Duck Dogs
Don’t Rock the Boat
Don't Rock the Boat Preparation and training are critical to boating safely with retrievers By Bill Miller The beauty of duck hunting is you can make it as social or solitary as you [...]
Time to Get Birdy
Time to Get Birdy A proper introduction to birds should awaken a young retriever’s instincts By Bill Miller Sadie was our first retriever. We got her to keep my wife company when I [...]
Winterize Your Retriever
Winterize Your Retriever Ben Peterson/Delta Waterfowl Careful preparation and optimum nutrition help dogs withstand the late-season chill By Kyle Wintersteen The air temperature hovered in the 20s, Russell Kelley recalls of a [...]
Heat Awareness
What is HRI? HRI stands for heat-related illness. For dogs, it is more often referred to by the signs or stages of the illness: heat cramps (muscle spasms), heat stress, heat exhaustion [...]
Delta Tested – Eukanuba Premium Performance 30/20 Sport
Delta Tested: Eukanuba Premium Performance 30/20 Sport Eukanuba has seemingly lived by the motto, “stick with what works,” but recently the pet nutrition company made a move that hasn’t occurred in some [...]
Celebrating a Special Bond
Celebrating a Special Bond Waterfowl hunters share a unique connection with their retrievers The dog is a lanky, curly haired, rather goofy fellow, and yet he prances around the dinner party [...]
Labrador Retrievers
Labrador Retrievers What do you really know about North America’s most popular duck dog? The Labrador retriever is undisputedly the most popular duck dog in North America. In fact, according to [...]
Properly taught and issued commands are the foundation for training success
Properly taught and issued commands are the foundation for training success Consistency in delivering commands is the key to helping your retriever understand what is expected. One of the biggest differences you’ll [...]
Bring Water From Home: Duck Dog Tip of the Week
Bring Water From Home: Duck Dog Tip of the Week When you’re out in the field, you’d never consider drinking from a random stream, pond, lake or puddle. Your dog shouldn’t be doing [...]
Water, Water, Water: Duck Dog Tip of the Week with Carson Wentz
Water, Water, Water: Duck Dog Tip of the Week with Carson Wentz Pro quarterback Carson Wentz knows about training in hot weather for the season ahead – for himself and for his duck [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Travel Tips From a Pro
Delta Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Travel Tips from a Pro As much as he loves playing football, pro quarterback Carson Wentz loves hunting and his hunting dogs even more. As you [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: The Easy Let Down
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: The Easy Let Down A Tip for Protecting Your Labrador’s Joints and Ligaments. Sometimes the steps for keeping your duck dog healthy and performing at its peak [...]
Duck Dogs-Bumpers, lines, and success
Bumpers, lines, and success! Want your retriever to take a line out to a 500-yard blind? Start at 50 or even 25. Place a small pile of bumpers in short grass, and [...]
Duck Dogs-Build Confidence with Retrieves
Build Confidence with Retrieves Dogs that consistently make challenging retrieves aren’t just skilled and experienced — they have great confidence. The key to building it? Never let your dog fail. If your [...]
Steady Dogs
A Steady Dog A “steady” dog is paramount to a safe hunt. Emphasize steadiness in your training by consistently denying your dog a retrieve if she breaks or even simply flinches before [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Puppy Games
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Puppy Games Training your puppy with games. Dog training works best when you're both having fun. Todd Agnew gives a short reminder about the importance of playing [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Puppy Treats
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Puppy Treats How to train your puppy with treats. Of the first three things you teach your puppy, returning to you is key. Many people immediately focus [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: ICE hazards
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Ice Hazards The “Gun Dog Doc” Joe Spoo, DVM explains the dangers of ice, breaking ice, and open water. Being conscious of where you are dropping birds [...]
First Season Expectations of Your Sporting Dog
First Season Expectations of Your Sporting Dog Featuring: Mark Fulmer | Sarahsetter Kennel Opening Day is what we wait for all year long. It’s the start of the best time of the [...]
