Revist Force Fetch?

My two year old lab breezed through force fetch this spring when we began formal training. Never drops a bumper or duck during training or junior hunt test and has handled a few live ducks and 4 geese real well this season. Problem began yesterday on pheasant and quail. He has dropped both before getting back to me and then refused to hold them when i put them back in his mouth - even with collar pressure. On today's retrieve he dropped it short and when i ordered him to fetch he rolled over on his back. No amount of pressure would make him pick up the bird. Question is should I quit the upland hunting and start all over again with force fetch or wait till the season is up and then address it - apparently I wasn't too good doing it the first time, but he seemed to really get it - grabbed everything in front of him.

I believe the stick and collar fetch let you know where you really are with ff.As you can probably tell I'm a TRT guy.

Pheasant and quail are dry birds ...unlike ducks ....this may be just an introductory issue for him ....If he never had any going through FF I would just redo ff using them ....Steve S

When I do force fetch, I try to force fetch to each game bird I expect to encounter in our hunting or training-pheasant, chukar, duck, quail, pigeon. I don't know if this is common practice but I don't think it hurts. If you haven't done it this way maybe you can give it a try.

My old man was the same way when he first hunted pheasant, they are just too different at first, intro the dog to them in a more controlled environment.

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Originally Posted by Garo20

My two year old lab breezed through force fetch this spring when we began formal training.....Question is should I quit the upland hunting and start all over again with force fetch or wait till the season is up and then address it - .

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Breezing through FF often means the process was not complete. A smart dog learned to beat the pressure, and fooled the trainer into believing he was trained. FF is a pressure conditioning process, and if "no amount of pressure" causes him to fetch he doesn't have an adequate education.

Don't wait; start now, and finish this process. Be patient and thorough - all steps, including forcing on birds.

Evan

Exactly how old is your dog? (months)

He is 24 months old and I only had pigeons and ducks when i did ff, Evan, I think you hit the nail on the head - he's a smart dog and I'm a new trainer so I think he pulled one over on me. i'm gonna redo ff, slower this time and use more birds. Thanks for all the responses.

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Originally Posted by Evan

Breezing through FF often means the process was not complete. A smart dog learned to beat the pressure, and fooled the trainer into believing he was trained. FF is a pressure conditioning process, and if "no amount of pressure" causes him to fetch he doesn't have an adequate education.

Don't wait; start now, and finish this process. Be patient and thorough - all steps, including forcing on birds.

Evan

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VERY, VERY VERY TRUE....My biggest fear is a dog that is too anxious to get something in it's mouth ....Steve S