Thinking about getting a mature duck dog

[4merguide]

From time-to-time for whatever reason life happens, and an older hunting dog becomes available. I started thinking that I really don't absolutely need to have a puppy to train anymore, and if I can give a good older dog a good loving home again that would want to live out their days hunting with me, then that might work out just fine. It's risky I know but I read an interesting Ducks Unlimited article yesterday and it not only can be doable but quite rewarding. Of course, it would have to be the right dog-can't be too aggressive because we have another little dog still in the house with us. Would like to have a lab or chessie but it's not a must. If it doesn't mind getting wet and cold, I'd be fine with a pointer as well. So, I'm just putting it out there. If anybody happens to hear of somebody with a good dog that just can't keep it anymore, please let me know. Thanks.

 

[4merguide]

Have any of you trained a 5-year-old dog to be a bird dog? We just had an opportunity presented to us. She's an AKC golden who's owners can't keep her anymore. I realize that it may be a long shot, but I also know that it is possible depending on the dog. Just wondering if any of you have ever tried? Thanks.

 

[bottom_dweller]

Does the dog retrieve from water? Any training?

My Dad got a black lab that was 1 1/2 years old from a “breeder/trainer” cheap. Getting that dog to retrieve ducks was dang near impossible. We joked that we needed a catapult. At 3 all of the sudden the lights came on and she started doing well. Aside from the whining, and not wanting to be in the blind, she turned out okay.

 

[4merguide]

Interesting article I just found: https://ottertailkennels.com/old-dog-hunt-training/

 

[bottom_dweller]

That’s a good article. I trained my dogs with Walters Gun Dog. Seemed to work well. But it was always a puppy.

 

[4merguide]

I also trained my chessie using Walter’s book. She had champion blood on both sides and ended up being the best bird dog I’ve ever hunted under.

 

[Doug in Alaska]

Go for it, if she doesn't hunt, you'll have a new best friend.

 

[4merguide]

Go for it, if she doesn't hunt, you'll have a new best friend.

That's what we're thinking as well. Besides, my wife has always wanted a golden. My chessie grew up and trained with my buddy's golden who ended up being a good hunter, so I know the dogs pretty well. We're going to go see her tomorrow, but after talking last night it's looking like a done deal. I'm actually getting pretty excited looking forward to the challenge of seeing what I can do with her, and if all works out well might have a new buddy in the blind this coming season.

 

[urbanhillbilly]

Great read… I have a year and a half old golden and have been wanting to train him for this as well. I do not hunt ducks or anything like that, but I would still like to train him the basics.

He’s my first golden and has quickly become one of the best dogs I’ve ever had. Highly recommend the breed

 

[4merguide]

.....I do not hunt ducks or anything like that, but I would still like to train him the basics.....

I understand that for some reason some hunters just don't hunt birds. But I will go as far as to say, if you've got hunting in your blood but never hunted over a good bird dog and watched a duck fall out of the sky, you really don't know what you're missing. I've been a big game hunter most of my life, but I cut my teeth hunting ducks, geese, pheasants, doves, quail, grouse, etc... as a kid with my father. For many years I had no dog and still loved to bird hunt. But once I hunted over a dog, bird hunting took on a whole new meaning. Training and "handling" a dog to get the best out of what they do instinctively is something addictive. More often than not it almost becomes a way of life because you and the dog never really stop learning from each other. You said it yourself, he's the best dog you've ever had. If you put in the time and effort to train him to birds, you wouldn't believe the enjoyment the two of you can have in the field. It's hard to put into words, but I really can't stress this enough. But of course, it's up to you.

 

[urbanhillbilly]

I’m definitely open to it and would love to, but to be honest I’ve only been “hunting” one time and that was the 40 mile herd last year.

I’m trying to get myself out there more and learn new things, I just haven’t made it into birds yet. Fingers crossed!

I totally see what you’re saying about the dog/handler connection, makes perfect sense in my book

 

[4merguide]

Rather than ask what kind of dog food most of you like because there's just so many different kinds these days, I'll just ask if any of you like Purina Pro Plan? I was just on their website where you can pretty much program what you want in, or out, of the food for your particular type of dog, which I thought was pretty cool. I know DU has them advertise on their tv shows, and I'm figuring that Purina has been around for so long they must know what they're doing by now. I'd really not get into all these off brand "designer" foods that are out there if I don't have to. Thoughts?

 

[FairbanksFlies]

We're pretty satisfied with PPP for our two labs. The salmon formula makes them stink from both ends, but they don't have any trouble digesting it.