Delta Waterfowl Staffer’s Dog is an HRC Champion
Delta Waterfowl Staffer’s Dog is an HRC Champion On a warm and clear August afternoon, long-time Delta staffer John Devney prepared to direct his black Lab, Taig, to one last duck during [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Updated Info on Puppy Vaccinations
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Updated Info on Puppy Vaccinations The idea that “more is better, sooner” when comes to early puppy vaccinations is outdated thinking. The “Gun Dog Doc” Joe Spoo, [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Feed to Your Dog’s Fitness
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Feed to Your Dog’s Fitness Whether you’re feeding a new puppy or a veteran duck dog, the “Gun Dog Doc” Joe Spoo, DVM says guidelines on the [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Carbohydrates, They’re as Important as Protein and Fat
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Carbohydrates, They’re as Important as Protein and Fat Sporting dog handlers and trainers know that to perform at their best their strings require a lot of [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Essential Training Tips for Sporting Dogs
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Essential Training Tips for Sporting Dogs Featuring Brad Arington | Mossy Pond Retrievers | @teammpr The beauty of training dogs is that there isn’t just one method. [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Ways to Keep Your Lab Fit and Trim
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Ways to Keep Your Lab Fit and Trim Featuring Al Arthur | Sandhill Kennels One look at the current trend in food and restaurants, and you’ll [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Training Your Sporting Dog For The Field And As A Family Pet
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Training Your Sporting Dog for the Field and as a Family Pet Featuring Chris Akin. | Webb Footed Kennel | @webbfootedkennel Part of the reason Labrador retrievers [...]
A Tribute to Tess
A Tribute to Tess By Peter Spear The beloved black Lab was showing her age, but I knew that if I could get her through the heat and humidity of our New [...]
The Two Labrador Retrievers
The Two Labrador Retrievers American-bred Labs and British imports offer differing merits to today’s waterfowler By Brian Lovett Duck hunters love lively debates, whether the topic is divers versus puddlers or pumps versus [...]
Ruff and Famous Retrievers
Ruff and Famous Retrievers Celebrating history’s most unforgettable duck dogs By Anthony Hauck The social media site Instagram, where the hashtag #labsofinstagram has been used more than 7.3 million times, ensures that every [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Work Up to Walking Singles
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Work Up to Walking Singles Training on your own creates limitations – like how long you can stretch out the retrieves without bird launchers and other equipment. [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Ability to Reinforce Every Command
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Ability to Reinforce Every Command In all training, one of the most important considerations is how you’ll instantly reinforce your commands should the dog decide to NOT [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Last-Out, First-In Kenneling
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Last-Out, First-In Kenneling One of the most important safety and training devices at your disposal is the dog’s kennel. When Josh Miller of River Stone Kennels is [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Trimming Dogs’ Nails
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Trimming Dogs’ Nails Both in the field and at home, it’s important to maintain proper length of your dog’s toenails. The “Gun Dog Doc” Joe Spoo says [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Protecting Your Dog’s Ears
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Protecting Your Dog’s Ears The key to maintaining a duck dog’s hearing through its whole life is doing all you can to avoid shooting directly over the [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Preventing Heat Stroke
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Preventing Heat Stroke Hot weather activities – whether training or hunting – can be dangerous for your duck dog if you don’t take proper precautions. In this [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Puppy Retrieves
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Puppy Retrieves The tendency of many new duck dog owners is to ask a puppy to make too many retrieves too soon. That’s a mistake. Barton Ramsey [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: “Why Feed Quality Food?”
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: “Why Feed Quality Food?” Your duck dog is an athlete. Just as with human athletes, performance is only optimized with the right diet. According to Barton Ramsey [...]
