Our early teal season opened on Sept. 15th back in 2012. I used Chili for the first two days and then on Monday, the 17th I took Habi with me. I had a very small pond of water left to hunt so that dictated me tossing in two teal decoys. That was all that was needed that morning to get four birds. Back then I think that we could shoot only 4 but more than likely I am wrong about it.

Habi was just 7 months old and here are some pictures of her first duck retrieve. She turned out to be a fantastic retriever.
Allan

Left click on picture to make it larger.

Looks like Habi knew exactly what she was doing. Must have had a good teacher!

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Carl
Mobile, AL
DHBP Member since 1998

"Life is too short to drink bad beer."
Disclaimer: This post and/or report is not a substantiation of or reflection on the true accuracy of the present surveying methods. It is only a report on or comment concerning local observation and/or results. Your results and observation may vary based on your location, local water conditions, food supply, weather conditions and migratory patterns "

You are right, Carl. Her teacher was Chili and she did a good job. Habi ended up being one of those retrievers that did things methodically. She didn't care if she was first or second to get out there. Chip normally got there first so if the duck was down in the open area that was a no-brainer. However, if the duck went down in some thick stuff, all bets were off. Normally Habi ended up finding the duck. She had a great nose and knew how to use it. She was also good at lining out straight to the duck. I always let them work together because when I used to hunt the Rio Grande there were times when each dog came back with a duck. Those two knew how to get a cripple and I was very pleased with that.

As Habi began to mature she ended up teaching Sonora, our black female and Belize, my yellow house dog.
Allan

Those are some great shots as always Al, always great to see a pup putting in work! Was that a bluewing or cinnamon teal? I'd say bluewing from your first photo but the hens look so similar that it's hard to know for sure.




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"We base our hopes upon a willingness to go to difficult-to-get-at places, to work hard, to freeze if need be, to rise early and stay late." -Gordon MacQuarrie

Avery- the K-mart of waterfowling gear

Back then, Cody, I was so excited about how Habi had done that I never thought about checking the eyes of the drake teal. Most of the time in September that is the only way I can tell a cinnamon from a bluewing. Glad you liked the shots.

I will try and find some pictures of Habi retrieving a little bit later that year. One time she was in the Rio Grande going out to retrieve a dead greenhead. Little did she know that she was going to hit a hole and disappear for a second. When she came up with that bird in her mouth her eyes seemed to be sending a message of being ticked off!
Allan











As you can see in her eyes in the last shot, Habi got over what it was like to all of a sudden find a hole that is a lot deeper than you thought it could be. There is a reason that when I am wading in the Rio Grande that I ALWAYS bring my walking stick with.