brkygetr Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Got the day off tommorrow and gonna try a new lake. Want to take my pup (11 month/ 75 lb retreiver). Problem is this guy has balls of steel and will run anything he sees. Goin to be an excellent bird dog. The area i am going i have hunted and have seen lots of wolves, sightings and tracks. I am kinda worried if I take him and he sees a wolf across the ice he will be gone. I am not one to tie him up, he is a high energy dog and it is not fair to him to be tied, and besides he will be everywhere and the rope will get caught up in rods, ect. As I will be hunting on the way to the lake I will have my gun with me on the ice but I WOULD NEVER shoot a wolf. They are the epitomy of nature. So any suggestions, or should i just leave my buddy at home untill another day???? BTW heres a pic from last ice of last year and his only time ice-fishing....he's a wee bigger now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigugli Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 If the dog will run anything that moves you gotta leash the pup or keep her home. Better for your peace of mind. Better for the dog's own safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beats Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Basically you answered your own question. If you foresee the possibility of the dog running and know that tying the dog up will prevent that, then there's your answer. Or take your chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twocoda Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Half a dozen of one or 6 of the other....i say take the dog eventually he is going to have to get used to the sightings of everything in the bush...but i would keep him on a retractable leash for his safety until you are 100 % confident he will comply to your commands...take him off the leash when you want to try to work him to retrieve...i too have a retriever but she dosnt have balls of steel...5 months 45 pounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greencoachdog Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 If the dog will run anything that moves you gotta leash the pup or keep her home. Better for your peace of mind. Better for the dog's own safety. Ditto! I believe some obedience traing is in order, watch the Dog Whisperer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Beauty looking pup. Keep him safe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daplumma Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Take your buddy and a leash.Make it a training session.The sooner you take the lead the better off the dog will be.Great looking pup you have there. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickster Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 i don't think i would chance it wolves are famous for luring dogs into following one ofthem only to have the rest of the pack waiting for it on another note that lake in your pic wouldn't happen to have splake in it east of where you live would it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Like the others have said... leave home or leash until you've taught her that YOU are the alpha dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch312 Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 dont confuse high energy with being a disobedient dog. many people use the excuse as denial. the dog is plenty old enough to know basic commands such as sit, fetch, come, heel, etc. he will NOT be a good bird dog if you dont start training right away to control his tendency to run anything he sees. if you dont fix the problem, he will ruin many hunts in the future. if he decides to run a wolf, kiss your puppy goodbye. the next time you see him it wont be a pretty sight. a wolf could kill a retriever without much effort. leave the dog home until it is trained. like irishfield said, the dog must know you are his boss and must obey you. having trouble? next time the dog is getting in trouble, grab the neck and push your face against his neck to make it think you are biting. use quite a bit of force to drive the dog to the ground onto its back while staring into its eyes the whole time. do not let go or stop staring until the dog settles down and LOOKS AWAY. release and ignore the dog for at least 15 minutes. this is how canines have always established dominance. remember, dogs are wolves and wolves are dogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daplumma Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Rather than edit my other post I'll just write it here.When you have a pup like that,especially a retriever type you need to have a bond and chain of command.I liteerally tied my pup to my waiste with a 20 foot leash for the first few months I had her.She came from another family and was 6 months or so when I got her.She learned her boundries and went where I went.She still keeps me in sight and I dont worry about her running anything unless I "tell "her its OK.Mostly she gets squirrels ,mice and moles.Until you can stop your pup in his tracks when he is on a dead run after something(deer in my case)keep a lead on the dog.Part of training a dog is not letting it fail.Predicting what the dog will do next and stopping it before it can do wrong will make your life easier.Always be on the lookout for the next distraction and head it off at the pass.With Labs and the sort you need to take the lead early or wait until they are old and fat before you can trust them.As I said before..Great lookin pup! Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brkygetr Posted December 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 I may have mislead you foks with the "run anything he sees" bit. He is very obedient and listens well...but he is still a pup. I have had 2 other retrievers before this from beginning to end, both hunting dogs from good lines (this one isn't). My situation involves the fact that I have never brought a dog up in wolf country so i am little neive/green about this. I think though everyone has basically answered what I thought....either tie him to a tree, or leave him a home till he works the snot out of his system. I'll go with that, better than the alternate ending. and... that lake in your pic wouldn't happen to have splake in it east of where you live would it no Rick it doesn't...but its the smallest hidden laker lake out here, and its kinda east... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwl Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 2 winters ago while icefishing at my trailer, one of the neighbours up there came to meet me for the weekend to hang out and fish. One day we set lines out, went up on his deck to hang out,have a beer and watch the lines,we saw a big black coloured wolf crossing the ice, looking like it was making a perfect B-line for where we where,my buddy had his dog with him, a medium sized mutt, the dog saw the wolf and went to run out on the ice after it...the dog barked, my buddy yelled at it to come back, the dog came back and the wolf booked it all nervously making a zig zag pattern as it ran across the ice turning to look back the odd time, we watched it with binoculars after it started to run off, couldn't get a picture of it because it was too far away to look more than a black dot. I think the wolf was already leery about being out in the open like that. It was pretty cool to see however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cram Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Use it as an opportunity to further train your dog. Its better now than later in its life when habits are well-established. btw - i wouldn't worry about wolves eating your dog.....everyone talks about it but i am yet to know a single person who it has happened to. FOR SURE keep him/her in control.....but wolves luring your dog away??? give me a break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickster Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Use it as an opportunity to further train your dog. Its better now than later in its life when habits are well-established.btw - i wouldn't worry about wolves eating your dog.....everyone talks about it but i am yet to know a single person who it has happened to. FOR SURE keep him/her in control.....but wolves luring your dog away??? give me a break. I lost my chocolate lab six years ago because it followed a wolf into the bush where the pack was waiting (it was easy to read the tracks in the snow) and my neighbor watched a wolf last year that tried to lure his dog away from the house the wolf sat and waited for the dog and when it started for the wolf it would head towards the bush when the dog hesitated (maybe instinct told it something wasn't right) the wolf would comeback a few steps and sit and wait again my neighbour called his dog in and the wolf took off so NO cram i am not going to """give you a break""" I will go out on a limb and assume you have not spent any time here in the northwest part of the province the wolves and bears aren't the fuzzy little animals you see in the zoo i lost a part of my family when those wolves killed my dog so don't tell me that is doesn't freakin happen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Use it as an opportunity to further train your dog. Its better now than later in its life when habits are well-established.btw - i wouldn't worry about wolves eating your dog.....everyone talks about it but i am yet to know a single person who it has happened to. FOR SURE keep him/her in control.....but wolves luring your dog away??? give me a break. We had a large number of coyotes about 5 years ago in our area doing that to dogs, never mind wolves, get out of the bubble and introduced to the harshness of nature. Give me a break Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushart Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Well I also have been in the northwest as stated before and I really don't feel like typing ALL!! the examples but suffice of to say Wolves are very partial to dog meat. Bushart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abraxus Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Yup! Coyotes do it also. I have owned two Rottenwielers now and on occassion we have encountered what appeared to be a lone Coyote. The first time this happened to me, I was as enquistive as my dog. I let her go and investigate. As my dog approached the Coyote in the clearing, 4 others came out of the bush and swung in on my dogs flanks. I called her and she turned to see the coyotes. She jumped to full attention and knew exactly what was going on. She chased the coyotes as far as the bush line and then returned to my side. At 120lbs, she would have given one, perhaps two Coyotes a good licking, but certainly not 5. For the most part, bear bells are a good accessory for your dog when in bear or wild canine country. Most critters hear the bells and bugger off. This doesnt do much for your nature experience, but it certainly keeps the unwanted woodland inhabitants away as well. Other then that, I would have to agree with most peoples comments here....at your dogs age, it really should not be acting like that. The basics of sit and stay should be well established. You should be practicing this command every single day and on every single walk, over and over and over! Even when they get it, you have to keep doing it consistantly. Sit, come, stay and heal are perhaps the most important commands a dog should ever know and know early. Good luck training and fishing! Ab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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