Retrieving & Field Training Talk

[Ptolomy]

Woo Hoo - well done TSD and Em

[FHRP]

Fantastic stuff TSD!!!! Go Em :)

[The Spotted Devil]

Thanks Gals :D Still seriously stoked by her 3rd run - she just nailed it. Committed to Restricted whether I like it or not now....think there might be a few "donations to the club" for "a nice weekend in the country" coming up

Oh and it got down to 0.6C in Ballarat on Saturday night and I reckon it was colder where we were. I was nice and snuggly in my sleeping bag but, oh boy, was it cold getting up in the morning

[Livertreats]

fetchindawgs, when you find out the location details of the Anzac Day trials, can you please post here? I'm thinking of coming along to watch/help. Thanks :)

It is usually held at Brookleigh, and I would imagine that is still the go even with only Nov & Rest being run. I will check with Catherine.

The ANZAC day Novice and Restricted is being held at a different sight, new to some of us, here are the directions we got, its at Upper Swan

Turn off Gt Northern Hwy into Nolan Ave - almost opposite Brookleigh entrance.

Turn left nto Noack Ave.

At bottom of the road follow the fence line across the paddock.

There will be signs at this point.

[RubyStar]

Thanks, livertreats If I get enough uni work done tomorrow I hope to be down on Thursday. I have a lot to do though, so I'm still not sure

Is it an 8am start for novice?

[Livertreats]

I think so RubyStar as their vetting time is 7.45-8.00 so guessing if everyone is there they will get started.

[Staff'n'Toller]

Can anyone tell me about talking to your dog during the RATG for novice? :)

[Ptolomy]

Livertreats spoke to Strauss while doing the obedience bit of the RATG. Not sure what she lost for it if anything.

[Livertreats]

Livertreats spoke to Strauss while doing the obedience bit of the RATG. Not sure what she lost for it if anything.

Yes we would have lost points, probably 1 every time, but not sure, lot depends on the judge.

[Ptolomy]

I went to the restricted trial yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it. Well done Livertreats Rebel worked so well - just a bummer about not being able to get him back for that second birdie - but also a bit unfair that it was the same area he worked in at last weekends trial. These gun dogs do have elephant memories.

My two kids, Strauss and Naughty Nina got exposure to the gun and also did some retrieves in the water. Both are getting more confident and Strauss is getting much better at delivering the dummy out of the water.

[Staff'n'Toller]

Thanks for the info Ptolomy and LT. :)

[The Spotted Devil]

Sounds like a nice day out had by all Ptolomy - your two seem to be enjoying their new found talent

S 'n' T - good luck with the RATG preparation. If it comes down to talking to your dog I'd say stuff the points and do what you need to!

I've had a really busy week so slotting in training every day has been challenging but it seems to have paid off. Mr TSD discovered our local golf course has closed down and, seeing as the golf coach has been doing 18 holes with his dog, we thought we'd use it for training too :D Being on the mountain, the terrain and trees are challenging for training and for walking! Lots of marking drills, marking with the bumper boy alternating with cold 3 leg lining drills has been on the agenda. Had a super day out yesterday with a friend - between us we had 2 x 4 shot BB (mine is set up to be bi-directional) and 2 x 2 shot BB so were able to set up some useful marking drills for the two youngsters. It was a day for concepts not set ups so found some moderate cover with no trees or obstacles (apart from rabbit warrens!) Ran Em on 4 single marks down hill - long, short, long, short - with nice separation but really testing her depth perception. The first long one landed in clear ground on the up side of the opposite hill, the second long one landed in the gully, whilst the short ones landed over the crest of the down slope. Em has improved so much - nailed them all so we moved on. We set up another single mark so Em had to run through cover, cross a road and through cover to pick it up. The breeze was quite strong and, whilst she took a nice line out and did not hesitate at the road, she was up wind and could not find it no matter how hard she hunted - right in the area but could not push to the other side. I didn't want to handle nor send as a blind so called her in and fired off another dummy a little closer in. A nice confidence builder, she flew out and picked it up no problem. Took the opportunity and sent her back for the double rise - we rarely practice these but I'll often give her the verbal cue when we're running drills. She knew exactly what I meant and took off like a shot - preempted my send but I let her go as I didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm. Re-loaded all the BB and walked around to set up a nicely separated double - selection was fine but she did the same thing as in the trial and lost confidence half way to the memory mark, veering back to the area of the first one picked up. I didn't say a word but just started walking towards the correct dummy. It was delightful to see a moment in action as she worked through her confusion and took off on the exact line to pick up the dummy. I ran that double again and she was so pleased with herself. Went back to the original send point where the other youngster did a simple double. I didn't think it was challenging enough for Em so my training partner suggested I treat it as two memory marks which was a great idea. No problem picking those up at all apart from having to slow her down at the pegs! With one bumper left we decided to practice a walk-up. Away from the BB we practiced turning left and right before putting it all together with a short easy mark - she nailed it. I need a bit more practice :laugh:

Had a lovely (late) lunch out, another cuppa back at the house, before visiting Em's breeder with a bottle of champagne There were a few of us to share it and then I got to cuddle puppies SO much chatter and a 2 hour drive meant I didn't arrive home until 10.30pm. A long but very productive day!

