(upbeat music) Welcome to Naturally Wild, where we talk about everything outdoors here in the natural state.

Hey, have you ever heard these hot summer days we're having here in Arkansas, referred to as the dog days of summer?

Well, I've heard that all my life.

And I did a little research.

This being the educational network, I can do that.

Hey, I researched where that saying came from.

And you know what?

It doesn't have anything to do with dogs.

It's really about a star and the star's called a dog star which is said to be one of the brightest stars in the sky this time of year.

And skywatchers way back when believed that that's where all this extreme heat is coming from during July and August.

A star has nothing to do with dogs.

But let me tell you, this show has everything to do with dogs.

Here to help me learn all about dogs tonight is Corey and Erica Dunn.

Hey Corey and Erica, how y'all?

Great to see you.

Good to see you.

Thanks for having me.

You all here.

We're going to be talking about dogs in a minute.

They're they're the real stars, if you will.

Let's talk about you a little bit.

Introduce yourselves.

Tell us where you're from and what you do.

Yeah.

Corey Dunn originally grew up in Junction City, Arkansas and working for Ducks Unlimited for the last nine years as a director of development.

Doing major donor fundraising.

We go back a long way.

I know you used to be with the National Wildlife Federation.

Delta Waterfowl.

Yeah.

20 plus years.

Yeah, I think we've known each other.

I hadn't known Erica that long.

Erica, now you're the other part.

So what do you do?

I work for UAMS and secure partnerships and funding for all the good work we do, clinical education, research, taking care of the great folks of Arkansas.

Well, UAMS.

Yes.

So you're a fundraiser as well.

So y'all in the fundraising family business.

For sure.

Hey, let's talk a little bit about Ducks Unlimited.

I know a lot of people, most people have been around a long time.

Give me a little history about Ducks Unlimited.

Yes, almost 90 years old.

We started in 1937 and we're a conservation group.

If you like clean air, if you like clean water, the things that we're doing for conservation also benefit wildlife and people.

So doing a lot of great work here in the state and across the continent.

Now, of course, ducks.

We're duck capital of the world here in Arkansas.

So everybody knows about Arkansas when it comes to duck hunting.

Talk about the money raised here and how they raise it.

And I know fundraising banquets.

You used to do that as well.

And what you do now and where some of that money goes.

Yeah.

So we've got 60 plus chapters, local chapters across the state.

We've got 24,000 volunteers that we've got that really help us out.

So we do the fundraising events, our local banquets, we have golf tournaments, we have skeet shoots, we have crawfish bowls.

And then what I do is the major donor giving and that's individuals, corporations, foundations.

And we do a lot of work across the country.

But we do a ton of work here in the state of Arkansas.

We partner with Game and Fish a lot.

The Green Tree Reservoir Restoration.

We've been real instrumental in raising funds to be able to help that the last 5 or 6 years.

We do a lot of stuff with our kids, our Green Wing program and we've got projects with our rice farmers across the state, which is really important for ducks and duck hunters.

So, you know, most people, when they hear an organization like that, they think that it's a hunting organization and they hunt.

That's part of controlling, but it's more of a conservation organization than anything else.

Some of the money raised here in Arkansas, some of these banquets, we'll put the website on there.

What is your website?

Ducks.org That's it.

I can remember that one, ducks.org, but they can contact, they can go there and find out when the next banquet is in Arkansas or who to contact about making donations and so forth.

Absolutely.

If you go to ducks.org and look for the state of Arkansas, we've got a list of all of our events and our contact info.

Yeah.

That's cool.

Well, one good thing we'll make a transition there.

In being a member of Ducks Unlimited, you get to go duck hunting a lot.

Obviously, we're duck capital of the world.

And let me tell you what, one of the neatest things about going duck hunting is really not the ducks.

It's the dogs in it.

So let's let's introduce the real star of the show tonight.

Her name is Libby.

She just turned her back to you.

Oh.

That's okay.

I'm used to that.

Used to that.

I got to ask you a question, okay?

Whose dog is this?

Really?

Is this.. This is a joint effort.

Corey.

This is, is it a mama's dog?

This is my mama's dog.

I help, but this is mama's dog.

You do what Erica says for the dog.

That's right.

That's right.

Come on.

Hey, go back a little bit while we're, she's going to turn around and talk to the, look at the camera.

She's camera shy.

Oh.

Hey, that's a puppy.

She is.

She's eight months old.

Yeah, that explains the whole thing.

And she's been very well behaved for the last hour until you said camera action.

There she is.

There she is.