 

[Doug in Alaska]

I have Australian Cattle Dogs and run them in herding trials, they are very active. I feed Purina Pro Plan Performance 30/20 and switch back and forth between Chicken & Rice, and Salmon & Rice. My dogs do very well on it and they love it.

 

[4merguide]

Thanks you guys.

 

[4merguide]

Was also wondering if any of you have had dogs that lick their paws a lot? My yellow used to do this and was told that he probably had allergies to the food he was eating. Before we knew about this, we found out real quick that he was allergic to corn so did away with that ingredient in his food and he was better in the digestion department, but he still licked his front paws. It was only recently that I found out that licking paws was probably related to allergies but could also be other things like liver problems as well as a couple other things that I can't recall right now. Did any of you experience this with your dogs and did you ever find out exactly what it was related to in your dog? I ask because this golden we now have is also licking her front paw. We will be changing her food shortly and that could be all it is. Just thought I'd ask if any of you have any info on this. Thanks again.

 

[4merguide]

Thought I would relate something cool that happened yesterday with this new golden. So far all I've been doing is obedience training with her. Unfortunately, although she had two sessions of obedience training when she was a pup, the owners never kept up with any training at all after that. Needless to say, she has some bad habits. She's smart though and seems eager to please so she's coming along.

Anyway, I was working with her on the retractable lead in the yard... sit, stay, heel, etc... We have a fairly long driveway bordered in spruce trees. As I walked her down towards the road she was almost out at the end of the lead when she flushed a spruce hen up into a tree. While praising her we ran back to the house to get the old trusty 22cal pellet gun. As we got back down the drive to the spot, still on the lead, she was really sniffin' around as I looked for the grouse. I found it and popped it. She saw it fall and wanted to get after it, but keep in mind she has NO experience with birds whatsoever. So, still praising her I held her back and we both floundered out through the deep snow to get to the bird. Of course she started smelling it as we got close and wanted to go but I just kept her on the short lead telling her "good girl, good girl." As we approached, I let her nose get to about a foot away from the bird. The bird was still twitching, and she was going nuts wanting that bird. I mean trembling nuts! I grabbed the bird and pushed it in her face praising her all the way, lifting it up and down letting her jump up at the bird in my hand and really making it fun. We got to the drive, and I threw it a few feet for her. Of course she went right after it but didn't know what to do with it when she got there. So I grabbed it again, held it in my hand and let her gently mouth it. Did the same thing again and she loved it.... couldn't get enough!

This was exactly what I wanted. From the research I've done and the couple emails from trainers that got back with me about training an older dog to hunt, seeing a high prey drive in a dog this age is of utmost importance. Needless to say, this was huge! She's got the drive bigtime so all I have to do is learn how to handle that drive in an older dog. I'm going to continue using the grouse as a training devise and then, if all goes well, progress to getting a duck as we get into spring and summer. At this point it's still way too early to say what will happen, but I'm optimistic. Whether or not she'll take to ALL the training I did with my chessie pup, ie, hand signals, the whistle, blind retrieves, taking a line, etc... is another dimension to training all together, and I'd probably be asking a lot of her. But we'll see. I'll let you all know how she progresses.

 

[ret ff]

Congratulations to both of you. Very exciting for you and her.

 

[urbanhillbilly]

Great stuff! Golden are all about relationship, if she sees you excited about something then it will definitely get her excited as well.

My golden licks his front paws at times, on a couple of occasions in excess to the point that it was raw in between his pads. Found out he had a yeast infection that we treated with antibiotics and medicated wipes on his paw. It healed up nicely. We attributed the infection to a couple of different factors..

1- This dog loves open spaces and will run all day long, even to the point where he beats the heck out of his feet. We had just come back from Seward where he spent 3 days just running up and down the beach collecting the whole ecosystem in his fur. Thus the entrance of foreign bacteria and whatnot.

2- His food. We were using Blue Buffalo, but switched to something else… (don’t remember what it is now) We have not had any other issues with his feet, although he still licks them. We just started telling him to knock it off if we notice it too much and keep checking his feet every so often.

Hope this helps, good luck and congrats on the golden!

 

[kenaibow fan]

Congrats on the new BFF,
I had a golden when I was a kid, hands down the smartest dog I’ve ever owned to the point it got irritating at times. I’m not ashamed as a teenager I was outsmarted by a dog more than once. The dog will take to training, they have a higher drive for that stuff than other bird dogs so it’s important to work them in some way. I’ve also owned a lab pointer mix and he was a good dog as well.