What's the best way to attach a rabbit skin to a canvas dummy?

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What's the best way to attach a rabbit skin to a canvas dummy?

If you dog is bored with plain old dummies, simply spice up his retrieves with a rabbit skin.

By Peter Blatch

Tuesday, 11 November 2008

Is it necessary to cure the pelt first, or is there a quicker way of doing it?

Gun dogs
PETER BLATCH says:
I find this job is best left to the winter months when there are fewer flies on the wing and pelts don’t get fly-blown.

What you need to do is use a fresh rabbit skin which can be moulded easily to the shape of the dummy before being held in place by two or three good old fashioned elastic bands.

Let the skin cure for a few weeks before using and do not use it for water training otherwise it will slide off the dummy the moment it becomes waterlogged… or sinks out of sight!

Similarly, ensure you do not leave any meat attached to the skin as the dog will quickly use this to pull on - or worse - try to eat.