Good mouth habits are a nice side benefit of FF'ing, but the reason dogs are FF'ed is primarily to lay the groundwork for running good cold blinds.

I'm not getting into the "meat dog" versus "competition dog" debate except to say most of the dogs I see out in the field could be better trained.

Edited for double post

Wtf are you talking about? Either read the topic and respond accordingly, or go away.

#CFFITR
#GhostBoat
#Whoneedsphysicsihaveamudmotor

Lol

Some people’s children...

Its already been stated but FF cleaned up mouthing issues as well as a guaranteed delivery to hand. I wasnt a fan of having to leave the blind to pick up birds littered on or close to shore. I'm not a hunt test guy but I do look at tests for training goals. If the east coast gets screw by Dorian like Florence, I'll probably worry about hunt tests more than hunting this season. Is it required? No. Everyone has their own opinion but to me a meat dog has a solid basis ie CC obedience and FF nothing more or less.

Pretty late to the party looking at the dates this thread was started but nonetheless.

CC is a must.

FF is strongly advised. I've been able to dodge it with my 2 cockers. They deliver to hand naturally. On occassion they will drop a bird to switch to another bird, but I can just resend them to pick up the dropped bird. FF was a must on my lab. My setter and pointer will require FF as well.

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I only have English setters and English pointers. They love to hunt/point but dont seem to care much about the retrieve... until FF is complete.

I am relatively new to the English Cockers and they are unique. The 2 I own have delivered to hand. I do see where FF would be of benefit of course. My most recent was ready at 5 months old to be on the guide string. Now at 8 months she is a beast. Occasionally she will drop a bird to pick up another, but she hunts dead to get the one she dropped. Amazing little dogs. FF will be done so I can reach her full potential.

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Interesting to see this thread again years later. I haven’t swung through this forum in a long time.

In general, I’m still a strong advocate of FF’ing retrievers (of any level) as a good foundation for running crisp cold blinds. But, I come from an All Age FT background and am at an extreme end of the retriever spectrum.

However, I can understand that some don’t share my views. That’s okay. I learned long ago that it’s darn near impossible to convince another dog trainer of the benefits of training techniques they don’t want to enact.

That’s not a knock on other trainers, because honestly, my present dog would be a nightmare in a hunting blind. He’s a great trial dog, but I’ve found myself sometimes wishing he had a little less “go”. He’ll take the highest burn on a Dogtra Edge and not blink. I shudder to think of him in a less experienced trainers hands. He’d be running the show in about 30 seconds when he figured out a less experienced trainer.

In truth, I prefer to hunt over one of my fiancé’s males, who is a much easier dog to manage in a blind.

We recently purchased a high drive lab for the Plantation. It was one of those that could not live in a house and the owner released it to a pro trainer. He came from a Master National breeding (dont recall the parents names). When we bought him, he was FF, forced to pile, doing blind work, handling, etc. The dog has a TON of drive. He barks constantly in the kennel... until you get him on the ground. Bark collars do nothing. He requires alot of collar pressure to keep him in check. I imagine he would be difficult in a duck blind on a slow day. I use him for flushing quail. Probably going to use him for retrieving at pheasant tower shoots this weekend, and give my personal dogs a day off.

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