Hoss Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 Hi i was woundering if anyone could give me a little bit of help i have a 15mnth old cocker dog who is struggling with retrieves .He,ll retrieve dummys with fur on and with feather but needs lots of persuasion to retrieve a dead bird ie a duck he runs out to the duck then licks the thing before eventually bringing it back this is occuring in training not on a driven shoot etc etc your advice would be greatly appriciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robc89 Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 My lab does a similar thing, I just thought he was mouthing it and as he has only retrieved a small number of birds it was something he will outgrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_commoner Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 if you have a friend with a older experienced dog, take them out together let the older dog have a couple of retrives and then send yours, the competition should help him make his mind up, be careful not to send them both for the same retrieve because the competition may make them squabble over the bird. Its also a confidence thing so once he has had a few and gains experienced he should grow out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegleg31 Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 if you have a friend with a older experienced dog, take them out together let the older dog have a couple of retrives and then send yours, the competition should help him make his mind up, be careful not to send them both for the same retrieve because the competition may make them squabble over the bird. Its also a confidence thing so once he has had a few and gains experienced he should grow out of it. as above you could also try getting your dog to hold the dead bird for a while.try this in your garden so he's not associating it with training and not putting to much pressure on him. sit him down and place the bird in his mouth and stroke him,let him get used to it.take the bird off him and praise him,build the time up he's holding it in his mouth.when he's happy holding it try a few retrieves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 Are you putting him straight onto freshly shot birds from dummies with wings/skins? If so go back to introducing cold game first. Some dogs can also be funny with ducks, any chance of getting hold of a cold partridge or two? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 Cold game in a pair of old ladies tights. Get him 100% on that, and then look to expose a wing or two, before removing the tights! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langlands Posted October 11, 2010 Report Share Posted October 11, 2010 Cold game in a pair of old ladies tights. Get him 100% on that, and then look to expose a wing or two, before removing the tights! Why do they have to be 'old ladies'. Do they smell better than young ladies? I must try this with my Cocker, maybe that's where I've been going wrong. (Imagine my embarrassment) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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