There she is.

She said now what are y'all talking about?

Hey, this is not your first dog.

No.

Flashback a little bit over the last few years with the former dog.

Jag.

Jag?

Jag j a g. And what kind of dog did you have?

(dog whines) Oh, do you hear this?

She's a little jealous that you're bringing up Jag.

She thought she was the star of the show.

Sorry.

We're just going to talk about Jag for a minute.

Jag was a soul connection of a dog.

She changed my life forever.

And I will never be without a lab after her.

I had her 13.5 years.

13.5.

And that's pretty long for a lab.

It is.

It is.

Big duck hunter.

Now you duck hunt as well, don't you?

I have.

For a lot of years.

And it changed when I had my own dog.

I've hunted with a lot of dogs, but once I had my own dog, trained my own dog.

That bond is extraordinary.

It is.

It's hard to explain.

I sent you something earlier this week and said something about the ducks is really get you attracted to the hunting, but the dogs get you addicted.

Absolutely.

It really does.

It's not the same, duck hunting, without a dog.

Yeah, it really isn't.

Yeah.

We'll talk about that in a little bit.

Let's talk about Livvy right now.

How'd you come up with that name?

Well, I in September, I lost Jag, and Corey could not live with me because he said, I've never seen you like this.

I said, well, the house is too quiet.

It's too clean.

I can't be without a lab.

So introduced Livvy and I named her Livvy because she was bringing life back into our home.

Livvy.

Livvy.

That's good.

And her energy suits that, doesn't it?

That's a good name for her.

And what breed is she?

She's a British lab, and there's a lot of types of labs.

I had a black lab back in 2000, and her name was Avery.

And a lot of fun, but she didn't mind as well as Livvy does, I think.

Why her?

What attracted you to that British lab breed?

Well, Jag, my first, was a British.

What attracted you?

She's smaller.

Her temperament.

You can have the best of both worlds.

They are machines when they hunt.

They are very serious about their job.

But when you take them home, they are a completely different personality.

They're great with families, with kids, just a lot of fun.

And her size is great if you hunt timber and ducks aren't working in the whole move, not a problem.

You don't need a dog stand.

They can literally set up on a stump, a tree.

You can hunt them anywhere and they don't tend to have as many health problems, hip dysplasia, things like that.

Yeah, I mean, in all these breeds, I think there's six different breeds of retrievers.

And of course you don't just hunt ducks with them.

They do dove and quail and everything, birds, waterfowl, they all have different temperaments.

So you were looking for something that you could kind of have as a pet at home and still be able.

Because not all dogs you can do that with.

How big will she get?

She's 52 pounds and I don't think she's going to be a lot bigger than this.

My last one was around 50.

Okay.

And that's like.. I don't know.

Check back with me in another two months.

Yeah.

You never know.

You don't know.

You don't know.

Well, that, and then how long do they, life expectancy?

You said your former dog lived 12.5 years?

13.5.

13.5.

What's a normal life expectancy?

What I tell people, it depends on genetics, genetics and their owner.

Okay.

I mean, it really does.

It's what you put into these dogs.

And then obviously genetics plays a huge role.

But usually people around, if you're hunting a dog a lot, 11 to 12 years is about standard for a lab.

So I was really blessed to have 13.5 years.

That's kind of one reason I wanted to do this show tonight is because a lot of people have dogs and all types of dogs, whether hunting or not, and they are a lot of work.

They are a lot of responsibility.

Before you get one, if you don't have one, if you can't afford it, and if you can't afford the time and attention that like they put into it, don't get one.

That's my that's my advice to you.

If you can't afford it, just wait until you can to have it because they take a lot of attention.

A lot of I mean, talk about daily shots and and diets and things like that.

Yeah, it's a commitment.

It's a lifelong commitment.

It is worth it 110%.

She brings so much joy into my life.

But it is, I will give you an example of today.

It was horrible weather, pouring down rain.

Yeah, I went out in the rain with this dog.

She has to be worked twice a day.

They are high energy dogs.

She won't always be that way, but when she's a puppy, you give them a job or they find a job.

They're going.

They're going to stay busy.

And you don't want them to find a job.

No.

What, how do you find dogs like this?

When you were looking, where did you go?

I know you've had one for many years, but how do you find dogs like this?

That's such a good question.

I'm going to say use your resources and your people.

I met Jay Chesser through a UAMS meeting with the chamber.

And of course, if you're a dog person, a hunter, it always the conversation shifts, right?

Always.

So he and I were talking about labs and he asked me about how old my lab Jag was.

