Hi, anyone got any ideas, I have had a five year old labrador retriever for 4 months now. She is great in nearly every way but recently she has been exercising her right as a retriever to bring me various items of game i.e dead rabbits which she releases on the command of 'dead'. Yesterday though she got up a hen pheasant, caught it and killed it. She then would not release it to us and had to have her mouth prised open, she repeated this tonight with a piece of rabbit, already dead but not long so. Has anyone any idea what I should do about this? I know its in her breeding and she has been used previously as a gun dog but short of keeping her on a lead on walks I don't know what to do. Thanks. Jane
You need to keep her on a lead as this is not acceptable and in a lot of places, illegal. It is in her nature to an extent, if she was used as a gundog how did you come about owning her?
Oh dear - she sounds and look just lovely, and I would be looking to try and retrain her out of this trait. As Random says, it's not always acceptable....... Good luck!
Well killing Hen Pheasants in the breeding season is shocking, especially from a gundog. Id suggest she is no good with a hard mouth anyway as a gundog, (which is probably why she still isnt doing it) so perhaps a muzzle is in order when you exercise her to protect the wildlife she had now started killing.
Sounds like an extremely frustrated working line dog to me. She`s being a dog and doing what her instincts tell her - what a hundred years of breeding are making her do. That`s why it`s important to shape her behaviour. This isn`t a `killer` dog - it`s an untrained dog. Go to a Gundog trainer or club, and get help to train her.
I have also inherited a couple of gun dogs over the years and they make excellent pets, however this behaivour is common when they have been removed from the working enviroment. They are usually very easy to train though and i am sure you can teach it not to take wildlife i have managed it with my mine. Try to give the leave comand as soon as they spot something which mine respond to very well. You can practise this with food and toys at home.The stop whistle is also essential if shes trained to that level. Enjoy your retired gun dog they are the best.
If only the dog knew it was breeding season... Even the best gundogs have been known to chomp down a little harder than they should, especially when the wounded animal they are retrieving is giving them a hard time (perhaps a cock pheasant using it's spurs). I'm lucky with a HPR as they give you plenty of warning they have found something and therefore time to act accordingly. I agree that a reliable stop whistle is essential. This is something my own dog lacks big time and I need to work on it much harder. As Dawn suggested, a muzzle is another route and one I have tried. I bought a cage muzzle but Flynn wouldnt tolerate it at all so I resorted to being careful where I took him and not letting him free hunt.
I know it may be illegal in some places, its not nice really either. Came about owning her as previous owner was terminally ill.
Thanks, have joined a gundog group but wonder if the retrieving here will just reinforce her instinct to ferret out prey. Thanks for being so positive unlike some others. I wonder if just going for a long walk is not enough for her and maybe she needs something else such a fly ball or agility?
I don`t know your dog, but Labs generally love to retrieve and love carrying stuff in their mouths. They get as big a buzz out of carrying a dummy as anything else (well, maybe not donuts - labs do like their food). So the excitement they get from fetching stuff for you should satisfy their urge to hunt. It`s just a question of making the training fun for them so they want to fetch for you again and again. Re. hunting prey - I have managed to transfer Daisy`s very strong prey drive on to her ball. In fact she watched rabbit run past her last week and left it because she was chasing her ball. I`m sure you and your dog will have fun channeling her instincts - after all, it sounds like she`s quite enthusiastic about it.
Yes i am all for the tennis ball focus. Take the ball and the wanger with you and they will literally ignore anything and everything else. Keep working with her the rewards are well worth it i have three totally amazing dogs now who make me proud everyday. Its all about the timing and watching your dog once youve sussed that give away reaction that shes spotted something a firm leave the recall whistle followed by lots of praise a treat and or the beloved ball.
Thanks Vodkalass and Claire and Daisy, am on the case with the tennis ball already. Am also working on the leave command in the garden with treats and her favourite kong toy, promising start.
teach her 1 simple word the word NO and condition it well. by gettin yourself a dead piece of game setting it 5 paces away make the dog sit and stay. keep lifting it setting it closer to the dog and keep yourself between the game and the dog reminding it the word no until you can trust the dog understands no. persist with this until you can eventually throw the game around the dog and enforcing the word no everytime it attempts to lift it.
Hi Gareth b, thanks for your advice. I have been working on the command leave with toys and food and she seems to be getting the hang of this so using the same word (leave) and trying your suggestion but with the word leave sounds like something we could progress onto. thanks
ur welcome. yes as long as you use 1 single word so that the dog dosent become confused. good luck with it labs are brilliant to work with. i have 2 working as excellent gundogs. and a litter of 6 puppies at a week old.
