Posted on 03/29/2005 1:16:14 PM PST by fullascension
LulaBelle retrieves her practice float from water and brings it back and sits facing me. I point at the ground and she drops it moves away and shakes off.
In the yard, she'll retrieve but then plays try to catch me.
I didn't teach her either behavior, she had it at 7 weeks.
All I've had time to teach her is; here, stay, sit, down, and get the bird/cat/squirrel/etc
Shelley did obedience and then agility until last summer, when she started training for Hunting Retriever.
Here she is with her Very First Bird.
She nosed at it for awhile, then picked it up and took it to the instructor (we saw her the other day during training, and she proudly announced, "I gave Shelley her very first bird!"). She never ever looked back.
I've never used a real bird with Lu. She is not gun shy.
The score here is: Two Squirrels (both deceased), Three Inches of a Squirrel Tail, a Tufted Titmouse, a Goldfinch, and we quit counting chipmunks at ten.
Labs are very soft mouthed by nature, Shelley has never put a tooth in a bird (neither of the songbirds was harmed - they both flew off after Shelley dropped them on command) and she also has never chewed on her stuffed toys. Hard plastic or rubber toys are QUITE another matter - she destroys them in short order, she even took a chunk out of a Kong.
You get the same reaction if you blow a duck call. We live along the Chattahoochee River, and the Canadas and mallards are heading back north - when they fly over honking and quacking, Shelley goes nuts. She dances on her hind legs and leaps in the air and barks . . .
Lu has a barrier to catching the squirrels, the steps on the deck. By the time she hits the yard the squirrel has a 15 foot head start to cover the distance to the fence. Lu has gotten squirrel hair. She snatched a mockingbird out of the air then let it go when I told her too. (that mockingbird learned not to dive bomb a jumping dog). Lu goes on point for birds and looks at me for instruction.
She's still learning to "honor" another dog's retrieve. Hardest thing in the world for her to "sit" while her good friend Tori goes out for a duck. Tori is far more advanced than the Shell, she was started on duck wings and bumpers at six weeks . . . but they are about even in agility (that's how we got into the duck biz, Tori's human talked us into it.)
Lu isn't bothered by the Canadas that live in the area year round. They fly over at rooftop height and honking away. She looks up like they are annoying. Probably because she hasn't dealt with real birds on retrieving.
Lu's English Spaniel blood cause the right front paw cocked point I guess.
The judge suggested that we let our dogs sniff and investigate an extra Canada decoy that she had up behind the line. Of course I take a suggestion from the judge as an order < g > and let Shelley give it a good look over, some folks didn't and their dogs did stop to look (and in one case to try to retrieve!) the decoys. She knew what they were, she never gave them even a glance but drove straight through to the mark.
I guess she has filed them away as large ducks that sound funny when they're flying over.
She also feels like she has to go out EVERY morning on her potty run and flush the two poor doves that are trying to nest in the holly bush on our fence line . . . I wouldn't be at all surprised if they decided to move house.
Sounds like you've got an All Purpose Dog there - could use her for Upland hunting as well as retrieving. A lot of the Hunting Retriever folks go out for the Upland test after they get through Seasoned or Finished Retriever.
If I want Lu to go out back. All I have to do is ask, "What's out there" and open the door to the deck. She heads to the steps and then to the bird feeder. If nothing flys or runs down the pole she circles the feeder on her hind legs making sure nothing is hiding. Then she looks at me waiting for me to say, "Nothing out here". Then she'll go about dog things.
Lu is just a good pet. I don't have the time to really train her so I just accept her as that 4 legged critter who loves us so much.
I almost came home from the last Hunt Test with a 12 week old Yellow Lab dog, one of the two last of a very well bred field trial litter. He was SO adorable with his big brown eyes and his little black nose . . . and he and his big brother got along SO well with Shelley, they all played nicely together (Shelley lay down patiently and the pups swarmed her and she just grinned and bore it.)
I resisted temptation because (1) I want a Black Lab and (2) I want Candlewoods bloodlines.
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