tatonka

I'm going to be writing an article on this for a spaniel magazine (won't come out until spring).

What breed of pup do you have and how old is it? Something could have happened to sour your pup on the antler.....hard to say what, but if he's retrieving other things but will not retrieve an antler there is a problem. He could have poked himself with one of the tines, but it's hard to say.

I would lay off all retrieving with him for a week...maybe even longer. Then when you start, only use the antler. I would also take him to a different place than you have been using. Dogs are very keen on associating experiences with places (both good and bad). It's very important to train in different areas (all training....obedience, retrieving, etc.). Just because a dog obeys and does what you want it to do in the back yard doesn't mean it will in other places. That's why correcting a dog at the spot it disobeyed you (talking obedience here) is so imporant. If you call a dog to you and it runs off and you catch it 100 yards from where it disobeyed you and youreprimand it, it will not understand....you need to calmly bring the dog back to the spot where it disobeyed with you gave the command.

When you start back with antler, do no more than 3 retrieves. If he still refuses or shows no interest, your only other option is to go through the force fetch program or start with another dog...... Some dogs are better at finding shed than others. Some love it, some could care less.