Cachet of the carry

One of the most common issues that I encounter is the lack or the poor delivery of retrieves. This is often down to the way a dog has been taught in the early stages of its training. Most well-bred gundogs will have an instinct to carry things around and the key aspect is to get them to bring the items back to us, the handler, rather than allowing them to run off and keep the “treasure”.

Another contributory factor to a poor delivery is the handler’s body language. It is not unusual for a novice handler to display anxiety when their dog is returning with a retrieve. The dog will sense this and consequently may try to avoid the handler. By