by Just-a-bird-hunter » Wed Jan 29, 2020 5:51 pm
Well, I'm hesitant to ask about this, but here goes. My 22 month old Cesky Fousek seems to be anxious and unsure about retrieving in deep water to the point of absolute failure. When sent on a deep water retrieve, he hesitates, and only goes in with great encouragement. How bad is it? Well, he whines, and generally has a fit; one time he jumped up on me and knocked me into the pond, while my hunting partner was laughing so hard, he almost peed himself. He was NAT Prize I, 4 in affinity for water. He always was a "funny" swimmer, one of those dogs swims at an upward angle, until he gets the dummy or duck in his mouth, and then "lines-out" properly. Some of my hunting/training partners have told me, "the water is cold, that's way he is hesitating". Well, while I was wading in chest-high cold water, planting wild rice seed for next year, he was swimming around me, checking out what I was doing. In his other, non-NAVDHA natural ability test, a judge noted he was sensitive and unsure at times. I didn't believe at the time, but now I do. I think it is the doggy equivalent of agoraphobia, a fear of open spaces? The problem is getting worse, not better. So, here is what I am considering: I was going to chain him out, while his older, German Shorthair stable mate, makes retrieve after retrieve (probably no more than 4 or 5) before I send him on a retrieve for a Doken-duck dummy. I though I would really work-up the jealousy factor. He has to get over this, as I'm not giving up duck hunting.
Just-a-bird-hunter