So Odin is my new pup. He is a 3-month-old chocolate lab. I have been working hard training him and taking him out bird hunting with me to get him used to the idea of gunshots and being in the woods, responding to my commands.
It could not have worked out more perfectly when I flushed this bird. We were standing in the middle of a gravel road so Odin could see everything as it happened. The grouse flushed from my right and was flying away, but then turned left out in from of me across the gravel road where I shot and knocked it down. Odin saw the whole thing. The bird still had a little life left in it and that is when I made a motion towards the downed bird and yelled “Odin fetch!” He was hesitant at first, lunging forward and stopping waiting to see what I was doing, but he could see the bird flopping up ahead. I yelled again “Fetch!” and he ran to the bird only to jump back as it flopped. He was not sure what to do. I yelled “Fetch it up!” And then he did. He pounced on it like a cat and got a mouthful of grouse. I blew my trill whistle and he very proudly brought it back to me. I gave him lots of praise. I have a feeling he is going to be an outstanding bird dog.
nting,