Gun Dog Forum

went out today and a buddy bagged a couple of honkers, my dog drake, a yellow lab, charged in and finished a wounded bird. he obviously wasn't shy and he just couldn't seem to figure out how to bring it to me. he was grabbing on but wouldn't carry it back to me. I realize the size is a big issue for dogs. He just doesn't seem to like the idea of dragging it.

any ideas?

by the way i already cleaned the birds and cooked up a little breast, it was very good. so i don't have the birds to use as training tools.

do you think this will come with time?

I'll let one of our force fetch experts fill you in on how the training results in a dog that does not have an option to release until commanded to do so.

I had the same problem with one of my Brittanys I used a doken dead fowl goose to help teach her to grab it and carry it , she would always drag them by the wing or neck and trip all over it, it took some readjusting after we went back to real geese but it was easier than keeping a goose frozen to use.

I have been lucky and never had to work on any force fetch, but i did work with my britt on the proper way to pick up a goose, that with a little experience made him a heck of a goose dog.

[quote="jarbo03"]I have been lucky and never had to work on any force fetch, but i did work with my britt on the proper way to pick up a goose, that with a little experience made him a heck of a goose dog.


Nothing better than seeing someone else with a britt that does it all !

gittrdonebritts-
There is nothing better than one that will "do it all". It's definitely more fun to hunt all your favorite game with your favorite hunting dog.

There are a couple of ways to go bout it. the biggest issue is the size of the goose, but a trainer once told me that he thinks because of the amount of down on a gooses breast that soft feeling is awkward to a dog that hasnt had a ton of experience. Alot of people use the doken trainers, i personally like to use a big boat bumper because it is a little softer and can have air added to it to make it bigger and harder. plus your looking at the difference of $40 compared to $10-15. this will help get the dog used to the size.

Another option, is to keep a goose and let the dog to retrieve it from the water a few times. this will help the dog to gain some confidence, it is easier for the dog to handle the bird in the water than to pick it up out of the field.

and last but not least, there is always Force Fetch as an option. Even after being FFd some dogs still need some help with geese. others are born goose dogs. From the sound of things it doesnt sound like your dog has alot of experience with geese. It took my lab a full season and alot of field geese to really get the hang of it.

Shoot more geese, he will pick it up eventually.......

Ive seen dogs take from 2 to 12 or more to get confident in carrying geese.