Thought it is time for an update especially after the 2018 duck season with how Ace is going.
A lot of work was done during the offseason after getting the E-Collar to reinforce the basics and work on more retrieving.
This included bumper work at the river with water retrieves and in the thick cover on the banks.
This work definitely paid off with him generally being well-behaved. In the hide on opening he was very excited about seeing the birds falling and wanting to retrieve them but after some words and pats he settled down.
He did some very good retrieves but the proudest moment was Ace and my Dad’s dog Chase was working together to find a wounded bird in one of the drains. The drain is overgrown and was a challenge for them to flush and catch the bird. After about 5 minutes they got the bird out of hiding and Chase caught it but dropped it just shy of Dad. I was a bit further up the drain and on the other side and did not see this but Ace caught it and swam back across the creek and delivered straight to my hand.
I still have more work to do, going over at Boggy Pond he followed another group of hunters to their hide and I had to go and get him. Also while there, I had him retrieving a Black Swan that Justin shot but at the same time in perfect view, the other hunters shot a Swan which he then went to retrieve.
Also when with my Dad at Boggy Pond he did not want to jump into the water with a bird in his mouth. This may have been partly due to the logs in the water. These are all areas that I can work on during the offseason and come 2019 he will be better again.