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Hey guys. I need some words of experience here. I'm a novice duck hunter and so is my dog, Lily (she's 8 months old and has only done 2 open water retrieves for shot ducks before this incedent that I'm about to describe).
I went out and shot a golden eye on a lake that was mostly frozen over other than a narrow finger of open water ~25 yds off the bank. The duck was dead in the water. Lily was very interested in the bird. She went in the water get it 3 or 4 times, and actually had it in her mouth but panicked when she tried to get out. Each time she came out she left bird behind. I got the bird after a chilly introduction to the polar bear club, and I'm frustrated/really pissed that I had to go for a swim when I have a perfectly good bird dog. After I threw it up on the ice she knew exactly what to do. She took it right to the bank and waited for me to get out of the water (it was a scene, I'll tell you! and I'm very thankful to be here writing about it)
Granted that was a pretty challenging retrieve, but my questions for you guys are: is it too much to expect for my young dog right now? Is it the kind of thing that she will be able to do when she has more experience and confidence? And finally, I am holding off the forced fetch training until after this hunting season, but I think it would have been handy this time. I just want to introduce her to hunting and let her have fun learning this fall. Is there anything I can do training wise to help her in this kind of situation?
Thanks for any and all input. I don't want to leave any dead ducks, but I really don't want to go swimming again until next summer!
I went out and shot a golden eye on a lake that was mostly frozen over other than a narrow finger of open water ~25 yds off the bank. The duck was dead in the water. Lily was very interested in the bird. She went in the water get it 3 or 4 times, and actually had it in her mouth but panicked when she tried to get out. Each time she came out she left bird behind. I got the bird after a chilly introduction to the polar bear club, and I'm frustrated/really pissed that I had to go for a swim when I have a perfectly good bird dog. After I threw it up on the ice she knew exactly what to do. She took it right to the bank and waited for me to get out of the water (it was a scene, I'll tell you! and I'm very thankful to be here writing about it)
Granted that was a pretty challenging retrieve, but my questions for you guys are: is it too much to expect for my young dog right now? Is it the kind of thing that she will be able to do when she has more experience and confidence? And finally, I am holding off the forced fetch training until after this hunting season, but I think it would have been handy this time. I just want to introduce her to hunting and let her have fun learning this fall. Is there anything I can do training wise to help her in this kind of situation?
Thanks for any and all input. I don't want to leave any dead ducks, but I really don't want to go swimming again until next summer!