Free: Contests & Raffles.
Force fetch is the correct answer in almost all situations however, it should be just a little piece of the big training puzzle. A retrieve is just a tiny piece of training. A retrieve is not a force fetch. If you want a ff, you want a totally trained dog. Carrying a bird to you has little to do with ff. (Force fetch). Most pointer guys call a trained hold FF. Properly done, ff is just a small but important piece of a greater goal and training to understand pressure and more advanced skills related to training. Ff is just a single piece of a bigger picture. Most folks only hunt with dogs half way finished and it works out fine. Most are just partially finished which is great for a hunting partner
As far as I am concerned, FF is more about an attitude adjustment in a young retriever. It takes retrieving from being a game the pup will play if it wants to, to being the dogs job that it will do when you tell it to. An absolute must for dog that will go on to advanced work. Picking up objects and holding them is just a nice side benefit.How about using a long lead to fix such issues? Everybody talkin about FF, I start teaching with the aid of a long lead way before 6 mo.Start out with pigions at about 14 to 16 weeks, pup on a long lead, if it doesnt bring the bird, reel him in. If he's pulling feathers, its likely he will grab the bird because he will not want to leave the bird behind. My pups are not off a long lead in training till they are at least 4 to 5 mo.Just some thoughts.
The reason behind FF is far more then just the dog learning that he has to retrieve what you tell them to.Proponents of "the trained retrieve" or "conditioned retrieve" (politically correct terminology for force fetch) espouse the fact that you have a complete dog that is working for you and not just because he wants to...these are not mutually exclusive, however; the dog can still enjoy/want to do the work, but he also has to do it.The argument is made that sooner or later an unforced dog will quit on you and then you're screwed. What are you going to do? With an unforced dog, you have no recourse other than to try and coerce him via play or some other method to induce him to make a retrieve. On the other hand, it's contended that a forced dog can be made to retrieve because you have conditioned the response to pressure and getting something in his mouth; you have a tool to call upon if your dog refuses to go.Force fetch also has many by-product effects other than just getting an object in a mouth. It can clean up mouth issues (rolling, chomping, a sloppy hold, hard mouth, etc), it helps establish the handler/trainer as the Alpha in the pack hierarchy, it helps bring hard-headed/dominant dogs in line while also bolding up timid dogs. "Force programs" often use the same of idea of "turning pressure off" during the force fetch process (ear pinch, open mouth, object in mouth, pinch turned off) to teach more advanced concepts like taking lines; holding lines through water, suction, diversions, etc; driving hard on the initial lines and many other things
He's been doing a lot better the past couple months. I've had him on some planted birds and he is no longer pulling feathers. He will pick them up and bring them to me but drops them 5-10 feet in front of me, so working on the hold is our next step. Like most have said he's still a pup so we are both learning as we go. Thanks for the tips!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Also give the bird back to him after he delivers it to you and say "hold" then "hand"and take it from him.... He will be more apt to bring it to you if he doesn't " loose it" when you take it from him when he brings it to you....
When you have force fetch trained a dog they understand that when you give the command "fetch" they have NO choice but to come back with what you have told them to retrieve so yes it does help with teaching them other things. I agree that you never use a e collar unless it is to enforce something the dog has already been taught.
