Gun Dog Training Tips

Winter Training Tips

In the winter months, make sure you keep plenty of fresh dry bedding in your dogs kennels and in their traveling crate. This is for warmth and creates a good dryer agent. This added touch will keep his joints warmer making him last longer for many years to come. Remember, protect your investment, ‘your highly trained Gold-Plated Gundog'.

Snake Avoidance Training

Learn more about Snake Avoidance Training and how it can save the life of your beloved Gold-Plated Gundog.

Continue Training the Young Dog Right after Hunting Season

After the hunting season, do not let them sit and stop learning while they are young and able to absorb information like a sponge. For a retriever, hunting is fun and it puts meat on our table, but it also detrains them to some degree depending on the age or level of the dog. The reason is when we hunt the dog, they get sloppy and we let them start breaking some “Golden Rules” just to get the bird back in the duck blind. Get them back into a training program and build on their confidence that only the experience of hunting can provide.

Conditioning Your Pup to Hunting Environments

Get your pup used to all the elements by spending a day in the field or marsh. Get as close to the real thing as possible by using real birds, decoys, gun fire, boats and duck calls. Don’t forget to bring along other hunt dogs that will be his hunting buddy. This will eliminate any surprises on opening day of your hunting season.

Take an Extra Training Bumper With You

Take an extra training bumper with you when you go hunting. When things are slow you can work in a practice retrieve. This will break up some dead time and help strengthen your Retriever training skills.

Deadly Summer Heat

Don’t forget your hunting dog even for a minute. With all the time, money and love put into your retriever relationship protect your investment with plenty of cool, fresh drinking water at all times. Keep them out of the sun as much as possible too. Find that shady spot and it will drop temperatures around 20 degrees for your 4-legged friend.

Bugs, Bugs and More Bugs…

Watch out for other bugs besides ticks and fleas in the summer. In the southern states, fire ants can cause a major problem for your hunting dogs. These pesky insects can get into the food dish of your retriever dogs and will bite them in the mouth along with the throat and the stomach–making it a sick and painful experience.

Another leading pest is those stinging yellow jackets. These will also hang around the food dish and will defend their prize bowl. Again, this can lead to another painful experience for you and your beloved hunting retriever dog.

…From Brian Szczech, ' The Gold-Plated Guru.' Till next time, be safe and love your dog.