McCrabb: One-eyed Labrador has returned to retrieving ducks

That’s one of the takeaways Bret Abner, 54, of Hamilton, a duck hunter for more than 40 years, learned after his black Labrador, Ivy Jo, survived a life-threatening illness and returned to retrieving ducks despite losing sight in one eye.

Abner’s love of Labradors and waterfowl hunting began at 12 on Grand Lake St. Marys. He has trained a long line of dogs and hunted during hundreds of sunrises.

Then in 2020, Bret and his wife, Tabitha, decided they wanted a hunting dog, one trained to enter icy cold waters and retrieve either dead or wounded ducks.

They were told the most aggressive, outgoing and rambunctious puppy in the litter would make the best hunting dog. For the couple, that was a female pup their daughter, Gracie, named Ivy Jo.

Ivy “fit that bill,” Abner said.

When Ivy was professionally trained by a man at a Fairfield dog park, she “dragged him all over the park,” Abner, a 1989 Badin High School graduate, said with a laugh.

Training Ivy was “like wrestling a tornado wrapped in fire,” he said.

By 2021, when Ivy was 1, her enthusiasm was extinguished enough that she could be trained to retrieve ducks.

Abner and his son, Carter, 20, also an avid hunter, took Ivy out for the first hunt. When commanded, she successfully completed three retrieves.

“Textbook,” Abner said of her maiden performance. “Everything clicked. I was speechless.”

Then, about one year later, he was left speechless again, but for a much different reason.

Ivy’s right eye became swollen and irritated, and after consulting with their veterinarian, they took her to the Cincinnati Eye Institute.

She had contacted an airborne fungal disease. The devastating diagnosis: blastomycosis, a rare infection that threatened her life.

They were informed Ivy would lose sight in her right eye, but probably be able to return to her normal activities.

Easy for the doctor to say.

Hard for the Abners to hear.

“A major blow,” he said.

His wife was on the “brink of devastation,” he said.

But, for some reason, Abner had a “real deep sense of peace,” he said.

That faith and several thousand dollars in medications paid off when Ivy, with only one eye, successfully caught Frisbees in the back yard despite her lack of depth perception, a trait needed to track birds.

“She didn’t miss a beat,” he said. “She was going to be OK.”

The next duck season in 2023, on a hunt in North Dakota, Ivy executed blind retrieves on land and in white-capped water, tracking wounded birds she couldn’t see and bringing them home by scent and instinct.

Abner called watching Ivy perform “unspeakable joy” and “marvelous beauty.”

He added: “That’s when I knew she had something rare, something you can’t teach.”

Ivy has shown that despite her sight limitations, she has given those around her 20/20 vision about priorities.

“Adversity will come in life. It’s a part of life,” Abner said. “What can I learn from this and use this to be a better human being? I try to focus on what we have instead of what we do not have and how to leave the world a better place.”

He’s confident that Ivy, the partially blind hunting dog, in her own special way, as only a dog can do, is making a difference in their lives of those around her.

“She was born to do something great,” he said. “Her greatness is that she was born to hunt and retrieve. That’s when she’s the happiest. It’s really hard to express in words.”

His voice faded on the phone.

“Sorry, he said. ”I’m choked up.“

He continued. “Whatever gift you have make sure you use it. It could be the difference between a life changing and a life not being changed.”

Ivy has inspired Winged Retriever

Abner recently launched Winged Retriever, a new American brand of premium, hand-built collars for retrieving and hunting dogs.

He said the collection is designed for serious hunters and retrieving enthusiasts who demand durability and thoughtful craftsmanship.

“Every detail had to matter,” Abner said. “This wasn’t just about making something for dogs. It was about honoring what they give us: loyalty, grit, and heart.”