In this episode we talk about a really good waterfowl recipe, best waders on the market, dog kennels & how to get your retriever to retrieve geese.
For Kuranda dog beds copy the link for purchase. This helps us out and we really appreciate it.
https://kuranda.com?partner=26722
For Gunner kennels shoot us an email and we can get you a price at thebirddogpodcast@gmail.com
For our training and breeding websites visit the links below:
www.utahbirddogtraining.com
www.fieldbredgoldenretrievers.com
www.utahpointinglabs.com
Follow us on Instagram with the same names!
Thank you and good hunting!
In this episode we talk about a really good waterfowl recipe, best waders on the market, dog kennels & how to get your retriever to retrieve geese.
For Kuranda dog beds copy the link for purchase. This helps us out and we really appreciate it.
https://kuranda.com?partner=26722
For Gunner kennels shoot us an email and we can get you a price at thebirddogpodcast@gmail.com
For our training and breeding websites visit the links below:
www.utahbirddogtraining.com
www.fieldbredgoldenretrievers.com
www.utahpointinglabs.com
Follow us on Instagram with the same names!
Thank you and good hunting!
Hey everyone. Welcome to the bird dog podcast. My name is Tycerics and I'll be your host today. And, uh, just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to listen to the podcast. Hope it'll be worth it to you. Um, want you to bear with me here. We got kind of a cold going through our family. I'm sure like many of your families and I think I'm on the forefront of it. So sometimes if you hear me clear my throat or something like that, I apologize in advance, but, uh, we just got stuff going on this time of winter. So, um, in this show, I wanted to cover a handful of topics and hopefully. You guys can learn something from them. Uh, before that, I want to say a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Uh, hope everyone had a great Christmas, had a good New Year, and uh, got to spend some time with family and friends and hopefully do a little hunting and spend some time with your dog out in the field. Maybe you had some time off work or um, and was able to go get outside and enjoy the outdoors. Um, Just kind of a heads up. If you're looking for a gunner kennel, um, we're partners with them now. And so if you are looking for one, feel free to reach out to us. We can help you out, get you a discount on one of those and, uh, and get your dog into a really good kennel. Um, also, uh, one of the dog beds that we really like or is the Corunda dog beds. Um, if you're looking for one of those, let us know also. They are the best dog cot or bed that we have used. Uh, we really like them and, um, we've used some other ones that have been destroyed overnight. And these ones have held up except exceptionally well. So, uh, reach out to us, shoot us an email, uh, DM us on Instagram. Um, at the bird dog podcast on Instagram or, um, the bird dog podcast at gmail. com. You can also email us, uh, if you. Um, want more info on some of those products. So anyways, just kind of heads up on those, uh, that can help us and hopefully it helps you guys since we've tried and tested these products and found them to be, uh, useful and built well. And, uh, we'll share products with you guys that we find are, are, uh, good and that we recommend. So, um, uh, In this show, I wanted to talk about a recipe that recently I have found, um, for waterfowl that I feel like is a home run. Um, it was actually shared to me. Um, by a friend, I'm not sure where he found the recipe, but I think it's worth sharing with you guys. I occasionally have people I run into, I actually just ran into a guy the other day, uh, we were out hunting and my brother's truck slid off the road, super icy patch. We weren't going fast, but he just couldn't stop and it just slid off. And we were talking to this guy and he goes, Man, you guys out duck hunting? I said, yeah, we're out duck hunting and, and, uh, he goes, man, I used to hunt ducks all the time, but he's like, I'd shoot them and then I'd just give them away. And, um, excuse me, clearing my voice here. He said, I'd just shoot them and then I, I didn't like to eat them. And so I'd have to, you know, I'd give them away to people and then they didn't want them. And so he's like, I've just kind of, you know, I feel bad shooting them and wasting them, which should. We should, um, I'm a believer, anything that you take and, uh, you know, take its life that we put it to use. And so, um, so this guy, you know, he said, I don't, I just don't like the taste of them. And I think a lot of it with waterfowl is how you cook them. Um, they definitely, I think, have a unique flavor. I would say if you just cook them, you know, salt and pepper them, a simple method, um, upland game in my book is, does taste better. But I do love to hunt waterfowl, and I do love, um, And I don't like wasting things. And so, uh, so my friend shared this recipe. He said his kids love it. It's like their favorite thing. He actually asked me, he said, Hey, can I go duck hunting with you? So I can get some ducks. So I can, uh, you know, uh, do this recipe for my kids that they look forward to every year. And I said, yeah, we can do it. And I said, well, I, you know, can you share that recipe with me? Cause I have a couple of recipes that I, I found, um, That I like and but I'm always when I hear about it one that. Uh, get someone really excited. I want to try it out. And so I was