training my dog to fetch ducks

Have you only been trainher it with dummies? If so, get a duck and use it with your dog instead of a dummy.

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Have you only been trainher it with dummies? If so, get a duck and use it with your dog instead of a dummy.

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I started her with bumpers and then used a frozen duck. The problem right now is sometimes she brings the duck back and sometimes she swims up to it and then turns around and comes back. Even when she does bring the bird back, she acts real timid. She's obviously interested but seems afraid of the dead birds.
I think with time, she'll be a good dog. She sits patiently beside me in the blind and watches. I actually caught her staring at a flock of ducks flying overhead before I even spotted them.

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Richard Walters "Water Dog"

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That's it... I was thinking George Walters...

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Water dog is a great book and I love using his techniques. I found out about Mike Lardy a couple of years back and his style is more aggressive but I found the results are better.

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Thanks. I found this..."totalretriever with Mike Lardy".
Sure would like to know a little more about force fetching without buying another complete training manual.

Pardon me, sir, but I prefer to be petted every day.

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Sure would like to know a little more about force fetching without buying another complete training manual.

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She definitely needs to be force fetched. I had trouble with my last two labs and picking up ducks. Some dogs don't like the way the feathers feel/taste. They grew out of it after a few weeks of training.

The way I saw force fetching taught was- the dog is placed on a table about waist high and attached to line where it can't get away. A wooden dumbell was used and the trainer gave the dog pressure with an ear pinch and told the dog fetch. The dogs ear is pinched until it gets picked up and then the pressure is let off. You have to be really careful on how you hold them as they may bite you. It's a natural reaction for a dog being hurt to bite whatever is hurting them. I used to stand on the right side of my dog and use my left arm to reach around the back of the dog's head and pinch his left ear. It's best if you have a collar on the dog so you can put your fingers through the collar first (so you can control the dog) and use your thumb and pointing finger to pinch. This process teaches the dog to pick up whatever you tell it to and not to drop wounded ducks a few feet away from you in the duck blind. As you know, a wounded duck dropped a few feet away can get away if it goes into the grass.

It's a little more complicated than this but that is sort of a summary of it. I would recommend getting a book that explains it better or try to get someone knowledgeable to teach you.

Thanks for the tips. I'm gonna try that, but instead of using a dummie, I think I'll use a frozen duck. The only problem I'm having right now is her timidness about putting the bird in her mouth.

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If so, get a duck and use it with your dog instead of a dummy.

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This. I actually started by fastening teal wings to a standard bumper when my dog was a puppy and used a a dead dos gris when she got older. Worked like a charm.

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Sure would like to know a little more about force fetching without buying another complete training manual.

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There are videos all over the place. Ducks Unlimited has some very good ones on their website.