Trust your dog

[anser2]

My black lab Meg is a great game finder , but somewhat lacking in the obendence department with a willful mind of her own if there is a bird down. When i bought her the breeder said she was part trained , the only problem was that I got the part that was not trained .

 

This morning I did the morning flight on a large creek in the middle of the marsh. To say it was cold would be something of an understatement. The salt marsh flashes recently covered by the pre dawn tide were freezing over as soon as the receding water left the top of the marsh. I had a bit of trouble setting out the decoys as the wind was from the wrong direction and made it difficult to keep them well out from the bank. After a lot of messing about I was finaly happy with them and settled in my hide. I did not have long to wait when three teal came into the decoys. The first one a hen dropped close to the decoys infront of me , but the second shot did not apear to touch a little drake. As the I put the dog onto the first bird that apeared to still be alive she did an about turn and when racing off in the other direction. Ignoreing my return call Meg plunged into the icy water swam a side creek and set off racing 200 yards behind me splashing through a foot of water.

 

By now the hen bird was drifting well out into the main creek and still had its head up so I gave it another shot on the water that apeared to have little effect. By now Meg was 300 yards off and still heading in the wrong direction , not only for the first bird , but also well away from the direction of the bird i apeared to miss.

 

I was in danger of losing the hen bird now and so say the air was blue from my shouts would be no understatment as I cursed her. Next Meg reapeared and in the poor light apeared to be carrying a bird. As she got closer I could see it was a cock teal. She quickly brought it to hand and without my biding raced off after the hen teal which gave her by now a very long cold swim.

 

 

Its typical of her pulling a bird out of nowhere when I was sure I had missed. She will never win a field trial and I never trust her on a driven day , but out on the saltmarsh she comesinto her own.

 

The brace of teal were the only chance I had this morning and I was dissapointed that with the sharp frost very few duck were about.

Edited February 2, 2015 by anser2

[E.w.]

Just goes to show great dogs think for themselves unlike a trail dog that only works to commands, well done meg.

[fenboy]

A great story , I think sometimes on the marsh it is wise to let your dog have its head , mine has often picked a bird this year that was nowhere near where I though it had dropped .

Mine sounds similar to your in that he sis somewhat lacking in manners but seems to have a decent enough nose.

well done on the teal.

[andrew f]

Nothing wrong with a dog with a brain

[Grandalf]

My Merlyn is about the same. Runs in to the safety catch when she gets wound up.

Will not come off a bird that she knows is down - It has got to be found.

Last week I shot a pink which came down way across the next door marsh that we can't shoot. She was away across the intervening dyke like a rocket. This old frame had to walk about a hundred yards along the bank and cross on a plank ligger. Very slowly I might add - because it was icy. Had to leave my gun in the hide as per the club rules. Not allowed to 'armed trespass' on this land.

By the time I got to the scene Merlyn was on the scent in a reed bed. Followed this up a side creek and flushed the goose. It paddled out into half frozen open water.

Merlyn stood and looked at it and just as I was lamenting the lack of a weapon to give it the coupe de grass she trotted back towards me. Thinking she had come off it I was about to urge her on when she did a smart about turn, revved up to maximum speed, and commenced her run up to a fantastic jump that terminated on the pinks back. Job done.

Now where the hell did she learn that?

She must have covered the best part of 8 yards from the top of the bank.

She has obviously learnt that she can't swim faster than a grounded goose.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Grandalf

[JDog]

A good story anser2. I hope that you praised her to high heaven.

 

My first dog, a Labrador called Otter usually knew better than I did. Nothing new there then.

 

On Rannoch moor one August he took off downwind on what turned out to be a screaming scent. The grouse had obviously run like hell. My two companions sat on a rocky outcrop and I could just feel that they were sceptical about my dogs behaviour. After three hundred yards or so a covey got up and I shot three of them.

 

'Always trust your dog'.

[anser2]

Yes J Dog she got her prase in the form of a large chunk of kit kat. I know the books say you should not give your dog choclate , but all my dogs have had small amounts of choclate usualy when I have had a snack in the hide rather than a reward and its never seems to have done them any harm and the dog enjoys it. Though its always been milk choclate never plain.

[Penelope]

Not a lot of Cocoa in a Kit Kat.

 

Well done Meg.

