A good coat should be harsh, tight , flat with a good undercoat. A good coat will shed dirt, burs, water and everything else you thow at it ( excpet skunk must). A soft coat is a bad coat......just saying.
You don't need duck search skills for the NA but if it was me I would be letting him chase ducks. I don't hobble them but I will use small water to keep the dog and duck in the same game. All dogs are different. I would expect yours will come around just fine if you keep working at it.
Klous was about 4 months old, give or take. The first time he hit the swimming water was in May and in Alaska. He swam like he had been doing it forever. He never did the puppy paddle.
He is now 16 months old and will do a Duck Search with methodical excellence hitting all the cover. Once he finds scent he will stick with it and produce the duck. Been doing that since he was maybe 5 months old.
Longest successful duck search and retrieve to date was 52 minutes from the send to the deliver. I like him, he's a good boy.
Don
My experience is limited to just one dog. I will say that the internet kinda ruined me in a way. My pup was a late swimmer. I was all spun up over it. I was in the water coaxing a puppy. Had other dogs in the water. No dice. I had a Wader, but not a Swimmer. Everyone else on YouTube had 9 week old puppies swimming, etc. Every internet forum had spring DD pups swimming and pointing while still very small. I felt like my puppy and I were the Flunkies. And I put a lot of time into the dog.
In reality, it just "IS". One day my puppy decided it was "time" and just swam. Like Don said, there was no panic or Puppy Paddle. Just a calm, level headed type of exploration. He wanted to see what was lurking in the tules on the other side of the pond. So he went to find out. This was at 5 months. This spring, ice was only off the lake for maybe 8 days and he went exploring out over 100 yards. No training, or bumpers, nada. Just cuz he wanted to.
They all seem to mature at different rates. Some will not Point until way late, others will lock up at 8 weeks. Just my opinion.
I just love you guy's pictures of the pups coming of age. It is so much an adventure for the pup and the handler.
We are moving along to higher levels. Yesterday went well with both dogs 100% steady through the shot, fall and tap to retrieve. I quit while I was ahead.
Josey
Klous
We will be out again, Josey, Klous and I, but doing duck search today with a couple of really good GSP's
Have fun
Don
We had a tough time with FF. My dog takes it VERY personal and simply shuts down with any physical "assistance" from me. Progressed through E-Collar and it made things much less personal. Still a little hesitant, but I've removed the e-collar for time being and verbal seems to be enough Reprimand to square him away. Has only bobbled a bumper once in two weeks and he immediately scrambled to get it back in his mouth. Forcing to pile and taking decent lines now. Glad it's gotten back to "fun" and good times again.
Lots more to this than I initially presumed. But makes the relationship even more fun. Hoping to kick the HZPs ass in September.
Had a breakthrough with water over the weekend on Saturday. We were down at the cabin and goofing around on the dock. No formal work or any thing like that - just having fun. I hopped in the kayak, left the dogs on the dock with the girlfriend, and took off across the lake. When I got to the other side, the pup was halfway across the lake! She tired out about halfway, started whining a bit, and had me worried. I layed on the praise/excitement and she came to shore just fine. We then ran up to the cabin, grabbed some beers, and of course more dog treats. She hopped in the kayak with me, scarfed down some treats, and we went right back across the lake. :thumbsup:
On Sunday we did some field search and had her working back and forth between two people about 50-60 yds apart. She didn't get too far out in front to expand her search but did occasionally. That is something we will continue working on. Did 2 simple rabbit drags and she did just fine. We also did a field search with a dead pheasant. She searched, pointed, grabbed the bird, and came right back. I am seeing good work with her nose. By the end of the day, she was retrieving some pheasant tails out of the water. We also got to see 2 finished drahts work on some blind retrieves - pretty cool stuff.
Had a breakthrough with water over the weekend on Saturday. We were down at the cabin and goofing around on the dock. No formal work or any thing like that - just having fun. I hopped in the kayak, left the dogs on the dock with the girlfriend, and took off across the lake. When I got to the other side, the pup was halfway across the lake! She tired out about halfway, started whining a bit, and had me worried. I layed on the praise/excitement and she came to shore just fine. We then ran up to the cabin, grabbed some beers, and of course more dog treats. She hopped in the kayak with me, scarfed down some treats, and we went right back across the lake. :thumbsup:
On Sunday we did some field search and had her working back and forth between two people about 50-60 yds apart. She didn't get too far out in front to expand her search but did occasionally. That is something we will continue working on. Did 2 simple rabbit drags and she did just fine. We also did a field search with a dead pheasant. She searched, pointed, grabbed the bird, and came right back. I am seeing good work with her nose. By the end of the day, she was retrieving some pheasant tails out of the water. We also got to see 2 finished drahts work on some blind retrieves - pretty cool stuff.
Don
You can trim the feathering off your dogs legs, head, feet esp during season as they are burr magnets.
Some DDs have perfect coats, others not so.
Some say never cut, but they are wrong, not the coat just the trimmings like feathering FYI
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