able to harvest some geese, uh, this last week. And I thought, Hey, well, let's try it on a goose. Um, I feel in my book, I can't tell a big difference between, you know, a Mallard and a goose, uh, when it comes to taste, I think they're pretty similar. And so I figured, figured if, uh. His recipe would work on geese, it would work on ducks. He uses it mostly for ducks, because that's what he generally shoots. Um, so, I'll kind of dive into the recipe here and kind of walk you guys through it. So, get out a pencil or a pen and a piece of paper and, uh, and write it down. So, first thing you want to do is take the breast, just de breast the The bird. Um, I'm sure you guys, if you duck hunt, you know how to do this, but you basically open the skin up on the breast and you fillet out each, each breast. You can probably take the legs if you want. I'm usually just, I just take the breasts, I don't feel like there's enough on the legs to really mess around with, um, personally, but, um, I'll de breast them out, and then you can take those breasts and fillet them into about quarter inch thick, um, pieces, so you can lay that breast out flat, and either, uh, thin them, you know, cut them, across the top, or you can dice them, um, into small pieces. I would say, you know, maybe one inch cubes or smaller. You can do anything in that size, but you don't want them really thick, I guess, is what we're getting to. So then once you dice up your meat or cut them into thin strips, you're going to go ahead and put the, put them in milk. So, um, Put them in milk for about two to three days, and you're just gonna put all that meat and soak it in milk The first after about 24 hours. I took the meat out and Drain the milk that I put in there because obviously it's gonna you know blood's gonna soak into that milk And so I wanted more of that fresh milk, so I drained out the milk Actually did rinse it with water And then, and kind of drained it out, and then I put it back in and I redid it, and then I put milk back there on top of it, so, and let that, I had it for probably two and a half days, about, is what I, um, is what I soaked the meat in, milk. Uh, in that time frame, I use whole milk. I don't know if it really matters that much. Um, I think actually the second time that I might have been had a little bit of two percent in there, but um, I figure you can never go wrong with more cream, right? So, um, but you kind of see almost the meat, um, when you look at it, it would look like almost the milk had kind of permeated the meat. It was kind of like almost Looked like white, you know, just kind of like there was milk in the meat. And so I'm not sure exactly what it does. I think it actually helps leach out. The gaminess, I guess you could say, of the meat. And, um, it's probably the flavor that a lot of people don't prefer. Um, some people may prefer it, but anyhow, it leeches it out. And, I've heard people using milk before with different kinds of meat. I've just never tried it. This is the first time I tried it. And so, uh, if this is old news to you, then, uh, Then, uh, anyhow, you can keep listening if you want. But, uh, anyway, so I leeched out the, put the, the meat in the milk for two to three days. And then I took the meat out. If you have, if it was in strips, you can go ahead and dice it up into cubes. And then took Montreal steak, um, seasoning. And I just Put the meat out on a pan, like a cookie sheet pan, and then I put the seasoning all over it, and then took my hand and kind of mixed the meat around, spread it out again, seasoned it, just made sure all the meat was, uh, seasoned pretty evenly on, on the meat. And then after that, you go ahead and take some bacon. And of course, everyone loves bacon. So take bacon and cube it up into about one inch pieces, or you can go half inch, basically just dice up the bacon and, uh, put the bacon in a frying pan on a stove top, go ahead and cook the bacon. Uh, just cook it to your desired, um, level of cooking, you know, if that's, you know, really crispy or just, I kind of like mine kind of medium guy and so cook it up and then go ahead and pull that bacon off and that oil that, that, that, that fat produced in that bacon, that's where you're going to go ahead and cook your, your, uh, duck or goose in and, uh, at the same time, you're going to go ahead and grab a, bacon, Um, a can of pineapple, and so take that pineapple, it can be the smaller pieces, um, generally is what we like, um, and you can, they have like the little bigger chunks, and then they have the small chunks, and then they have I think the really small diced, I'd probably use the diced or the smaller chunk, but the smaller chunks are generally the best. Go ahead and drain the juice out of the pineapple. And then what I did is I threw the, uh, the, took the bacon out, put the duck or the goose meat in the pan. And at the same time I added the pineapple, uh, in there, in there with it. So I just, once the bacon was cooked, I added the goose meat into it. And the pineapple with the goose meat. And then I basically just did a stir fry. I just cooked that. I just took a spatula and just cooked, moved the goose meat around, um, and the pineapple together. And, uh, actually, and then once I did put it in the pan, I took some Montreal steak seasoning and just kind of went over everything real, real lightly. Cause there was already seasoning in it, but I put that on there and then just mix it together. Now the key is you don't