 

Yes J Dog she got her prase in the form of a large chunk of kit kat. I know the books say you should not give your dog choclate , but all my dogs have had small amounts of choclate usualy when I have had a snack in the hide rather than a reward and its never seems to have done them any harm and the dog enjoys it. Though its always been milk choclate never plain.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Penelope

[brian28]

Well done both dog and gun.

[Konnie]

well done those dogs. do a little game shooting, odd days picking up, but always describe my dogs as wildfowling dogs. You cannot teach a dog instinct or drive. As you have described like a dog with a good engine on the marsh,

[marsh man]

Well done both Meg and anser2 , Meg for her retrieving capability and anser2 for sticking the cold out , on one of the coldest mornings up to now.

 

My season is now remembered by the retrieves my dog do , rather than the shots I take , in comparison I have got the easy job pulling the trigger , where as what better feeling is there when your dog come back after a hard retrieve with a duck or goose in his mouth after you had given it up as lost or lightly winged...........That's what make sitting out in minus 3 and snow showers worth it .

[figgy]

I've enjoyed reading this thread,love sitting on the marsh with my dog,reading this brought back a early season goose retrieve over three strips of water. The dog a cocker picked it at around a hundred twenty yards away, then carried swam and dragged it to the opposite bank of the last bit of water to me before spitting it out and swimming back to me. I sent him back three or four times firstly with praise and encouragement finally with a few choice words. Kept picking it up and spitting it out wagging his tail at me,in the end I waded over to pick it and carry back. The dog then helped me with the task. He was to tired to carry down into more water and drag up another bank to me on his own. It was a big hefty Greylag heavier than all others I've shot.

 

I enjoy watching him retrieve a duck that keeps diving, he will sometimes plunge his head under and look for it,very amusing to watch.

[Ttfjlc]

Loved reading this answer2, I would get told where to go if I took my Labrador on a driven game shoot but when it's just me and him he is in his element. The times I have signalled to him to go left only for him to go right and find the bird.

[marsh man]

I've enjoyed reading this thread,love sitting on the marsh with my dog,reading this brought back a early season goose retrieve over three strips of water. The dog a cocker picked it at around a hundred twenty yards away, then carried swam and dragged it to the opposite bank of the last bit of water to me before spitting it out and swimming back to me. I sent him back three or four times firstly with praise and encouragement finally with a few choice words. Kept picking it up and spitting it out wagging his tail at me,in the end I waded over to pick it and carry back. The dog then helped me with the task. He was to tired to carry down into more water and drag up another bank to me on his own. It was a big hefty Greylag heavier than all others I've shot.

 

I enjoy watching him retrieve a duck that keeps diving, he will sometimes plunge his head under and look for it,very amusing to watch.

Just shows the courage and determination of your brave little Cocker" figgy" , to retrieve something twice as big as its self take some doing.

 

If my dog had to do the same he would have to bring back a Cart Horse , he might tow it back but bringing it across the river might be a struggle

[magman]

Watch a dog work and you no when its on to something mines got clever now and will only go in thick cover if there's something in there

Enjoyed reading this thread , thanks for posting

[ayano3]

I made the mistake of not letting my dog use its nose just after christmas on a pheasant shoot. I run the beating team on the shoot but one if the guns called on me with a wildfowling dog. He had shot 3 snipe on the marsh drive and marked them all. His cocker and springer were not too keen on the freezing cold small river they had to cross so it was up to me and my fox red lab to help. One other guy tried to get his dog over but after every swear word know to man directed at the dog he quit. So after his foul mouthed tirade (no I didn't like the guy) it was my turn. I sent rhia straight back to where the gun had directed me, he had used a fence post as a marker. After many times of stopping the dog on the whistle and getting her what he believed was the right area I was at a loss. I then thought he must be wrong and just let the dog do her own thing. The gun had only used the wrong post as marker in the excitement. So we ended up with all three snipe from quite thick undergrowth in the bag. It was really nice to find all three in front of an audience of about 8 people. It made it all the better as the guy who had no idea about how to treat a dog was looking on and actually congratulated the dog on some excellent work. I somehow resisted saying what I wanted to...which really makes a change ...and just a said all in a days work for a wildfowling dog.