And so I shared with him, I don't even know where to get started.

It's been 13.5 years.

Yeah.

And you have to be careful.

And he recommended somebody from DeWitt, Arkansas, because you want somebody, I learned that tests for EIC.

What's EIC?

So that is when they collapse, energy induced collapse, exercise induced collapse.

And so that'll show up in a dog six months to three years old.

And so that can kill a dog if they're out on a retrieve in water.

And they can test for that.

So, you know, that's a recessive trait that's passed.

So I didn't know that.

But because of Jay, and connecting me to a breeder that was responsible and tested and then hip dysplasia, you can test for that.

So I learned a whole, you know, it was an education.

My first one was a puppy that was an accidental breeding, registered labs.

I bought it from a buddy, ended up being probably the best hunting dog I'll ever have.

You kind of got lucky there, didn't you?

I got very lucky.

And there's a lot of kennels around the state that raise thes So it's not like one place, but you do need to check those things out.

We're going to talk before the end of the show about the Pin Oak Retrievers Club, how you can find other resources to find out more information than what we're going to have time to cover here.

Just connections with other people that have dogs and different dogs.

Let's kind of shift a little bit to to what your goal of Livvy is, where do you want her to end up?

Oh, well.

Other than in your lap.

She has a job.

Everybody in our home works.

So I want the same thing I had with Jag.

I want to be able to take her on dove hunts, take her on duck hunts, and also at UAMS, and I don't know if she will, you know, it's a particular temperament that you need for a service dog so that you can visit the VA or cancer patients.

And when I found out UAMS offers that, if she matures to that point, I'm going to give her that job as well.

Yes.

You're going to keep her busy.

Yes.

But let me tell you what, folks.

If you've never been on a duck hunt and these dogs are just fantastic.

I mean, they're so, it's instinct in them.

It's God given.

You can't teach them that instinct and that desire.

But if you've never been on a duck hunt, we'll show you some video of going on a duck hunt here.

And, Corey, I know you've been on many of them together as well, but talk about when the ducks are out there, what the dogs do as they get closer, as people start calling the ducks.

Yeah, well, there's been a lot of times that we've been hunting and we've been talking to each other, and we look over in, the dog is scanning the sky, and a lot of times we can pick up when the ducks are coming because that dog is looking for that next one to come in.

So they've cued us a lot of times, but there's there's nothing like it.

And it's it's not just the camaraderie, it's the conservation side.

Because it's tough for us to sometimes get to some of those ducks that go down.

And these retrievers, they really help us out a lot, being much better hunters and be able to harvest our game that we take.

What you're trying to say is as you get older, you don't really like wading through the water a half a mile to get a duck to come back.

I'll be 48 years old in August, and the more dogs and the less steps that I have is better for the hunt.

We call that working smart, not hard.

When you get 76 years old there.

Talk, Erica, you and I talked before the show a little bit about how these dogs, when the duck callers start calling, they can identify the call they're making on a caller, and that tells them that the ducks are getting close.

Oh, absolutely.

So they pay attention to everything and and really imprint on when the ducks are working and they're locked in, they're coming in the hole.

And when that call changes, right before that happens, those dogs pick up on that and associate that.

But the funniest thing that they pick up on is the click of a safety.

They hear you click the safety off your gun?

They hear you click the safety, why don't you share what you used to joke with me about calling the shot.

Erica is a really good shot, and most of the time when you hunt, you try to say, hey, here they come and someone will call the shot.

Then that way the whole group.

Tell them when to shoot.

Tell them, don't shoot to tell them when I shoot.

Okay, well, sometimes Erica and I have been on the hun and all of a sudden I hear boom, boom, boom.

I said, Erica, why didn't you let me know that you were going to shoot?

She said, I click my safety off.

The dog heard that, that was your cue.

That was she just called a shot when she.

She did.

Erica, on my first duck and I made the same mistake, though I did.

Nobody told me the rules.

I just sat there and the ducks were there.

I shot, and they go, well, man, we'll call the shot for you.

But but another thing I've watched in these dogs out there too, is when these ducks start circling, they they're watching them and their eyes will follow them and they get up there and I mean, they you can tell they're just fired up waiting on that command.

But the beauty about it is when you're training, we're going to show you some of the training.

After they don't go to you, tell them to.

That's what you want.

A good dog can make a hunt, can it?

Absolutely.

But or ruin one.

A bad dog can ruin one as well.

It really can.

Let's talk about the training a little bit.

Who's training?

Now, you can hire trainers?

