yes we train for it, 2-3 ways.
1- the rope, pully, dead duck way...... duck tied to rope to sunk block and back to you. pull on rope duck sinks.... hard to do but works.
2- duck chase, small stock pond, live duck that cannot fly tossed into pond, and a dog to go get it. duck swims and dives. will take a while for this drill, bring beer.
3- go hunting a lot.


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2- duck chase, small stock pond, live duck that cannot fly tossed into pond, and a dog to go get it. duck swims and dives. will take a while for this drill, bring beer.


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This has to be the best way, lots of fun for the dog too!

 

During a recent hunt test my dog was dropped when the bird he was sent on sank.

Have heard of this happening to fish at fishing tournaments

 

Thanks for the info Ken that was really interesting.

 

Hmm... I know this won't help but when we go to the lake we fill a white bumper with water so it sinks; my 10 month old dives right under for it every time like its not even a question. We did start off in shallow water but now the little guy is like an otter.
He is my first retriever and I just thought they were all like that!

 

Ron,

I assume that by "sinking" you mean the duck floated very low in the water so as to be almost impossible to see. Is that right? If so, here's what I have done...

Try training with nasty, old, over-used ducks that have been thrown several times on water. The reason the bird sank at the hunt test was probably (my experiences, anyway) because the bird had been used many times or had poor feathers to begin with. Get some real ducks, get them that way, then throw them as marks. Your dog will begin to figure out that just because he can't see it floating up high, doesn't mean it isn't there. The first couple of times, it might also help to have a bird boy with a pocket full of stones so he can keep make splashes near the sinking duck to keep your dog in the area until he figures out to use his nose once he gets there!

Chad

 

Experience with strong birds, and bad shots. (Me.)
My old gal figured out on her own how to find a hidden - sunk - duck. She does not like to put her head under water 'cause of constant ear infections. So when she gets in the area where the bird has dived, and stayed down, she starts "walking" around the bottom, feeling the weeds with her hind feet with her head and front feet high. When, and only when, she hits the bird she dives down for it.
You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but sometimes they can teach temselves!

 

If a mark has truly sunk, then I believe you would be entitled to a re-run. It is not fair to have a dog retrieve a soggy, mushy bird that has sunk below the water level.

If you are talking about a lively cripple that keeps diving, then there are ways to train for that, as have been suggested, and THIS is an important perseverance skill for a retriever to have.

 

I agree if your mark sunk on its own, the club did not have enough birds for test. For a bird to truly sink on its own is a shame and in your case just bad luck. Judge should have given you a re-run.

dave

 

Are you really looking for an answer to this question?

 

Ran into a "sinker" for the first time, both as a mark and blind, at a HT a few weeks back. Didn't fail the test. But, I watched my dog swim within inches of, and breeze right by, a sunken bird (water series go bird). He had pinned the land marks in the morning, and remembered the water series memory bird (which was not a sinker). Consequently, we didn't get dropped when I had to handle him back to the go bird. Seems like it must be a Sunday afternoon phenomena. By the time he got to the water blind bird, he had caught on to the game. However, once he had it, he didn't want to hold it for long without a "hold" reminder.

Grabbed a half-dozen of the nastiest birds that I could find at the test's end, and have incorporated them into our training target rotation since.

As far as training to stay with, or dive for, a diving cripple, I haven't had the opportunity to train for that outside of hunting season.

 

In a perfect world the ducks on Sunday would ride high just like a freshly shot flyer. In reality ducks thrown into water will eventually become waterlogged and start riding low. Only part of the duck may be visible. These ducks can be very hard for a dog to find. There are two ways to deal with it. 1: train on nasty, wet, and waterlogged ducks, throw them in the water and let the dog find them. 2: buy a shamwow and start drying ducks at the line. I have done both.
Mark Land

 

Thanks for the feedback. It's much appreciated.

Sounds like I need to get some "well used" ducks in the training rotation, particularly in areas where they'll sink. It makes sense to try and train for every possibility.

As for Ken's suggestions, anything that includes dog training AND beer sounds like a good suggestion to me. The heads up bird escaping is something we do get in training (especially with an unnamed training partner doing the shooting...) but I need to add in the swimmer and the sinker.

There's always something else to add to the list. I was just looking for feedback to see if this was one of those, or one of the "rarely happens, your training time is better spent elsewhere". Sounds like the former rather than the latter.

Thanks again,