rubyroo

Mollipop, there are rules for the dummiesas FHRP said, but unfortunately not all judges read the rule book? I was at a trial, brought my camo dummy (as it was subdude in colour) and the judge then said oh any dummy would be fine and other competitors ended up with white ones (and a newly appointed judge!) a little unfair! Hope the girls are feeling better.

RV, are you getting excited sounds like its getting closer? I have a couple of DVDs that I quite enjoy (still not convinced 100% about FF but they are very calm instructions and happy dogs) SmartWorks by Evan Graham and Fowl Dogs by Rick Stawski. Brilliant training programs and step by step process of what to teach first. If you have the time and the patience, some great advice given to me. When in the rabbit filled paddock, if you see one have the dog sit, watch then walk the opposite direction, encouraging from the start not to chase, yeah its there but lets go this way! FHRP, always love seeing pictures of your boys work. Do you have any more FTs coming up? will you be joining us in the Blue Mtns is a few weeks? TSD, sounds like you and Em have got everything under control, whens your first trial? We havent been training alot lately, so definately going to have to cram it all in over the next week. Stinger keeps pulling up very sore in the front. After about 3-4 weeks off he seems better and have been giving him some joint supplement and touch woods combo of both seems to be working. But at 8yrs old still running around like a 2yr old (and going around 35+kmph when on the 4X4) somethings gotta give eventually!

Well done 2black dogs!! Great results. Great photos rubystar!! keep em coming. We had an awesome traing session today, short and sweet, 3 marked blinds, 3 dummies at each pile, no handling!!!!! Then as a reward I jumped on the 4x4 stuck a bird in his mouth and went for a burn around the paddock!! it was awesome he seems to be having a ball and not mouthing the birds, so something is working, must keep the fun up.

TSD you and Em sound like you are having a ball!! I cant wait to see her results once you start trialling, you will be in restricted in no time! My guys are too used to the bumper boys, they get a little too close at times, stupid dog even tried to pull a bumper off one day that could have been dangerous. We had a pretty full on weekend training. I was using wings for most of the weekend and doing lots of drill work, only fun marks. I bought a frozen bird out of the freezer this arvo and jumped on the 4x4 and drove around the paddock for atleast 10mins and made him carry it the whole way, thought he was pretty special, made it fun and he didnt even roll it around in his mouth. Think I might do this for out walk in the morning, hopefully my next weekend he might be sick of them, must teach him to pick it up by the wing at a trial would save me so much greif and embarrassment. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Congrats FHRP, Im so excited for you!! :D the drive was definately worth it. and FD, what a weekend you had, fantastic results. I have never seen that many entries in AA over here in NSW, no wonder you finished in the dark! We had a great weekend, lots of improvements with my boy, which was great and some nice comments made about his work. We managed to finish all 3 runs in restricted on Sat, but unfortunately were DQ'd after the end of the 3rd run. Chomping a bird in the middle of the creek wasnt a highlight! And the weekend didnt improve from there, nice work but birds, well?? I still had a ball and am learning a heck of alot. It was great catching up with everyone and Im so pleased so many of you in Novice finished your trial, I was really pleased for you all, great work!! Looking forward to the next trial.

Good luck FD and RS!! No tents for us, just a warm cosy bed at the nearest hotel!! We are off to the Blue Mtns. Look forward to some great results next week. Happy easter all!!

Congratulations Pam & Shimmer and also to FHRP for your win in open

Hi TSD, my big boy will be 8 in a few months, boy time sure does fly!!

TSD, the sooner you start the more you get to learn, when is your first trial? My poor boy was just exhausted after yesterday mornings workout!! He couldnt even pull himself out of bed to sit by the BBQ, he always makes sure nothing falls off Mason2009, Im not really experienced enough to point you in the right direction, sorry. How old is your dog? Is he retrieving mad when not on the meds? does anything retrievable excite him? If he is only keen for 1 retrieve could it be a lack of commitment? My dog has this problem at times but has got alot better due to training. There are some brilliant training DVDs, I really like 'Fowl Dawgs' (3 part series') something like that may help? Anyone else have some ideas?

What a great weekend!! Thanks to FHRP and company for making the trip out, we had a fantastic time, and as always way too much homework!! Boy this restricted training aint easy. I am just blown away with the work the Springers in NSW are doing, they are amazing to watch, the little rabbit definately out did the older dogs. Cant wait to see some photos Sounds like Em is training nicely and having fun TSD!! Hang in there Mason2009 it can take alot of patience before the light goes on, can you have some one on one with the instructor?

Hi all, we had a great weekend! Our first time in restricted and I was pretty happy with Stingers work. Over the 2 days we had 3 runs each day, he managed to complete 4 runs well, and did pick up one of the two birds to pick up in the other 2 runs. Sunday 1st run was pretty tough, the hill was almost vertical and covered in blackberry bushes, only 1 dog out of the 4 of us managed to finish this run, those 'working' English Springers are just amazing to watch! There are 2 competing in NSW at the moment and both are just great. The weather couldnt have been better and the company was great, so many new faces in Novice hopefully they will all stick around for sometime. Mollipop had some great runs, but she can tell you all in a little more details! Im so looking forward to the next trial!! Hope you all had a great weekend also.

