Bird Dogs

[79FSJ]

I've had my yellow lab (From Greatland Kennels) about 3 years now. The first year duck hunting he did real well retrieving ducks however starting last year after we had him neutered (kept running off) he quick retrieving them. He will jump out the boat swim to them and put them in his mouth then decide he doesnt want to do that, leaves them there and swim back to the boat.
Anyone out there had anything like this happen before?

On another note, we did just order an 11 week old German Shorthair Pointer from Wisconsin, she will be here on Saturday. Cant wait to get out and into ducks.

 

[fishermann222]

shorthair?

shorthair?

You are not going to be using your shorthair for ducks though right? They are great upland bird dogs but in my experience around them they are not good duck hunters + they get SUPER cold VERY easily.

 

[AlleninAlaska]

That German Shorthair will get Hypothermia from our waters. If you need a good dog to replace your Lab, look into a Chessy. They are bred for cold water work.

 

[happytobeinAK]

force fetch

force fetch

You've got time before season opens to work on reinforcing the force fetch.

If he/she was picking up birds for you before, there is no reason to think that he/she won't do it again. Just needs to be reinforced, then make it fun for them to do it again.

 

[AKMarmot]

neoprene for the gsp

neoprene for the gsp

A few precautions will make things a lot nicer for the shorthairs & keep them warm & happy.
Most owners of shorthairs I know include them as part of the family, so they wont' be put in a kenel in an open air pickup bed after the hunt. ( Mine gets 1st class with 1/2 back seat folded down in the tahoe on her bed w/ slumber jack bag.
Get a neoprene vest for the gsp, it will need a bit of tayloring as they aren't cut right & will chaf badly around the armpits this will help them to stay warmer when swimming in the cold water & then coming back & having to sit still.
Also if you can get a dryclump, pack in a piece of ridgerest, or something to keep them from standing in the water the entire time they won't get cold as fast either.
Obvisoulsy they don't have the coat of a chessy but if you are smart about it you can hunt waterfowl up here with them unitl it gets real cold. Being her 1st few months she won't be ready this year anyway so by next she should be more accoustomed to the climate.

 

[hntdux]

Dog Problems?!

Dog Problems?!

Get a Black Lab......problem solved!!!

 

[fishermann222]

hey huntdux

hey huntdux

I agree on the black lab. The only thing that would be better than a black lab is a shadowgrass camo pattern lab. hmmmm not a bad idea

 

[hntdux]

Intelligent minds think a lot alike!

Intelligent minds think a lot alike!

Amen!!! Shadow Grass is THEE pattern!! I wish they made a truck in that pattern.

 

[yukon]

Chessie, Chessie, Chessie.

 

[fishermann222]

2X4

2X4

Yukon how many 2X4's did you break to train that Chessie? hahahahha just kidding.

 

[yukon]

I know your kidding but chessies are actually very "soft" in training. Too much pressure too soon and you won't get them back. My little girl is a great dog, great with my kids and my lab. I got her because my lab would get cold out hunting. Both are great dogs.

 

[Michael Insko]

Nice looking rig and dog! Looks kinda chilly My yellow lab I'm sure will be wondering why the winter got so much colder this year! If he had 'em, I'm sure he'd be worried about them freezing off ;-)

 

[MCAT]

Yukon, nice Chessie and your right they are very sensitive to pressure.
I hunt from Sept till the 16th of Dec and haven't seen a lab hang with a chessie yet.

 

[KenaiKing]

check your dogs teeth. If he was retriveing before and now he is not he may have a bad tooth some where. My older lab used to retrive and now his teeth hurt so he doesnt any more. We retired him a few years back but he still liked to play fetch. Now he wont even think about it unless its a stuffed animal.

On another point, my 5 year old yellow from greatland is a duck hunting machine!!!!

 

[Adventures]

yellow lab from greatland

yellow lab from greatland

I too have a yellow lab from greatland 3 years old.
She loves to retrieve.
We have had a similar problem with a past lab we had as we wanted to use a real duck for fetching purposes and so we trained him with a live duck that we then froze to keep it as long as possible. So he was retrieving a frozen duck most of his training and when it came to getting a live (warm duck) he didn't like the taste and i never was able to break him of it. He had a great nose and always found the wounded ones in the water and in the grass but I couldn't get him to pick it up. He was retired to the family pet.
I would try attaching some real duck wings/feathers to the decoy to simulate the feel. Give that a try. We've also had good luck with the exspensive duck looking decoys that have the detached head, looks like a duck and it also breaks them of whipping the duck around in thier mouth because the heavy head will come around and give them a good licking.

just my .02
Justin

 

[Runswithstick]

Wow

Wow

Um, you froze a live duck? I'm speechless....

Seriously though, my brother has a chessie and she loves cold water also. My dad's Brittany had a similar retrieve thing going on with pheasants (hopefully applies here, even though its not waterfowl). He worked with the Brittany during the winter and spring months retrieving a dummy with pheasant scent on it and the next season she was retrieving just fine.

 

[79FSJ]

Thanks for the replies guys. I got one of those duck looking (wooden head) bumpers I have been working on as well as injecting duck scent into it. I will prob go get a duck from a hatchery this week and freeze it. Or just wait till friday and use one of those.
Im pretty sure its not his teeth. He will sit down with a chunk of 2x4 and knaw away at it for hours.

 

[JuliW]

nice to see some chessie guys chime in.....

nice to see some chessie guys chime in.....

I, myself, prefer the brown dogs (brillo pads)......or cbr's.......got a 4.5 month old that would love to go hunting, but he will be waiting till next yr....(it's the bringing ducks back that is keeping him from hunting this yr....but will resolve that with a thorough ff in the spring)....

a shorthair may do okay with a neoprene vest early in the season...but don't think it would be wise to use a GSP when things start freezing......guess it depends on just how long and how much your dog is going to be in the water and if you are willing to turn it into a negative thing for your new pup...

as for the lab not wanting to pick up ducks...sounds like force fetch is in order.....

tuffboots

 

[liv2hnt]

HNTDUX. They do make camo kits in ShadowGrass for pickups, its awesome and tough. A buddy did his bear hunting truck in it.

 

[hntdux]

liv2hnt

liv2hnt

Where did he buy that kit?? Iv'e looked for them but only found rocker panel stuff.