want to overcook your The duck or the goose, you want it pretty much, you want it pink kind of in the inside and pretty much just kind of seared on the outside. So you got to kind of move around, watch the meat. Don't cook. When you start getting into that deeper, you know, everything is gray in the meat. Um, I would say everything is. You know, over medium well cooked, that's where it's going to start becoming more livery tasting. And so you want it just basically, I would say medium rare, um, to rare with the outsides just, uh, you know, uh, browned up. And so, um, it doesn't take very long to do that. Once you throw that meat in, you start mixing around. The pan's already hot. The bacon grease is in there. Throw the pineapple in there. You're just mixing it together. Once you're there. Um, once the meat looks like it's, again, just seared kind of on the outsides and, and going to have that pink inside, go ahead and take it off the stove. And then what we did is just took some tortillas and, um, and then And put those, you know, these are raw tortillas and we heated them up on the stove and then went ahead and took the meat and the pineapple and the bacon, put them in that tortilla and took ranch dressing and just drizzled the ranch dressing, you know, across the top. And, uh, I grabbed some cheese and put some cheese on top and Wrapped it up and had a burrito and man, it was awesome. It was amazing. So it didn't have any gamey taste. Of course, who doesn't like pineapple and bacon and ranch and tender meat all mixed together? Uh, Me and my brother, we had it for lunch and his daughter that, you know, isn't a hunter. She's like, I'll try some. She had it. She liked it. And so I feel like this is a, a win recipe. Um, you could probably, my friend that told me about it, he didn't say anything about putting cheese in it. Obviously you can add whatever you think. Tastes good with pineapple and bacon, but, uh, you could probably put some barbecue sauce if you wanted, but we liked the, or maybe some barbecue sauce and ranch. But anyways, that one, that was a winning recipe. So. If, if you're, if you've had a hard time stomaching waterfowl, but you love hunting waterfowl, I would go ahead and try this recipe and it'll make you feel better, I guess, if you go out hunting, knowing that you have a recipe that you can use. to, um, eat the ducks or the geese that you shoot and they're not going to waste. And if you decide to share the birds with others, you can do the same thing and have, you know, and have an ace in the hole when it comes to a really good recipe, um, that you can, uh, you know, uh, cook your, what your wild game with. So, um, hopefully that helps. If you have any questions on it, uh, Feel free again to send me a message or send me an email and we can, and we can go from there. So anyhow, again, I want to share stuff with you guys that I find is useful as I live this life as a dog trainer and being in this world of. Dogs and birds and, and doing this on a daily basis. So, um, on my recent hunt, it was a great time. Uh, it was really cold. It was in the single digits. I think one morning it was two degrees. And then one day, uh, the two first day, I didn't even check the temps, but I'm sure as single digits, um, you know, ice were ice was forming on the dog's coats as soon as they came out of the water. Um, so it really, tested dogs. It tested your gear, tested your gun. Uh, and that's for me, that's what it's all about. I love, I don't like, um, I like things to be tested. I think it's fun to see how, how well things do, how well dogs can do. And when things get uncomfortable and the kind of same thing in our own lives, I think it's good for us to push through, you know, hard things and be uncomfortable Helps us grow, helps us become stronger mentally. And, uh, and so I really like that. Um, but one of the things I want to talk about, uh, are waiters. So, for years and years and years, I'd just go to Cabela's or I'd go to some of these, you know, most of the time I'd think of Cabela's and I'd get waiters and, you know, I'd spend 250 to 300 for waiters. And I swear every two years those waiters would get holes in them. And, you know, not wearing them really that much compared to, you know, another article of clothing. It was just frustrating that exterior wise the waiters actually looked like they were in really good shape. But, you know, the stitching or the Seam or something like that would just get this little hole in there. You couldn't even see with your eye and you know, you'd either have to patch them up or you get multiple holes. And one, it's dangerous when you're hunting in single degree, single digit temperatures of that water gets in your boot, you're going to get frostbite or get really cold, very quick can ruin your hunt, which you spend a ton of time and money to get there. Uh, you might have to bring a backup pair of waders, which is a pain and. So there's, I just got tired of that and just, you know, training dogs and wearing these waders and the boots, you know, you look at the bottom soles and they still have tons of traction and it's not like these things look worn out, but you're still spending a few hundred dollars. And so when, uh, Sitka Waterfowl came, Sitka came out with their new waders. Um, you know, they're a thousand bucks for waiters. You know, your jaw almost hits the floor when you hear that, but they, they will fix them for life is what they say on their website. And I've had