My gun dog is scared of birds

Link retrieving a dummy during the gun dog course we attended this summer

 I finally brought home my newly purchased pheasant wings today. I'm going to use them to train Link to retrieve fowl and not just dummies. I figured it would be fun to see what his spontaneous reaction would be to them, seeing as he has never seen nor smelled anything like it before. So I set up the camera, grabbed some treats and put the wing on the floor.

A pheasant wing.

His reaction surprised me. He was afraid of it! He was very interested and wanted to check it out, but something about it spooked him so he decided to try barking at it...
Not exactly a desired behavior for a future working gun dog, but as perseverance is key to success, I was not about to let this slight setback deter me. I tried using the clicker at first, but Link gets a bit too eager when he hears the click, so instead I decided to use a verbal "good" ("bra" in Norwegian) and treat. I did 6 sessions with 10-15 repetitions per session, where I praised and rewarded him for smelling/pointing at the wing with his nose. In the 6th session I felt the behavior was reliable enough for me to add the cue "bird" (or "fugl" in Norwegian). The goal is that he will find and retrieve the wings, but in the beginning I will settle for him showing me where the wing is by pointing at it.

Link pointing at the pheasant wing.

Being a Golden Retriever and not a Pointer, pointing is something he has to learn, it does not come naturally for him. This is where his hesitant behavior actually comes in handy. He will stop and smell it before doing anything else, which gives me ample opportunity to mark and reward the pointing behavior. Another positive side of Link's hesitation it is that Link most likely never will try to tear a bird to pieces, at least not if I do the training right. Right now he has way too much respect (or probably fear, not respect) for the "bird" even to dare to mouth it, let alone chew on it.

I've also bought a "pheasant dummy", i.e. a dummy with the plumage of a pheasant on it, but I think I will train Link with the wing for a while before I introduce it. When we've gotten further in the training I will make a video about it and show you all.