It's been a dog training weekend. Sure, I could have snuck off to a treestand, duck blind, or grouse covert, but sometimes ya just gotta slow down. Plus, I've got a busy week planned, where I'll be sneaking off to a treestand, a duck blind, and a grouse covert. Just not in that that order. So I worked with Ginger on some basics, with some tricky cover thrown in. I want her to succeed as a duck dog, too, so I've been keeping her in wet, thick, and tricky cover.
In this first video, I don't do anything tricky. I toss a marked retrieve, and send her for it at my leisure. Ginger has been struggling with her steadiness a bit; she doesn't run in, but creeps, and doesn't stay seated. So she doesn't get to make the retrieve until her butt hits the ground.
Here, I toss a dummy into tricky, wet cover. Ginger still creeps, so I give her a little reminder, and put a bit of pressure on her. Of course, she makes the retrieve, and makes it look easy, too.
In this last video I toss the dummy into heavy, thick, wet cover. The water depth in this cover varies, and the cover is tall, so not only is Ginger doing more swimming, but we can't see each other much. If you're planning to use your spaniel for waterfowling you've got to have a spaniel that can handle this type of cover and get the job done. You need a dog that is brave, trustworthy, and independent.
**Special thanks to my wife for the wonderful, professional looking video job.
Looks like Ginger was having a blast!
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