some friends that have their waiters and I've sent them in and they've fixed them, no problem. It's been great. And so, you know, when you start doing the math, like, okay, if every two or three years I'm replacing 300 waiters, you know, it doesn't take very long to spend that much. And if you can buy a waiter that. You know, it's fixable for its whole life and is built really good up front. Um, you know, that, that intrigued me. And so, um, a couple of years ago, not, uh, this is, I think my second season using them, I did purchase the, the Sitka waders and I'll tell you what, I love them. I'm just going to say that they're the best waiter I personally have ever used. Now I haven't used all of them. And if you guys have any waiters that you feel like are bulletproof and that I should talk about or hear about, I'd love to. hear about those and, uh, maybe try them out something along those lines. But again, I'm going to share products with you guys that I've personally used and feel like they're the best out on the market to this point, what I've used in my life. So, um, things I like about them is they have a zipper in the front that goes down to your waistline. And as most of you know, when you're out in the cold, lots of times you start getting cold, you got to use the restroom. And that zipper is so nice to be able to. You know, unbutton your coats, zip down, use the restroom and then zip it back up and you're good to go. You don't have to dismantle everything or stretch the front of your waiters down so you can use the restroom. Um, it's just a pain in the butt that zipper in and of itself is a game changer, just really nice to access, um, any, you know, stuff. Maybe down in your pockets or push stuff at it. It's just, it's just really nice to have, um, the next thing I would say, excuse me, my voice here, uh, is I love the knee pads, their pad. They have a, um, kind of a pad in the knees, which is super nice. You know, lots of times we're just hunting. We had these blinds built. We're kind of, we're on land where, um, You know, we didn't have chairs, so a lot of times, you know, I see birds coming, you get down on your knees, you're kneeling down, and just that little extra, uh, padding just helps out with the knees. Um, and I know some waders have that built in, but these ones just seem, uh, built really well in the knee pad area. The next thing I love are the boots. The boots are like, they're just super comfortable. They're, uh, form fitting. I just feel like they, they're awesome. So my brother, he was wearing, um, you know, some Cabela's waders and nothing against Cabela's or anything like that. They make, you know, a lot of good products too, but, um, you know, they're mass made and just. I don't know. They are what they are. So as his feet were cold, my feet were zero cold. Um, and, and we were out in the same temperature right next to each other. So that was a Testament of the boots. They do have a good, uh, insulation base in the boots where I've never really had, I've never had to use heated socks or anything like that. I did a previous hunt that was single digits. I don't know if I got a little cold air. I have my toe, one of my foot. One of my feet got a little, like, barely started getting a little cold. And I'm like, Oh, that's, that's new. Cause I haven't ever had that issue. And so I don't know if I got some old cold air trapped in there or something like that, but up until this point, um, I haven't had any issues. Um, I will maybe do a plug on this. My wife got me, um, the brand is hollow socks. And again, Sitka or, um, Sitka, I am on their guide program. So, um, they do help me out a little there, but I'm not, This big sponsor anything for him again, just sharing products that I like with you guys but uh My wife you've probably seen maybe on instagram if you guys are social media people, but they've been Promoting these it's hollow socks. H o l l o w socks. They're made by alpaca with alpaca wool And I have llamas that I use for big game hunting. So that's kind of intrigued me, um, too. But my wife for Christmas got me some of these alpaca socks. Um, and supposedly they have really good warmth and they're really comfortable. And she bought me some and I wore those on this last hunt. And, man, my feet. Previous hunt. I didn't wear those and my one of my foot like I say got a little cold this time. I wore those Single digits as bad as cold temperatures. You're gonna get ice on everything Um, my feet were roasty toasty like just felt great like no cold at all My brothers. Oh, man, i'm cold. I can't wait to get in the hot tub stuff like this. I'm like, I I am dry I'm warm i'm cozy and so Try out maybe those hollow socks. She also got me the beanie. And I was wearing it last night as I was out taking care of the dogs and my head was just starting to sweat. I'm like, dang these things, this, this stuff is warm. So anyhow, and it's super soft. Go ahead and try them out if you're interested. If you're like, I've wondered if those socks are any good, maybe buy a pair and use them for your waterfowl socks. So anyhow, kind of a plug there. So, if you've been on the fence about the Sitka waders, um, I would recommend getting a pair. I know they're really expensive, but if it, you know, where they are, fix them for their whole life. I'm sure that's why they do charge a little more for them too. Um, That's a pretty sweet deal. So as long as Sitka is in business, I don't think they're going anywhere. Um, you