Golden Retriever

It wasn't me!

We've just rehomed a golden retriever. Some clown was going to shoot her because he wanted a new gundog and he couldn't be bothered feeding her anymore or something. She's really a puppy. (We were told a year and a half, but I'd be skeptical, looks way too young for that; I'd say a year if even). I've a couple of questions now though.

1. How possible is it for her to double as a good working dog as well as a loving family pet?

2. For general roughshooting, will a retriever be much good? Will she point and hunt out game or is she solely a marker and retriever?

3. If she's a year old or older, will it be easy to train her? Are retrievers relatively hard or relatively difficult to train? (Never trained a gundog before) This is kinda important as I won't be around except for the weekends since I'll be in town for college, so weekends will be the primary time to train her.

I've probably left things out, but I'm sure one of the many dog men will be able to answer some of my questions anyway. Cheers in advance lads.

meathstevie

It wasn't me! wrote: »

We've just rehomed a golden retriever. Some clown was going to shoot her because he wanted a new gundog and he couldn't be bothered feeding her anymore or something. She's really a puppy. (We were told a year and a half, but I'd be skeptical, looks way too young for that; I'd say a year if even). I've a couple of questions now though.

1. How possible is it for her to double as a good working dog as well as a loving family pet?

Very possible. Golden retrievers tend to have a very sociable and gentle nature that doesn't interfere with their gun dog abilities. In fact most gun dog breeds seem to be excellent pets and workers.

It wasn't me! wrote: »

2. For general roughshooting, will a retriever be much good? Will she point and hunt out game or is she solely a marker and retriever?

Normally she'll flush rather than point. Having said that you will notice some "anticipation" in her step and the way she holds her head when she's on to something.

It wasn't me! wrote: »

3. If she's a year old or older, will it be easy to train her? Are retrievers relatively hard or relatively difficult to train? (Never trained a gundog before) This is kinda important as I won't be around except for the weekends since I'll be in town for college, so weekends will be the primary time to train her.

I'm not much of a trainer myself to put in mildly but from my own experience and from talking to other people retrievers and labs seem to be easier to train from around one and a half to two years of age rather than any sooner. Even do some basic stuff like taking her out the back and let her retrieve a soft toy and after a while move on to throwing it into a couple of shrubs or bushes, get her used to the gun, let her wander in front of you and call her back, throw a few treats in the ditch when you walk her to encourage her going in, etc, etc,....

It wasn't me! wrote: »

I've probably left things out, but I'm sure one of the many dog men will be able to answer some of my questions anyway. Cheers in advance lads.

It wasn't me!

That's deadly Stevie, cheers. I'll get to training her a bit with the ball and such, then maybe see how she handles bunnies and shotguns as well later on, certainly not for a while until she settles more. I don't mind if she just flushes rather than pointing. It's gotta come out sooner or later. Sounds like I might have myself a nice dog to do some shooting over now in a while.

meathstevie

I got my lab in similar circumstances. Some muppet bought it for his girlfriend who didn't want it and it was me taking it or the dog pound getting it. He was about six months old at the time and deffo not a little fluffy puppy anymore so I'm quite sure he was heading for a very long sleep.

First thing I done was take him to the bog on a long lead and secured him to a tree and I let of a few shots. Not a single sign of freight or panic and that tilted the scales for me to keep him. It's taken until very recently for him to wisen up and grow out of "childish" behaviour but he's doing grand now.

It wasn't me!

Great to hear. Hopefully she'll be good, and if not, she's gorgeous and will make a great pet.

Makes me sick that someone would shoot the dog just because of his own selfish short-sightedness.


Actually a question that begs asking is what kind of shooting a retriever is best suited to, so what do other people use them for and what are their traits when hunting?

Vegeta

It wasn't me! wrote: »

Actually a question that begs asking is what kind of shooting a retriever is best suited to, so what do other people use them for and what are their traits when hunting?

It really depends if the dog will hunt for you. It may not hunt at all but it may do a fantastic job retrieving. Anything that is shot needs to be retrieved so a retriever is always a great asset.

Personally I believe they are best suited to hide type shooting where the birds come to you, duck, pigeon, goose etc. as the hunting instinct is not as strong in some dogs.

Also just want to point out, a little and often is the way to train a dog. I'm sure you will see some results by just training weekends but I wouldn't imagine it will be as good as 20 minutes every day.

pullandbang

I hunted over a lab for about 8 years and she was brilliant on pheasants. She'd walk alongside the ditch with her nose in the air and would only go in or get excited if she got scent. She could smell a bird from up to 80 mts if the wind was right! She'd set the bird for a second before flushing and woulnd never pass one. Then if you did shoot a bird you'd never loose it. The retrieving abilities were second to none and she'd trail a wounded bird forever. Same on water - you never had to worry about losing a duck.

If your dog is 1 - 2 yrs old then this is the rght time to train him.

whitser

not sure about hunting ability but you should defo be able to use her as a retriever. just be very carefull getting her broken to the gun. if she becomes gun shy she'll be useless.

meathstevie

pullandbang wrote: »

I hunted over a lab for about 8 years and she was brilliant on pheasants. She'd walk alongside the ditch with her nose in the air and would only go in or get excited if she got scent. She could smell a bird from up to 80 mts if the wind was right! She'd set the bird for a second before flushing and woulnd never pass one. Then if you did shoot a bird you'd never loose it. The retrieving abilities were second to none and she'd trail a wounded bird forever. Same on water - you never had to worry about losing a duck.

If your dog is 1 - 2 yrs old then this is the rght time to train him.

That's exactly what my dog is doing.