Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 9:36 am Post subject: Dummy recommendations
I'm looking to get some more dummies for training with Rusti & Sunni but am looking for ones that are more game realistic. I currently have the plain canvas ones but want something a bit more interesting and some variations.
What would you recommend and where can I buy them from?
Nikki can I be completely honest with you (I know I usually am and that's what gets me into trouble ). For now just stick to canvas dummies, wait a while before moving onto all sorts of other things. You can sometimes give yourselves more problems than you need by moving on to quickly.
As an example some young dogs when put on fur or feather at a young age get bored with canvas dummies. Then you decide you want to do a Working Test which is all canvas dummies. Do you get my drift?
There is no rush to move on honestly.
Edited to add: All Spice is getting to retrieve at the moment is a tennis ball and I have no plans to move her onto anything else in the near future.
I agree with Jill. I have a "Mallard" Birddog dummy, but never use it until shortly before moving onto cold game ready for the real thing. The same applies to Pheasant wings and Rabbit skins.
It's not so much the dummy that makes it interesting as what you do with the dummy.
Tennis balls, like Jill uses and perhaps one of those dummy shaped tennis kong things on a rope? Air Kong Fetch Stick, that's what they're called lol! They do at least two sizes, opt for the small puppy one.
Great for throwing into longish grass for hunting. My JRT would sell her soul to the devil just to be allowed to have a go with one (but it would be stripped naked in 2 seconds, so she'll have to continue to yearn!)
The Working Dog Company sell dummies which are more "bird-shaped" - but not as realistic as dokken-types. Sort of a half-way house between traditional canvas dummies, and full-on fake birds (and nearer in price to canvas dummies!). Probably the best way to describe them (at least as I've seen them described and from pictures only, I should hasten to add) is a rugby-ball shaped dummy with a toggle. They do them in pheasant & partridge size - and I've been quite keen to get one for a while but I'm constantly told "you've got enough...!" The dog columnist in the Shooting Times has raved about them more than once...
I totally agree with John and Jill, I especially liked your 'it's not the dummy it's what you do with it' quote John! All labradors should be natural retrievers and unless they have been bored to death by throwing too many dummies at a young age or exposed to game scent or retrieving game itself at a young age then you shouldn't have any problems. They should want to retrieve anything for you. If you ever want to compete then you need a dog that will retrieve a bog standard, brand new stiff dummy that could quite possibly be covered in slobber and been retrieved loads of times already that day!
That said I do have 2 rabbit skin covered dummies in my bag and I use them when progressing onto double memories or memories/blinds with it as a distraction. My dogs naturally want to retrieve the rabbit skin dummy instead of the other dummies so it is a good exercise to install discipline with 'you will pick the one I want you to pick' problem. If the exercise is completed well and the dog doesn't 'pull' to the rabbit skin dummy then it gets to retrieve it at the end as a reward.
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). For now just stick to canvas dummies, wait a while before moving onto all sorts of other things. You can sometimes give yourselves more problems than you need by moving on to quickly.
The dog columnist in the Shooting Times has raved about them more than once...
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