Force fetching comes into play when your dog is tired and retrieving starts to become work instead of fun. This is especially true when the weather is warm. I force fetched my dog for that very reason. You have to be real careful, and have a good feeling for how much pressure your dog can handle.

I use "Training the Hunting Retriever" by Jerome B. Robinson. It is a great book for hunters, and focuses on a hunting dog more than a field trial dog.

One of my best friends lost his lab to a rattlesnake year before last. He went into some palmetto bushes (my friend lives in south Georgia) to retrieve a dove, and a rattlesnake got him right in the neck. My brother lost his German Shorthair about 5 years ago. The dog fell into an old well that had not been covered. He was probably looking for water.

I was hunting pheasants during the openener (3rd weekend in Oct.) about 4 years ago, and a friend of mine had to quit hunting because both his labs went down with heatstroke.

Sounds like a great dog.

I was so inspired that I went out and ate some kind of wild mushrooms I found with some backstrap. It made me feel real funny.........my dog started talking to me, and my T.V. started to melt.

I think I better read up on eating wild stuff before I try it again.