Top 3 Retrieving Mistakes to Avoid in Your Puppy’s Training

Top 3 Retrieving Mistakes to Avoid in Your Puppy’s Training

Training your hunting puppy to become an exceptional hunting retriever is an exciting journey, but it’s easy to stumble into common pitfalls along the way. These mistakes can slow down progress and lead to frustration. Understanding and avoiding them will set you up for success from the start.

Before we dive into these key mistakes, make sure to check out the other posts on how to train a duck dog puppy in this series here.

The Top Three Retrieving Mistakes to Avoid

1. Too Much Too Soon
2. Long Distance Isn’t Always Best
3. Missing the Small Details: Don’t Do It

Each of these mistakes is common among new puppy trainers. Read on to learn how to avoid them and keep your training on track.

1. Too Much Too Soon: The Pitfall of Over-Retrieving

What’s one of the first things we all do when we bring home a new retriever puppy? We start retrieving, of course! While it’s natural to be excited and eager to see your pup retrieve, overdoing it can have unintended consequences.

What Can Go Wrong?

Over-retrieving often leads to one of two outcomes: either your pup loses interest in retrieving altogether, or it becomes so obsessed that it’s difficult to control.

When a puppy is exposed to too much retrieving early on, it might show less interest in formal retrieving training around six months old, just when you’re ready to get serious about gundog training. At this age, your pup’s curiosity peaks, and it will want to explore, making it less focused on retrieving. This lack of interest can lead to inconsistent results, causing frustration during training.

On the flip side, if you pace the retrieves correctly, your pup will remain eager and focused, making training more effective and enjoyable.

What’s the Right Amount?

The key is to stop retrieving training sessions while your pup still wants more. If you continue until your pup is tired or uninterested, you’re teaching it that it can quit whenever it wants. Instead, leaving your pup wanting more keeps the retrieving drive alive and teaches it to stop only when you decide.

As a rule of thumb, aim for 2-4 retrieves every couple of days. This frequency helps build drive without overwhelming your pup.

2. Long Distance Isn’t Always Best: Why Shorter is Smarter

After a few successful short retrieves, the next temptation is to see how far your pup can go. However, long-distance retrieves with a young pup can create problems that are difficult to correct later.

Why Can Long Distance Be a Problem?

The further the retrieve, the more chances there are for your pup to make mistakes—dropping the bumper, getting distracted, or holding the bumper sloppily. If these mistakes become habits, they’ll be tough to fix during formal training.

How Far is Too Far?

Stick to short retrieves, especially in the early stages. The goal is to build good habits—like a clean out-and-back retrieve and a solid hold on the bumper. These habits can be developed within a 10-yard range or even indoors in a hallway. Avoid extending the distance beyond 15 yards until you begin formal retriever training.

By focusing on short distances with your retriever puppy training, you’ll be able to increase the distance later without compromising the fundamentals.

3. Missing the Small Details: The Devil is in the Details

In training, as in life, the small details often make the biggest difference. Overlooking these details can mean the difference between a somewhat functional dog and one that reaches its full potential.

Why Details Matter

The behaviors your pup practices now will become ingrained habits.

For example, how does your pup hold the bumper? Does it drop the bumper sporadically? When delivering, does it drop the bumper at your feet or bring it straight to your hand? Does it get distracted easily and wander off instead of completing the retrieve?

These are all questions to consider as you train your pup. If your puppy is doing something you don’t want it to do as an adult, now is the time to correct it.

How to Address Details

Instead of focusing solely on avoiding mistakes, pay attention to positive behaviors you want to encourage. For instance, if your puppy retrieves and brings the bumper directly to your hand, reward it! Reinforcing good behavior will help your pup continue those behaviors in the future.

If your pup is doing something undesirable—like running past you after a retrieve—think creatively about how to correct it. For example, you might retrieve in a direction with a barrier behind you so your pup can’t run past.

By paying attention to the small details now, you’ll save yourself the hassle of correcting bad habits later and help your pup reach its full potential.

Conclusion: Set Yourself Up for Success

By avoiding these common mistakes in your duck hunting puppy training—over-retrieving, focusing on long distances too soon, and overlooking small details—you’ll be well on your way to training a skilled and reliable hunting retriever. Remember, patience and attention to detail are your best allies in this journey.

BuildFromHere,

Joshua Parvin

P.S. Training your retriever can be challenging, but you don’t have to do it alone. Our Complete Retriever online video series provides step-by-step guidance to help you navigate each stage of training, ensuring you know exactly what to do and how to handle any issues that arise. Join the Complete Retriever and start training today!

You can view all the posts in this series, plus additional puppy training tips, here.