roy wrote:
> Coco was adopted at 14 months. She was a behavioral mess. A lot of
> patience, work and helpful advice from dear friend and from this NG did her
> a lot of good. She just turned 6 and is a happy dog. She started hunting
> with me at 2. No hunting training at all; best dog in the blind! But, her
> once velvet mouth has gotten a little crunchy. What is a humane way to help
> her understand that I simply want the ducks brought back, not tenderized?
The standard way to teach proper bird handling and delivery, and establish
a basis for any problems that crop up, is force fetching. You may decide
that you do not want to do that at this stage in your dog's life, or that it
is not consistent with the type of behavioral work you have done. In that
case, I suggest patient work on holding, carrying, and delivering birds at
close range where your influence is strongest. Then you can gradually
work out to greater distances and more exciting situations (hunting is
exciting!). Your rate of advancement should be dictated by maintaining
success; you have no effective means of correcting failures, so manage the
degree of challenge carefully.
If you start now and work faithfully, I would expect you could get her in
good shape by the time the season starts. Use mallards; bigger birds are
less of a temptation to mishandle.
Good luck.
Amy Dahl
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