Photo: Working on retrieving with a Braque du Bourbonnais nicknamed Pinto Bean.
You can strengthen both your dog’s desire for birds and willingness to retrieve by playing with them for just a few minutes a night. With the dog on a check cord, show a fresh or frozen bird to the dog, let them smell it, get excited with them over the bird, tease them with it a bit then toss it out for them to get . Keep a hold of the check cord so they don’t run off with it, but keep it loose. If they do try to run off with the bird, praise them while stopping them with the check cord, then provide slack. Call them back to you. When they come back, don’t reach for the bird; let them have it for a moment while you praise them by stroking them down the back. After a moment, take the bird confidently and do it again. If they drop the bird before you reach to take it, immediately stop stroking them (i.e. they are rewarded when they hold the bird and come back to you, the reward stops when they drop the bird). If they don’t want to release the bird, gently lift the under the tender flap of skin between the back leg and hip and take the bird as they look to see what the pressure is; praise them all the while.
All of this should be fun, enthusiastic and positive. You are trying to build a positive, even electric connection between birds, retrieving and you. After about three times, just as the dog is getting really keyed up about the game, act like you are tossing the bird again and hide it behind your back and the bird disappears. Put the dog up and let them grind on just how awesome birds are.
A few brief minutes can really build a pup’s desire for birds and willingness to retrieve.
