Originally Posted By MikeJGA:
I don’t claim to be an expert, but this is what I did for 2 dogs that turned out to be great hunters. First I got them to loving bringing back the retrieving dummies. Then I got a package of string fired firecrackers. I’m sorry I don’t know the name. They look like firecrackers with strings coming out of both ends. When you yank on the ends they go bang.
I stapled one string to the outside of our 6” redwood fence and fed the other string back through a crack in the fence. The spousal unit stood on the backside of the fence with the retrieving dummies. The dog and I stood by the crackers on the outside of the fence. I’d suddenly shoulder an unloaded shotgun. When I did, my wife would yank a string and throw the dummy over the fence.

As the dog got used to the bang, she would yank multiple strings and we would lower the crackers closer to the dog’s level to increase the sound. When the dog was used to that, we went to the pasture and she stood behind me and the dog with the dummies. I’d shoulder and fire a .410. When I did, she would throw a dummy. When that did not bother them, I moved up to a 20 gauge then later my 12 gauge.

The only downside was when actually hunting, the dogs expected a bird to fall every time I fired. If I missed, the dogs would give me a look that would melt your heart.