Labrador Retrievers have always strummed my strings. Our first, a yellow female named “Silky,” had been trained for retriever trials but didn’t do well enough to please her master.

Expecting far less that her previous owner, I was delighted with her high, arching leaps into our little farm pond, especially when she made a diving retrieve of a weighted dummy lying four feet below the surface! The second one came to us as a typically rowdy pup that matured well through her first two years. But the one I watched a few weeks ago left them both in the shade!

Though obviously young, Brian Blankenship’s yellow dog was eagerly demonstrating his abilities in a parking lot lined with pickup trucks. I watched from a short distance away to avoid distracting him.

With only hand signals, the Lab came to heel and was walked to a spot about thirty feet away. Man and dog turned as one and the pup sat down, facing his audience. Brian rejoined the trucks’ owners, faced the pup, and motioned to one side. The dog took off like a streak, grabbed the distant training dummy, brought it straight to his master, and sat down beside him.

Several days later, I stopped briefly at the Parkway’s millpond picnic area. A white pickup passed by, then returned, a familiar yellow dog visible through the back window. Seeing our car’s dented front end, Brian had assumed I’d hit a deer and either it or I could use some help. Reassured that all was well, he drove on down the Parkway. Last week, the dog was back at the pond to learn water retrieves. He ignored me as I eased to a stop and cut off the engine.

Brian used a short fishing rod and reel, its line attached to a rubber goose decoy complete with real wings he’d attached so they stood up straight. With the dog steady at heel, he tossed the decoy a few feet into the cold water and signaled the pup to retrieve. The pup’s first steps were uncertain as he waded out a short distance, then returned. Abundant praise reassured him and he tried again. This time he brought the decoy to hand. The decoy’s next toss went father, but the pup paid no attention to the increased distance and retrieved it excitedly. Enthusiastic praise got Brian soaked and set the dog to running in circles around him.

With the pup again steady at heel, another heave plopped the decoy even farther out. The dog charged in on command and swam toward the goose. A gentle tug on the fishing line stopped the pup cold as he tried to understand the goose’s unexpected movement. Reassured from shore, he paddled on out, grabbed the decoy by a wing and dragged it back to his master. After a few spraying shakes, the pup returned to heel and sat down. The next toss landed the decoy just a short distance from shore. As the pup waded in, Brian grabbed the fishing rod and yanked it hard. The pup just swam faster to catch the floating object, then retrieved it as before.

“On land, he’s awesome,” said the wildlife resource officer, more as information than a boast. “He’s really confident on land, but we need to work on his water retrieves.”

“How old is he?” I asked.

Brian thought for a moment. “Fifteen months.”

“What’s his name?”

“‘Gunner.’ Let me show you something.”

He threw three orange rubber decoys: one into the shoreline’s bushes, the second about forty yards straight out, and the last about half that distance to the right, forming an inverted T-pattern. The pup raced to fetch one on his own, but a whistle shopped him short and he quickly returned to heel. Brian walked him to the pattern’s center, signaled “stay”, then he came to where I stood.

“Which one do you want him to get first?” he asked.

I made no suggestion.

With a silent signal, Gunner fetched the most distant decoy and delivered it to his master’s hand. Two more signals promptly returned the others.

“He does real well at these distances, but farther out, he sometimes goes the wrong way. We’re working on that.”

My early efforts at retriever training only blurred our dogs’ instincts. The marginal results proved that my best intentions no more qualified me as a dog trainer than being able to hop makes me a frog. Brian suffers no such handicaps, having carefully studied the subject through several books and training videos. Adding his clearly evident patience polishes those lessons. Now Gunner can teach him how to become a really good dog trainer.