I almost forgot...

I started using the duck call with him today for the first time. Obviously he has heard actual ducks before. He went nuts trying to get to the call lol. On one water mark I started calling when he was almost to the bumper and he got confused and turned to start coming back in towards the noise. I stopped, told him to fetch it up, and he finished the retrieve. After he had the bumper in his mouth I started calling again. It will be good for him to get used to it and learn to retrieve regardless.

I also did a water mark from farther off shore. Since our pond sets in lower, he couldn't actually see the mark go down on the water. So he took off, made it to the edge, looked back at me like "what do I do now" so I told him to fetch it up and in he went and finished the retrieve. It was just another good change up to get him exposed to. Seems like a little thing but the little things go a long ways.