Where to take my dog to get trained for ducks?

[irishevox]

I have a 4 yr old Golden Retriever and i would love to get him trained for duck hunting, but i don;t know how to do it or where to take him.    Any suggestions?  Is he to old to start him on it?

[lokidog]

If he fetches a  ball, he's not too old imo.  Just start working him with a bumper.

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[seth30]

Is your dog gun shy?  I think that would be the biggest hurdle, or at least it was for my labs when I trained them at 6 months.

[ghosthunter]

The fact you live on a island I would do it myself. Couple good books and go for it.
Otherwise maybe Conway Kennel, or the guy in Alger.

[Happy Gilmore]

Go see Bucko at Conway Kennels. He's starting to specialize in Golden Retrievers. 

[irishevox]

Is your dog gun shy?  I think that would be the biggest hurdle, or at least it was for my labs when I trained them at 6 months.

He is scared of the wind lol... but he fetches  ad ball and brings is back until he gets tired he goes out for it then comes back with nothing lol

[Goldeneye]

Make and appointment at Conway Kennels and take him to Bucko.  He will evaluate him and be truthful with you about if he thinks he has potential as a bird hunter/retriever.  I've seen him do a few of these evaluations.     

[irishevox]

GREAT TO KNOW 

[LndShrk]

I have a 4 yr old Golden Retriever and i would love to get him trained for duck hunting, but i don;t know how to do it or where to take him.    Any suggestions?  Is he to old to start him on it?

I am really curious as I see this type of question pop up so many times on different sites.

Can you lay out specifically what your definition of get him trained for ducking is? This is not a dig I am really curious to see what folks define as trained to hunt means to them.

[liljozie495]

Find some literature by Richard Walters the gun dog books are great! I'm sure he's made some also on dogs that are a little older then puppy, but 4 yrs is not too old, start with someone holding the dog and comforting it at 50 or so feet from you while you shoot so it knows your making the noise, if it's ok with it move a few feet closer and closer, if all is good reward a treat (dogs love treats haha) and slow introduce a Avery duck bumper. Play fetch and reward the dog will figure it out, I'd worry most on focusing introducing the gun tho. I have 2 yr old in march black lab, started at 6 weeks holding him back in sit position while I rolled a ball not too far and gave him all the regular commands got that dialed by 8 weeks had him sitting, retrieving, come, drop and sit at my feet while throwing a teal bumper out to 50-60 feet (pretty big for 8weeks) moral of all that, young or old it's born in these dogs, I have faith you'll get your dog hunting... If get that gun introduced shoot away then hopefully work till he's at your feet with you shooting, reward every soo many throw/ retreive with a treat etc.

Good luck man :-) hope to see some pics of your dog with some birds!

[bracer40]

I have a 4 yr old Golden Retriever and i would love to get him trained for duck hunting, but i don;t know how to do it or where to take him.    Any suggestions?  Is he to old to start him on it?

I am really curious as I see this type of question pop up so many times on different sites.

Can you lay out specifically what your definition of get him trained for ducking is? This is not a dig I am really curious to see what folks define as trained to hunt means to them.

For somebody thinking about investing money into having a dog trained by a pro this is a really important question. For example, I've put a fair amount of training into my dog (Brittany) so that I can  have a dog that is steady to wing and shot, backs  and will retrieve on command. In hunt tests that should be sufficient to get his senior hunter. Now if I wanted to simply get his Jr. Hunter title I wouldn't have needed to bother with steady to wing, backing or retrieving. Standards would be different if I ran NSTRA events and again for field trialing. But the same question is valid if one doesn't care to do any of the organized events and only wants a hunting companion. It's important to have an idea of how you want your dog to perform following his initial training. Knowing what you want will go a long way to working with a  trainer to get what you want.
Just my 

[irishevox]

yeah i don't need competion dogs... i mean he is AKC and from a Champion blood line... and all that jazz but he basically keeps the bed and floor warm, those are his primary duties... lol but i do want him to go hunting with me....and get him into it

[Happy Gilmore]

The trials and tests do not mimic hunting well however, they do test the skills of an animal that get used in hunting situations. A senior hunter level dog is probably the best dog most people have ever seen in the marsh. Problem is peoples definitions of what a "good" dog is varies greatly. Having a title on a dog from a hunt test or trial venue takes away(in a perfect world) the interpretation by establishing a baseline set of skills by proving them at a test.

[PointNLab]

Bucko at Conway would be the best choice in your area

[josh87]

Bucko at Conway Kennel's will be honest with you and will give you the time of day and not feed you a bunch of B.S. I have personally had a dog trained by him and I would never go else where. I would strongly advise you to do your research into the guy in alger as well as other trainers. I did my research and found what I was looking for in Conway Kennels.

[Happy Gilmore]

He has lots of live ducks for training too. Hard to train a duck dog when you don't have any ducks. Beware of trainers who only use plastic bumpers. 

[vandeman17]

He has lots of live ducks for training too. Hard to train a duck dog when you don't have any ducks. Beware of trainers who only use plastic bumpers. 

He does have a lot of pigeons and ducks. When I had my pup up for a refresher a few months ago, we worked with live ducks that I had to shoot. Glad I didn't miss. 

[Happy Gilmore]

He has lots of live ducks for training too. Hard to train a duck dog when you don't have any ducks. Beware of trainers who only use plastic bumpers. 

He does have a lot of pigeons and ducks. When I had my pup up for a refresher a few months ago, we worked with live ducks that I had to shoot. Glad I didn't miss. 

don't worry, they save getting pizzed off for missing birds for when I show up and shoot for them.

[irishevox]

i emailed them i am hoping to hear a response soon.

[vandeman17]

i emailed them i am hoping to hear a response soon.

I wouldn't rely on email with them. I am family and still just call them. Call and talk to Charlotte and she can either have Bucko call you or if he is close, he can come to the phone.

[irishevox]

O ok...

[vandeman17]

O ok...

If you can't get in touch with him, shoot me a message and I will give you Bucko's cell number

[Happy Gilmore]

O ok...

If you can't get in touch with him, shoot me a message and I will give you Bucko's cell number

Send him lots of text messages during the day 

[vandeman17]

O ok...

If you can't get in touch with him, shoot me a message and I will give you Bucko's cell number

Send him lots of text messages during the day 

I always do.