We went pigeon shooting today, a totally new environment for young Daisy.
This form of shooting involves shooting from a “hide” built with camouflage nets, poles, branches, straw bales – in fact anything at all to conceal man and dog from the very wary pigeons. So the dog has to sit still in an enclosed area with limited visibility and is usually blind to where any birds may have fallen. But the biggest challenge (and it’s always a lottery, as you can never predict how a dog will react) is whether the dog will actually pick up a pigeon.
The problem with pigeons is that they shed a lot of soft feathers and down in the dog’s mouth, which many dogs don’t like: they drop the bird to clear their mouth of feathers and can be reluctant to pick them up again.
No such problems with Daisy! She sat as quiet as a mouse in the hide and took direction when called upon to retrieve. Most pleasing of all was her willingness to pick pigeons without any fuss and deliver to hand! Phew!
Another milestone reached!