Edited April 29, 2013 by The Spotted Devil

[Livertreats]

I went to the restricted trial yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it. Well done Livertreats Rebel worked so well - just a bummer about not being able to get him back for that second birdie - but also a bit unfair that it was the same area he worked in at last weekends trial. These gun dogs do have elephant memories.

My two kids, Strauss and Naughty Nina got exposure to the gun and also did some retrieves in the water. Both are getting more confident and Strauss is getting much better at delivering the dummy out of the water.

Thank you Ptolomy, I was very pleased with Rebel, great work on the first run a double mark, short one to our left and long one over the river to our right, short one the memory bird and remember it very well. Run2, mark double rise, he did a good job on the mark but I was a little late responding when he went over the opposite side of the river and got stuck in the area of a mark from Sunday, so rather than do too much nagging asked if I could call him in which I did. Judge actually said at presentations that he was a bit disappointed with all the work on the double rise, but some still managed it. Judge also let us that were out do run3 a blind and a walk up mark (not done a walk up mark since the first trial last year ) but he did a nice sit to shot and retrieved his mark, however like all the dogs when going for the mark which was up on a high bank followed the path away to the left on it, but I did get him back and got a beautiful sit to the whistle so that the path to the blind was off his left shoulder, gave him and over and did it beautifully and just before he got to the path again, told him "find" so he knew there was something close, got his nose working and realised it was up and started his climb, so I encouraged with a couple more good boys. So while not everything went to plan he sure put in some very nice work, so very pleased.:D

Strauss and Nina were very good with the gun doing off close by, and the water retrieves were terrific, a couple of stars in the making I think. :laugh:

[The Spotted Devil]

I went to the restricted trial yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it. Well done Livertreats Rebel worked so well - just a bummer about not being able to get him back for that second birdie - but also a bit unfair that it was the same area he worked in at last weekends trial. These gun dogs do have elephant memories.

My two kids, Strauss and Naughty Nina got exposure to the gun and also did some retrieves in the water. Both are getting more confident and Strauss is getting much better at delivering the dummy out of the water.

Thank you Ptolomy, I was very pleased with Rebel, great work on the first run a double mark, short one to our left and long one over the river to our right, short one the memory bird and remember it very well. Run2, mark double rise, he did a good job on the mark but I was a little late responding when he went over the opposite side of the river and got stuck in the area of a mark from Sunday, so rather than do too much nagging asked if I could call him in which I did. Judge actually said at presentations that he was a bit disappointed with all the work on the double rise, but some still managed it. Judge also let us that were out do run3 a blind and a walk up mark (not done a walk up mark since the first trial last year ) but he did a nice sit to shot and retrieved his mark, however like all the dogs when going for the mark which was up on a high bank followed the path away to the left on it, but I did get him back and got a beautiful sit to the whistle so that the path to the blind was off his left shoulder, gave him and over and did it beautifully and just before he got to the path again, told him "find" so he knew there was something close, got his nose working and realised it was up and started his climb, so I encouraged with a couple more good boys. So while not everything went to plan he sure put in some very nice work, so very pleased.:D

Strauss and Nina were very good with the gun doing off close by, and the water retrieves were terrific, a couple of stars in the making I think. :laugh:

Sounds like an excellent day and some promising work Livertreats!

[The Spotted Devil]

Very busy lately but, up until last Friday, was out every day doing something - handling drills, 3 leg lining blinds, marking, whistle stops etc. A few days break for agility trials and several more for being unwell but headed out yesterday morning with a few friends. The AA dogs were doing single marks but I opted out of those - too many opportunities to undo what I've been working on. We ran Em, instead, on 3 cold blinds one after another. The first one looked the most difficult because of the amount of cover but, as was pointed out to me, it was the easiest as it gave her a path and as soon as she appeared from the cover the blind was on bare ground up on the slope so she had immediate success. As expected the cover pushed her off course a bit but she stopped and cast pretty well. Plenty of enthusiasm going back too. The next two were over bare ground so more difficult because there weren't many landmarks to work with. One was right on the border of heavy cover and she really had to hunt hard to find it as the strong wind was making scenting difficult. All in all it was good - she picked them up without too much problem considering our combined lack of experience. Her sits were snappy about 90% of the time and it was good to have someone else critiquing! At least I had fixed things that I'd been picked up on last time - they were waiting to hit me if I didn't :laugh:

We then set her up on a mark and a blind with game. Mark was across cheaty water - first attempt she ran through some serious prickles and it completely threw her line. I really didn't want to handle on the mark so called her back, moved in front of the prickles and ran it again. Much better. The excitement of retrieving game took it's toll and it was very hard to get her focussed on the line to the blind. In hindsight I can see that her ears and body language were all telling me the same thing. The blind was up on bare ground but she had to push through some pretty heavy cover first. The suction of the mark kept pulling her to the right but fortunately I had a helper ( ) up there tossing a few extra bumpers out so when she finally took the cast left, she succeeded immediately. Whilst we've done known blinds and marks before this was the first time with a stone cold blind. Lots to practice!

