Feather Aversion

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Karankawajake
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Feather Aversion

Post by Karankawajake » Fri Jun 26, 2020 9:32 pm

I have a DK which I used the force fetch method to teach her to retrieve. She is great on land or water when I use bumpers. However, when I switch frozen or thawed quail she is reluctant to pick it up. She has gotten better with frozen quail but is still hesitant to pick a bird that has thawed. Her typical behavior when doing this is to lick it or pick at the feathers. Same goes for planted birds I have shot over her. Being inexperienced, I’m not sure what to do at this point. Would appreciate some ideas if anyone else has dealt with this successfully.

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Sharon
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Re: Feather Aversion

Post by Sharon » Sat Jun 27, 2020 4:45 pm

Welcome to the forum.

Others can help more than I , but consider this programme helper:

Perfection Kennel on a DVD titled Perfect Retrieve.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Perfect ... e&ie=UTF-8
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Garrison
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Re: Feather Aversion

Post by Garrison » Sat Jun 27, 2020 7:02 pm

What do you mean by you used the force fetch method? Think you might of got ahead of your skis during the process.

Sounds like some very important steps in the progression were either missed completely or not completed correctly. If the dog won’t pick up a bird it has probably had a negative association during this incomplete training that the force part of the equation didn’t overcome.

Did the dog happily pick up birds prior to the force fetch process?

Bottom line, the dog has not been through the force fetch process if it won’t pick up a bird. If it was picking up birds before it now has a negative association with retrieving birds and you may need to start from the beginning of the process and complete it fully for the dog to retrieve reliably. Follow a program and make sure each step is done thoroughly and the dog will perform reliably before moving forward, or probably even better to have someone experienced show you or do it for you so the issues are resolved.

Garrison
Last edited by Garrison on Sat Jun 27, 2020 8:02 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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gonehuntin'
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Re: Feather Aversion

Post by gonehuntin' » Sat Jun 27, 2020 7:40 pm

My guess would be, your dog hasn't seen of handled many live birds. Before you get in to more training issues, just try throwing some clip wing pigeons and see what happens. If the dog doesn't grab the bird, it walks or flutters away. Perhaps things have been too formalized for the dog. Don't panic yet.
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Trekmoor
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Re: Feather Aversion

Post by Trekmoor » Sun Jun 28, 2020 2:41 am

I don't know enough about force fetch to talk about it. I would go a different route to get the dog over the possible aversion to feathers. I don't think the bitch has an aversion to them …..she just isn't used to them.

I would use pheasant or duck wings separated from the bird at the joint and tie them on tightly to one of the bumpers that she does like to fetch. If you think it advisable you could, to begin with, attach just one wing to the bumper which would give her more bumper to hold and a bit less in the way of feathers .

Once she gets happy with the wing covered bumper , try her again on a dead bird after making sure there is no blood on the feathers.

Bill T.
The older I get, the better I was !

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