[JDiPerrio]

Hi guys, I got a 1 year old fox red lab. I am a college student an got her last year over xmass break. I worked with her every weekend since my school is close. She is good on OB and we are working on steady. She loves retrieving bumpers and occassionally a pheasant but what I dont get is she will not retrieve a duck :huh: Why will she retrieve a bumper, duck wing, and bumper with duck scent but not the acually duck while Im hunting? Thought you guys might have some good insight on what I should do now that it is only goose season and Ill have plenty of time to work with her. she will go to the duck and mouth it but just doesnt retrieve it.

Thanks guys,

John

 

[eiderman1]

Probably need to force fetch. Try to make it fun like a game get the dog realy worked up then throw the duck.

 

[Drinkin' With Deacon]

The ducks you are using, are they frozen? Spoiled? Water logged and generally nasty?

Perhaps try some live birds with the primaries pulled or a shackled wing. Hup it up...make it fun and lots of praise for the bird. Shorten the retrieves with the live birds to a few yards so you can use your close presence to encourage picking up the bird. Have a buddy throw the live bird from behind you so that it's a surprise. Don't use a gun, check cord or anything that may discourage the retrieve. Don't worry about steadiness while cultivating the birdiness in your pup. Leave the bumpers alone while trying this. Give that a try and encourage the bird retrieves before you attempt FF.

Deke

 

[JDiPerrio]

Thanks for the info guys

 

[swampbilly1980]

Some more info would be helpful,.Bird introduction?... does she deliver those bumpers to hand? How many birds (ducks included) has she seen? FFing your dog without a solid O.B. foundation is gonna' leave you with a dog that knows how to Drop/Hold/Fetch etc.,... (which takes more than 1 month to do completely), but will do it when she chooses to (like now); not when commanded to.. :yes: Seems as though she may need a complete ff program which would take several mos. to complete.

I respectfully say that with the idea that she'll bring back bumpers on "command" when you send her,.. but not bringing back what she's been born to bring back...and that is,..bring back what ever you send her after.....that there is some O.B. missing in the mix.. or maybe has not seen alot of birds in training.. :beer:

 

[JDiPerrio]

I introduced her to a chukar very young and she loved it. She has put up over 50 pheasant this year while hunting. I think Im gonna FF her if she doesnt learn just from me real soon.

 

[swampbilly1980]

I introduced her to a chukar very young and she loved it. She has put up over 50 pheasant this year while hunting. I think Im gonna FF her if she doesnt learn just from me real soon.

....... :yes:.......but you won't get it all done in a month.. :wink:

 

[JDiPerrio]

Thats fine I got plenty of time for her she is still young.

 

[rman114]

My own personal opinion is simply that it's a lack of experience with birds. If a dog experienced birds as much as he experienced bumpers i bet you wouldn't have a problem.
Any change in the activity leads to problems. For example, in force fetch he might be fine with grabbing the bumper from your hand on command but put it on the ground and he looks at you like he's never done it before.

In this case, maybe the feel of feather vs the hard plastic he's used to blows his mind. I'm sure if the bird was wounded that would cause issues too.
Some dogs have no problem with ducks but get to a goose and have no idea how to handle it.
It's all solved in time as they gain experience, they learn and get better.

 

[Indaswamp]

buy some live ducks and shackle them...since she likes live pheasants, she will probably go wild over live ducks....I do not recommend this for young inexperienced pups-but your dog has demonstrated birdyness in the field on pheasants. this should light a fire under her for ducks....and yea-you might want to consider Force Fetch, but I'd still try a proper intro to ducks first...

 

[Sandman3400]

I had the same problem with my first dog. She just could not relate the ducks to retrieving, as she had always retrieved dummies. Also, being in a duck blind was different from her normal training / retrieving routine. I brought some ducks home from a hunt and set up exactly like a regular practice session, so that she knew what we were doing. Only I threw the ducks instead of the dummies. After a few sessions of this, she made the connection between dead ducks and retrieving. From that point, it was game on!

