Shorthair for ducks?

[John B]

I picked up a gsp puppy two weeks ago. Would like to train her to hunt waterfowl. I mostly hunt upland, have been trying to do more waterfowl. So far my only success has been jump shooting, have tried hunting over decoys a handful of times with no success. My current dog is a lab/shorthair mix. He's great at retrieving, knows hand signals, strong swimmer, but I can't get him steady in the blind. I have a feeling this new pup will be even more high strung. Anyone on here duck hunt with shorthairs, or other versatile breeds?

[bigdub257]

Best retriever I ever owned was a female shorthair.  That dog made some retrieves that were truly amazing! Absolutely no quit in her.  That was true for upland also. Have a young female wirehair now who's showing some good promise on both.  Good luck!

[BigGoonTuna]

I have a 1.5 year old gsp that sadly i have not hunted with yet(having a 4 month old at home will do that)  However, my dad takes him out duck hunting and he does great.  I'll have to get him a vest as he does get a bit chilly after a while.

[Cannakoi]

I have 3 short hairs and they all are great retrievers. The females tend to be difficult for me to get steady in the blind my Male on the other hand is very patient. I think lots of practice and you will turn that pup into a steady obedient dog very easily. Just stay persistent and keep practicing all year round. Good luck with your new partner

[Surfr716]

I hunt my wirehair pointer mostly for upland but lately I've been doing a bit more duck hunting over dekes. The biggest thing I've found to help keep him from roaming is to use a blind. Either put him in your lay out blind with you and praise the hell out of him for being still, or hunt out of a blind that has walls until he gets the idea to stay still when the calls come out. I'm still working on it with my dog and need to do it some more during the summer months but hes coming along

[addicted2hunting]

Your pups daddy was one of the most savage shorthair dogs I’ve ever hunted with. He would jump into the cattails out in the tidal marsh before shooting light and come up with cripples all the time...

[PaulM]

I hunt my 7 year old Drake GSP on ducks and he is a machine. He wears a vest and he's got a blind. I force-fetch trained him and he is very happy to carry all my birds. I would recommend going through force breaking with a trainer if needed. GSP's are less aggressive on water but have insane prey drive (as you know) The training just enforces the commands. Here is a shot of him on the salt. PM me if you want to ask questions about Drake on ducks. He's a machine on Pheasants too.

[jagermiester]

NAVHDA