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Starting this thread for anybody interested in field training. This could be retrievers, setters, pointers, spaniels, as well as breeds like the viszla and wiemaraner. I am a strong believer in letting my dog do what his breed was originally bred to do. I am also against splitting the breeds between show and field lines. Many of the sporting breeds are split. The showline dogs are generally heavier, with more coat, and are also more low key in temperment. I not saying that either is right or wrong, it's just a shame that they have to be different. For instance, a show lab and field lab look like two completely separate breeds. Most dogs that I see that are pets, however, fall somewhere in between the two categories.
My dog is a Flat Coated Retriever. There is no split between field and show lines, though you will find that some breeders emphasize one or the other. Boone's mother is a show and agility dog, his father is a British field dog. We've decided to pursue anything and everything that Boone enjoys. He just finished his conformation championship recently, and we've also got titles in Rally obedience. But Boone truly loves fetching, so that's where we're heading right now.
I'm not going to go into a great deal of detail about that now, until I see where this discussion progresses. I will say that ducks and other birds are shot. And we do use an electronic collar on the dogs in the training process. I was not convinced until recently that I would use an e-collar. I hoped to have a spectacular dog with unfailing obedience who would never need a correction. Wrong!! Field dogs are not out there on lead. When you send your dog on a retrieve, you need absolute reliability, or he could run off or hide somewhere and eat his bird. Boone is a very good and obedient boy, but if he decides to act up out in the field, there's not much I can do from a distance, unless he's been trained using a collar.
I have just ordered my collar, I'm brand new to it. I'd be glad to post about our progress. The collar is not a means of correction. The collar is used to pressure the dog to do what he is being told to do. The dog learns that by complying, the pressure is turned off. As soon as I get my collar, I will put it on myself to make sure that I'm never giving my dog a big jolt. Also, once the training is solid, the dog almost never needs correction. One of Boone's brothers has received quite a lot of field training already, has received his Junior Hunter, and his owner tells me that she almost never turns on the collar anymore.
Finally, this IS about doing what the dog wants to do, even though through the training, he will learn to do it my way. There are people out there who will force a dog to hunt, even if the dog hates it. You might see dogs who are doing the job, but are not happy about it. If my dog runs out to a fall but tucks his tail between his legs while doing it, we won't continue. Because I want a dog who is happy more -- that means more to me than any titles!!
I just got a fully trained english setter from a friend pinched nerve so short hunts only. He uses shock collar for training and had dummies collars so they think could still get zapped. Ginger is trained on whistle , voice and hand signals. She loves her work even though times has the dumb streak and just wants to goof off.
Dreamhunter, there are vets and animal chiropractors that could probably give your dog a lot of help with that pinched nerve. No reason it should slow her down.
Katie1, I was just doing some reading about that. They did a lot more manhandling of the dogs. I also don't think that they had the bond with them that we do today, as these days we consider dogs our companions, and we know that a happy dog will work better for us. Fifty or more years ago, most dogs were treated more like property. If a dog didn't work out as a hunting dog, they normally got rid of them (by various means) and got a dog that worked better. One of my old field books was originally written back in the 40s, has been revised since then. They were pretty liberal with physical punishment. A dog had to be tough enough to take it.
Dogs of today have to be fairly tough to be a good field dog too. Not only in going through the training, but just to do the job. They're out there in rough weather sometimes. They go into cold water. They push through heavy cover. But they are built for it, they have the protective coats. And the good ones will do it over and over again because they love it. I really think that if somebody has a dog that doesn't love doing it, that they should find something else for that dog to do. It's in their blood really. When looking for a dog for field work, you really need to be looking at the pedigree and seeing what's in its background.
Interesting...at this time I don't know what to say since I never done field training. I did give a home to a 7 yr old Irish Setter that my uncle took hunting she did fantastic. But she was aready trained when I got her. My uncle wanted to see what she would do. & I had friends that trained Beagles BUT No collar was used! This will be somethine new for me to learn thru this thread. I hope some hunters add to it.
Dogs in the sporting groups are best. You could not expect a toy dog to hunt. Each breed of dog was developed for different reasons. Each bred was developed to hunt different animals. A beagle hunts rabbits, would not expect them to bring in a bird. Terriers were bred as farm dogs they were devolped to go after rodents like ground hogs & such. What bred is your dog?
I guess you could train in any venue with any type of dog, but the dogs that will do well, and do it happily, are dogs that were bred to do the particular job.
Your Aussie would probably want to herd the ducks
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