 

[Indaswamp]

I had the same problem with my first dog. She just could not relate the ducks to retrieving, as she had always retrieved dummies. Also, being in a duck blind was different from her normal training / retrieving routine. I brought some ducks home from a hunt and set up exactly like a regular practice session, so that she knew what we were doing. Only I threw the ducks instead of the dummies. After a few sessions of this, she made the connection between dead ducks and retrieving. From that point, it was game on!

This is a case in point of why one should expose a pup to live pigeons early in training...I do it before the pup is 14 week old...

 

[Sandman3400]

I had the same problem with my first dog. She just could not relate the ducks to retrieving, as she had always retrieved dummies. Also, being in a duck blind was different from her normal training / retrieving routine. I brought some ducks home from a hunt and set up exactly like a regular practice session, so that she knew what we were doing. Only I threw the ducks instead of the dummies. After a few sessions of this, she made the connection between dead ducks and retrieving. From that point, it was game on!

This is a case in point of why one should expose a pup to live pigeons early in training...I do it before the pup is 14 week old...

I agree, but unfortunately I did not have the opportunity. No access to live birds at that time.

 

[Indaswamp]

I had the same problem with my first dog. She just could not relate the ducks to retrieving, as she had always retrieved dummies. Also, being in a duck blind was different from her normal training / retrieving routine. I brought some ducks home from a hunt and set up exactly like a regular practice session, so that she knew what we were doing. Only I threw the ducks instead of the dummies. After a few sessions of this, she made the connection between dead ducks and retrieving. From that point, it was game on!

This is a case in point of why one should expose a pup to live pigeons early in training...I do it before the pup is 14 week old...

I agree, but unfortunately I did not have the opportunity. No access to live birds at that time.

Sandman..I live in Gonzales, La. I have caught pigeons under some of the interstate bridges up your way....do a search for pigeons and you will find how it's done. There is also a couple of racing pigeon enthuseists up your way...they cull the slow ones and I use to buy them for like $3.00 a bird....if you look around, you can find them....but then again, don't know if you lived around here at the time...

 

[blackduckdog2]

I had the same problem with my first dog. She just could not relate the ducks to retrieving, as she had always retrieved dummies. Also, being in a duck blind was different from her normal training / retrieving routine. I brought some ducks home from a hunt and set up exactly like a regular practice session, so that she knew what we were doing. Only I threw the ducks instead of the dummies. After a few sessions of this, she made the connection between dead ducks and retrieving. From that point, it was game on!

This is a case in point of why one should expose a pup to live pigeons early in training...I do it before the pup is 14 week old...

And duck wings attached to bumpers even earlier has always been my program

 

[Indaswamp]

I had the same problem with my first dog. She just could not relate the ducks to retrieving, as she had always retrieved dummies. Also, being in a duck blind was different from her normal training / retrieving routine. I brought some ducks home from a hunt and set up exactly like a regular practice session, so that she knew what we were doing. Only I threw the ducks instead of the dummies. After a few sessions of this, she made the connection between dead ducks and retrieving. From that point, it was game on!

This is a case in point of why one should expose a pup to live pigeons early in training...I do it before the pup is 14 week old...

And duck wings attached to bumpers even earlier has always been my program

BSS2..Believe it or not, I know one breeder that goes so far as to put duck feathers in the pen with 6 week old pups. Claims that this is what wild dogs and wolves do...exposing the young to the smells....I can't refute the logic...

 

[blackduckdog2]

BSS2..Believe it or not, I know one breeder that goes so far as to put duck feathers in the pen with 6 week old pups. Claims that this is what wild dogs and wolves do...exposing the young to the smells....I can't refute the logic...

