Is it age or temperature she is responding to ? have you tried warming the deceased up in a microwave for a bit?
Or is it a case of 'you have handled it already - you must have been careless in dropping it; go and pick it up yourself!!' _________________ Guy, Ellie, Topaz, Catja and in memory Barley
Beauty from Structure
www.epagneulbreton.org.uk
Cheeky bee _________________ Jan
Merlin, hips 9/9=18 and Ghillie, hips 8/9=17
Pull [n or v] An equal and opposite force perpetrated on both ends of a lead that results in the inevitable tripping and falling of the human involved!!
no i was being serious - is it temperature or dead age.
i know a lot of dogs that wont pick up a bird that has already been mouthed by another dog even fresh shot. _________________ Guy, Ellie, Topaz, Catja and in memory Barley
Beauty from Structure
www.epagneulbreton.org.uk
Mr Plum...
I am indeed speaking about Eunice Lambert. We are friends and still communicate even though John and her have moved back to the land of the French Bretons!!!
Eunice- though I am told, terrifed some- helped me an awful lot in understanding quite a few things about wind for one.( putting it in practice is another story!) . She would come over and help me. Though their ideas and mine over breeding differed
I absolutely believe in the breeding for natural retrieving. Having had some Brittanys who went up to dummies and game and say" Pick it up yourself" made my life too difficult.
No progressing in obedience beacuse the next exercise was the retrieve. No gundog classes, and certainly no working tests. So ...
I have tried to select for this quality too. And it has come through.
One of my bitches was a retrieverholic. She got a COM on her second trial. Absolutely biddable and loved retrieving anything. Her son is exactly the same , and would carry the long stalks of rape for the hell of it.
Then cold game etc...
Because they are so keen, you can go further in their training. Only my opinion of course.
So, yes, for me too, retrieving first( though I expose baby puppies to game early).
I had a six week old pup who retrieved a moorhen- which my husband hates-
And John's dog's father ( Solo) picked up his first cock pheasant at 8 weeks...by the neck. and dragged it.
He went on to pick up pink foor geese with his dad Lorca.
So everything you say on the retrieve makes sense. I treat the hunting as the " reward".
As for the force retrieve.
Having been to the US ( to do a seminar with Jacques Bordet, from France) we got invited to a shooting reserve.
A very experienced surgeon owned the place and I have never seen such beautifully stuffed animals covering the walls of the lodge. From wolves to large gazelles, bears et...
He had a course French Brittanys and a special liking fo tricolours.
He went on to show us the contraption used for the force retrieve. It was a walk on wide board. The dog was tied on a poulie. The thing was to make the dog pick up a dummy with a string who would go round one of its toes. As it is uncomfortable, the dog opens its mouth and you put the dummy in its mouth. They said it worked well and indeed, the dog picked it up.
I have read of similar things to make a dog open its mouth. Also to pinch its ear. It screams, you put the dummy in.
As you need to be very experienced, I take the easy option and prefer an enthousiastic retriever!
I won't go on about the E collars. Over there, they even used one on the waist!!
But that should go on a different thread!
I have trained F.F. but never to a gundog breed. It is the breeders job - in fact the breeders responsibility to breed in enough retrieve instinct to use - with some left over to cover for the mistakes the trainer will almost certainly make.
I have read the books etc. but I just don't like F.F. - I think I'm too soft to train that way. Usually I can wind a dog up to get it to retrieve some kind of article and then take things from there but it is much easier to have the kind of dog that wants to retrieve anything and everything - - - - all you have to worry about then is how to stop it from running in !!!
The Plum. _________________ The dogs nose is better than yours, let it use it!
I met Eunice only once . My wife and I stayed overnight with her and John when I was competing in a grouse trial at Snake Pass near where they used to live.
That was before John and Eunice got Brittanies - it was me that was getting asked the questions and me that was kept busy drawing wind directions and dogs hunt patterns to those winds !
The Plum. _________________ The dogs nose is better than yours, let it use it!
Oh well, they obviously passed it on!!( the little drawings).
Jay ( Bestobel Hiver) was a great dog and had a biddable temperament. I knew both his mum and Dad ( Alithea L being my friend). Ete used to come here too on shooting / training days- that is going back a bit- but I have wonderful memories.
A lot of enthousiasm. I can say truly if it was not for Eunice, I would not have considered going further than working the dogs round here.
You may like to know they now have a ...Labrador....
But a dog like Jay is one special dog and not so many like it...( special that is )
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