Dirty Frank

force fetch may not be an option for her either. I really put the hard press on my dog at 5 1/2 months and the trainer that helped me just said to bypass it. would it help with him dropping geese at my feet when he heels, yes probably, but the different size in geese to ducks threw my dog the the most. First goose he retrieved, or didn't retrieve, was on a marsh. Killed the goose, sent him on the retrieve, he grabbed it and let go. called him back to the boat and sent him out again and he brought it right back, no hesitation.

i would guess just the over all size is whats bothering her. when she puts on some more muscle and gets used to the big size I think she will be fine. try the heavier dummies and attach a wing to it. one piece of advice....don't let her drag it by a wing or it may teach her a bad habit. i've seen dogs never break that habit.

__________________
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geese-24
mallards-2
gw's-5
pinnies-5
gadwall-4
bw's-44
smilin mallards-8
spotted owls-69

DuckZone

I wish this was the start of the season or maybe I should have asked this question sooner. I have a friend that had his dog FF and it changed the demeaner of the dog. I really don't want that to happen. I don't care if she drops them at my feet, I just want her to bring it to me (I guess I'm lazy). When we are duck hunting I have her trained to hold so I hope that will carry over to the geese. Repitition will be the game. Time will definately tell.

DZ

Cueball65

Check out this link http://www.huntingretrieverclub.org/...0by%20Club.htm Finding a HRC club close to you could be a lot of help. It was for me many many years ago when I was just getting started with dogs. I opted to start running hunt trials back then but you don't have to to be in the HRC. There is a lot of good people in this club. Anyway it does sound like FF would be a good thing to do. You are right I would not get out of the blind a meet her half way anymore. Unless she has a bird eating problem you could try ignoring her, she may bring it to you just to get your attention. Probably like most of us your season is over so if she were mine I would do the FF during the off season when there is nothing else to do. Hopefully you kept some geese for training after you complete the FF program. Good luck.

SBEII=1POS

How many geese have been shot over this dog? Are we talking a few or a few hundred?

DuckZone

I would have to say 50-60 ducks and 33 geese at this time. This is her first year hunting. That is why I am alittle hesitant to start FF, but maybe I should. The sooner the better. I hope to get one more goose so I can use it for training.

SBEII=1POS

Im just not so sure FF is the answer. My dog was FF and would not pick up the first 30-40 geese she saw fall. I was in the same boat. Even with a FF dog, what are you going to do?? Pinch the shit or shock the shit of the dog??? I did some pinching and was just turning the dog off to hunting all together.

On day 2 of hunting with a large group and watching another dog she finally retrieved one. Never looked back since.

Tim Bartels

they make a xlarge canvas dummy this helps them get their mouth open grabbing larger objects mix it in with your marks youll notice a difference right away

forestryguy

The purpose of FF is not to turn the dog off to birds or to abuse the dog. The ear pinch, toe pinch and eventually shock, if that is even necessary to use, is to apply enough pressure to make the dog react to the command being given. We do the same thing when training to sit and heel. This is where knowing how to read a dog and what their demeanor is. If the dog is frustrated or already stressed because of other factors and then you put further stress on the dog it will just lay down and refuse to work at all. At that point it is just time to put the dog up for the day and let it unwind and to put it back into a good mood with positive reinforcement. If I had to guess the second day your dog started picking birds up was because it saw the other dog getting to retrieve birds and that it was getting a positive feed back when it returned the birds to the handler. I have seen this used when having issues with an unruly dog at the line in hunt tests. The dog is tied out behind the line, during training, and not allowed to go to the line until it is sitting calmly and acts calmly when at the line. In short hard continues pressure is not going to help in FF a dog, just breaking its will. I learned this the hard way with my dog. I pressured him to the point that he would not work for me, flat out refused, would lay down and just look up at me and say f you buddy. After building is trust back up and making it fun again and less pressure he works good for me. To further the point he is a Chesapeake, a dog many consider to stubborn and hard headed or dumb but is a tough dog. In reality they are very much more sensitive to pressure in training and the way they are treated, but are smart and only have to be shown things till it clicks and then you very rarely will have to show them how to do it again.

DuckZone

I was able to pick up a couple geese this weekend hunting in Mizzu. I did stay in my blind and tried to persuade her to fetch it up. She tried. She definately wants to but just needs for me to show her the way. I made her come back to me and sit, then I went and picked up the goose. I plan to use one the of the birds as a dummy as mentioned and see how that works. One more weekend. Maybe I can get her to bring one to me. Positive thinking. Thanks for all the help.

DZ