Transcript from Steve's Video:
This is a Lucky Dog regular plastic dummy. It's our most popular dummy that we sell. We recommend these for dogs six months old and up. They are knobby, easy for the dog to grip. They've got a water valve. And like all of our dummies they come with a throw rope.
The idea behind the water valve, it pops open. You can add water to it. And what that does is that increases the weight of the dummy. Now, you've got to be careful about that because if you put a little too much water in, it hits the water it's going to sink. The reason for the water valve, you add the weight, when it hits the water it's going to sink lower in the water. It makes it harder for the dog to see.
I recommend if you are going to do that that you practice with it in a sink or a tub just to make sure that you have your weight correct before you drop it in the lake and never see it again.
White is the easiest color for dogs to see in most situations. We generally recommend that for a younger dog. On a dark background it's going to show up easily. It makes it easier for them to mark.
As they get older, we're going to move to orange. Orange is the hardest color for a dog to see. It blends in with almost every background. The idea behind orange is that when you are working on blind retrieves, the dummy is easy for you to see but difficult for the dog to see. That way the dog is required to use your guidance to find the dummy.
The third of the lucky dog dummies is the half black/half white. This is probably my favorite of the ones that we sell. Because of the contrast between the black and the white, the dummy is going to show up on any background. When it's going through the sky, you are going to have the colors mixing. On a dark sky the white is going to show up. On a light sky the black is going to show up. When it lands on the ground, same thing there. If you've got a dark background then the white is going to be easy for the dog to see. If you've got a light background then the black will be easy for the dog to see.
So I prefer these especially for marking drills. They are much easier for the dog to see.