The Mark-N-Bird Dummies by Randy the "Flagman" Bartz make use of a "sight-scent-sound" system to help gun dogs more successfully locate and fetch these tools for training and exercise.

The Plasti-Duk by Neumann and Bennetts is advertised as the "original knobby retriever trainer." Made from plastic, the Plasti-Duk comes with a knobby exterior that encourages a dog to securely grasp the dummy without developing hard-mouth. These retrieving tools are available 12 inches long in two- or three-inch diameters or in 10-inch lengths with 17?8-inch or 23?4-inch diameters. They all come in a variety of colors.

The Pawboy Dead Duck Dog Training Dummy, manufactured by Quack Decoy Company, is a two-by-12-inch hard plastic, tube-type knobby dummy with a duck head mounted on one end. The Pawboy can be used on land or in water to replicate the appearance of a dead or wounded duck or goose.

The head can be removed so lead weights can be added as a way to get greater throwing distance and to make the dummy stand with its head up in the water to look like a wounded bird that a dog can easily see from a great distance.

The Real Duck Premium Dog Training Dummies are advertised as tough because they are made from polyester fire-hose casing, tightly woven and double stitched for strength and durability. This fire-hose material is filled with granulated natural cork for long-lasting floatation and a bird-like feel. A sewn-in polyester cord provides a sturdy handle to make throwing this dummy easy and efficient. The product is guaranteed to withstand all normal use in a conventional training program.

The D.T. Soft-Mouth Trainer is made from a soft, pliable plastic that gives this dummy the supple feel of a real game bird. An S-Grip design on the surface makes this dummy easier for a dog to grip without slippage. By requiring less pressure to firmly hold this retrieving device, a dog learns to have a softer mouth.

A needle-type valve, used to inflate the Soft-Mouth, allows a dog trainer to quickly and easily make this dummy softer or harder. The Soft-Mouth is available in two sizes: two by 11 inches and three by 12 inches, and comes in white, black, blaze orange, yellow and green.

Non-Traditional Dummies
Though the tube-type dummy is the most traditional, there are several other types of retrieving devices available, all designed to increase canine enthusiasm and skills when fetching inanimate objects and game birds.

Ruff Wear Fabric Flying Disks, manufactured from a durable Cordura nylon, are made to easily fly through the air with a simple motion of the arm and hand and a flick of the wrist. Most gun dogs, finding the flight of this disc to be irresistible, will chase it down and retrieve it over and over.

"Making the transition from standard lightweight, cylinder-shaped canvas or plastic dummies to real game birds can sometimes be a problem for gun dogs," says Tom Dokken, the inventor and manufacturer of the Dead Fowl Trainer. The idea of Dokken's DFT training tool is to have a dummy with the look, feel and aroma of an actual dead duck, goose or upland game bird.

"For many dogs, fetching their first 'real' duck or pheasant can be a traumatic event because the bird doesn't look at all like the traditional lightweight training dummy," Dokken says. "Some dogs won't pick up a real bird at all, some will pick it up by the head or foot and some might grab the bird and shake it--all bad habits to be avoided from the beginning." Dokken feels his Dead Fowl concept is the solution to these problems.

"One of the biggest problems in teaching a young dog to retrieve or in tuning up the retrieving skills of an older dog is keeping them interested in looking for, finding and fetching up dummies or game birds," notes Randy Bartz, designer and manufacturer of the Mark-N-Bird Sight, Scent, Sound Training System.

By using a combination of black and white dummies, black and white ribbon-like streamers and black and white ground flags, all with game bird scent added to them, the Mark-N-Bird products appeal to the seeing, smelling and hearing abilities of any dog as a way to increase his success in fetching inanimate dummies or real-life game birds.

"Black and white dummies, streamers and ground flags provide a broad range of visibility in all kinds of weather, water or terrain conditions," Bartz says. "Putting the highly visible black and white streamers on these dummies also creates a 'sound effect' because the streamers will flap as the dummy flies through the air, thus producing a sound similar to the flapping of bird wings.