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Question: I have a 5-year-old Lab that I purchased. It’s a good dog, but it is hesitant to pick up Canada geese. It picks pheasants and ducks fine. It’s just geese that present the problem.

Answer: I would make sure it retrieves dead geese before I sent it for live ones. I would give it a lot of retrieves with dead geese to start with.

If the dog hesitates even with dead geese, then I would take the bird’s wings and wrap them around training dummies, using tape. And I would throw them. In situations like these, you want to throw dead birds for the dog first. Then, when the opportunity arises and you knock down a goose, encourage your dog to retrieve it.

If in that situation you get a wounded bird, and the dog won’t pick it, shoot the bird again so the dog can gain confidence.

There are other tricks you can use also. One is competition: Let another dog retrieve the goose in front of your dog. Another is to see if the dog will run down a crippled bird, thereby overcoming his hesitation.

In any event, always begin with a dead bird before graduating to the real thing.

Question: I know you’ve talked about this before. But tell me about bringing a young dog into the shooting field. At what age? How far along should they be in their training?

Answer: I never rush it. If you do, you will regret it. I wait until a young dog is 80 to 90 percent completely trained. I never like to introduce a young dog too early to live game. One reason is that I don’t like to see them go off dummies too early, which is something they’ll do — or at least some dogs will — once you introduce game into the training program.

Put it this way: I don’t introduce game until I have to. And then I always begin with cold (dead) game.

Question: When you take a dog into a first-time shooting situation, do you take it alone or with other dogs? And do you correct mistakes immediately in the shooting field, even though there might be people watching?

Answer: Often I will take a couple of older dogs along. And yes, if a young dog makes a mistake, I correct it right then and there, even if it’s an organized shoot that I’m attending.

I’ll put my gun down and make the correction even if it means missing a shot or two. When these things happen you have to sort your dog out. Generally, to make a correction, I’ll put a dog on a choke lead and bring him back to where it all went wrong. I’ll definitely show the dog that I’m unhappy with him.

It’s the tone of voice that’s the important thing.

Question: I was wondering whether you ever train your retrievers on snipe?

Answer: Sure, though the snipe is a very challenging bird. We don’t train younger dogs on them a lot perhaps, but we definitely take our older dogs out when we’re shooting snipe.

We begin by having the dog walk at heel. After we shoot a snipe, the dog is sent. If your dog can pick snipe well, you’re half the way there in your training. Generally, a retriever has to be very well trained to hold tight in an area where a snipe has fallen. If a dog can find a snipe buried in the reeds, it has a good nose.

Question: What do you think about keeping a shooting dog in the house?

Answer: Spending a lot of time with a dog will help you create a better dog. In the end, you’ll get more out of the animal. A dog doesn’t learn anything sitting in a kennel. If you have a dog around about you all the time, you achieve a better relationship with him.

Question: How important is physical conditioning of a retriever?

Answer: We always make sure they are in tip-top condition. I don’t like a dog too heavy, You can’t get them the best out of him if he’s overweight.

In my opinion, a Lab that is in good shape is a wee bit like a racing greyhound. In the end, you want your Labradors to be able to complete a day’s work.

I’m sure I keep my dogs leaner than most Americans do. I don’t like to see a fat dog. You don’t want to see a dog’s ribs, but you want to be able to feel them. Properly kept, a dog will go faster and look better.

Previous Questions and Answers

Question: Americans often “force fetch’’ their retrievers. Usually this means applying some sort of pressure, or pain, until the dog opens its mouth. Then the dummy is inserted in the mouth and the dog is praised. Sometimes this is done by pinching the inside of the dog’s ear with a fingernail. In other cases, more extreme pressure is applied. Do you force-fetch your retrievers?

Answer: What I do is train my dogs to hold a dummy. To accomplish this, I don’t use any pain. That would be the opposite of what I want to do while training. I won’t force a dog to retrieve. If a Lab of mine wants to retrieve, I can train him or her. But if they don’t have the eagerness to pick up a dummy or game, I don’t force them.

It is true that quite often a retriever, when he’s young, will drop a dummy while returning, or run around you when he nears you with the dummy. That’s why I will teach a dog to hold a dummy properly.

To accomplish this, I hold the dummy in one hand, open the dog’s mouth and put the dummy in. Then I issue the verbal command to “hold.’’ While I do this I put one hand on top of the head, praising the dog, while holding my other hand underneath his chin, so he doesn’t drop the dummy.

I might spend three weeks doing this. You can do it anywhere. When the dog is sitting in front of you, for instance, perhaps in your house, just put the dummy in his mouth and teach him to hold it. Also, when a dog is returning from a retrieve with the dummy in its mouth, I will say, “hold, hold, hold,’’ then give it a wee bit of praise when he returns to me holding the dummy properly.

While teaching this command, it’s important to keep the head up. If the head is in an upward position, the dummy can’t fall out. If the head is down, it’s easier for the dog to drop the dummy. Try to encourage the dog to keep his head up all the time while he’s alongside you holding the dummy.

It’s important to note that most retrievers, or I should say most good retrievers, will hold a dummy naturally. Not every dog needs a lot of encouragement to do it right, at least our dogs don’t. Maybe one in every five will need encouragement to hold onto the dummy.

Question: One reason so many American retrievers are force-fetched is because they are not inclined to hold the dummy naturally. Thus the idea that they have to be forced to do it. Do you experience this in your dogs?

Answer: If a dog doesn’t want to do hold a dummy, and later, game, instinctively, by its own free will, speaking honestly, by forcing him to do it, you’ll encounter other problems down the line.

I try to encourage my dogs to retrieve by using different objects, including dummies, fur and feather. I’ll look for something they want to pick up naturally. But in the end, if they don’t want to hold a dummy or bird, or don’t want to retrieve, I won’t bother with them.