Birds and Bumpers
Birds and Bumpers By Bill Miller Sadie’s first year of training had its downs and ups, but as it drew to an end, we had high hopes for our first retriever. Though [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Preventing Hypothermia
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Preventing Hypothermia Duck dogs are expected to perform in a wide range of conditions, including cold weather and icy water, but it’s up to you to discern [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Using the Wind for Lining
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Using the Wind for Lining With a well-trained duck dog, your knowledge in handling is equally important in ensuring success – especially on blind retrieves. Josh of [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Teaching Your Dog to “Load Up”
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Teaching Your Dog to “Load Up” Encouragement and conditioning rather than force and frustration. That’s a philosophy key to most aspects of training a duck dog. In [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Selecting a Properly Sized Crate
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Selecting a Properly Sized Crate The tendency of many duck dog owners is to buy a crate for a puppy that will be big enough to hold [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Introducing Your Dog to Water
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Introducing Your Dog to Water It’s a myth that all retrievers naturally love the water. In fact, the worst thing you can do is force a hesitant [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Introducing Your Dog to Decoys
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Introducing Your Dog to Decoys The ultimate goal for your duck dog is to build laser focus on the downed birds and treat decoys like they’re not [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Hunting the Older Dog
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Hunting the Older Dog When you look at the duck dog in the blind next to you, it’s the memories you built together that mean the most. [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Dealing with Heat Cycles
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Dealing with Heat Cycles For owners of female duck dogs, heat cycles are a fact of life. When it happens, your most important responsibility is taking steps [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: How Often to Train
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: How Often to Train It would be nice if there was a schedule that told you how to train every retriever. There’s not. Dogs are individuals and [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: How Long to Train
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: How Long to Train Like children, puppies have short attention spans. If you train beyond the limits of its ability to focus, they won’t learn efficiently and [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Exercise Advice
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Exercise Advice Performance athletes require carefully planned exercise programs to maintain physique and achieve peak performance at just the right time. Your duck dog is an athlete, [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Signs of Proper Weight
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Signs of Proper Weight The overall weight and body condition of your dog are the most important signs of good health and athleticism. Proper body weight will [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: The Clicker
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: The Clicker “Clicker training” is most often used in developing service dogs for their jobs, but the method also has a place in training your duck dog. [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Be Consistent
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Be Consistent Puppies are smart, but they need rules; and they need those rules to always be the same. Don’t let your dog get away with something [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Avoiding Gun Shy Behavior
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Avoiding Gun Shy Behavior There are many myths about introducing retrievers to gunfire. Some of them can actually instill the behaviors you’re trying to avoid. In this [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Three Keys to Puppy Success
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Three Keys to Puppy Success When you first get a puppy, there’s likely to be a million things running through your head. Josh from Cornerstone Gun Dog [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Stand Alone Marks
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Stand Alone Marks Training alone? Here’s how to increase the length of your dog’s retrieves while also reinforcing steadiness.
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Dogs in Ice
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Dogs in Ice Hunting dogs on or around forming ice is a recipe for disaster. Using poor judgment for one minute can create a lifetime of regret. [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Single vs. Multiple Marks
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Single vs. Multiple Marks
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Lining Memories
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Lining Memories
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: How to Reward
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: How to Reward From puppies to adult dogs, here’s how to use rewards most effectively to reinforce desired behaviors.
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Beginning and Ending with Confidence
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Beginning and Ending with Confidence Watch this video for tips on how to get the most out of your training session with your dog. [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: How to Heel
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: How to Heel Watch this video for tips on how to teach your dog the proper way to heel.
Early Season Retriever Safety
Early Season Retriever Safety By Bill Miller The conditions and terrain most dogs encounter during the early duck season are significantly different than on other opening days, such as a dove hunt in [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Honoring
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Honoring If you plan to hunt your retriever in tandem with other duck dogs, you’ll need to train him or her to “honor” another dog’s work. Here’s [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Retrieve Denials
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Retrieve Denials Retrieve denials lay the foundation for steadiness in the field.
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Avoiding Blue-Green Algae
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Avoiding Blue-Green Algae "If you’ve spent any time on social media this summer, you likely have heard the numerous horror stories of dogs dying as the [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Summer Training
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Summer Safety Is your retriever getting too hot during summer training? Eukanuba Sporting Dog pro Chris Akin explains an early warning sign. [...]
Eukanuba Premium Performance 30/20 Dog Food
Delta Tested: Eukanuba Premium Performance 30/20 Dog Food By Kyle Wintersteen Both my 6-year-old springer spaniels had eaten a certain 30/20 performance formula their entire lives — the same one eaten [...]
A Retriever Comes of Age
A Retriever Comes of Age What “makes” a duck dog? SportDOG Brand Senior ProStaff Member Chris Akin shares his insights.
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: How to Read Your Dog
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: How to Read Your Dog Your dog “talks” to you with its body language, but are you getting the message? Here’s how to read your dog and [...]