Nice photos FHRP!! Congratulations Mollipop on your pass and new babies, hope mum & bubs are doing well

You guys sound like you are doing some fantastic work with your dogs. Keep it up!! I tried to give Stinger a back when he was about 50m away and he started to head toward me I really thought he was getting it! So today we practised a wagon wheel and picked up the correct dummy everytime, not one stuff up, will try and add a bit of distance tomorrow and later in the day he did an awesome blind across the dam, only one handle!!! then I sent him back for a memory blind and he did really well, it seems alot easier to handle in water than on land.

Thanks TSD, It is fun, I just cant seem to get enough hours in the day to play! Im glad you are both getting so much enjoyment out of it, will you be trialling this winter?

Why no training?? Who will be my room buddy on away from home adventures? (I hope you will be there) My head is spinning at the moment, months and months of training and tried to put it all together on the weekend and pretty much fell apart Whats Polly up to?

Hi All Just wondering how everyones training is going? We have been so busy trying to get ourselves ready for restricted this winter, boy what hard work so many things to work on. Thank god for the Bumper Boy, I dont know how I could do it without it. I think 'Back' is finallly starting to click, I just have to keep going back to my training DVDs, they are really useful. We have also been doing some double marks, they definately need more work, but doing ok. Our memory blinds have been great, but cold blinds?? oh boy just getting a little nervous as the first trial for the season is in 3 weeks My head is going a little crazy! My boy is 7.5yrs and I think he is finally starting to slow down a little?? Who will we see at trials this year? (NSW) Look forward to catching up! Hope you are all having fun training.

;) GSPs have a name for finding the quickest route to a bird, they are so smart sometimes !! My dog loves doing atleast a lap and a 1/2 around a dam (in winter) only to figure out that if he took the original line he would have got there quicker, sometimes he just doesnt like to get his toes wet or body cold (wetsuits are great for helping their body temp warmer when its almost snowing), but during summer he hits the water with about 4ft of air under him and couldnt run straighter

No never a problem here either.

How exciting Kath, hope you have lots of fun training!! Im over the rain aswell, it has been dry for a few days and enjoying it very much! You could always resort to inside training to pass the time. I did manage to throw a few this afternoon and not one landed in a tree I was being very cautious. One of the runs he did, he came flying back 100mph and kept looking over his shoulder like someone was chasing him pretty good indication that it was one of those yucky things that wiggle and hiss and bite :D and could really ruin my day so that was enough out in the paddock and back in the house yard for some handling work.

And another dummy up a tree :p god im hopeless!! Trying to get it out wasnt easy. Thought I might stand on the back of the old ute with a long pole and knock it out, no got the ute stuck about 2 metres from where I wanted it, think it might be out of petrol so will be staying there for a day or two. Next try the 4 wheeler, backed it up straight under the tree just short by about 2 cms, so I tied a crate onto the back of it stood on that and finally knocked it out of the tree, hooray what a waste of an hour, no doubt another will end up somewhere high this afternoon. Hope you are all having a great break!!

quote]It's not just your throws rr, you have too many trees!!! ;) I have lost several dummies up trees, including at your place although I think we did get that one down eventually?? My local training area must rain dummies in the windy weather, not that I ever find them again.... Thankgoodness for a particular, really windy day

Ive been thinking about this a bit over the weekend. How is he on a short lead? can you have him comfortably walking in the heel position and having him sit with and then without the dummy maybe randomising whats in his mouth but keeping a similar routine/exercise?? (automatic sit should relieve a bit of pressure if he is confident with this routine, you would just be introducing a new distraction to the exercise)?? We should get together for a little training session hey let me know what you think.

Hi Everyone, hope you all had a great weekend. TSD you are very lucky to have someone like LL, you will learn so much from her, write lots of stuff down while it is fresh so you can check back on it every now and then you can never learn enough. Love Pollys pink dummy!! Rogan looks as handsome as always Talking about bad throws, I am renowned for throwing one up the only tree in the paddock!! I even managed to line the bumper boy up to shoot one into a tree yesterday, just a perfect shot!! Im trying to teach doubles at the moment. All is well while hand throwing but shoot them off the bumper boy and all we manage to do is scream and bark and scream!!! it is way too exciting, hopefully a little of the fun will wear off soon so we can concentrate on what we are supposed to be doing. Hi Annie!! looking forward to some more stories from when you were retreiving, hope to see you back in the near future.

Hi Bundys Mum From my back deck down the hill to the dam is around 60-70m I could throw it just far enough that it would hit the water just before he got there (really a sight to see, talk about a ball nutter) so the ball was pretty motionless. I have now got a green one (had it for years - but have no idea what it is) and it only just floats so he spins around in circles waiting for it to bob up so he can grab it. After doing this for many years we now have a problem retreive/trialling cause we love to chew things, poor dog doesnt understand why he could and now he cant!!