subject: The Ultimate Water-fowling Dog [print this page] Go ahead; blame the dog for scaring-away the ducks. Thats convenient. It protects your precious ego. You rationalize that your retriever should just stay home, eating Doritos and drinking your PBR while watching Animal Planet.
Youre only punishing yourself. The dog is having a grand ol time raiding the fridge while youre knee-deep in the muck hunting for the duck you just brought down. As you mutter a string of profanities, the phrase its a dogs life comes to mind, only with a couple of F-bombs attached.
Shape Up, Man!
Before next season creeps-up you need to do some things with your mutt on a daily basis. Gather up the decoys and head out to your blind. Dont have one? Purchase a portable blind. Training is not a flash-in-the-pan thing. You need to constantly reinforce what your sporting partner has learned. Were assuming that the canine has already been taught the exercise. If it hasnt, read on.
Training a Water-Fowl Dog
When you decide to take on this project, be diligent. Youre going to need to drag out a portable blind and some decoys every day until the dog gets it.
What you first want to do is prepare your dog to sit silently in the blind. After thats been mastered, move to teaching the canine how you want it to be positioned.
Youll want to have a decoy launcher. This will give the dog the experience of hearing a gunshot, relating the report to a call for action. Your hunting animal will likewise associate the noise with a flying object.
If you want to go pro, get a couple of remote launchers, placing them in different areas around the blind. This method will really pay-off in a real world setting.
Another matter you need to bring into the dogs hunting environment is the goose, duck or whatever calls youll employ. You want the canine to experience a dress rehearsal. Pretend that its a real hunt. Blow the call. Crouch down. Fire-off the launcher.
Your ultimate goal is to teach the dog to recover the dummy and return to the blind.
Okay, Now That the Dog Has Been Trained
Were in the woods with the dog at the blind portable or whatever months before the new season arrives. Get the dog in the stance they need to adopt in the claustrophobic quarters. Lets make some noise.
With your canine in the proper position, start quacking those geese and mallard calls. Act everything out as if it were actually happening. Sneak a peek, crouch, its pretend-time with the dog. As much as youd like to fire-off your rifle, resist the urge. No need to summon the game warden.
After that Academy Award winning performance, end the show with a retrieve.
Major Upside
By taking your best friend with you when you go wild has an unintended consequence a good one. Most states have rules that say you must make every reasonable attempt to pick-up any birds you felled. We mentioned the game warden before. Without your dog doing the fetching, you may waste a hell of a lot of time lumbering through the muddy brush looking for a duck. If you dont reap what you sow, you stand a fair chance of getting a slap from Brother Law.
And dont blame the dog as it drunkenly laughs at you when you come home with a substantial fine. Youre the one that let them stay home with a case of cold Pabst.
by: Jake Theron
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