Teaching to retrieve

Dusty87

As iv said before, my English pointer is not a retriever.
My other dog is but he has other flaws.
I know they can be thought to retrieve from wathing Epointers videos. So whats the best way of doing it?? He's 3. Is he too old to teach to retrieve??
Thanks

EPointer=Birdss

Hey Dusty,

Try a rabbit skin dummy or something that realy interests him & keep him on a long lead. Small throws to begin with & increase.
All praise & rewards if he picks it up. Make a game of it. 3-5 throws max a session or you'll bore him.

There's always the force fetch option which I've never needed or tried but sems a bit OTT...

Not all dogs will retrieve though - some just couldn't be bothered.

Dusty87

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

Hey Dusty,

Try a rabbit skin dummy or something that realy interests him & keep him on a long lead. Small throws to begin with & increase.
All praise & rewards if he picks it up. Make a game of it. 3-5 throws max a session or you'll bore him.

There's always the force fetch option which I've never needed or tried but sems a bit OTT...

Not all dogs will retrieve though - some just couldn't be bothered.

Thats the way he seems alright. Just looks at the other lad retrieving and then back at me. Will try the rabbit dummy. Will the scent of rabbit affect him on birds?? As in rather the rabbit scent and loose interest in pheasants?

deeksofdoom

Dusty87 wrote: »

Thats the way he seems alright. Just looks at the other lad retrieving and then back at me. Will try the rabbit dummy. Will the scent of rabbit affect him on birds?? As in rather the rabbit scent and loose interest in pheasants?

Dusty I wouldn't worry to much whether its a rabbit skin or not you want to get him to bring stuff back to you anything will do. On my pups I used a pair of smelly socks, the smellier the better. Or a tennis ball wrapped in smelly socks.

jap gt

my pup will fetch anything i throw out for her, but rarely drops it for me or returns it to hand, usually just runs past me and lies down