SS Streamer Dummy | Dark Olive | Detachable Streamer | 250g

Most handlers train their dog to mark. What they don't always train is what happens when there's nothing obvious to mark.

A bright blue dummy thrown into short grass is one thing. Your dog spots it, goes out, picks it up. Job done. But that's not what a shoot day looks like. Cover is thick. Colour disappears. The dog can't see the fall and has to work it out. If it's only ever marked something it could see clearly, that's the moment things come apart.

This dummy trains the bit in between.

The Progression Flinger is mid-sized, 250g, handcrafted in the UK - and dark olive. Not by accident. Low visibility in grass and cover is the whole point. You're asking the dog to start using its nose, to trust its marking instinct, to hunt when it can't just run a line to something obvious. That's a different skill. And it needs deliberate practice to build it.

The detachable black and white streamer is what makes this one work as a progression tool rather than just a harder dummy. Attach it and the contrast in flight gives your dog something to track - you're still asking for a mark, just a more technical one. Remove it and the olive dummy drops into the grass and disappears. Same retrieve, completely different challenge. Two training scenarios. One dummy.

Done right, you build from the streamer in, streamer off, then push distance and cover until the hunting is reliable. Skip the progression and you'll have a dog that marks well in training and then loses its head the first time it can't see the fall.

Developed with professional gundog trainer Laura Hill of Stauntonvale Gundogs. Made in the UK.

Most handlers train their dog to mark. What they don't always train is what happens when there's nothing obvious to mark.

A bright blue dummy thrown into short grass is one thing. Your dog spots it, goes out, picks it up. Job done. But that's not what a shoot day looks like. Cover is thick. Colour disappears. The dog can't see the fall and has to work it out. If it's only ever marked something it could see clearly, that's the moment things come apart.

This dummy trains the bit in between.

The Streamer Dummy is mid-sized, 250g, handcrafted in the UK - and dark olive. Not by accident. Low visibility in grass and cover is the whole point. You're asking the dog to start using its nose, to trust its marking instinct, to hunt when it can't just run a line to something obvious. That's a different skill. And it needs deliberate practice to build it.

The detachable black and white streamer is what caught our attention. Attach it and the contrast in flight gives your dog something to follow through the air - you're not just asking it to watch a dummy, you're giving it something it can actually track. That matters more than people realise. A dog that picks up the flight early marks better. It's not about making things easier. It's about building the habit of watching properly from the moment the dummy leaves your hand.

Remove the streamer and the olive dummy drops into the grass and disappears. Same retrieve, completely different challenge. The dog that tracked it with the streamer in now has to trust what it saw and go find it. That's where the hunting starts.

We'll be honest - we've not put this one through its full paces at Kirkbourne yet. We've started using it and we can see exactly why it works. The streamer as a marking aid in the air, the olive colour as a hunting challenge on the ground - two clear training purposes, one dummy. We'll have more to say on how we're using it in training once we've properly put it to work. Watch this space.

Handcrafted in the UK.

What you need to know:

• Mid-sized, 250g - right profile for spaniels and retrievers, not bulky to carry
• Dark olive - low visibility in grass and cover, encourages hunting and scenting
• Detachable black and white streamer - aids marking in flight, remove to increase difficulty
• Two distinct training scenarios from one dummy: marked retrieves with streamer, hunting retrieves without
• Long rope and toggle for easy throwing distance
• Handcrafted in the UK
• New to the Kirkbourne range - we're putting it to work and will update as we go
• Ideal for: dogs progressing beyond high-visibility dummies, improving marking attention in the air, blind retrieve preparation, developing hunting instinct, shoot day preparation

Where this sits in the progression: solid canvas dummy work first, move to a standard marking dummy, bring this in when you're ready to start developing proper marking attention and pulling the visual crutch away. The dog that watches the flight, marks the fall, and hunts the cover is the one that earns its place on a peg.