Retrieve Issue

[YoMan]

Had a good opener, and for the most part, proud of my 3 year old chocolate lab. She was able retrieve 3 out of 5 birds.

The issue is that she started a habit of watching the shell eject, and is retrieving it, versus watching for the birds... Any of you guys ever had to deal with this, and have any insights?

[BrdHunter01]

Yes we have the same problem w our 4 yr old yellow lab. We inherited this dog last year, and we think when she was younger someone was throwing empty shell casings for her when they were target practicing. She had never been hunting before last year so she's somewhat new to it still. It seems she really like the smell of gun powder. We haven't been able to correct the problem yet but were going to try having 1 person hold the dogs head toward the water while the other shoots the bird so she sees it splash and realizes that's what were here for, not the shell casings haha.