[Old farrier]

Hi

I have enjoyed the tales immensely and enjoyed the read it has brought back many happy memories of retrieves some of my past dogs have made

I learned many years ago to trust my dog they have mostly been cleverer than me 😀

And infuriating at times

My fault in the training no doubt

I'm hope ing the new one will be along the same lines 😗

One that thinks and works it out but above all I like a happy dog one that enjoys the job 😃😀

Just my thoughts

All the best

Of

[Ttfjlc]

I remember duck shooting with my dad and my first Labrador many years ago now on a little drain, never saw a duck until it was time to get the decoys in when a mallard drake sprung out of nowhere to which my dad had time to have a snap shot at only to watch it fly over the stubble field into the darkness. I let Tracker have a runabout since he'd been sat there all evening while we were getting the decoys in but watched him disappear only to return 5 minutes later with the duck, my dad was rather impressed.

[Klammer]

My father often tells me the story of his first dog. He bought the pup from a litter that a fellow wildfowler had, and spent ages reading books and training the dog. When she was ready, he took her out on the local marshes, and during an evening flight dropped a mallard into the marsh. He sent the dog where he presumed the bird to have fallen, shouting left, right, back forward etc. After 10 minutes he was getting nowhere, when a voice called out from the marsh, let the ****ing dog find the bird, she's got a better nose than you! It was the bloke he had bought the dog from, and sure enough, she bought back the duck, nowhere near it had supposedly fallen. It was something he would use on all his dogs from then on, teaching them basic obedience, but letting them have their "head" when wildfowling. Subsequent dogs were never peg dogs, but very rarely lost anything on the marsh.

[Richie10]

I made the mistake of not letting my dog use its nose just after christmas on a pheasant shoot. I run the beating team on the shoot but one if the guns called on me with a wildfowling dog. He had shot 3 snipe on the marsh drive and marked them all. His cocker and springer were not too keen on the freezing cold small river they had to cross so it was up to me and my fox red lab to help. One other guy tried to get his dog over but after every swear word know to man directed at the dog he quit. So after his foul mouthed tirade (no I didn't like the guy) it was my turn. I sent rhia straight back to where the gun had directed me, he had used a fence post as a marker. After many times of stopping the dog on the whistle and getting her what he believed was the right area I was at a loss. I then thought he must be wrong and just let the dog do her own thing. The gun had only used the wrong post as marker in the excitement. So we ended up with all three snipe from quite thick undergrowth in the bag. It was really nice to find all three in front of an audience of about 8 people. It made it all the better as the guy who had no idea about how to treat a dog was looking on and actually congratulated the dog on some excellent work. I somehow resisted saying what I wanted to...which really makes a change ...and just a said all in a days work for a wildfowling dog.

 

She is a lovely dog to have out on the marsh, especially like the way she loves carrying your hat back to the car.

[marsh man]

When I first started wildfowling all I was interested in , if I am honest , was putting fowl of any description in the bag , my dog then was there to do a job and got very little recognition for the retrieves he done but a fair bit of moaning and groaning for ones he didn't do. after a year or two that dog started to teach me about dogs and not the other way round , and what little I know about dogs nearly fifty years later all started with my first dog putting up with me rather me putting up with him. now I have a lot more patience and I appreciate what loyalty and satisfaction my dog give me either on the marsh or life in general.

 

If I could have one wish , I would love to have them all together for a hour or so on the marsh showing me what they loved doing , that was making the job complete after I had done my little bit in giving them a chance to show me the effort they put into trying to make a successful retrieve.

[anser2]

I can only echo your words Marshman. Our dogs usually know better than we do when it comes to finding birds. But on occasion they do slip up. I can remember one day when my old ginger lab Honey ( we called them ginger in those days not fox reds ) had a number of similar retrieves. The wigeon had been passing 40 yards out across a wide creek and 4 or 5 duck had been cleanly killed , but before the dog could reach them a very fast tide took them away down stream and the wind washed them up on the far bank. My dog quickly twiged this and ran down the side of the creek before crossing to the far bank and finding the duck washed up on the far bank which was about 6 feet high. All was well until I winged a wigeon that came down on the saltmarsh at the top of the bank.

 

Hoeny swam over , but refused my comands to climb the bank , instead just hunted the water line at its base. She reasoned that all the duck she had found had been there and so should this one. In the end I had to wait for the tide to drop and take her over to put her on the duck.

 

On the other hand Honey could show great thought at times. Once on the sands I dropped a right and left at pinks one falling 30 yards to my right and the other 50 yards to my left close to the pounding surf. Both birds apeared dead and she raced out to retrieve the right hand goose. Hardly had she picked it up when the left hand goose stood up and started running for the sea. Honey instantly dropped her goose and charged after the running bird. It was just air born when she came up under it and snatched it out of the air at the edge of the breakers and on retrieving it went back for the first bird.

