rhpierce
Elite Refuge Member
Your post on Diesel brought a tear to my eye...I haven't had a Lab in a long time, and it took me back.
But, this past weekend I also got reminded of how much fun it is watching the switch "flip" in a young dog. Got invited to go with one of my best friend's son, the son's fiancée, and one of their friends...they asked the "old man" to come along. The young lady brought along her Lab, Kazi, and on the first two ducks, I thought, "oh...it's gonna be one of THOSE days".
The next couple of birds took some effort, but at some point, the switch just flipped. First highlight of the day...they knocked down a ringneck that sailed and landed out about 80 yards. She sent the dog, who went beyond the decoys, but took a bad line through them and wound up about 20 degrees off the line. She was getting ready to wade out and try and get him to go over, and I said, "just wait...he's downwind...give it a minute". He went a little further, and his nose swung right into the wind and he corrected, trying to figure it out. About that time, the cripple rolled over onto his back, and the wing raised up - the dog lifted his head out of the water, spotted the bird, and you could see him kick into another gear to swim for it. He did the "Lab chomp" when he got to it, swung around, and swam back to everyone in the blind cheering for him.
After that, the dog started watching every time we hit the calls, trying to lock in on where the birds were. And to his credit, he never broke.
The last retrieve of the day was a single gadwall drake that fell in the decoys. She sent Kazi, and when he got within about 10 feet, the gadwall dove. I started walking out, and we let him search, but the bird came up 10 yards beyond him and 90 degrees to where he was looking, swimming with the body almost under water and just the top of his head and bill out of the water. I got past the dog, kept going, the bird dove, and put a quick one into him when he came up and dove again. Kazi got on track, and I paralleled the duck but never had a shot due to the dog closing the gap. By that point, the gadwall could still dive, but not completely or for long, so I got a front row seat to Kazi making three head dunks/dives as he and the bird did circles in the open water, finally grabbing it and swimming all the way back. I snapped a quick picture as he went past on his way back to the blind.
Wound up with 18 for the day, which wasn't bad at all...and the most fun I've had on a duck hunt in Arkansas in a long time. I know he needs a lot of work, and I hope she follows through with it, but it was good watching him connect the dots and loving every minute.
But, this past weekend I also got reminded of how much fun it is watching the switch "flip" in a young dog. Got invited to go with one of my best friend's son, the son's fiancée, and one of their friends...they asked the "old man" to come along. The young lady brought along her Lab, Kazi, and on the first two ducks, I thought, "oh...it's gonna be one of THOSE days".
The next couple of birds took some effort, but at some point, the switch just flipped. First highlight of the day...they knocked down a ringneck that sailed and landed out about 80 yards. She sent the dog, who went beyond the decoys, but took a bad line through them and wound up about 20 degrees off the line. She was getting ready to wade out and try and get him to go over, and I said, "just wait...he's downwind...give it a minute". He went a little further, and his nose swung right into the wind and he corrected, trying to figure it out. About that time, the cripple rolled over onto his back, and the wing raised up - the dog lifted his head out of the water, spotted the bird, and you could see him kick into another gear to swim for it. He did the "Lab chomp" when he got to it, swung around, and swam back to everyone in the blind cheering for him.
After that, the dog started watching every time we hit the calls, trying to lock in on where the birds were. And to his credit, he never broke.
The last retrieve of the day was a single gadwall drake that fell in the decoys. She sent Kazi, and when he got within about 10 feet, the gadwall dove. I started walking out, and we let him search, but the bird came up 10 yards beyond him and 90 degrees to where he was looking, swimming with the body almost under water and just the top of his head and bill out of the water. I got past the dog, kept going, the bird dove, and put a quick one into him when he came up and dove again. Kazi got on track, and I paralleled the duck but never had a shot due to the dog closing the gap. By that point, the gadwall could still dive, but not completely or for long, so I got a front row seat to Kazi making three head dunks/dives as he and the bird did circles in the open water, finally grabbing it and swimming all the way back. I snapped a quick picture as he went past on his way back to the blind.
Wound up with 18 for the day, which wasn't bad at all...and the most fun I've had on a duck hunt in Arkansas in a long time. I know he needs a lot of work, and I hope she follows through with it, but it was good watching him connect the dots and loving every minute.
