I took my labrador retriever for a training session to see if he would retrieve properly. The day was a great success. Roofus loved the Dokken mallard retrieval duck and retreived it successfully after each throw. I was proud of him, especailly after this falls episode when he would not retrieve the real duck that was shot, view here: Dog trying to retrieve.
I think he initially took interest because his mom wanted the duck and it was a competiton, but we let them retrieve sperately and he could barely wait to get back into the water to grab the mallard. It was a good day as he felt like he was accomplishing something and making me happy by retrieving the duck. To read my review of the training duck click: Dokken Deadfowl Trainers. I am excited to take him for another try at real waterfowl this fall to see if he will continue his successful retrievals on real waterfowl. I think the key is to interest the dogs to birds and give them great praise for accomplishing the task of retrieving although for most dogs it is insticntual, the craft just has to be perfected and nurtured by the trainer.For hunting dog training tips click the link. To view more pictures of the dog training vew this album: Dog Retreving Duck.