golden retriever dog help?

Question

i want to turn my 14 week old golden retriever into a dove hunting dog i have 2 Questions when do i start training him and how do i train him

and we don't have a dog club that specializes in training hunting dogs
lol we live in like n a small town

Answer 1

The very first thing to do is work on obedience training. Teach your dog to obey off leash, how to sit, stay, come, etc. Teach your dog the commands "hold it" & "drop it" (you'll probably be using these in the field). Also, play fetch with your dog until you can't play anymore!

I trained my goldens with pheasant wings (you can buy them at an outdoor store like Sportsman's Warehouse). Hide them in tall grass and let your dog find them, play a little fetch with them, etc. Also, try to find a dove scent that you can put on a canvas dummy, and have your dog search for it and retrieve it.

With many hunting breeds, there isn't a lot of training necessary...it is so innate with them to fetch a bird when it falls. If your dog isn't interested in finding a downed bird, walk over to the bird with him, and ask him to fetch it, praise him like crazy when he does. If you know someone with a trained gun dog, invite them along for some training. Watching the other dog have fun retrieving can help a lot, too. Make sure that the other dog isn't overly competitive or aggressive, though, there can be some horrible fights between dogs over birds.

There are many books on training gun dogs, and if you got your dog from a good breeder who hunts their dogs, contact them for more advice. I gave you the "simple version" here, I hope some of this helps. Good Luck!

Answer 2

The dog must be old enough to understand basic obedience commands. In my experience this occurs around 3 months of age and up. Try contacting your local hunting club... You need to start with the basics...
This is a dove hunting site...
http://www.mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2005/08/60.htm

Answer 3

join a dog club that specializes in training hunting dogs.

Answer 4

start now the sooner your pup gets it the easier itll be in the future ...take your dog hunting to get used to the sound of the gun ya work on his quickness and his ability to catch things by putting a badmitten birdie on a string or fishing pole and make him chase it and see if he can catch it in midair...my dog learned how to catch birds by herseld but she is a jrt who is naturally bred for hunting but we still used that method before and make her chase other things like a laser pointer ( that could help too) and stuffed animals will help too you could probably tie that to the string/ fishing pole