know, you buy a thousand bucks, that buy once, cry once, buy a pair for a thousand bucks and have, you know, I believe the nicest waders on the market when it comes to waterfowl hunting and you're going to be super comfortable. You're going to enjoy them. And I don't think you can go wrong. but they are a good chunk of change. But if you're tired of buying waiters and fixing them and dealing with that, and like I did every two or three years, go ahead and check them out. If you're interested in those, uh, last topic I want to talk about in, as you're, uh, Getting out there and doing some hunting with your dog is geese. So, uh, I had a little dog on this hunt and we shot down some geese. We're primarily, we're just river hunting, so we're hunting ducks, geese, anything that came by. And three geese came by and we knocked, uh, two of them down. And this goose was huge. It was, it probably weighed about half as much as my dog, almost. At least the size of it was half the size of my dog. Um, no kidding. And, and the dog ran up to it. And she mentally is not a super aggressive dog. Now if there's a crippled duck or a duck trying to get away, stuff like that, um, she's fine. But when she's younger, she's a little more reserved on like a, a big duck that was, you know, trying to, you know, that was pretty lively. She would kind of make her nervous, the wings hitting her in the face and stuff like that. Just a little softer side. To her right on that cusp of, you know, you just, Oh, I wish she'd be a little more aggressive, you know, so, but still a young dog, the first goose, I send her out on a blind retrieve, she, she didn't see it go down, it was out in some sagebrush, send her on a blind retrieve, she gets over there to it, and she's kind of like, Whoa, what's this, I've seen it all the time with a dog on its first goose, they'll kind of run up to it, maybe they'll smell it, and then they'll like, They'll leave it, they'll blink the bird. They'll go, Oh, I don't, okay, I guess that's not what we're going for. And they may come back to you. So I casted her back to it, told her to fetch, you know, that's the force fetch command when my dog is forced, I say, pick it up is what you're basically saying, you know, and she kind of started grabbing it and pulling the wing kind of, you know, messing with it a little bit and trying, and I was encouraging her. Um, but then she kind of came back and, uh, she was just unsure. And that's what I see a lot of time with these young dogs when it comes to geese. Now, since the dog is force fetched, technically you think you can just tell them fetch or burn them with the collar or give them a good neck, fetch, you know, make them pick it up. And I don't like to go that route. Um, because it's something on that dog runs up to it. They're just unsure of the size. Um, and this is if a dog's, if you've never done any retrieving with a goose. Now to help out with this, obviously the best way to do it, if you're planning on hunting geese and doing a lot of that is to, is to get a goose that has been shot. Or, you know, or have a friend give one to you and, and practice, you know, working that dog on the goose outside of the field in the yard, build this confidence up and picking up and picking up that bird. And then you can be off to the races. Um, so I'm going to kind of tell you how I like to introduce dogs to geese and retrieving them and kind of give you some tips and. Kind of in this story, what happened. So I waited over to the dog, got up on the bank. Um, you know, she was kind of playing with it, but this was a really big bird. And so what I like to do instead of just, you know, forcing a dog to grab the goose, I just try to make it a game. And so I just will grab the goose, make sure it's dead. Now, ideally, if you shoot a bird down and the goose is alive. And it's the dog's first retrieve that can be really intimidating. I've seen geese strike dogs, you know, peck them or their wings hit them. Um, and they're a big bird and you can think if they run up to it thinking it's dead and all of a sudden this bird just slams them, that can set the dog back. And so ideally, you know, again, you train the dog in the yard or go ahead and dispatch the bird, you know, shoot it again, if it's alive on the ground, if you can, or don't send the dog until you do that. And then, and then, and then you're going to have better success. Again, with all training, you want to always, you always want to simplify the matter. Don't don't have these two biggest steps. That's where dogs get into trouble is where I'm going to send the dog and it's a live goose and it's cripple and you know, and the dog's never seen one and bam, something happens and then now you're having to fix this problem. So it was rewinding to the story. I go out there with my dog. I know she's softer. I knew she wasn't going to go out there and just pick up this goose. Now let's also talk about the other side of the story. If you have a dog that's super aggressive and he's been on a lot of, you know, crippled birds, ducks, stuff like that. Never been on a goose. I've had dogs completely on the other side of the spectrum. You shoot a cripple down and you send them. And it may be, there was one dog, I remember we shot down the river, there were some crippled goose on the water and I sent her and there were two or three geese down and they were floating and so we had to hurry and get them out of the water. It was swimming water so we couldn't