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Jim,

If this is always at the 3 feet distance and only when wet then it may have been caused by your own body language when he has got close to you and shakes after a swim, ie if you have moved away when he shakes.

To remedy this I think you should reinforce the 'hold' command, ensure he will hold on to the dummy until you give him a release command. I addition to this I would start by going right to the waters edge to take the delivery, even stand in the water if possible, then slowly work back and build up the distance. If he does look as if he is going to shake get his attention and encourage him in to you. Any time he drops the dummy, place it back in his mouth and call him in, ensuring he gets lots of praise for the correct delivery.

You can put the 'shake' on command but I would persevere with the above first, it is just a question of showing Bear what it is you want then repeating and building very slowly until he understands.

Jeff

Jim,

If this was Bear's first time across a fast flowing river the whole situation may have confused him, he may even have been a little frightened to be swimming hard and actually being taken downstream.

This sometimes it makes a dog hesitant in getting back into the river, he knows where he want to get to be cannot work out how to do it.

For me, I would certainly not be concerned at a bit of bank running, with experience and a lot of encouragment he will return without thinking about it.

Jeff

PS. Well done to your friend, not easy I would guess.

Jim,

Firstly you need to ensure nothing is wrong with him, a sudden change in demeanour accompanied by growling may be an indication that all in not well with him, you may like to consider a check up at the vets. You also must be sure you are not putting too much pressure on him. If he enjoys the training he should not show signs of being unhappy to come out of his kennel, this would be totally uncharacteristic of a dog enjoying his training.

Assuming he in not in any pain etc., the growling may be indicative of resource guarding, can you take his food away when he is eating, will he allow you to take anything from him without a problem. Also bearing in mind he is approaching maturity and may be having some thoughts on independence.

If the problem is the first signs of possessive aggression (resource guarding), then immediate steps should be taken to prevent it's escalation. Do not attempt to be aggressive against him (such as the alpha rolling crap to show him who is boss etc.), as this will almost certainly aggravate the situation into some kind of confrontation rapidly, your efforts have to be to keep him on side.

A dead pigeon is probably to him, a much higher value than a dummy/bumper so you will need to re-educate him as to who owns what. This I would do at home practising the hold and release, graduate from bumpers through bumpers with pigeon wings attached to pigeons. At the first sign of reluctance to release offer him some high value reward, slice of hot dog or something similar.

If this works practice over and over until it becomes the norm, then move on to very short retrieves, just a few yards.

The idea is to get him to understand that something better is on offer for the correct behaviour, fair exchange etc. Eventually you will phase out the rewards as the release of the bird becomes habitualised.

If you go down this road, and it works, remain alert to any return the inappropriate behaviour in the future, resource guarding can be very serious so don't leave it to sort itself out.

I may be totally wrong, I hope I am, but whatever let me know how it works out.

Jeff