We think he's about 6 months now. Maybe a little younger. I'm trying to teach him to retrieve small game... rabbits, squirrel etc. I'm hoping that by next season I'll be able to hunt with him consistently, but at the moment he's having a bit of trouble with the whole "sit and stay" concept when I'm shooting... my dog has ADD lol.
You'll have to spend alot of time training him if you've gotten him older then 7 weeks old. Unless he's already been previously trained or has it in his bloodline. Things that might help with teaching an old dog new tricks would be using snacks as rewards when he does what you want him to do, but unlike falconry .. you may use love and attention as a reward as well.
I have a well trained Pure Yellow Lab that was bred for retrieving. He does an excellent job finding an flushing but its in his instinct to retrieve as well. I'd love to combine both my hawking and his field skills but I know old habits are VERY hard to break. I've decided rather to be safe then sorry I'll keep them hunting seperatly.
He was deffinitely older than 7 weeks when we took him. He was dropped off on Jinx's girlfriends front porch at the end of the summer and somehow became my dog... still not entirely sure how that one happened lol. He was probably just three months then. It was hard to tell because he was way underfed and his teeth were mostly broken.
He's been doing alright on the training, but he has his good days and bad days, and lately they've been mostly bad. Whoever had him to begin with didn't train him very well and only did a half assed job of teaching him to sit. So, I'm stuck training him the basic around the house stuff and especially not to jump. Although, it would help if some people wouldn't encourage him *cough*mom*cough*.
As for breeding, I have no clue where he came from, who bred him, what they bred him for, nothing. I know he's mostly Black Lab, but I don't know what else is in there. Anybody care to make a guess lol?
no, the head isnt stocky enough for a german shorthair,and i would kno german shorthair, my uncles had like 5 of em! lol born and raised around those dogs!!
Pixie if he's anything like my dog he's more energy than brains or manners. Not that he's a bad dog he's just everywhere and if he doesn't get his walk every day he's a moron. LOL
He's got a lot of energy, yes, but he also pretty much has the run of the hill so it's not that bad. His problem is that he's got a heart of pure gold, but there are times I think he's dumber than a bucket of bolts . We also have another puppy who's about 15 pounds if he jumps on the scale and Black Jack thinks he's about that big too. So, a 65-70 lb. pup who thinks he's that small can lead to a little... trouble?
yup sounds like a lab. He'll train up well and if he's got the run of the land then he should be pretty good in the long run. Our cocker has got about a 1/4 acre here to run on but he likes to be where the people are and so he doesn't go out as much as he should but then neither do I.