What do you do?

[Love2labs]

It would appear that my 2 year old lab has decided that she doesn't want to retrieve birds anymore. She got hammered Saturday by a goose that was still alive, and it messed her up pretty good. I think she is just scared. She did get the goose back to us, but was not eager to leave the blind anymore that day. Took her again Sun morning, retrieved one hen mallard, and called it quits again. Seriously, what do I do now?

[2thDoc]

shoot your geese better?

[2thDoc]

never mind....I saw where you posted "seriously, what do i do?"

seriously, i think you just need to do some work in the yard...maybe even using the goose wings on a larger bumper until the dog realizes it isn't gonna get smacked in the head every time. She will pick it up and have fun while doing it...which should overshadow what had happened to her in the past.

[Fish]

Originally posted by Love2labs:
Seriously, what do I do now?

Since I don't have the benifit of her previous training all I can say is some dogs have the drive to recover from stuff like this and some don't. I have heard from numerous trainers that sending a young dog to retrieve a live goose can cause this problem. Heres what I would do if I fucked up my dog like you just did.

1 Don't send the dog after anymore live geese.

2 Don't send the dog after anymore live geese.

3 Get the dog retrieving as much as possible over the next several weeks by training with bumpers and live birds and in hunting situations. If the dog hesitates or refuses try exciting her by teasing her with bumpers or real birds. Reinforce to the dog that fetching is fun and that she will be rewarded for it. Praise her a lot as you work her back into shape. If your dog has been force fetched, gently take her back to the forcing to a pile excercise.

She may bounce back quickly and completely, she may get back on ducks but refuse geese or she may shut down on you and refuse to retrieve even under pressure. If she totally refuses to retrieve for you after several weeks of trying funbumpers you have successfully turned your hunting partner into a pot licking, lap dog. You might want to get another dog and this time I would strongly recommend not getting another one out of this dog's line.

[BrownDog]

Has the Dog been force fetched? If not seek the advice of a good provisional trainer to FF your dog. You should not have this problem if FF properly. If it has been through FF and you are having this problem then seek the advise of a good provisional to see what has been missed. After you have revisited this the problem should be taken care of.

[Candor]

L2L...FWhistle has you on the right track. Use bumpers and freshly shot DEAD birds. This is not a force fetch issue in my opinion. You can get her to pick things up with FF but you can't get her excited about a retrieve with FF...and a dog that is not excited about retrieving isn't a worthwhile hunting dog. Your dog is afraid. Based on what you wrote she is not giving you an attitude or refusal she is just scared of having her head pecked by a ticked Canada goose. A dog with tons of prey drive and retrieval instinct will work through something like this with little hangup. You may have a softer dog and you need to be careful about the situations you put her in. Get her excited about the retrieving game again...this would be my order of approach...bumpers in the yard, bumpers with wings tied to them in the yard, freshly shot ducks in the yard, bumpers in the field (pond with gunfire), bumpers with wings in the field, freshly killed ducks in the field. I would be very hesitant to get her after a cripple for a while. Water swat'em 'til their feet point to the sky before you send her. Go slower than you think you need to and get her head back in the game. Sometimes getting her to watch another dog retrieve can juice'em up a bit...depending on the dog. Keep it fun. Retrievers hunt for us...do what you need to now to get her momentum up and she will bounce back.

[Love2labs]

Was a little worried yesterday afternoon before heading out again, so I stopped by my buddies house and picked he and his lab up. He's my girls stud of a boyfriend with some serious drive. Took the two dogs out and had a good time. Shot 5 geese between the two of us and on the first drop, Luke (the other dog)took the mark and made a great retrieve. I held Ashley, my dog, back and that seemed to piss her off just enough to get her back in the game. During the second round of shots, two geese came down and Luke was held back. Ash took off for the first mark and made the retrieve. Sent her for the second, which was a blind, and she hit the nail on the head. I guess she was just a bit hesitant, but after seeing Luke do it, I guess she figured it was ok. All five geese were brought in, 2 drake mallards, and a pheasant that we jumped on the walk out. Just hoping that things are back to normal.

[skybuster]

You should think about getting rid of that shit eater and getting a Boykin.

My buddy has a Boykin that is 18 months old and will flat wear out a crippled canadian on the water.

[Love2labs]

Skybuster, you sir are a moron. Thank you for wasting my time with a retarded comment like that.

[SterlthePearl]

Boykins eat shit too if they're in the mood.