will not pick up a duck

[bodeen]

My dog for some reason will not pick up a dead duck. She will pick up everything else but not a duck. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[RebelYelp]

make her want to pick it up, tie a string to it and play keep away, lightly hit her with it, etc etc, let her start sniffing it on the ground and gently pull it away from her, play keep away, etc etc entice her to get it

[RAB]

Bodeen, excuse me if you've stated it somewhere before on this site and I haven't seen it because I'm new to it, but how old is your dog? What breed is she? Will she go after bumpers and such? I'm no pro by any means, but I have seen shackled pigeons do the trick before. They are small and non aggressive. I have seen shackled ducks bite young dogs before and if they're very soft, it can cause a whole new problem. If a shackled pigeon isn't available, I agree with RebelYelp. You may start out with just a wing and tease her with it and make a game out of it. This usually will get them excited enough to pick it up, too. Good Luck and let us know how it turns out.

[Robcat]

I don't know how old your dog is either, but age, experience, and fresh ducks will usually work if the dog has any "birdiness" about him. Pigeons with clipped wings also seem to be a lot of fun for the dog.

[eastwoods]

get you a live duck and put a sock over it's head and tie the wings together so it can only run.

If the dog doesn't chase it, mouth it, shake it, etc. get a new dog.

If it's a pup pull live shackled duck with a rope, the pup should jump on and ride bareback.

When I pick a pup, I pick the one that can hang on the longest.

[bolivarduck]

This sounds like a force fetch issue (if she has been force fetched). If you have not force fetched her then you need to or you need to have a pro do it. Make it so that she HAS to get the duck- don't let her make that decision. You already have a retriever that loves to retrieve she just decided that she doesn't like ducks.

[bodeen]

Thanks for the advice guys. Since I am just getting my feet wet I will probably send her off to a pro. This is going to sound dumb but I thought picking up a duck was as natural to them as picking up a bumper.

[Got Chocolate?]

bolivar duck is correct. this is a force fetch problem.

[B3]

I respectfully disagree. I would want to have the dog excited about picking up birds without force fetch. In my mind forcing is not to get the dog to retrieve ducks, its to control his retrieving.

I would use some live birds and get him excited about it. You may do better with a shackled pigeon first but I would have him excited about ducks before I did force fetch. You can get a dog to fetch hammers,beer cans or rocks with force fetch,but I'd want my dog to have a different feeling about birds.

The other thing that might help is have him watch another dog going nuts over the duck. That should spark his interest.

[kaustin]

That worked with mine. I had one 10 month old that loved birds and one that would not touch one. I played with the one retrieving the duck and a lot of praise, got the other one out and did some SHORT fun retrieves. After one refuse and no playing or praise the next one was picked up and no problems since. One other issue mentioned on another post was dealing with heat and feather avoidance. I believe this was an issue for mine and may be with yours. Next time you try make sure it is early or late and not excessively hot. Good luck.

[B3]

I'd like to change that to "I RESPECTFULLY disagree".(since we don't have an edit button. Also keep in mind I'm no expert but I'd want my dog to want to pick up birds.

I'd make sure its not a nasty rotten dead duck. A live bird or a fresh shot one with the scent of blood would be best. Not many labs can resist another dog going after a bird and not want to join in.

[BrettG]

If you are having great success with bumpers you better get as many ducks and go only to birds during training. I've never shot a bumper while hunting. Shackled birds do the best. They get the dogs salivating and crazy. If the dog has been FF then you missed a step. They should fetch what you want them to on command. Those that saw the great display of the dog fetching the blind pole Sat. can vouch for the fact a dog can be conditioned to bring back WHATEVER you want them to.