Thanks for the advice. I had a few other hunters and trainers tell me the same thing. This is my first bird dog I’ve trained and I’m concerned I’ll end up doing something irreversible and ruining her potential. She does well with other commands – whoa, heel, sit, here, down, crate, etc… so I know she can learn it. It is just a little frustrating since she learned the other commands so easily. This is especially true because I know she knows the fetch and drop commands. She just turned two. Her first hunting year, I wasn’t to concerned about retrieving, for I wanted to accomplish other things that year – whoa broke, whistle and come command, excited about birds, accepting gun fire, quartering, hunting to the front, etc… However, this past year, I wanted to finish her off. I got her steady to wing and shot, for the most part anyway, and e-collar trained. The last thing is fetching, which seems to be the most difficult. I only used the e-collar to enforce the come command and to steady her up on wing and shot to stop her from chasing birds. I have never used it on any other command. Have you ever used the e-collar for retrieving? Or, should I just go back and do more table and yard work with the toe pinch?
Thanks,
m