get out there, sent the dog, the crippled goose tries to start flopping on the water and instead of going away from it. She just freight trained the goose, just went up and just grabbed it, like, no fear, acted like she'd retrieved him her whole life and brought the bird in, no big deal. You have some dogs that are that way, now that makes life a little easier, but a dog that is a little unsure about them, they can still be great goose dogs. You just got to be patient with them and, and build that confidence into them. So, anyhow, I take this, what I like to do is I take the goose, I just grab it by a wing or a leg, and I just tease the dog with, Oh, you want this? And I just kind of, I just kind of shake the bird in front of the dog, kind of try to get him riled up towards the goose. The dog sometimes, they'll kind of like, Oh, this is fun, and they'll kind of like bite at the wing, or they'll bite at the mouth, you know, the body somewhere, and they're kind of, you know, almost like you're just teasing them with a toy. And then I'll just grab the goose, and I'll just, I don't make the dog sit or anything. Just use the momentum of the dog moving around and I'll just toss that goose. Hey, that a boy fetch, you know, and I'll throw it out there, say, hop up and just give him a little toss. And that dog is that bird hits and kind of rolls that prey drive for that dog to kind of chase stuff. Lots of times the dog will kind of grab it kind of as it's trying to move as the birds kind of moving. And they'll kind of grab it by the wing and then add a dog here. And then you can encourage the dog to come back to you. Now, a dog that likes to retrieve, generally they want to get something and then they don't want to leave it. Right. And so when you tell the dog, they chase it. And then you're calling the dog to you. They don't want to leave that object. So they're generally going to kind of grab it and kind of pull it a little bit. We'll see sometimes they'll kind of grab it by the wing and they'll kind of pull and then. The bird's like an anchor. It's big, right? So it kind of, they don't kind of bite into it good enough and they don't quite move the bird. And so just do the same thing. Grab the bird again, tease them, throw it. The dog runs out there, grabs it, kind of puts their mouth on it. And then back up, call the dog to you. Hey, hey, that a boy, that dog here, you know, fetch here. You know, if the dog's been force fetched, encourage him to grab it and then bring him to you. And when that dog starts moving it a little bit, the bird's kind of, you know, when you throw it, it kind of bounce or skips and then they kind of grab it. And then they kind of pull and they all of a sudden feel the bird move. They're like, Oh, I can kind of move this thing. You know, this is fun. They're just, their mindset's in a good spot. And as soon as it starts. You know, moving the bird obviously mark that behavior with positive praise that a dog good dog, you know, just really encouraging. Hey, that's what you're coaching him. That's what I want. That's what we're going for. Right. And so, and that dog may bring it that time, you know, I don't know, a foot or two, and you kind of see where I'm going from here. And then if the dog leaves it and comes back, no fetch, come on, that a boy. Good here. Try to encourage them. They don't grab the bird again, toss it. And the dog runs and grabs it and kind of pulls it again. And then all of a sudden he's like, Oh, I can kind of next thing you know, that dog is dragging that goose. And as soon as you start grabbing that bird or doing anything that shows movement, praise him up, that a dog, good dog, you know, and that, then that dog is building that confidence. It's having fun and it's bringing that bird into you. And generally speaking, I'd say 90%. Percent of the time, this is going to work where you can tease the dog, throw it. And then all of a sudden that dog's going to grab that bird, start dragging it. And then it's going to start getting a bite, a bite full on it. And then it's going to start retrieving that goose for you. Now, some dogs are going to be a little more aggressive again on the bite. They're, they're going to eventually just grab into the body of the bird and lift the whole thing off the ground. Your dog may grab the bird kind of on the side of the breast and drag it. You know, along the ground and bring it to you, but Hey, it's still retrieving it and getting that bird for you. And the more geese you hunt over the dog, they're going to figure out how to manipulate the bird and get a better bite on it and bring it in. So. That's how I will introduce a dog to retrieving geese. Um, now if the dog is force fetched, that makes it easier because it knows the command fetch means to pick it up off the ground. So you're throwing the bird, having fun, but I'm not zapping him with a collar, tell him to fetch to make him grab it. Um, I'm just trying to use more fun. Um, It's always better to try to use fun first, use a smaller bird and build, and build confidence. Um, now on, on, on a, on a low level, I may, if the, if I know the dog, and this is where it comes to knowing your dog, and you know that he knows fun, really well and you know how to reinforce things. Sometimes you can reinforce the collar. If you're, you try the fun stuff first and the dog is just fighting it. Um, on some low levels, I have forced the dog to grab the birds, kind of grab and then, and then as soon as they grab