Force fetch

[follow maggie]

I’m wondering if anyone has input on finding a trainer to force fetch train Haley for me? She’s great with a bumper & pretty good with the pheasant dummy but horrible with the duck dummy. She’s brought it back lots of times but more and more she’ll get to it & just decide she’s not picking it up.

I’ve tried everything- kicking it around, playing with it, holding it in her mouth & repeating fetch, she just fights back. I don’t know how & don’t want to screw it up, so I’m afraid it’s time for a pro to make her do it while she’s still a puppy.

[callturner]

Where are you located and how old is the dog?

[follow maggie]

I’m in Fargo ND & she’s 9 months next week.

[MR5x5]

What breed of dog?

[follow maggie]

Lab

[Colin]

I mean pretty hard to make a suggestion for North Dakota... With that in mind I guess i'd recommend calling a few and hearing their spiel. Go visit a few you liked, see what their kennel looks like, how their dogs are trained and what their grounds look like.

Have clear expectations based on what they tell and show you. Be an informed consumer. I'd guess most of the pro trainers in your area go south for the winter. Most probably won't just take a dog for force fetch only.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

[bulldogs40]

Paisley was a similar case with real birds… she loved her bumpers just wasn’t sure about the birds at first and would do the same thing… two things helped.

1)we tied a rope around them and drug them around and let her chase them and it became a fun game and she was much more interested.

2)we gave her some water retrieves. She never once turned down a water retrieve or left a bird or a bumper out there. It translated quickly from the water to land with her.

We never did any force fetching techniques with her.

[follow maggie]

Thanks for the input, I did a little if hat this morning. Released some pheasant for her this morning & she did well for the first time with them. Wasn’t shy at all about picking them up & carrying them around,

[follow maggie]

Thanks Bulldogs. I drug her duck dummy around with a cord this afternoon, now she’s pretty eager to pick it up & bring it back when I throw it.  Saved me a bunch of money, I appreciate it,

[huntnfmly]

👍

[snocohunter]

Although I didn’t have the same issues you are having, I will say that force fetching my own dog was one of the best things I’ve done training wise. The amount of change and the level of intensity in my dog was really unlocked. It was the next piece of the puzzle and what we build on from here on out. I worked with some local pros at my HRC club. I would highly recommend anyone who hunts a retriever to get involved with a club. The knowledge and help I’ve given has been invaluable.

[follow maggie]

I’ve been thinking of that. I’ve gone out to the retriever club near here a couple times when they’ve had events, but haven’t been able to match up schedules.

Had Haley out for her first duck hunt Saturday & she did well. Two retrieves from the boat, two from shore, plus two decoys that she retrieved from the boat when we were setting up in the morning!