By Allen Brewer

Duke waits anxiously for the call.   

Heart pumping and ears raised, he waits for his owner to give him the signal to retrieve his toy. At the sound of his name, Duke jumps into the water, grabs the bumper and rushes back to his trainer. Taking the object from his mouth, Angel Bailey rewards Duke with a pat on the head.

While this was just a practice run, soon Bailey and Duke will be bringing in real ducks. This year’s duck season will be Duke’s first time retrieving ducks for the hunters. Bailey has been working with Duke nearly all of his life in anticipation for this duck season.

“It’s hard work, but worth it in the end,” Bailey said.

This summer, Bailey trained Duke with the help of professional duck dog trainer and owner of PBL Kennel Johnny Barlow. Barlow opened his kennel 22 years ago and has helped teach numerous dogs to retrieve ducks and owners to command their dogs.

“I have trained 20 people over the years to train their dogs, but Angel has a knack for it,” Barlow said. “She has the right temperament with dogs.”

Bailey says she became a duck hunter last year. After going with her husband and father-in-law on a hunt last fall, she fell in love with their style of hunting.

“I have never had so much fun before in my whole life,” Bailey said. “Unlike deer hunting, you don’t have to be quiet. We talk, laugh and I sit here eating snacks constantly.”

While retrieving her duck, however, one of Bailey’s boots slipped off which followed with her getting sick. She decided then that she was going to need a duck-retrieving dog for next year.

Duke, a black Labrador Retriever, was originally meant as a playmate for Bailey’s two-year-old daughter, Swayze. After realizing that Duke could make a great duck dog, Bailey started training him as a puppy in February.  At 15 months old, Duke is now about five times his former size and full of energy.

The first thing Bailey taught Duke was how to “come here.” Next, Bailey had to teach him how to sit on command, a step she said they still have to work on. Finally, she had to show him how to retrieve objects from the water.

“I had to walk out in that cold water to show him it was okay,” Bailey said. “Since then, we can not keep him in the house if it rains.”  

While Duke has been going through special outdoor training, he is still a house dog. Bailey said Duke loves playing with Swayze by fetching her baby dolls and giving her riders around the house. When she takes a nape, Duke watches over her. 

“He knows when it is play time, and he knows when it is work time,” Bailey said.

Bailey has also helped Barlow train other duck dogs this summer.  Barlow said that duck season, which officially opens its first weekend in Mississippi this Friday (Nov. 23- 25), brings many people from around the state to Crowder to hunt. The season is a time when many old friends come together to talk about old memories and to make new ones.    

“I hope to have a great season and kill many ducks,” Bailey said. “I hope that mine and Duke’s hard work pays off.”