A yellow Lab brightens the hunt

Randy Nelson admits that he wasn't happy when he found out that his son, Kevin, had bought a yellow Labrador retriever to take duck hunting.

"He wasn't supposed to get a dog until he was done playing baseball in college and he was between his sophomore and junior years," Randy said.

Now, he has to laugh, because the day that his son came home with Drake was one of the best days of Randy's life.

That rambunctious puppy has become a duck-retrieving wonder.

"I don't think I could ever go back to hunting without a dog," Randy said. "He loves it so much. If he sees me getting dressed to go hunting, he's at the door waiting for me."

When he's in a duck blind, Drake patiently scans the skies. When shots are fired and ducks fall, Drake leaps off the carpeted stand that Randy had built for him, bounds through the water and grabs the downed duck.

Then he nonchalantly returns to the blind, as if to let everyone know that retrieving ducks is no big deal. (And just in case you're wondering about duck dogs in Florida, Drake has never had a problem with alligators, who are wary of duck hunters.)

Watching him retrieve

Drake, who'll be 4 years old in March, is at his best when ducks drop far from the blind or into thick vegetation. Once, Kevin killed a shoveler that sailed 250 yards away. He sent out Drake and, using a whistle, the term "back!" and hand signals, directed Drake close enough to the bird so he could pick up its scent, at which point he charged over and picked it up.

Another time, Willie Fernandez shot an incoming gadwall that fell into a stand of cattails. Kevin came over with Drake, Willie pointed to where the duck fell and two minutes later, Drake was back with the gadwall.

Fernandez said he needs only one word to describe what it's like hunting with Drake.

"Awesome," Fernandez said. "It's an experience in itself watching him retrieve."

Running in circles

Kevin played college ball in Tennessee for two years before transferring to Campbell University for his junior season. A shortstop and an avid duck hunter, he had been thinking about getting a hunting dog and before he left Tennessee, he saw an ad by a breeder who had Lab puppies for sale for $250.

"When I went to the breeder's house, I was walking around looking at all the puppies," he said. "Drake was the one running around in circles that I couldn't even keep up with."

Randy and his wife, Terri, found out about Drake not from their son, but from a friend who had seen the photos Kevin posted of Drake on Facebook and said, "Did you see Kevin's new dog?"

"Both my parents were ready to kill me," Kevin said.

He will never quit

Their love affair with Drake began when Kevin brought the pup home to Sunrise for the summer. Since he didn't have time to take care of Drake with his busy college schedule, when Kevin went back to school, Drake stayed in South Florida.

Using tips from several books, videos and other hunters, Randy trained Drake in the basic commands and worked with him on his retrieving. When Drake was 9 months old, Randy took him on duck hunts. He kept Drake on a 100-foot check cord and did not do any shooting so he could focus on teaching the dog what to do.

Drake has matured since then, growing big and solid and serious about duck hunting, but he's also sweet and gentle and almost never barks.

"He's a family pet that lives in the house," Randy Nelson said. "This dog sleeps in my bed.

"He's not the best-trained dog in the world, but he does what he's supposed to do."

Over and over and over again.

"That's one thing about Drake, he will never quit on you," Kevin Nelson said. "I've seen him retrieve 36 ducks and then come home and he wants you to throw his Frisbee for him."