Delta Waterfowl Declares June “Duck Dog Month”
Delta Waterfowl Declares June “Duck Dog Month” It’s a critical month for waterfowlers who want to take their retriever’s training to the next level, and to celebrate and inform those efforts, Delta Waterfowl [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Nutrition for Older Retrievers
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Nutrition for Older Retrievers “Too often dog owners focus on their dog’s age, rather than its health and fitness, as a determining factor for continued [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Preventing Fleas and Ticks
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Preventing Fleas and Ticks “Now that warmer conditions have arrived in most regions, it’s time to focus on keeping your hunting buddy protected from fleas [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Vaccines and Your Duck Dog
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Vaccines and Your Duck Dog “There is a lot of confusion surrounding canine vaccines and what is appropriate. It is important to understand the differences [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Retriever Pup Nutrition
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Retriever Pup Nutrition “The food you feed a puppy, and how you feed that food over the course of the first year, will be one of [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Spring’s Hidden Dangers
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Spring’s Hidden Dangers “As winter relinquishes its hold on the landscape and gives way to spring, we often see an increase in incidents of vomiting [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Focus on Obedience
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Focus on Obedience It’s easy to get overwhelmed with training and focus on the more fun drills with your dog — advanced drills are exciting, [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Introducing your Pup to Training Dummy
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Introducing your Pup to Training Dummy We all hope to instill a sense of drive in our puppies that they’ll carry with them into the [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Socializing with New Puppy
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Socializing with New Puppy The off-season is a great time to acquire a new puppy, because spring and summer offer ample opportunities for proper socialization. [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Consistent Training
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Consistent Training Now that many waterfowl seasons are closed, you may be looking for training programs to keep your dog sharp during the off-season. Or [...]
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Plan Your Off-season Training Regimen
Duck Dog Tip of the Week: Plan Your Off-season Training Regimen Seasons are beginning to shut down across the country and that can leave a lot of duck dog owners with [...]
Duck Hunting is My Favorite
Duck Hunting is My Favorite Cash the Springer Spaniel (as told to Kyle Wintersteen) My days are generally quite routine. I wake up, scratch a little, ensure the backyard is free [...]
Make Pup’s First Hunt a Positive One
Make Pup’s First Hunt a Positive One Kyle Wintersteen, Managing Editor You’ve watched your black Lab blossom from an 8-week old puppy into a leggy youngster. He’s retrieving to hand, he’s steady [...]
The Little Brown Duck Dog
The Little Brown Duck Dog By Paul Wait Like many small-town doctors of his day, Fred J. Pfeifer was a prominent, revered man in the Wisconsin city where he practiced medicine. [...]
Gentler Force-Fetch
Gentler Force-Fetch Is it time to ditch the ear pinch? By Kyle Wintersteen Whether you desire a “finished” Lab or one that simply completes marked retrieves, all duck dogs must fetch [...]
What If There Were No Duck Dogs?
What If There Were No Duck Dogs? By Kyle Wintersteen, Managing Editor “What’s the point of spending so much time and money on a duck dog?” You’ve likely been asked a [...]
The Duck Hunter’s Guide to Picking a Puppy
The Duck Hunter’s Guide to Picking a Puppy By Bill Miller It’s a moment every waterfowl hunter loves … and dreads. You’re in a clean, well-lit kennel building or a grassy [...]
Five Ways to Prepare Your Duck Dog for Fall
Five Ways to Prepare Your Duck Dog for Fall Kyle Wintersteen, Managing Editor One of my favorite professional dog trainers is fond of the expression, “Champions are made in July.” Although [...]
Avoid These Retriever Nutrition Mistakes
Avoid These Retriever Nutrition Mistakes Kyle Wintersteen, Managing Editor Your duck dog is a canine athlete. He trains all summer, and then spends hunting season corralling winged Canada geese, breaking ice [...]
Training Checklist for an Adequate Duck Dog
Training Checklist for Any Duck Dog Kyle Wintersteen, Managing Editor Today’s retriever training literature tends to focus on some rather advanced skills, such as land-water-land retrieves, handling to 200-yard blind falls, [...]