it by the wing or something, build up confidence. Tell the dog here, have the dog and just kind of a little bit of pressure to make them grab it and then bring it in and then, and just kind of, um, assist them in, in their mind and saying, Hey, you got to grab that and then encourage them to bring it in. So, um, that one you got to be more careful with. Um, I don't force them on a live bird. If that goose is alive and you're telling them fetch and you zap them with the collar and tell them and try to make them grab that bird. You're going to cause problems. Um, I will guarantee that dog, if you making a dog grab something that it is unsure of, and then the dog gets pecked or something like that, the next time you try to make that dog retrieve a goose, he's going to run and hide. He's going to say, no, I don't like that. That was negative. You forced me, that wasn't fun and I was unsure of the situation. It just creates problems where on the flip side, if you just kill the bird, have fun with the dog, tease it, just use the dog's natural desire to chase things, to grab that goose and bring it in. It's just going to be more fun all around. And if your dog, you know, you run out there and, or you try what we've talked about and the first goose that doesn't retrieve it. You know, don't make a big deal about it. Go back to hunting. If your dog retrieves ducks, no problem. Go back to hunting. Um, enjoy your day and then keep that goose and go and work the dog in your yard, out of the hunting field. What you don't want to do is when you're in the field, and I've talked about this I think before in podcasts is you don't want to be training heavily in the field. You want to be reinforcing in the field, but not training. So if something is new, you're training, you're teaching a concept. And so if your dog is struggling on something, you don't want to have this big training session out there while you're. One, you're wanting to have fun and took the time off work and stuff like that to go hunting, but two, you want the field and the hunt in the out in the marsh and those places to be very positive and fun. And so if you're having a breakdown or there's a disconnect somewhere, dogs, because they are very place oriented, take the dog back to your house. Work the dog with that goose in the yard. If you need to force the bird dog on the goose, you know, using pressure because you cannot in any shape or form have the dog, the dog through fun will not retrieve the bird and the dog has been properly force fetched. You can start with like a smaller goose or big duck and work your way up. And that's what I would recommend. Start with a smaller duck, a little bigger duck, maybe a snow goose and work your way up or smaller Canadian goose until they're. You know, um, having that confidence to drag that bigger bird and, um, that, that will help you out. But again, train in the yard, reinforce in the field. So that's kind of a little tip there. But again, just grab, if, if the dog doesn't retrieve the first goose, You shoot down out in the field. Don't feel like your dog is never going to retrieve geese again. Tease them, have fun with them, throw the bird. Like I was saying, try to work off that, just that desire to chase and grab and build their confidence to move it a little bit. And, uh, lots of times the next time you shoot a bird down, the dog runs up to it's like, Oh yeah, I've seen these before. I just, I've moved them. They're not that big a deal. They grab it, they start retrieving it. And then you're off to the races and you got a goose, a dog that will retrieve geese at that point. So. Again, I believe it's just has, I think, a little bit of different smell, um, just being a goose. And then two, I think just the size, the sheer size, I think is just what intimidates dogs the most. I mean, you look at your dog and you look at the goose. And you tell, you're thinking, if you were a human and you had to put that big a thing in your mouth, that's half your body and carry that back to your owner, that would be pretty intimidating. Um, compared to something like a duck that's a lot smaller. Yeah, I can, I can hold that thing in my mouth, but just try, try to put yourself in the dog's shoes and what it's thinking and what it's going through when it comes to retrieving something that big. And again, some dogs are really aggressive. Pick it up. No problem. But most dogs need a little coaxing, a little confidence building, a little training to help them through it. So anyhow, uh, hope, uh, these tips help you guys out. Um, I just want to share one, that awesome recipe in this podcast. Two, if you've been on the fence about getting, um, what waiters to get, and you've seen the Sitka waiters, but you didn't really know much about them. And you're just like, man, those things are expensive. Are they worth it? Two? Yes, I would say they're very worth it. And then three, introducing your dogs to, uh, retrieving geese. Um, I think these are all really important topics. Um, hope they can help you guys out. Um, and that my insight of using these products and, and, and, And doing, and, uh, you know, hunting these geese and working these dogs in the field can help you out. One last thing I want to just talk about. Kind of rewind about, we talked about gunner kennels again. Um, you know, there are some good crates on the market. Um, but the gunner kennels, the reason I like them is they do have some cool upgrades. And they, they build cool products