# A GSD "duck dog"?



## Kaiser2012 (Mar 12, 2012)

Well...I introduced the sport of hunting to my boyfriend and he is absolutely "ate up" with it (as they say down here). Part of his excitement stems from learning the ins and outs of hunting different species...as well as the thought of having more food in the freezer. He's grown up with dogs, but isn't "dog crazy" like I am, so he's not that familiar with the different species and their particular characteristics. He's happy with a dog that sits, stays, and comes when called. I'm a little more anal then that 

At any rate, he's interested in taking up duck hunting and has asked me twice now about training Kaiser to retrieve game. My response to him was that generally speaking, german shepherds were not bred to retrieve in this manner and that it would probably be difficult to train him into having a soft mouth (especially since I want to pursue schutzhund) and to train him OUT of having a drive to chase a "prey" item. YES a 100% reliable stay could counteract that prey drive, however the last thing I'd need is my dog breaking a stay "that ONE time" and getting shot while trying to pursue a duck. 

I told him I'm sure it COULD be done, but that I've just never seen it. I also expressed my concern about whether or not Kaiser could properly associate a soft retrieve with a duck and differentiate that from a hard, full grip with schutzhund. 

My lil pup is only 12 weeks old, and is obviously in a critical foundation building stage of his life. My thoughts were to pursue a BH and get the obedience down pact, hopefully find a schutzhund trainer to start bitework as he got older (assuming I moved to an area that HAD one to train with), and then just "see" how he reacted to the sound of guns and retrieving bumpers/ducks down the road. I told my bf that I didn't want him to be upset if Kaiser wasn't cut out for being a "retriever", but I added that I really didn't have the basis of knowledge to give him a proper answer.

And so...here I am asking you all for your opinion!

My ultimate goal with Kaiser is, well, EVERYTHING. I'd love to try agility and maybe SAR, flyball, heck...anything and everything, just to see what he really enjoys. And that all is on top of schutzhund (again, assuming he enjoys it). 

Thoughts, ideas, comments, suggestions?


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## BlackthornGSD (Feb 25, 2010)

If you want to do schutzhund with Kaiser, you should start doing a little bit of tug work with a decoy before putting a heavy obedience foundation on him. Even if you can get him to work with a decoy a 2-4 times while he is young, it can help.

GSDs can be excellent bird dogs as far as the retrieving.... but they will not have the soft mouth. You can get them to retrieve with a calm, full grip, but I would expect a pretty hard bite on the bird--no matter whether you're doing schutzhund or not.


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

A German shepherd can learn to do all this. If a GSD can clamp down on a sleeve and gingerly carry a whole egg without breaking the shell, it can differentiate the feathers of the duck, the wood of the dumbbell, the jute of the sleeve. Not to mention the context of the experiences. I ran into anecdotes of GSDs used for hunting so it isn't a strange thing to try at all. 

Besides, if a duck comes back a little squishy, consider that the versatility tax and supplement your dog's diet.


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## Kaiser2012 (Mar 12, 2012)

haha I am a HUGE advocate of raw diets...I'm sure Kaiser would love fresh duck  But as much as I like it too (though, not quite as raw as he would prefer, haha) I might have to fight him for it  

At any rate, I'm really happy to hear positive remarks regarding this. I'll have to do more research, as I've never trained any sort of hunting companion...except for my bf


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