Points to remember:

• Don't mess around too much before sending - just get her to run
  
• If there is a barrier (such as cover) that she is struggling with - don't worry about keeping her on the line. Just get her running back.
  
• Hold arms such that I'm not giving confusing signals
  
• Lots of hand thrown marks then send for the blind
  
• Be careful what you praise for. Pick the best whistle stops, for example, and praise those.
  

Edited May 10, 2013 by The Spotted Devil

[The Spotted Devil]

Consolidated this afternoon with 3 cold blinds followed by a hand thrown mark and a blind. I thought her handling and lining had improved a bit but she was slower to whistle stop. The double she did without a command.....I have a funny feeling she knew where the blind was even though I placed it whilst distracting her with a happy bumper. Smarty pants!!! Such a lovely warm day, I made the most of it with handling drills in the water. I ran backs and overs separately. Her whistle stops and left and right backs were much better although left/right over need tidying up - that was more to do with suction to the back pile than anything else. A few easy water marks to burn off some excess energy and we called it a day.

[rubyroo]

We've had a busy week and not much training. Just a few sessions of back to memory blind pile. Introduced another today. S hopefully by the end of the week another and start T pile work. He is starting to loose enthusiasm after about 3, more fun bumpers I think! So I stop him and give him a back, this seems to perk him up and remind him of the job he is supposed to be doing. I've been heading to town the last few weeks to join a group doing ob. training, as I discovered after the last 16 months being out of the farm that he has been missing out on the very important socialisation that is so important, wish I had my time again for this I'm so mad with myself, I swear he is a different breed to the 2 other nutcases I have at home, he barely makes a noise and is so calm. Anyway training went really well, he has relaxed so much, still doesn't like entire boys, but he is learning. Must keep it up. We have a trial in 2 weeks so best get into it. Hope u are all having a great weekend!!

[The Spotted Devil]

Great to hear rubyroo. Em doesn't like a whole lot of repetition either. The more I mix it up the better!

Today's session felt rushed. Probably because it was :laugh: Worked all day (took Zig to give him a break from the in season Em), rushed home, swapped dogs and found a nice quiet spot before the sun set. 3 cold blinds and had Mr TSD throw an easy mark before sending for the last one. Certainly improved lining and handling, plenty of "go" and I let her run a good distance before stopping. Whistle sits were sloppy so I worked on those separately but more tomorrow I think! Had Mr TSD help with an in line marking drill - 4 dummies. Right. Walk forward. Left. Walk forward. Repeat. Very pleased with all but the 2nd mark - she went a bit wide and short but hunted it up no problem. It was getting dark so we drove around looking for other quiet places to train.

[The Spotted Devil]

Thank goodness for training to keep a feral Miss occupied!

3 cold blinds first up. Was super pleased with the first one in particular as she pushed through the heavy cover without needing a command. She appeared in the open ground a bit off line but just kept running. Stopped her and cast left to pick up. Second one was next to a tree on bare ground - she really wanted to tackle the cover on both sides so it took a little more convincing but she picked it up on a good left back. Final one was not bad either even though she had her eye on all the cover. Whistle sits varied from really nice to a bit sloppy as in "hey, I know where I'm going ok!" Had a nice pond to work with so did some cheaty call throughs. Apart from the impatient whinging when I left her in a sit stay they went really well - tossed a dummy in the water as she was getting close to me and she had a few happy bumpers on land too. Using the same pond we did left and right backs to pile - one of each and 2 straight back to keep her guessing. Interestingly I've noticed she turns to the left when stopping so left backs in water seem easier than right backs. Had to stop her twice for the right back which is usually her strong point on land. Let her have a bit of a gallop but called her in when she went into hunt mode. She had been running around the pond in amongst the reeds but when I whistled her in she took the perfect line straight through the water back to me. Really razzed her up with a happy bumper as she swam back and her little shoulders were just about up out of the water she was swimming that hard!

[The Spotted Devil]

Another whirlwind week but training both dogs helps manage the hormones!

Monday - Em missed out as I had a 12 hour day then took Zig to agility

Tuesday - headed to the abandoned golf course and walked the BB in. Good exercise in itself! Worked on doubles with varying success - set ups weren't always ideal so needed to tweak them. Helps if the dog can see the mark! She's got the concept ok but memory marks need more work.

Wednesday (today) - bitterly cold but it drives the tourists away so perfect! Started with a quick whistle sit game before moving on to 3 cold blinds. First one was rather interesting... "What's a blind?" she asked. Whether it was general confusion or the hormones talking I'm not sure but I ended up giving her a light hearted NRM and putting the leash on. She looked miserable so I gave her another try and she was fine! Stopping and handling much better but lining off my leg/hand wasn't great today. Worked on left and right backs to pile whilst increasing distance between us and she nailed them all - really pleased with that. Finished with a few "finds" to work the nose and some more whistle sits. A productive session but found more holes!!!!