Pass Along RJ
March 08

Training for the Percentages
by Jason Smith

f your retriever is just your hunting buddy, the chances that she’ll need to be perfect on a 300-yard blind retrieve are pretty slim. She may see only one or two in her hunting career, and even at that, you’re probably going to either get the boat instead of sending her on a 20-minute swim, or you’ll walk out there with her to make sure to get that bird.

So what kind of fetches does she do most often? Look back over your hunting journal from last year (and keep detailed notes for the coming season), and record the length, obstacles, and conditions of each retrieve. Then, in the off-season, set up your training to mimic those situations she’ll encounter most. I call it "training for the percentages." Here’s how my journal looked from last year:

• 80% of our hunts took place from a boat in immediate swimming-depth water; 15% were in "potholes" or ponds; 5% in fields
• There were 32 total fetches for the year;
• 25 of the fetches were "Decoyers"—fetches fewer than 40 yards, bird in the decoys; this accounts for 78% of the total; 15 were marks, 10 were blinds because the dog is in a boat blind; in 5 instances, there was a double-retrieve, and there was 1 triple;
• 5 of the fetches were "Drifters"—fetches in the 50-75 yard range, bird beyond the decoys; this accounts for 16% of the total; 1 was a mark, 4 were blinds; all were singles;
• 2 of the fetches were "Sailers"—fetches greater than 80 yards, bird hit in air and sailed far away; this accounts for 6% of the total; both were blinds and singles.

So what did I do with the information? Well, almost 80% of the time, my dog is going to get a fetch under 40 yards and in the decoys. That’s where she needs to be solid, so the vast majority of our training and conditioning exercises are done from a boat and amongst a spread of decoys—and a lot of short blind retrieves because the dog is concealed during the hunt and won’t see the splash-down. Also, there should be some doubles and a few triples thrown in. Likewise, in proportion, are longer fetches in which she must navigate a spread of decoys; and, finally, long blinds over 100 yards.

It’s common knowledge to train using the distractions of hunting to get your dog used to them—blind, gun, dark clothes, duck calls, excitement, etc. But don’t forget to train for the distances of hunting as well. It doesn’t make much sense to train and train and train so that your dog will nail the one 200-plus-yard blind she’ll see during the year, but, because of neglect during the training season, she flubs up the 40 fetches she’ll have at 35 yards in the decoys.

You'll still need to train for those "extreme" instances so that you don't lose those birds, but don't train for those at the expense of getting her perfect at what she'll see the majority of the time.

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