Duck dog search help

Josh Schwenger

Josh Schwenger

Active member
I have started the search looking at duck dogs. I originally was planning to use wild rose in NC but I'm located in south jersey and they just raised the puppy price to 3,000. With a stay overnight gas tolls and what knot I'm at least 3500 into a puppy. My friend told me to check out duck hill in Tennessee and plan to call there tomorrow. I'm not a dog trainer but owned non hunting dogs my whole life. Looking for anyone with a kennel closer to NJ then the dogs I'm looking at. I'm not opposed to started dogs either. I would look at dog breeds other then labs as well. No Chesapeake's though (sorry Phil). Chesapeake's are great duck dogs they just don't work for me. I currently hunt with one weekly during season and have scars to prove it. Anyone have a recommendation I'm all ears.
 
welcome to the puppy flu i know many breeders as covid hit every one wanted a puppy so the prices of puppies have jumped up in prices what kind an color are you looking for i may be able to set u up with a guy who does locating for gun dogs in SJ as thats where im from as well
 
Can,t recall kennel names but there are a couple good kennels around Cambridge, Md. Lower Delaware also has some good Kennels. Use to be a web site available listing kennels thruout U.S. You might try Entry Express site for more info.
 
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I traded a used 870 for pick of the litter at a local potato farm. Both dogs were AKC certified. All the hype of trial dogs is great, but it comes down to training. I best part is the days spent with the dog training in the field, then see your hours come to end at the blind. Great days. Had a guy buy his trained dog from out west somewhere and wasn't bad. Never sent owner to class...
 
Josh,

You should be able to find a well bred puppy for around $2,000. However, If your expectations are a well trained, obedient, steady, retrieves to hand gun dog that handles and you do not have the time or ability to achieve those results yourself, I would recommend that you consider a young dog that has been trained at lest through the basics. In addition to the obvious advantages, you are also purchasing a dog that is at least a year old and you can see what you're getting in terms of attitude, personality etc. A puppy is somewhat of a crap shoot in that regard.

Of course, the cost of a trained dog goes up dramatically. Trainers typically get in the neighborhood of $1,000.00/month for retriever training.

Our last four labs have been "started" dogs and although puppies are cute, and I have trained a couple, I personally would never go that route again.

PM me if you would like to discuss further, and good luck.

Matt
 
Thanks for the responses. I don't care about color or sex of the dog. I was a well mannered calm dog not the high drive blow the doors off type. If he makes 12 retrieves I had a good day. I lost my shepherd this week and he was the easiest dog I've ever seen. I never needed a leash had no aggression issues and did everything asked of him. I don't know if I can find that in a duck dog. I am very will to buy a started dog puppies are great but the goal is duck dog I have at least 5 friends with newspaper type labs that are useless in the duck blind. The reason for a closer breeder is so I can hope to spend more time looking at the parents.
 
Capt. Rich has a good point. Training is what makes the dog even from the best bred litter. You,ll need to be trained as well as the dog as to keep dog in top form even as a meat dog you need to keep up training of started dog. You get out of them what you put into them. I,ve seen to many rock dogs over the years come from high dollar breedings that no one took the time to properly train and the duck blind isn,t where it starts. Its a year round maint. even if someone else has done initial training for you. The calmness your after comes usually from close association with you daily. Not just bringing it out of pen for work.
 
Josh, send me a pm. There are a couple of litters a year of some good labs in south Jersey that I know of, may be an option for you.
 
I have 2 year old Yellow ( Gus )I got from Renee Alsditt. He is out of 2 MH's both all aged qualified. He is a great dog. She has other labs . She is up in the Watertown Ny area. Her pricing is very fair,Let her know I gave you the number, 716-863-2666. Good luck
 
Thanks guys I appreciate the effort I'm been placing calls to kennels and reading up on training. I think training myself to not ruin the dog will prove more difficult then anything.
 
Josh,

Don't sell yourself short in the training department, especially if you've had dogs before, hunting or not, have the time and also know what you want from a dog. When I got Pearl, which was my first lab ever, I trained her for 6 months, May to Oct., three - 20 minute sessions a day and she was only 7-1/2 mo at her first hunting retrieve, mind you I was simply handling Pearl and not shooting. She was not Force-Fetched trained, nor has she ever worn an E-collar. Richard Wolters has a good series of books, old school, but valid information and Robert Milner also has a Back to Basics Approach book as well. Both, great easy to understand and implement drills that coincide with your dogs age.

If you're not already, you may want to check out this other forum too, https://www.retrievertraining.net/forums/

Best of luck.

Troy
 
Thanks Troy miller's dogs are what I'm leaning toward. After talking to them on the phone and watching my friend Clint's dog work the other day when he was training. His prices were reasonable and he's selling a 4 month old puppy not a 8 week old puppy.
 
Josh, the one thing that experience via training eight retrievers has taught me is that there is no formulaic approach to training a labrador retriever. Each dog has their own personality and inherent rate of comprehension and progression. Five of our labradors have been from English/Irish stock dogs, two were from Wildrose- good dogs, but neither proved to be sound from a health standpoint. One was a very good retreiver. One was average. The two I own right now came from a breeder who focuses on producing sound dogs with good conformation characteristcs of the breed. Generations of function as retreivers is deeply imbedded in most quality breeding programs. The one thing I can state with conviction regarding British labs., they have impressive behavioral retention capability. It is easy to condition-in traits that are not conducive to hunting capability, so be mindful of who is training the dog within you houshold and make sure everyone is on the same page in terms of standardizing commands, voice, hand signals and whistle. Come is a one-word command, not a run-on sentence of superlatives. Once I get a pup responding to hand signals and whistle commands consistently those become the bulk of command conditioning. A Whistle never gives away your frustration or anger. ANY time the dog is not obeying you, stop and ask yourself: What am I doing wrong in conveying what I want the dog to do? They have an amazing ability to read your body language and remember what various voice tones convey. hand signals and the whistle are ALWAYS neutral. I have never met a dog who could reason, but I have owned several who could learn an amazing array of skills.

My youngest dog is the near genetic clone of his brother, yet, he responds only to positive reinforcement best. Once I finally figured that out, whenever he did not grasp a training task or command, I NEVER scolded him. For him, silence was enough because he was so focused on achieving praise. Karen commented once that she was convinced he would run through a wall to be told he was good....she wasn't far off. He is a jumper, consequently we had to teach him to not jump over the child gates we have in the house unless he is commanded to do so, which is actually beneficial in keeping him from jumping a fence when I have no knowledge of what is on the other side.
 
I'm currently reading two books. One is the wild rose book one is the back to basics by Robert milner. I will take this to heart with my shepherd I never used a treat just a "good boy". The day I had to put him down the vet asked me if where I got him from and who trained him. She also didn't believe in the appointments leading up to his death that he was blind. He would heel out of necessity or bump into things. He wasn't completely blind but very close. I got on the list for Duckhill kennels and hope to have a pup in October. It's a English lab. Even newspaper dogs are commanding high prices right now due to the pandemic. A duck hill dog is 1800.
 
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