There's trainers in Arkansas.

Absolutely.

Obedience school and all that.

That's where Avery went.

My dog.

And it worked.

I didn't have the time or know how to do it.

I did do some resources after they got back and followed up.

Yeah.

Do you hire a trainer?

Who's doing the training?

So primarily Erica, because she did such a great job with Jag.

I think Jag was just a blessing across the board, but I think it's a group effort.

And I say that because it's important to me to train.

I want that bond.

There's something extraordinary about that with the dog, and once you have it, you don't walk away from it.

So with Livvy, I've joined that Pen Oak, a hunter retriever club and it's full of trainers and really experienced dog owners that have worked with retrievers, and they are so welcoming to anyone that's willing to come and join.

I'm going actually Saturday to Jacksonville to Larry McMurtry's place.

And so Eddie Bennett's all members of Pen Oak.

They've welcomed us in.

And so if I have trouble with something.

But I started with Robert Milner's book Back to Basics.

Back to Basics by Robert Milner.

And then he has a new one, Absolutely Positively Gun Dog.

And he was the founder of Wild Rose and Duck Hill Kennels.

Okay.

And he's really great.

If you're new to this, and then I see you have a copy of Water Dog.

Of course.

That is the.. I was looking at this today.

This is what I used when I was doing Avery.

Yes, a wonderful book.

This was published in 1964.

Yeah.

You know how long that's been?

Yeah.

They didn't have computers back then.

Talk about the steps that you go.

How old?

She's nine months old?

She's eight months.

Eight months old.

At what age did you start training her?

When I brought her home.

What age was that?

Six weeks.

And that shocked me because I told you it'd been 13.5 years.

And my first one was not separated from the litter.

But with breeders, that's pretty common.

6 to 8 weeks.

But they absorb so much during that time frame.

And you start with just basic obedience.

Such as sit, sit.

Yeah.

Which is stay, sit and stay really means the same thing.

You put things, food in front of them and make them wait.

Things that typically would stimulate a dog, you know, toys, food.

And that's how you steady a dog.

I think when Robert Milner, in one of his books, talked about something that made complete sense.

But I think a lot of us focus on the retrieve.

Well, that's in their genetics, of course they're going to retrieve.

And he said, don't retrieve with your puppy over and over and over.

Work on your dog.

You throw the bumpers, you pick up the bumpers and let them watch, and then maybe you send them on, you know, 25% of the bumpers that you throw, you send the dog.

The rest you pick up so that it teaches them to be steady so that when you hunt them with other dogs, they don't associate that bumper throw as being a cue to retrieve.

Retrieve.

They wait for the release.

Yeah.

And I know you start slow obviously, with those things.

If you train them, will she, will she mind him if he gives her the same command?

We actually had a conversation the other day because he helps a lot.

You know, we're training her together.

And I said, I've been the one working her in the evenings.

And I said, we need to start rotating because it is good.

She ultimately, yes, she will mind you anybody that takes her and I want that.

But it's important that you are consistent with their cues.

And I say is, is it more important to work them consistently a little bit every day?

Or how long are your sessions when you go out for a training session?

We don't go for very long.

I do maybe a 15 minute training session and I do twice a day with her.

There's a lot of controversy with different trainers, a lot of opinions, and I think for me being amateur, it just landed for me that I wanted to do what was a good fit for her.

And these dogs have different personalities.

Every dog is different.

Yeah, just like kids.

You figure it out.

And although... That's part of the fun.

These dogs mind better than kids.

And I've got an amen on that.

At what age would you think she'll start hunting?

She's eight months old.

What do you think?

I want to, wood, can I knock on wood?

Someone here?

I'm.

I'm really.

We're going to start on a solo hunt with just Corey and I and her this duck season.

I feel like she'll be ready.

I'm going to take her during dove season as well.

She's already working on birds.

We started her on feathers that I froze and birds.

So she'd get accustomed to picking that up in the scent.

But I'm hopeful that we'll start her this season.

Well, dove season starts September 5th right.

Right around the corner.

Then you got seasons starting up, then you got duck season starting up.

So if she gets out there, let me tell you my experience with my dog.

I did the same thing.

One reason I want to do this show now.

Because you got to be careful during this heat out there working them too much and pay attention to that.

But I took my dog dove retrieving in order to get it in shape for duck season.

After she retrieved a couple of doves, she wouldn't touch a duck.

She she brought a dove back and those feathers are a lot different on.

She started spitting.

She couldn't even get.

She had feathers everywhere.

So sometimes that that doesn't work.

They do it all?

