I don't hunt with my dogs but their favorite is a plastic water bottle stuffed into a stuffed squeeky toy. I think to them it's like something from Taco Bell, crunchy, soft and tastes a little like plastic.

The kong I put a little peanut butter in them.Then on the top of the water bottle to teach to drink from it.GREAT TOY

I dont want to do without any so Ill give them all.Here is the list off the top of my head.
-3 whistles 2 on lanyard around my neck a Acme 210.5 and a Roy Gonia special.1 in the car another Acme but a pea whistle just in case.
-2 lofts filled with homers and rollers equipped with 2 baths 2 miller manufacturing round style feeders 2 plastic bird waters,etc.
-3 bird harnesses 1 sued spiked #7492 gundog supply 1 leather TBI and 1 pigeon wing strap harness both gundogs supply.
-1 TBI bird bag the Game Stewards Bag gun dog supply
-6 training sents Hallmark,Remmington,etc.
-6 freeze dried wings pheasant,grouse,etc.
-1 20ft. check cord
-1 Mendota 50ft. check cord
-1 tie down with a swivel the type that screws into the ground great when you dont have an extra set of hands
-force fetch training dummies
-Remmington canvass bumpers
-1 Dokken dead fowl retriever pheasant
-2 slip collars
-1 pinch collar
-1 Remmington collar high vis.reflective safety orange with all info.
-1 Innoteck electronic collar I like one you can put the remote around your neck on a lanyard easy to get to and not to loose 7 levels .
-1 nylon lead
-1 Remmington Traffic Lead short just like the German lead
-1 training pistle
-2 Dog bells 1 large mouth brass 1 copper cow train with
both to get used to them great when friends hunt along
-lots of great books+videos
This I have aquired over 20 yrs.might be more

My right hand. That's where all the good luvin' scratchin' and ear-rubbin' comes from. (And now and again, there's a Milkbone in there also.) As such, you would be amazed how much my dog pays attention to where that hand points... and how much she pays attention to it. For what it's worth, that hand has never doled out any harsh punishment either.

Great stuff Chad I like the bucket and too will be using more bumpers for lining drills.Also use the crate for place.Crate is the command that is switched to place on a platform.The crate is then removed over time.The dog becomes solid on place and you can move it around the diamond on all placeboards.

The peanut butter water bottle tip I got from the Remmington trainers as well as the advanced correction tip for the dog that runs the bank on water retrieves that I mentioned earlier in the blog.When we train dogs we often have to try many different approaches before we find an approach that works with a particular dog.

Bending came from Purina.

good article about dog training

I don't use much in the way of training equipment.

1. Pinch collar and 4-foot lead (when I walk them).
2. My voice and consistent commands.
3. My hand - for signals and discipline.
4. Bird wings (in season).
5. Dead birds (in the field in season).
6. Treats in my pocket.

I formerly used a Dakins DeadFowl dummie but the thing got too stinky. I'm not really a big advocate of using the same thing all the time for retrieving training (e.g. dummy). If a pup learns to retrieve a number of different things, they don't have much trouble recognizing something strange falling out of the sky as needing retrieving. I have found that some pups who are used to retrieving one single item may have difficulty making the transition to something new. So I mix it up: dummies, bird wings, sticks, tennis balls, frisbees, etc.

I like a four foot lead. I want to be able to wrap the leads around my hand once and keep the dogs fairly close to me. Anything longer has too much excess flopping around. I also have a knock-down kennel and an air freight kennel with an insulated camo cover (that I almost never use). However, I keep the dogs as close to me as possible all the time. I'll take them for car rides in the Jimmy as much as possible. Pearl often sleeps with me and Opal sleeps as close to the couch as she can. When I'm working on the computer, Pearl is usually next to me and Opal lays on my feet. Being that close to the dogs unites us mentally.

A good tip on the treats: Keep them in a velcro-flapped pocket. Sometimes when training, pups are reluctant to release the retrieved item. If they associate that velcro tearing sound with getting a treat, they'll be right at your feet and dropping that dummy. And you'd be surprised how far away they can hear that noise! I also teach them to know what the word "treat" means, although I have found the velcro sound seems to get their attention better.

Honker, I do the same exact feeding ritual with Pritch. We've been doing it since she's a pup and as badly as she wants that food she'll sit and wait till released before chowing down. And yes, it transfers to the field quite nicely. It's all about the building blocks, right? -D

dummy, treats, tennis balls, dog collar with the bell on it and some rawhide bones. without these my pup wouldn't be a happy gun dog.

Sorry, Southflo, I'm not out there to put on a show. I go hunting to have a good time and I want my dogs to have a good time too. They don't have to be robots to do that. As long as I don't lose any birds and they don't get chewed up, I'm happy. If the dogs drop a bird in the field once on the way in to get a better grip, who cares? It's still going to go home and in the freezer. I don't want my dogs chasing rabbits or deer when we're bird hunting but that's easily taken care of without turning them into automatons. I'm more interested in developing a loving relationship with my hunting dogs than creating some kind of showpiece.