Dog won't retrieve live ducks.

[jtg1551]

I have a 10 month old golden retriever who up until this point has done pretty good in all his training IMO! Obviously i'm not a professional, and I have not been following a program but everything I've done while training him he did good. He has been a retrieving machine since he was a puppy and brought back anything I threw to him (including a frozen duck from last year.) Moving forward I trained with him regularly with duck dummies and bumpers. I figured it was time to move to live birds and I bought some pigeons. Right away he became really birdy and retrieved just like normal. I've been using pigeons for about the past month or so and he does great. I recently found someone who sells farm ducks and pheasants, so I thought it would be good to move forward and go for the real thing. The first time out with it he ran up to the duck and sniffed it then the duck quacked and it startled the dog a little. Anytime the duck would try to run away the dog chases just like he does with the pigeons and then he just follows it. I tried a second time with another duck and same results. even after the duck died from other training with a different dog my dog still would not pick it up on a retrieve, he just runs up to it like he wants to pick it up, and then sniffs it and walks away. On a side note I purchased one pheasant and the dog chased and retrieved the pheasant just like he did with the pigeons.

Any suggestions, advice, similar situations? I'm sure there are a 1001 threads out there pertaining to live bird training, but i thought it would be worth it to share my situation personally in hopes of hearing some feedback. Thanks in advance

[mnaj_springer]

Ducks have a lot more oil than other birds. It's normal for a dog to react differently at first so don't freak out. You're saying he's been on 2 ducks? I'm not sure that's enough to determine there is a problem.

But I'm not going to give advice on the ducks. I think you should get a program, learn it thoroughly, and then follow it. I won't tell you what program to use (I'll let the retriever guys here make suggestions), but most programs build on other concepts, and when you skip some of the foundation training you find holes in your training later.

[gonehuntin']

Hard to tell what the problem is or if there is a problem when you are not following a program. I can't tell you how important an organized program is. Without it, you have no way to correct a dog or iron out problems. I have no idea how to correct the problem when you have no building blocks to fall back on.

[jtg1551]

At the time when I got the dog I wanted to get him on a program but I didn't have the time to learn a program myself and work with the dog as much as I wanted to. I know that was my fault, but I ended up getting married, bought a house, and remodeled... blah.blah blah in the end I know it comes down to my failure. as of now I have way more time on my hands and could follow a program. Thanks for the advice.

[Trekmoor]

Here is an idea or two from the land where "Training Programmes" don't really exist !

Your dog HAS already retrieved a "frozen" duck so I don't think the ducks scent was the original problem. I'd build up the duck retrieve in smaller stages. I'd begin by providing a link with what the dog is already happy with to it's first dead duck and from there onto it's first live duck.........you would probably need a couple of dead ducks and then 2-3 live ones.

The "link" would be a couple of nylon stockings . A length of stocking would be used for retrieves over an ordinary bumper until the stocking had your scent and the dogs scent impregnated into it. The stocking would then be used to encase a cold, dead duck and the dog would be sent for that.

Assuming the dog picked it up then small parts of the stocking could be snipped away to expose a little bit more of the duck after each snip.
Assuming the dog picked up the partially exposed duck ( I like the dog to have picked the stocking with the ducks head exposed before moving on) I'd quickly kill a live duck , put it in the same stocking and then send the dog for that while the bird was still warm.

Assuming that went O.K. I'd then put the stocking over a live duck with only the birds head and neck exposed and have the dog pick it. Then I'd cut a snip from the stocking large enough to gently pull one wing through .......but keep the other wing and the feet encased in stocking.
The idea is to build up to a more and more "exposed " duck......... I fully agree that this might not work but it always has for me with labs, spaniels , brittanies , G.S.P.'s and a vizsla.
I don't do F.F. so I have to rely on other methods of ensuring dogs will always retrieve and this is one facet of this kind of training.
It isn't really a "method" it is just a canine confidence builder.

Bill T.

[crackerd]

The idea is to build up to a more and more "exposed " duck...

Yes, Bill, the steps between "frozen duck" and live duck seem to have been skipped - of course, I would have skipped the ducksicle altogether for a thawed dead duck, then a fresh-killed duck, then a "flyer" shot purposely for the dog as retriever trainers are apt to do in this transition. My dogs have picked up more than their share of "live" birds over the years



but they always graduate up to it.

MG

[polmaise]

Transition or 'Program' being 'Shot' !
Throwing a dummy/bumper for a dog the first time gains a natural instinct to chase the moving thing,when it gets their and in the 'gob' ,other factors come in to play (within your program/process) .
Once the process is learned by the dog then the 'shot' is introduced which produces that ''thing'' (bumper/bird etc) ..
...
Personally (The Topic Heading ) ..I don't wan't mine retrieving Live ducks,just the dead or injured ones
Funny how the dog in a Farm yard doesn't chase the Farm ducks ?