Hunting Dog Question (Boykin)

[JTCowpoke]

My boykin is about a year old. When she was younger she would retrieve a little but didn't have a strong drive. Now that she is a year old, I can't watch TV at night without her dropping a toy in my lap wanting me to toss it around the living room. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I would spend my time working on sit, stay, heel and recall.

[Alta]

Thanks all - really appreciate the feedback. I spoke with the trainer this morning and he echoed what many on here said as well. Basically, if I'm having success with the obedience work then keep working on that and don't worry about the retrieving aspect so much. Just keep it short and fun. The retrieving work can come later as 4 months is still really young for a puppy (and especially for Boykins).

I was just concerned as we had a non hunting golden retriever who all she wanted to do was retrieve as a puppy and play in that manner. I would have thought a hunting dog would have that same demeanor right off the bat but guess that is not always the case.

[El General]

We got a Boykin Spaniel recently and the puppy is now 4 months old. The puppy comes from a great hunting line and arguably the best Boykin trainer in the country. This is also our first real hunting dog. I’m a tad concerned as the puppy doesn’t seem naturally that interested in retrieving. I go outside and try to make playing with bumpers fun, etc. but he isn’t that interested. He will chase tennis balls most of the time but is more interested in goofing around than even that.

I guess my question is should I be concerned about his future hunting ability? I’m going to send him to the trainer for formal training when he turns six months old but won’t lie that I thought he would naturally want to retrieve more than he is. Other than that he has been an amazing family dog. Even at 4 months he has been a ton of fun inside the house, with the kids, etc.

Don't worry about it. He is a puppy. It doesn't mean anything.

[Gclyde12]

My lab pup was the same way, i wouldn’t worry about true retrieving just yet. More so like mentioned above, get in a hall and get the pup all fired up and just play a game. Super high energy and excitement from you to play the “hall game” and the pup will catch on.

[bowmansdad]

I would recommend you get Richard Wolter’s book “Gun Dog” and follow it. We have Boykins and they were easy to teach ourselves, the more time you put in the better. They are very smart and love to please so you have to be very consistent in your commands. At 4 months old, their attention span is short so train accordingly. What has worked for us is let them play for awhile, shift to training mode and reward them for good behavior with a treat and lots of praise and finish on a good note. Once they are on the same page as you, it will click that training is fun and you can proceed from there. We have 2 1/2yo siblings and they are on different levels of training, the female is a retrieving machine like her mom, she did great on a recent Kansas pheasant hunt and we will title her soon. The male has trouble bringing the dummy back in a timely fashion(too busy hiking and goofing off) yet on live birds he will sit on the flush and wait for the shot like his mom does, he will bring it back in his own time.
Like I started out, spend the time and be consistent and FYI, the best trainer your dog will have is you.