I have a lab that is right at 2 years old, and have had him since he was about 4 months old (rescued him from a shelter). He has yet to go out shooting or hunting with me, but I would like to get him into it, as I am getting more into hunting and into more kinds of hunting. I'll admit that he is babied by his mom (my fiancee) but he is still a well behaved and disciplined dog and knows sit, down, stay and most of the time knows back (our version of whoa). Too late to start? I'm sure an e-collar is needed, so any opinions would help.

Thanks

Short cut the whole process and join a bird club. Hunt alone, or with another flusher. Excellerated learning.

Welcome. Since you've had him almost two years and spent some time on him it sounds like he's going to be around whether he hunts or not. IMO you should give it a try. He might be a hunter, if he's not you've still got a dog you like.

Before you spend considerable bucks on an E-collar, (you can ruin him if you don't know how to use it) training books & dvds you might want to do some research on trainers and find one you think you can trust that will listen to you. Tell the trainer you want to know if the dog has the aptitude to hunt and if it's trainable. You'll probably have to leave the dog with the trainer for a few weeks. This will cost some but should give you an idea of the dog's potential. This could save you and the dog a lot of wasted time and effort.

Ditto on the caution with an e-collar.

IMO, the enjoyment you get from time in the field with your dog will far outweigh any mistakes he/you might make.....just go have fun!!

Labs are great. You don't say what you intend to hunt with him, but there's a picture of a pheasant in your avatar. If it's mostly upland birds, I wouldn't mess with a trainer. All a lab NEEDS to do is move around a bit and stay close enough that the hunters can shoot birds that flush. If you play fetch regularly, he'll retrieve with no problem (but without the pomp and circumstance of a well-trained lab).

If he has a decentnose, he'll learn on his own to actually "hunt" the birds, but IMO that's tough to train.

The most important command is "come" or "here". If he responds every time, immediately, he'll be fine. I've hunted over many labs and most will forget what that means occasionally. What separates the good from the bad is how often and how long it takes them to feel guilty and finally return to you. That's where an e-collar is very useful.

Don't worry about bind retrieves, "steadiness", or hand signals unless you intend to hunt waterfowl.

Looks like we all think you should give him a try. However you decide to do it make sure he gets the right exposure to gunfire first. If the first time he hears a shotgun is right over his head or beside him you could end up with a gunshy dog. Most dogs I've seen don't get over it.

Forget the E collar, that would be a good way to ruin the dog expecially if you don't know how, when, or why to use it.

I started with a 4 year old once and made it through to an HRC/UKC "Hunting Retriever" title.
NEVER TOO LATE!
Kevin

Mr. Marbles (who's zonked out on the couch as I type this, talk about spoiled) didn't get to go hunting until he was about 2 or so. Mostly because he ain't a hunting dog (but don't tell him that). There might be some lab in there, but he's mostly boxer and Austrailian Cattle dog. He was a pound puppy rescue. Anyways, I trained him to gunfire because I live in the country and do enough shooting in the yard, that I figured it would be better to have him used to gunfire than cowering under the porch everytime a gun came out. He started tagging along on walks with me and would occasionally jump a quail or a pheasant so started bring a shotgun on the walks and he figured out the game pretty quickly. He's pretty respected among my hunting buddies for his abilities to find downed birds that are runners. Plus he takes a darn good picture. I say condition the dog to gunfire and take him out. You might be as surprised as I've been.

Mr Marbles looks like my dog Halo what with that brindle coat & all. Halo is not a hunter , just a yard dog. She does not live on the end of that chain BTW. That a Browning or Remington semi auto ?



Mike

Halo's a good lookin' dog. With those colorations you'd think those two dogs could be related. The Shotgun is a Browning A5 in 16 ga. Circa 1920's.

Thanks to you all.
I did plan on making sure he will be fine around gunfire first and foremost. I understand that you can ruin a dog with e-collar, and know you can train whoa/come/back with a check cord, but he, like all dogs i'm sure, knows when something is and isn't connected to his collar. I just wouldn't want to get out and ruin everyone's day with him jumping birds far out, and me having to chase him around all day.
I'll take it slow, and see what we can do. If he's not a hunter, then he's still a hell of a dog, and i'm fine with that.

The key to an e-collar is discipline.......on your part, not the dog's. Learn how to use it and more importantly how not to use it. Until you are very experienced, never use it when you are angry. At that point it's already your fault for letting things get out of control or trying to go too fast.

Where in the vast Land Of Oz are you? I'm located halfway twixt Manhattan and Emporia.

Have a look at NAVHDA www.navhda.org . Sure, their focus is versatile breeds, but their goal is properly trained dogs.

Here's my mostly Labrador Retriever, OX, with a days haul of ducks from our local marsh. I was told he was a pure bred by way of an accidental breeding of two hunters' Labs while at a BBQ. Well, he's a great looking 94 lb brute and can be a handful at times, but I wouldn't trade him for any other dog!

A story then the answer:

I have a red female Australian Cattle dog that is the best hunting dog I have ever own! (flushing and retriving)

She will hunt anything anytime any where.

This dogs name is REBA and yes she killed a couple of my wifes chickens when she was a puppy, but she brought them to me. Boy did I ever tell her what a good dog she was!!!GET IT?

The answer is and always will be.........just let the dog hunt.

If the dog won't hunt and is afraid of guns, like reba's big brother, then just leave it at home and get another dog.

Just take that stinkin' mutt of yours out and we'll see if he can hunt bro.

SS

With many breeds (Labs being one), 2 year olds are still not fully mentally mature. You squander some of the dog's potential by not starting them as early as practical, but there's plenty left at 2--assuming the dog has some.

Start the dog off like he was a new puppy with formal obedience, and use a structured, sequential training program. Things often take longer with dog that's had a couple of years to develop bad habits and be his own boss. Be firm, be fair, and let the dog show you when he's ready to move to the next step. If all the hunt hasn't been bred out of his line, he'll be great.