Hello, I like to train my springer as a gundog but only simulated as we do not shoot, anyone use the dokken stuff for training, i have several bumper and canvas type retrieval dummies but i was looking for something a bit more realistic, i believe you can get injection kits to heighten the realism, all i am asking is has anyone used them and are they worth the money. Cheers.
Etta was phased by tails on the dummies but got over that fast. For the rest the retrieving is the easy bit----the control is harder! Getting a stop on a whistle when she is chasing a ball has taken a while. rune
my springer is getting there, just want to up the realism, vey enjoyable aspect of training this gundog malarky.
As said on another thread, I think they are a waste of money, you can get the same effect eg change of weight etc with a bottle of water half filled. If you want to up realism then have you used a dummy covered with a rabbit skin? Cold game in a stocking etc before moving on to cold game with no cover than warm game.........
cheers i have the rabbit skin to cover the dummy and he has no problems with that, i read that the ability to inject with the scent can really up the realism but it could be marketing bull.
How more real can you get than the real thing? If I happen to pick up any roadkill pheasants or pigeons etc then I always do a bit of cold game training before they go in the freezer for the dogs dinner. I say keep your eyes peeled for fresh roadkill and do some training with that (but be aware that if you do too much realism the dog may not want to pick up dummies again and I know thats happened with many dogs). I do mainly dummy with the odd bit of cold game because I want my dog to be comfortable and eager with both.
Whether a dog WANTS to pick up dummies again is immaterial. A dog that is trained correctly will pick up anything you ask it to!
Yes, a dog that is trained should pick up anything but for a dog that is still in the process of training, too much realism may put it off picking up plain old boring dummies again. I've seen dogs that have been worked to some degree early on in their training, they've picked up shot game and then when they've come back to training, they have shown no interest in the dummy. They are looking for the real thing, the dummy hardly registers in their head as something to be retrieved. I would also argue that what the dog wants is certainly not immaterial, it's very much core in getting the desired behaviour, surely?
Some dogs certainly do lose interest in dummies pretty quickly, but pick up a tennis ball or any other toy and you will spark their interest again Going back to OP's question, the best thing to do is sew wings onto your dummy, if your dog is not used to feather then put a stocking over it to start with (please make sure you use your partner's old laddered ones - there is no need to pop into Anne Summers for a new pair! ) It won't be long before you can take the stocking off to get him used to mouthing feather. But if you are not going to work him on a shoot then its really not much of a problem anyway! Good luck xx
