Part of a GSP's repertoire has to be retrieving - and retrieving from water. And it is hardwired into them. In a thoughtless, bone-headed dog owner move, I casually threw a stick into a flooded river when Jurgen was a pup. He went after it full force, which wasn't my intent, but the current and water depth was more than he bargained for.
Since that time, he hadn't swam. He did get back in the water, but as for getting his beyond wading, he wasn't having any of it. And that's kind of big deal for a dog that's supposed to retrieve ducks like it's second nature. I didn't want him to get laughed at by people and Labradors. Something had to be done.
As luck would have it, we were going out of town and didn't have anybody to watch him overnight. So I called the breeder, Tate Stratton and he said that he had room and could keep him. When we got there, I sort of mentioned that he didn't like to swim. He said "I think we can get him swimming." And the result was Jurgen completed his first live-bird retrieve and water retrieve in the same day.
No comments:
Post a Comment