# First Live Duck & Competition



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

I have a couple 7 month old littermates that I hope will become FC AFCs (#1-I know it's crazy and even ill-advised to have two puppies from a litter ... but, oh well ...; and #2-I know it's even crazier to believe that they will become FC AFCs, but there's always hope in puppies!). 
They had not been on birds for several months, not since the female ate the head off a teal, so I thought I'd give them the excitement of a live bird, largely to see what they'd do (again, probably ill-advised). Notably, these pups love to retrieve, LOVE it, so this exercise wasn't intended to be a morale booster, but instead just a little extra fun. 
I clipped one of Phooey's wings (mallard drake that I've had for a couple years). I got the female pup out first, she was excited and interested, so I gave Phooey a toss - pup rushed out to Phooey, sniffed and chased him around the field, but wouldn't pick him up. Okay, now what? 
Hmmm, it's time for a little competition. So I retrieved Phooey myself, then I got the male pup out of the truck, keeping the female out as well. I gave Phooey another ride and as soon as he landed, the male pup was on him, immediately picking him up and strutting around the field, with the female now trying to get ahold of Phooey. This excited the female pup and provided more than enough incentive for her to pick Phooey up after I put up the male pup and flighted Phooey again. 
I've taken advantage of their competitive nature before, in other circumstances with other dogs. Who else does that and in what ways?
FTGoldens

PS: Phooey is just fine ... though his feathers were ruffled, he's doing well.


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

awww that is a super cute story. I bet it was very fun to watch and makes up for raining days as well 

And one of the biggest ways I use that kind of manipulation is with introducing pups to water. If the pup shows its hesitant then I get proof out and let him go after it. By the end of the first retrieve, pup is a swimming fool, ha ha!


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## myluckypenny (Nov 29, 2016)

I did that with dock diving. I really wanted to get my two year old female to jump, but she really wasn't sure of the clear water. She would jump just fine from the dock into a lake, but not a pool. Well I had my male puppy in the dock diving pool at ten weeks old (with a life jacket) and he starting jumping off the dock portion at 4.5 months old. I decided to try having both of them up there with me, not really thinking she would jump. Well I throw the toy for Fisher and right after he jumped in, Penny was jumping in right after him. She did not want him to have that toy lol! After that she had no problem and was jumping 14 feet by the end of the night. Sibling rivalry is real, even in dogs haha!


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## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

I have a talented almost 5 year old Golden who is my guinea pig. He helps with the puppies swimming and is teaching my wife how to run dogs. He sliced all of his tendons in his foot and can only train a day or two a week with out favoring the foot. They re attached the tendons but he still gets sore so he is just a goofball guinea pig. He loves it and is a very happy dog. He is Louie's littermate.


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