Duck bites or pecks dog?

[Worth Mathewson]

About twenty years ago I had something happen that I have always wondered about since. Has anyone else had something similar happen? That was: I was shooting our marsh below the house and sailed a drake pintail. It went down at the edge of the field, then started running away. I sent our Lab, May, and she had a long chase, as it could flap fly. When she finally caught up with it she made a grab, followed by a very loud yelp. She dropped the duck. It started off again, she went for it, dropping it a second time with a yelp. This time she just followed it until it went into a fence row. I ran up, saw the duck hiding in the weeds, and told May to get it. This time she did without any problems. I wonder if the duck either bit or pecked her? And if it was in the eye, as I don't think she would have reacted so dramatically if it had been in the muzzle. (A snow goose also cracked her with a wing once, and she backed off.)
I do know for a fact that ruddy ducks can bite, and hard! I once reached down to pick up one that looked nearly dead. It bit me on the skin between the thumb and forefinger. I had to shake it off! Best, Worth Mathewson

 

[Gerald N]

I hear you on the ruddies. I call them snapping turtles and have had them leave blisters. I would suspect a bite over a peck since ducks lack the strength and pointed bill to inflict harm but she could have had a foot in her mouth and been scratched from the toe nail. Two times makes me lean toward a biter since the odds of foot and mouth especially on a live bird seem less probable.

 

[John Augustine]

Worth,
Never had it happen with a duck but geese are a different story. Had a lab who was quite young and got bit on her ears by a less than dead goose. When she got to shore she grabbed it by the neck and shook til it was dead. She never retrieved a goose for me after that who didn't have a broken neck and feathers missing on the neck.
She would retrieve ducks and homing pigeons that were fully alive! Geese, not so much!! John

 

[Carl]

Never saw a duck defend itself but coots can sure put a hurting on you or a dog.
My buddies old dog brought a coot back to the boat once that had a death grip on her ear, that pointy little beak broke skin and blood was dripping but she never yelped or let go of the coot. I've had them try to peck & scratch me when picking them up as well.

 

[Kevin B]

I shot a greater Canada on the Hudson that was only stunned. The pair attacked Regis and she refused and came in. I had to send Tude ,she dispatching the cripple. Regis never retrieved a Goose after that even a training bird.

 

[Tom Scholberg]

Never had that problem with a duck, maybe all mine fall dead. Just kidding!! BUT my mild mannered sweet boy had an experience with a running pheasant last fall in SD. The bird went down running and Booker took off after it in the corn. Way too much time passed so I walked in to find him. He met me with a big grin, no bird and absolutely covered with blood. I checked him over and only found a couple wounds on his tongue and head. The other dogs couldn't recover the bird either. After a few brews that night we pretty much agreed that since "ducks don't fight back" that bird hurt Booker and he took it apart. BTW that was only his second pheasant hunt and he retrieved many birds since so there was no long lasting trama

 

[Vince Pagliaroli]

In my experience, unless your hunting doves, and maybe teal. Most upland birds and waterfowl, can get in a good peck, bite and scratch, on a dog. Sandhill Cranes & large geese, can do some serious damage. My hunting partners male Chessie would run full tilt, put his head down knock em senseless, put a choke hold on their neck, and that was it. His females would sometimes hesitate just long enough to give the bird a chance to strike, and that caused a problem. It was a couple years before the females would pick up a Crane again, but they learned from the male and did the job. Most dogs have Very good memories, and are good teachers if we humans are fair students.....

 

[bob Petritsch]

Was traing young, derby, lab on a small river. The river had roads on both sides, we could leave dummies on one side then drive around and run blinds from the other side. Run the dogs down the bank, across the river/swamp, up the other side. So the plan said.

First dog ran right into a goose nest. Geese beat the snot out of the poor dog. He was determined to bring it in and it took alot to get him back without the bird. End of training session and time for beer.

Dog was not bothered by the a$$wiping, but he was not the brightest dog in the kennel.

 

[noweil Mike]

I have never had a dog have a problem with a duck. I have had 2 dogs thumped by geese. One on land and one in the water. My female that got thrashed by a cripple would not pick up that goose even after I killed it. I was scared because it was the last day of her first goose season and she retrieved over 60 geese for me that year. She never refused to pick up another goose for the rest of her life and she retrieved a lot of birds. The male that got thrashed by a cripple on the water really took a beating before he could retrieve that bird. The bird would swim, he would grab it by the rear and that goose would roll over on its back and beat the dog with its wings. The goose would break free and my dog would go after it again. It went on long enough I was thinking of jumping in and helping. That dog was tough and never gave up. He finally bought it in. If anything it made him more determined.

 

[Rob Harris]

Back in the 80's, I sent my first lab, Tasha, for what appeared to be a dead hen mallard shot from a group we had decoyed into our spread in a snowy cornfield. As she reached for the duck it bit her square on her nose. She yelped, jumped back, circled it a few times and came back in without it. For about a year afterwards, she would retrieve any other duck except hen mallards. Eventually she got over it. We'd never heard of force-breaking at that time.

 

[peter lowe]

Was running a fun field trial years ago on Long Island with my first Chessie. She was a lean tall 90# with a few years of field of hunting experience on crippled geese and ducks. They were throwing day old dead ducks and when she swam to the second bird she seemed to scent something else and continued on to the far shore and into the reeds. After some commotion and a loud yelp she came running out of the reeds and headed back. After a quick investigation by the bird thrower they discovered a perfectly healthy ~35 pound mute swan sitting on a nest that my Chessie had tried to retrieve. Certainly got a few chuckles and comments from the gallery and judges about that.