Hello

Seth in Kansas here.

I am taking up duck hunting.

I have a 12 gage and waders.

I have a 3 month Lab pup from good blood

I need advise.

Can someone point out good reading material on how to start a good retriever / duck dog?

I could use any advise... never been on a duck hunt. I have lots of good water around here. I love to wing shoot birds and I am a avid pheasant hunter.

Thanks.

HI.

Read Water Dog. Great book to start with. It'll get your dog to all you need it to do to be a part time hunting dog and full time house dog.

Welcome. I agree that is a good book to start with.

Welcome! Get your version of the public land stamp. I would also look at hunting pheasant. You are in prime real estate for them.

Find somebody to mentor you, listen, watch, listen. Carry the dekes, bring hot coffee, food, gas money. Pretty much help in all the ways you can.

Work with your dog on a continuous basis.

Check out this post:

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/790611/1

THANK YOU.

I am a seasoned upland hunter. But we live is SE Kansas where there is not much other than a few scattered quail. We make the season opener every year in western kansas (limited both days last year).

I love wing shooting. There are a TON of duck in the area (2 resevores and 1 major river + tons of creek botom). So why not wing shoot ducks? I would like to shoot birds more that two weekends a year.

Now, just how do you go about that??? Thx for the advise.

Could it be Sethfish with amnesia?

For the dog:
1. For a 3 month old you should be doing puppy basics. Sit, and walking on a leash, "Here" enforced with a check cord, etc. Don't do more than 2-3 retrieves at a time. If the puppy gets bored you did too many.

2. Don't read Water Dog. It was written by a writer, not a dog trainer and there are many things in it that are obsolete. I would recommend Evan Graham's Smartworks. He sells books and DVDs. Follow all the steps in order don't skip anything.

3. Look into a retriever training club in your area. The dues are usually very cheap and there are a lot of people that can give you hands on help.

Wolters is not a dog trainer????? First I've ever heard of that.

Water Dog has long been the bible of dog training and it worked for my dog. Take that for what it's worth. I believe you should read multiple books on the topic and Water Dog is a must read on that list. It's a very good place to start.

It's a quick read and you will get a very good overview of the process and you can dive in deeper from there. The only thing that may be "obsolete" is that it was written before the advent of the e-collar. There is plenty of literature out there about how to integrate that into Wolter's methods if you so choose.

+1 on Waterdog

Gotta learn to crawl before you walk. I would send the dog to a proffesional and work on finding hunting spots and alot of other things that a new duck hunter needs to get lined out to be succsesful duck hunter. I mean you really dont know what your gonna want the dog to do or what to expect or what situations the dog will be put in hunting ducks. A proffesional can get the dog where it needs to be while you become a good duck hunter. Then you would both be matured as hunters and could become a duck slaughtering retrieving team in a short period of time.

By the way where you at in kansas Ive done a little hunting up there.

It wouldn't be a bad thing to start off by reading Waterdog. Many of Wolter's ideas still hold alot of merit. Many dogs have become fine retrievers using his methods. However alot of time has gone by and retriever training like everything else has progressed as new ideas and methods are developed. Smartworks as mentioned before is about as good as you can get. I would also recommend 10 minute retriever. It is an excellent resource for a beginning or slightly advanced trainer.

Not the first time I've heard it.

If you're looking to train a hunting dog then check out:

Duck Dog Basics

This DVD is much better than reading the original Water Dog book (written by Wolters who was not a dog trainer). The updated Water Dog book & video (by Charlie Jurney) aren't bad. Smartworks by Evan Graham is good but can get expensive. You can also buy High Rankin Retrievers by Stacey West (pretty good DVD as well). One other option is the Basics DVD from Danny Farmer and Judy Aycock. Good luck.

Here is a link to the Retriever Training Forum. Many of the best dog trainers in the country post and give advice there.

Ask them for advice on how to get started.
http://www.retrievertraining.net/forums/index.php