The most recent issue of Gun Dog Magazine is the puppy issue! There are a number of great articles for anyone with a young hunting dog. I also noted that Dokken is now making a retrieving dummy for 7-12 week old puppies. I think this is brilliant and will be ordering one forthwith.
My dogs have always taken to the Dokken Dead Fowl trainers. I’m excited to see one that is puppy size. I have used a number of toys and small dummies with pups and I’m sure that this new offering with fit the bill nicely.
I also had an opportunity to listen to a few podcasts. One that is of note for all hunting dog owners was Lone Duck’s Gun Dog Chronicles Episode 156. Retriever training: How Pros Collar Condition a Dog. In this episode Bob Owens talks to three other pro trainers about their e-collar conditioning program and shares his own regimen. It was fantastic to listen to importance of and techniques to use e-collars. This is a must listen for anyone wanting to train their dog to high level. Proper e-collar conditioning is a foundation to all high level gun dog performance.
I also had the opportunity to listen to Josh Miller of Riverstone Kennels on his podast DUK Dogs. The episode was #100-Season in Review. Jose went over the notes he took during the season. In particular he kept records of the number of retrieves each of his dog’s made. He also recorded the number of blind retrieves and length of each blind retrieve. This got me thinking that I need to do a better job recording the hunting performance of my dogs.
That is the most notable dog content that I consumed in the last few weeks. I’m looking forward to NAPPA President Mark Olcott’s appearance on the Birds, Booze and Buds Podcast. That should hit your podcast app next week.