 

Honey was the only fully trained gundog I have ever bought but I always thought of her as a bit zombyfied after some of the rather wild dogs I had in my younger years. She was very obedent , always walked to heal without being told , waited to retrieve until being told and was brillant at hand signals , but only on rare occasions would she use her head and work alone , she needed conformation from me and rarely worked at long range. Once she was 100 yards off she felt she was too far from me and unless she could see the bird often returned. So unlike Penny my golden retriever or Meg my present lab who would think nothing of swimming a 200 yard wide creek without being told and running much further on if they thought they knew where a bird was. Though Penny mellowed in old age and If I took both dogs and the weather was cold, when I dropped a duck in a cold creek penny would run to the bank and look at the bird. When meg arrived meg would plunge in without any hesitation for the bird as Penny watched. You could almost hear her say

" O the water is a bit cold today Meg so be my guest , its your retrieve".

Edited February 3, 2015 by anser2

[JDog]

The same dog mentioned in post 6, my Labrador Otter, was quite famous in Cumbria for one particular retrieve.

 

Along with another chap I was waiting at the side of the river Eden which was in spate and which had chunks of ice coming down it. We had been asked to shoot geese which were causing puddling problems but had been told specifically not to shoot anything over the water for obvious reasons. I had a couple down which were retrieved and then a few geese came down river. The chap upstream could not resist and shot one which landed alive on the far bank.

 

His dog refused to go for it and I asked him if he would like me to try mine. Otter was given his instructions and he immediately ran upstream and out of sight. This chap was just about to call my dog useless when we saw Otter midstream paddling furiously for the other bank. He made the other bank opposite us and opposite the goose which he picked up and then set off and went out of sight upstream. The next we saw of him was that he was half way across doing nicely when the goose suddenly wrapped one wing over his face and eyes rendering him blind. He did not know which way to go and put his head up and his bottom down and ended up going under the fast flowing water twice.

 

I could see that I was going to lose my dog so I ran downstream as fast as I could, stripped off, dived in and intercepted him in the middle of the river. I got hold of his scruff and he kept hold of the goose until we reached the bank safely. Within seconds he was non the worse for his ordeal. I on the other hand was perished. The other chap handed me a fair sized hip flask and I drained half of it in one go.

 

In the shoot room later, joining other guns who had been shooting on other parts of the river this story was recounted with some accuracy by the other chap. I had dried out by this stage apart from my underpants which I had kept on when I entered the water for some odd reason.

 

Who wouldn't have done the same for such a dog?

[marsh man]

Two excellent written posts above , from two of our respected members...........Thanks for sharing.

[Penelope]

Would these, by chance be a pair of the same underpants that you so generously offered as a prize recently?

 

If so, they didn't look particularly worse for the experience.

 

The same dog mentioned in post 6, my Labrador Otter, was quite famous in Cumbria for one particular retrieve.

 

Along with another chap I was waiting at the side of the river Eden which was in spate and which had chunks of ice coming down it. We had been asked to shoot geese which were causing puddling problems but had been told specifically not to shoot anything over the water for obvious reasons. I had a couple down which were retrieved and then a few geese came down river. The chap upstream could not resist and shot one which landed alive on the far bank.

 

His dog refused to go for it and I asked him if he would like me to try mine. Otter was given his instructions and he immediately ran upstream and out of sight. This chap was just about to call my dog useless when we saw Otter midstream paddling furiously for the other bank. He made the other bank opposite us and opposite the goose which he picked up and then set off and went out of sight upstream. The next we saw of him was that he was half way across doing nicely when the goose suddenly wrapped one wing over his face and eyes rendering him blind. He did not know which way to go and put his head up and his bottom down and ended up going under the fast flowing water twice.

 

I could see that I was going to lose my dog so I ran downstream as fast as I could, stripped off, dived in and intercepted him in the middle of the river. I got hold of his scruff and he kept hold of the goose until we reached the bank safely. Within seconds he was non the worse for his ordeal. I on the other hand was perished. The other chap handed me a fair sized hip flask and I drained half of it in one go.

 

In the shoot room later, joining other guns who had been shooting on other parts of the river this story was recounted with some accuracy by the other chap. I had dried out by this stage apart from my underpants which I had kept on when I entered the water for some odd reason.

 

Who wouldn't have done the same for such a dog?

Edited February 3, 2015 by Penelope