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Kwick Retrieving Goose Dogs About five years ago, in 2005, my first trip to North Dakota was challenged with the fact that 1) I’d never hunted or shot a goose in over 40 years and 2) my experienced hunting and test hardened dogs had never picked up a goose. So the plan was to make sure they could….......before they had to. The first step was to start using my "never been used before" 4”X15” black and white canvass dummy. I won it in a hunt test raffle, and it just barely fit my wingers. The next step was kind of a coincidence. I was visiting my pro friend when he was doing some kennel cleaning and it just so happened a huge Canadian Honker Dokken Deadfowl Trainer appeared. I borrowed it for awhile and the dogs adjusted to it quickly. The time was drawing near and luck continued to enhance the effort. Driving by the local golf course, I spotted a goose sitting in the ditch. The light went on…this might be semi-road kill (pun intended). Well, there wasn’t much traffic…..so I stopped. It was obvious the goose was nearly dead. I suppose in the heat of the moment….........the legality of picking up an almost dead goose escaped me, but I was thinking of the greater conservation benefits this single donor goose could make to my dogs’ progress…..and to be honest I just didn’t pick him up. As I got closer, the obvious changed. I’m not sure a 66 year old, bad legged man chasing a crippled goose down the 9th fairway looked all that impressive from the highway. 
However, the golf course was empty so that meant (to me) that I could “play through” (in a manner of speaking). I figured it was early goose season. I had a legal hunting license with the State and Federal waterfowl stamps and a goose card. Well, that was my rationale. It was an ideal sized goose and tipped the scales at over 9 pounds. All three older dogs had picked up a lot of birds. Cripple pheasants were a normal experience from all the tower shoots they had worked. Actually, I believe all the exposure to retrieving birds the experience obtained from dealing with crippled roosters had the most significant impact on being able tackle a crippled goose. Their force fetch program was well established. Therefore, taking them to water for their first goose encounter seemed unnecessary. It can make things much easier for an inexperienced dog to fetch the first goose if it is in the water. A few minutes of sizing up the task, and they were making short retrieves in the front yard. In addition, they were given some extra training the day before we left for ND. Each ran a 150 yard cold blind with that goose. Since then Taffey, Daisy, Kooly and Gunny have had a lot of fun goose hunting. Lively cripples and big geese (water or ice and on land) have never been a problem. I kept the goose in the bird freezer. Gunny, my latest pup, has had his moments with that goose, too. (It's no longer around.)  Now in retrospect, some of the things that happened when they were young pups may have had a positive impact on how easily they adjusted to retrieving geese. I always give my young pups large bumpers, full sized Dokkens and large dead birds early on. Big is normal from the start. It seems this may have turned into an unplanned, proactive approach to easier ”big bird” retrieving. |
"Daisy" - ten weeks old
"Daisy" - 4 months old
"Daisy" - 17 months old (150 yard cold blind)
A Few Four KwickLabs' "Two Goose" Hunts (mostly)
(2007- 8 Seasons)
(left click on thumbnail)
"Taffey"
 "1st geese" |
"2nd time" |
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| "Daisy"  "1st goose" (banded) |
 "2nd band" |
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"Gunny"  "1st time" |
 "1st retrieve" |
"Kooly" "1st time" |
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 "2nd time" |
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New -
Four
KwickLabs - Goose Hunting (Link)
You Tube