and you can put like, you know, your dog's name on the kennel crate. And that's just kind of fun, some cool additions. But the other day I had a lady call me and she had her dog in a wire crate. And she said, I put my dog in this wire crate. And it's, it's learned to squeeze itself through those wire crate doors. And the dog has separation anxiety, and so she put the nose in the ears. New Year's Eve, a bunch of people over, they don't want the dog in their business. They put the dog out in the garage, in a wire crate. The dog does not like being in there. It's already escaped out of the wire crate. And this dog tears through the wire crate, um, is super anxious, and proceeds to jump all over the husband's cars, and, um, scratches the cars, and You can imagine how that went down. So not very fun. And so I told the client, I said, listen, you need to get your dog in a bulletproof crate. Once your dog escapes out of a dog run out of a crate or anything like that, it's going to have that confidence that it can do it again. And it is going to try like the Dickens to escape out of those things. Which potentially could hurt the dog. You could, the dog could stick its head through the edge of the crate, you know, and choke itself or cut itself or do something like that. Um, and so put your dog in a dog run or a dog crate that is impermeable. The dog, there is no way or shape or form that the dog, as long as, as hard as it tries, is not going to be able to escape out of that, that run or that crate. And then the dog will relax and realize, Oh, I, I can't get out of this. And they'll basically just give up that fight. Right. And so. Um, you know, I've seen dogs, just the cheap, you know, plastic crates that you buy maybe, you know, Walmart, different places like that, you know, they're anywhere from 60 to 100. I've seen dogs grab with their mouth the doors and pull them in and literally just rip them right off, right out of the crate. Or bend them, or you sit on them in the cold temperature and they break. So, Again, with a lot of things, you want to just generally buy quality instead of replacing, you know, cheaper crates every two, three years, whatever, you know, buy a gunner crate or some of these other good crates out there. Again, I like the gunner crate just because I feel like for the price, they're passionate about hunting. Um, they're just a good company. I haven't seen anything that's better than them per se that's on the market. So, um, some people have made comments, Oh, they're, they're too heavy. That's a negative, negative thing. I've some that people have said they're just too heavy. I will say they are heavier. They are pretty heavy when you lift them. But in a sense, I feel like that's quality when they're heavy. Um, they're not going to get bounced around as much if it's in the back of your truck and you get in a car accident, the weight of it's not going to be able to fly out of the truck as easy. Um, uh, heaviness also, I would say in. I've had plastic crates without a dog in them just blow right out of the back of a truck the wind catches them They're just gone and they hit the freeway and they blow up in a million pieces Which could obviously be bad for cars behind you and stuff like that. So you got to wait them down 100 confident you can put a gunner crate in the back of a truck and The wind there that's one benefit is because they are heavier dog or no dog. They're not going to blow out. So Anyhow, kind of a little plug on, on that. Um, but I just, again, told this client, I said, Listen, you need to get a crate that your dog is not going to get out of. And I feel confident. The gunner crate, you know, that they're not going to get out of one. So, uh, there are some other good aluminum ones, um, that are on the market. Um, and those have pros and cons, but overall, uh, you know, for in car accidents and stuff like that, really like the gunner crates. I have some nice aluminum ones, um, that we've made. Um, the Rock Creek crates, they've made a good aluminum one. If you like those, um, there's a plug for them also. So anyhow, again, just want to share some products that we found are, uh, that have held up and done well for you guys. So, um, I think that's all we got today. Uh, hope everyone is, uh. Is excited for the new 20, 2024. It's crazy. I can't just feel like just not too long ago is the year 2000. Now we're 24 years into year 2000, uh, set some new goals this year. Obviously we're talking about dogs here, uh, hunt test season. Is, uh, coming right on up here in the spring. And so it's the time of year now is the hunts are starting getting close to winding down that you're going to, if you want to run your dog and hunt tests, uh, you want to start training and getting ready for those. Cause those are going to be here in the next three to four months. And so you really got to start, um, buttoning down and getting your dog ready. For those, if you want to play that game and, uh, maybe in some of these future episodes, we'll talk about hunt test and kind of the different levels and, and, you know, how to train for them and the different rules and stuff like that. Uh, in those hunt tests and AKC hunt tests. So I hope everyone has a great day. Thanks again for listening and, uh, good luck hunting and good luck training. You guys are awesome. Appreciate you spending some time listening to me blab here and, uh, hope some of this information is beneficial to you guys and we'll see you in the next show.