I currently have a German shepherd who retrieves whatever I throw including sticks, by scent. He does this for rocks underwater by submerging his nose. When a stick gets caught in a tree, he also finds it by scent and after realizing it up, he tries to jump and get it. His eyesight is not too great anymore, but his nose is phenomenal. He puts our other 4 German shepherds to shame in that respect, but each of our dogs has their own superpower. With 5 German shepherds, we sleep well at night, unless they hear something... I love this breed, but 5 large dogs in the house is a handful...

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]