You go, you're going to try to do it all with them?

Try it with her.

But again, it's knowing the dog.

I've changed a lot of things and asked a lot of questions from a lot of people in these retriever clubs when I hit, you know, a a complication or a struggle with something.

That's the beauty of this.

There's so many people out there that are willing to help and videos, you can find everything online.

That's true.

And I didn't have that when I trained Jag.

I was a book.

And you know.

There will be deals when I train my own so, they didn't even have electricity.

About Pin Oak Retriever Clubs.

Let's talk about that a little bit before we run out of time.

I know obviously it's good for connections and find information and so forth.

Do they do trials and things like that?

Competition.

Do you have any inkling to do a show dog to earn some medals?

Yeah.

So they they have a hunt test and that is to simulate real hunting experiences.

And there's as far as I'm concerned, there's nothing better to be able to to test your dog and to be able to get that experience on those hunt test.

How does that work?

When you say hunt test, a lot of people might not have ever seen one of these.

So it's a competition, but it's not a competition between other dogs.

It's testing the skill of you and your dog.

So you go out to a hunting scenario and you've got retrieves on land, and you have retrieves on water, and you have to be able to show that you can steady your dog.

So it's a it's a real learning experience and a great way to network, but also to give your dog a little bit of hunting experience before the actual hunt happens.

Yeah, I know we were talking about retrieving and of course the way it works, folks, the ducks fly over, they shoot the duck, it falls, the dog sees it and goes and gets it when they tell them to.

There's also a thing called the blind retrieve, which just amazes me to where you actually go place the bumper and hide it from them.

Maybe 100 200 yards off.

The dog has no idea.

And the dog, you just tell them to go in a direction and she runs until you whistle.

She turns around, looks at them, and they go, go that way.

She'll run until they whistle.

And you actually work it to them.

Do they see these bumpers or do they smell them?

Do they hunt by smell or sight?

So ideally they'd love to be able to see them.

But sometimes if you've got multiple birds and multiple people or they're distracted or working at something else, they may not see the bird go down.

So that's why it's important to be able to work that dog, line them up, and be able to cast them left or cast them right, because you may have seen the bird go down, let them get close and then let them use their nose and finish the hunt.

Got a question.

The hardest thing for my dog was when she get the duck and bring it back to me, she wouldn't want to drop it for me.

How does she do doing that?

They want to hold on to it.

I mean, that's their prize.

That's what they live for, is to retrieve.

A lot of that with her, she went through a phase of that.

The biggest thing I would do with her is give it back to her.

I would take a bumper and give it right back to her so she wasn't afraid or thinking, I'm going to take this away.

And then I would walk backwards, you know, if she wasn't bringing it to me and they have a natural response to follow you.

Sure.

And it's playful for a puppy.

So it, there are ways to work them towards being comfortable.

You know, most of them will deliver a hand.

But to your point, if they think you're going to take it away, they don't want to release that.

Make them bring it to you next time.

So hard to get it.

And I think I learned a lot about labs to the fact that they're they're retrieving, they're getting to go get whatever it is.

That's their reward.

I mean, you don't need to give them a treat or anything like that.

Feed them like they do a lot of pets for doing a good trick.

That's what they live for.

It's born instinct them.

Absolutely.

So much fun.

Yeah.

You're making me want to go duck hunting.

Yes, go with us.

You got to promise me this.

Now I want you to take her duck hunting.

Hopefully this year.

Do some video, bring it back in here.

We'll get them back on there.

We'll see how she progresses.

Absolutely.

Fair enough?

That's fair.

All of my buddies, at Still Wings are counting on her because they've gone two seasons without a retriever.

They've had to pick up their own ducks.

So there's a lot of pressure.

Charge them, say, hey, how bad you need a good duck hunter.

A lot of pressure.

Yeah.

Corey and Erica, thank you all so much for being here.

It's been a lot of fun.

Thanks for bringing Livvy in.

What is she doing?

She's falling asleep.

Oh, no.

Thanks a lot, Livvy.

That's what.

Libby said, This bores me.

I'm taking a nap.

That's what more people do watching my show.

What's up with that?

(laughter) But thank you all so much.

Thank you for having us.

And thank you all so much for watching here on on dog days of summer.

That's what it's been all about.

Be sure to tune in next time.

That's all the time we have this time.

I'll see you next time right here on Arkansas TV.

Naturally Wild.

This program was made possible by Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry, East Harding Construction Company, David's Burgers, Greenway Equipment, Arkansas Farm Bureau, and the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas.

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