Cody Williams
Well-known member
....can lead to some incredible dog work! The longer I hunt with my dog, the more I realize that the point of dog training stuff like blind retrieves and handling isn't so much about teaching them retrieving skills (they have those already, and a good dog will figure out what he needs to do) but about teaching them to have faith in you and trust you. They need to believe that if you send them on a line or handle them to a spot, that there will be a bird there! That building of trust between you and the dog is, in my opinion, one of the most satisfying things in hunting.
A few days ago I was hunting a big, shallow bay with my Chesapeake, Sage. We had a goose decoy in and give us a good crossing shot-he was hit hard but kept on going until he crash-landed on the far side of the bay, about 450 yards out. A quick check with the binoculars confirmed that he was dead on the water. This water in this bay is only about 4"deep on top of thick, sticky, silty mud that is next to impossible to wade, and I can only make it about halfway across in my boat before it's just too shallow. I had hauled my big gear sled out to the spot that I was hunting, so Sage and I were able to paddle out until we were about 250 yards from the bird before we ran out of water-I gave him a line to the bird and off he went.
It's so satisfying to see the results of training and experience come together in a dog- he followed the line until he spotted the bird, made the retrieve, and began the long slog back to the sled. As I was watching him come back I couldn't help but think how lucky we are to have such wonderful animals to help us along-we owe a lot to our waterfowling ancestors for generations of breeding and training! A much wiser hunter once told me that you can't teach a dog to retrieve, but you can teach him to retrieve for you. When it all comes together, it makes all the times that I've been so frustrated with him that I've wanted to leave him out in the marsh worth it!
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A few days ago I was hunting a big, shallow bay with my Chesapeake, Sage. We had a goose decoy in and give us a good crossing shot-he was hit hard but kept on going until he crash-landed on the far side of the bay, about 450 yards out. A quick check with the binoculars confirmed that he was dead on the water. This water in this bay is only about 4"deep on top of thick, sticky, silty mud that is next to impossible to wade, and I can only make it about halfway across in my boat before it's just too shallow. I had hauled my big gear sled out to the spot that I was hunting, so Sage and I were able to paddle out until we were about 250 yards from the bird before we ran out of water-I gave him a line to the bird and off he went.
It's so satisfying to see the results of training and experience come together in a dog- he followed the line until he spotted the bird, made the retrieve, and began the long slog back to the sled. As I was watching him come back I couldn't help but think how lucky we are to have such wonderful animals to help us along-we owe a lot to our waterfowling ancestors for generations of breeding and training! A much wiser hunter once told me that you can't teach a dog to retrieve, but you can teach him to retrieve for you. When it all comes together, it makes all the times that I've been so frustrated with him that I've wanted to leave him out in the marsh worth it!
