Dogs for Tracking

[Labs4me]

FIRST... JoeM that is one good looking Lab. Good Grief!!!

Joebuck.  I'm holding THAT bird only because (being facetious) I think I only hit it with one pellet and it came down in exceptionally good condition. I knew when Huck (the adult Yellow on my wife's lap in one of the pictures above) delivered it to hand, that it was worthy of the wall. As I type, that pheasant is now on the wall behind me. Here’s a picture of Huck being encouraged to "Fetch and Hold" when he was about six weeks old.

 

[JoeM]

Thanks Monty,
Dakota will be 2 this January, he's my third lab and its a shame I own him he doesn't get to excel at what he was bred for.  His name is Dakota because he came from a breeder in SD.  I don't bird or small game hunt but I have friends that do and they always comment on how he naturally works side to side and how I can keep him close with voice commands(except when other dogs are around).  I had nothin to do with it I just love sending him into bushes and stuff to put up rabbits, doves etc and watching him get so excited.  But all in all he's a house pet who my 3 old twins adore and occasionally share sleeping quarters with.

[Labs4me]

JoeM

The black lab in the photo above is also named Dakota. We recently had to put him down and it was just a gut wrenching experience. He was my pride and joy and taught me more than I ever taught him.

Labs are by nature social dogs to the same degree that they are known for their retrieving/hunting abilities. As long as they are around people and  get to retrieve an occassional ball- they are usually content and happy. FYI- I didn't start to train my Dakota until he was three years old (honest!). It started with sticks and balls in the backyard; progressed to bumpers in the park and then birds at group traing sessions. He went on to become an  outstanding retriever and earned his UKC title at the age of SIX. Because he was a fireball, he was hard to keep up with when hunting- that is, he hunted for himself. From his perspective, if could keep up with him, great; if not, that was great too. In the truests sense of the word, he was a retriever.

Three year old twins and a two year old Lab eh? Sounds like you have REALLY been blessed in your life. I bet your kids are REALLY stoked about Santa this year. How Cool!!!

Happy Holidays to you and yours,

Labs

[ckruse]

I posted this short clip back in the summer, but if you fellows with the retrievers missed it- here it is again. My little guy is a river otter! They actually have a water test for them in Europe. They have to bring a duck to the bank from the middle of a pond. In our case, it was a rubber chicken! Hope you get a kick out of this.    http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b120/cdkruse/?action=view¤t=100_1316.flv

I wish I had gotten a longer video that day. He was bringing it back and begging for more. He even swam all the way out to the swim dock you see in the distance. He did some dock-dog style runs off of it much to our amusement! CKruse

[Labs4me]

CK, enjoyed the clip. Thanks for sharing it.

[owlbait]

I have a Neopolitam Mastiff that I think would be a great tracker. She weighs 140# and is one of the smartest dogs I have owned. She loves to solve puzzles (hide an object in an area that requires her to find it and figure out how to get it from that area), and like all good dogs she loves her family, especially me. Unfortunately, she gets car sick so I will never be able to test her deer tracking ability. Most of the large breed dogs are descended from Neos, so they should have a good nose too.