of teaching the dog other retrieving skills. You might squeak by if you teach a solid hold, sometimes dogs make the connection.

FF would clean up this issue very quickly and once taught and with some practise it would appear as if your Brit always retrieved and retrieved to hand. Most dogs would have this down in about 2 weeks.

Your call....what would you like to live with.....

X2 on Krakadawn.

You could go to the downed game and pick it and place it in his mouth , making sure he initially can not drop it. Work towards a hold and then carry BUT there is a lot of preparation work that would coincide with FF that would make for a correct hold, tight grip before placing a fresh bird in the dogs mouth.

Dick

Your young Britt sounds exactly like mine was at that age. I also travel during the week and often am not home nights. Mine is now 5 yrs old and a great hunter. No killed bird "isn't" retrieved and no wounded bird escapes him, ever. He will chase down a wounded bird 2 fields over and jump fences to do it. He will bring back a bird 300 yds and then drop it 30ft from me. He will do water retrieves without hesitation. So no, he doesn't retrieve to hand. Proper FF would likely have solved that and my next dog will be FF trained ( likely by a pro trainer ). Having said that the final release to hand is something I have decided I can live without.

The trained retrieve is your best bet....or what most call FF. I agree with Krak - often misunderstood and for good reason!
By-the-way, this behavior is not at all restricted to any one breed (ie. Brittanys).

As with all learned behaviors its about small steps and positive reinforcement of proper actions. Would start small. a short toss of a foot or two encourage the pickup and drop in hand. Problem sending the dog on a long retrieve is when he gets there your not there to help him figure out whats he supposed to do. So far my pup handles tennis balls like a lab, ducks, pheasants and grouse has figured them out. Oddly though she still resists woodcock the 1 bird she has had the most exposure too so far.

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Originally Posted by finsfurfeathers

As with all learned behaviors its about small steps and positive reinforcement of proper actions. Would start small. a short toss of a foot or two encourage the pickup and drop in hand. Problem sending the dog on a long retrieve is when he gets there your not there to help him figure out whats he supposed to do. So far my pup handles tennis balls like a lab, ducks, pheasants and grouse has figured them out. Oddly though she still resists woodcock the 1 bird she has had the most exposure too so far.

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Not uncommon. I have seen my dog pounce on them and spit them right out.

Thanks for the replies from everyone.

I likely will have to force fetch I'm just not sure if it will be affective with only working on weekends, any thoughts on this?

I do work on the hold command with him using a wing from a duck I harvested this year. As for bumpers I use it in the house starting in a comfortable place without distractions and he does it no problem. I have also used the wing in a sock making him fetch, exposing the wing more with each fetch. He will bring it back no problem unless he really sees the wing, sometimes even grabbing the wing and retrieving it fully. If I just toss the wing the odd time he will bring it back half way and drop it realizing what it was then leaving it and returning to me.

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Originally Posted by terrym

Not uncommon. I have seen my dog pounce on them and spit them right out.

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Yup I'm not surprised at all. She'll hunt them out with a passion yet I am sure she's thinking miss miss miss while on point so she won't have to pick them up after.

FF is the way to go, the dog will live for the retrieve.... even if the retrieve item is the same size as he is....

Since people on here have more experience in FF, can anyone recommend a program for a Brittany? Would it be successful for me working it only weekends?

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Originally Posted by Felix

Since people on here have more experience in FF, can anyone recommend a program for a Brittany? Would it be successful for me working it only weekends?

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No it wouldn't. Luckily it only takes 5-10 minutes a day. Everyone has that. If anything ditch the 5 minutes you spend on here