A raw fed hunting dog...

Oops! Last time I took out the thawing chukkar, the only progress we made was having her nose touch it and pick it up a little. Today I threw it (get the prey drive going) and she dove for it. A few c/t later and she was picking it up and carrying it.

That's all good, right? Yup. The next part is better though.

She thought the chukkar was some new FOOD for her to try. She started trying to de-feather and chew on her chukkar! AHHH! OH NOOO! After laughing for a bit, we worked on hold. I held the bird out, she grabbed, I c/t'd for holding it nicely. A few of those later and I threw it again, she went out picked it up, I backed up quickly and told her "here" and put my hand out (our 'deliver to hand' cue). First time she dropped it, but second and third and fourth times she brought it right to hand and held it. C/t ALL of those wonderfully correct responses!

Next time, I'll thaw the bird better so it doesn't seem like dinner (I feed nearly all frozen raw to slow them down a bit), but I don't anticipate an issue. We just need to do this again before we go to our lesson or I'll get hella for it!

Bailey-feathered frozen meat is NOT for eating, it is for retrieving!