Missed Mark

[duckdropper]

I've never had this issue while training. It just occurred this weekend while hunting. My lab is a little over 2 and this is his first year hunting.

He marks the bird and when I send him he is short on the mark by 5-10 feet??? When I correct him and send him back of course he picks finds it. During training he never does this. Any ideas?

[fishduck]

Was the bird a teal, goose or dove. All of those seasons are now open in many areas. If it was a dove I wouldn't worry about it. Doves don't emit a lot of scent. To make matters worse the dog gets hot quickly and that makes them unable to smell. The tendency on a shot bird is to mark it short. I know because I do it myself. As you hunt the dog more it will start to correct itself. There is a world of difference when a bird comes falling out of the sky as compared to a birdboy or winger thrown bird.
Mark L.

[duckdropper]

It was a dove. Thanks for the advice. I just wanted to make sure this wasnt something we needed to work on.

[Kristie Wilder]

What's wrong with being short of a mark? Did he break into a hunt or just not get the bird? It's not really fair to correct just because a dog didn't find a bird... If he didn't find a bird because he did something related to training/factors, that's one thing but if he just didn't do a perfect mark...

I'm just trying to figure out what he did. I agree with fishduck though. And dove have very little scent... Esp since you said it's his first season, I'd say help him out versus use correction for something like this -- IF it's simply a missed mark and not lack of effort.

-K