This problem, and all of the training that might try to solve it, begins as a breeding issue . If you have a line of Labs in the U.S. that has to be forced to retrieve or forced beyond a minimum point to hold a dummy or bird, the problem will not get better by training. The answer only is to breed dogs that want to retrieve instinctively. Over here, if a dog doesn’t want to retrieve naturally and perform much of what is asked of him instinctively, no one breeds from it. No one is interested.

Question: When do you introduce a dog to game?

Answer: Every dog is different. The general answer is that only when I think a dog is under control and can handle it. For some dogs, this might not be until they are 16 or 17 months of age. Some might be a little younger. But they should be at a minimum 75 percent trained before I’ll introduce game.

I’ll grant you, many times you’ll think you have a dog 75 percent trained and when you take them out and show them game, it will appear as if you have them only 20 percent trained. But if the dog is truly well along, he will quickly adjust to the new situation and will take what comes in stride. I’ll tell you, though, that before I take a dog into the field where there is game I like to have him so I can stop him at a distance and handle him.

Cold game, of course, is different from live game, and I will introduce a dog to cold game before I take him shooting. Still, I don’t do this too early. I keep them on dummies a long time. Sometimes if you offer cold game too early, you’ll find a dog won’t easily go back to dummies — or might do so, but not enthusiastically.

Still, for most dogs, I probably won’t introduce cold game before they are 14 or 15 months of age. I’m never in a rush. I’ll use the dummy, and the dogs will hear gun shots before that time. There will be plenty of time to introduce game later on.

Question: What’s the danger of introducing game too early?

Answer: If a dog isn’t under proper control when they first see game, all they’ll learn is bad habits. When I take them shooting the first time, I want them to do exactly as I say. I want to be able to handle them and I want them to sit quietly while the shooting is going on. In almost all instances I won’t let them retrieve; I’ll pick the bird or rabbit for them. At this point I’m not interested in how good of a game finder they are or marker they are. I want to see the control.

Only when I am sure they are under control will I let them use their natural instincts a little more. If you have them half-trained when you take them into the field, you’ll learn quickly how wild and untrustworthy they are. And they won’t get any better under those circumstances.

The biggest part of a dog’s initial time in the shooting field is just getting him accustomed to the surroundings. You might give the dog the odd retrieve, but generally not. You are testing for how well they will walk to heel in those circumstances, how readily they will sit quietly and be patient. You want them to sit there comfortably, and to learn patience.

Question: In America, it’s not uncommon to take a 9-month-old dog into the field, or sometimes a dog that is even younger.

Answer: That to me is madness. You’re taking a puppy into the shooting field. You’re going to end up with a dog that whines, and with other characteristics you don’t want. At that age, the dog certainly can’t handle everything he’ll see.

Question: What age to you typically begin training your Labs? —Norb Berg, Barronett, Wisconsin

Answer: Generally when I think they are mature enough.

I know this differs from the age at which training often begins for retrievers in the U.S. But our goal is to develop dogs that are very disciplined and mannerly, and we tend to begin our training later than many Americans do.

What I look for in a young dog is the time they become a wee big of a problem; a bit unruly. This can differ from dog to dog, but generally it ranges from 7 to 9 months of age.

When you've been around dogs enough, you get a feel for the proper time to begin training. You could start earlier. And of course I'm always training the dog in terms of having it sit and come and so forth.

But you have to be careful. You don't want to inhibit the natural growing up process. You want the dog to grow up free and enjoy it. Yes, we are always humanizing the young dog, taking it in and out of the car, into the village on a lead and so forth. But we never seriously begin training until later.

It's my belief that if you start with a dog too early, you end up with them being a wee bit brainwashed.

You would be training a dog overly much. The puppy would never know what it's like to grow up and develop naturally. And that's what we want, ultimately, in the field, a natural retriever.

Question: How do you begin, then, the formal training?

Answer: When the serious training begins, that's when the discipline starts. Rather than encourage the dog to walk to heel at this time, this is when you begin saying ``You WILL walk to heel. And you are going to sit and stay. And if you move I will put you back. Rather than encourage the dog and hope he will do what you ask, you require it.

One of the first things I work on is heeling. This is a basic command, but the basics are critical to training a dog. Everything builds on everything else. I work a lot on this.

Regarding heeling, generally it will take me anywhere from three to four weeks to get a dog to walk properly to heel. However, I will take however long it takes, working every single day for 10 to 15 minutes, and sometimes twice a day.

The dog must heel, then when we stop, it must sit. Initially, the dog will pull away, or try to, or lag behind. But I keep putting him back into position.

As time goes on, and he performs this task better and better, I will begin to wrap the lead around the dog's neck, letting it go from my hand, and test whether the dog will still stay at heel. Of course the dog thinks he's still attached to me.

I test all the time to see if the dog is actually learning what I've been teaching. I will wrap the lead around his neck. I will take the lead off and hold both ends of it so he thinks he's still attached, while he's actually not. But if the dog fails at any time, I put the lead back on immediately and correct him.

Question: Why is heeling so important?

Answer: It's the foundation of training a dog. And if you've got the foundation, everything is easier. Walking to heel, sitting and staying - these are very basic foundations and they should be done correctly. If you don't do them correctly, you're cutting corners. In dog training it's very important to make sure you have every step done correctly before you move on to something else.

In the end, you must not tolerate a dog not doing it right. While heeling, if the dog drifts away, put the lead straight back on, make a wee jag on the lead and reinforce it with the command, “Heel.”

Obviously a bit of praise is important, too. But generally it's all about discipline.

If the dog is doing well, praise him calmly. Don't make a big fuss about them. Otherwise they'll tend to jump about and lose their concentration.