Yep......... I've heard that one too. Dog I'm currently working with (and all his sibs) were chasing strip winged pigeons at 6 weeks to boot. I'd have said that's too soon, but the breeder pointed out that they weren't being asked to do anything but chase 'em, and even that was optional. Even so, the pup went through a phase where he did not want to handle birds (age 7-10 months, especially the disgusting mass of feathers and protoplasm that passes for birds toward the end of a five series, say) Now he's 18 months and birdy as hell. The older I've gotten the more I like to wait a bit to see if it's a phase and maybe you don't have to do a damn thing (Now that's what I call training :lol3: ) Hey Inda, I'm hoping it's a typo, but you just referred to me as BSS2 :huh: Either you drink too much at the keyboard like I do or you're trying to run me out of THIS forum too! :lol3:

 

[Indaswamp]

BSS2..Believe it or not, I know one breeder that goes so far as to put duck feathers in the pen with 6 week old pups. Claims that this is what wild dogs and wolves do...exposing the young to the smells....I can't refute the logic...

Yep......... I've heard that one too. Dog I'm currently working with (and all his sibs) were chasing strip winged pigeons at 6 weeks to boot. I'd have said that's too soon, but the breeder pointed out that they weren't being asked to do anything but chase 'em, and even that was optional. Even so, the pup went through a phase where he did not want to handle birds (age 7-10 months, especially the disgusting mass of feathers and protoplasm that passes for birds toward the end of a five series, say) Now he's 18 months and birdy as hell. The older I've gotten the more I like to wait a bit to see if it's a phase and maybe you don't have to do a damn thing (Now that's what I call training :lol3: ) Hey Inda, I'm hoping it's a typo, but you just referred to me as BSS2 :huh: Either you drink too much at the keyboard like I do or you're trying to run me out of THIS forum too! :lol3:

:lol3: :lol3: :clapping: BSS2...I did not even see that...typing too fast.. and I didn't run you out...I thought spinner did that... :hi:
you ought to go back and read the continuation..I think assateague has a post or 2 for you...

Funky birds will turn a pup off...got to be fresh dead or alive... :thumbsup: that's what momma bitch does...she brings back fresh klls for the pups to play with!!!

 

[blackduckdog2]

BSS2..Believe it or not, I know one breeder that goes so far as to put duck feathers in the pen with 6 week old pups. Claims that this is what wild dogs and wolves do...exposing the young to the smells....I can't refute the logic...

Yep......... I've heard that one too. Dog I'm currently working with (and all his sibs) were chasing strip winged pigeons at 6 weeks to boot. I'd have said that's too soon, but the breeder pointed out that they weren't being asked to do anything but chase 'em, and even that was optional. Even so, the pup went through a phase where he did not want to handle birds (age 7-10 months, especially the disgusting mass of feathers and protoplasm that passes for birds toward the end of a five series, say) Now he's 18 months and birdy as hell. The older I've gotten the more I like to wait a bit to see if it's a phase and maybe you don't have to do a damn thing (Now that's what I call training :lol3: ) Hey Inda, I'm hoping it's a typo, but you just referred to me as BSS2 :huh: Either you drink too much at the keyboard like I do or you're trying to run me out of THIS forum too! :lol3:

:lol3: :lol3: :clapping: BSS2...I did not even see that...typing too fast.. and I didn't run you out...I thought spinner did that... :hi:
you ought to go back and read the continuation..I think assateague has a post or 2 for you...

Funky birds will turn a pup off...got to be fresh dead or alive... :thumbsup: that's what momma bitch does...she brings back fresh klls for the pups to play with!!!

Naah, it definitely wasn't you! :lol3: :lol3: If anything, You sorta had my back (obligado :bow: ) But I'll go back and see what else is up. Kinda havin' more fun over here though............ sorry, momentary :hijack: Cool new avatar Inda.... getting ready for Mardi gras?

 

[swampbilly1980]

I know one breeder that goes so far as to put duck feathers in the pen with 6 week old pups. Claims that this is what wild dogs and wolves do...exposing the young to the smells....I can't refute the logic...

........I couldn't keep feathers in the pen,..those field mice would steal 'em and use 'em to make nests to stay warm in the winter,..and some of those mice are big enough to pull a plow :yes: