RubyStar Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 Thanks FHRP, I hope so! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 By jove I think she's got it! Water, that is Did single water marks with LL today and started progressing to water doubles. Lots to learn for both of us, especially on doubles, but Em was chock full of enthusiasm and her delivery was so nice. Next thing is handling drills in water as they were pretty scratchy, but oh, how she tried her Springer heart out! I've been doing lots of confidence building with water retrieves (it's mainly the entries that have been an issue - dancing on the edge like she does in play) plus fun swimming as well. On our recent camping trip we were close to the Ovens river which is fed by the freezing cold water from Mt Hotham and Mt Buller etc. It was running so fast that I had to have a long line on Em for safety and swimming upstream got her nowhere but that didn't stop her at all. Found a lovely lake that was perfect for training so Mr TSD kindly threw dummies for Em... Then it was off to the Harrietville pub for dinner.....Em may or may not have instigated a little wrestling.... As a result, she is one very fit little dog - wish I had abs like hers Off to catch up her breeder tomorrow so it will be interesting to see what she thinks of her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHRP Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Great pics TSD I did a little training last weekend at the Pointing Breeds Christmas gathering. Too many grass seeds and snakes around for land work but I gave the boy some work in the dam after lunch. Only hand throws and blinds but I was pleased with his memory work. I had almost fogotten how much Polo enjoys working :D Despite it being a Pointing Breeds club we were outnumbered by working Spingers!! Seems a lot of Pointer people are adding them now they can't shoot quail locally. A few from the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkyTansy Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Fantastic photos TSD and a lovely one of the working springers FHRP! I have a video to share later on, as Lulu, Ari, and RV's Zora and Toby got together at the river and we did some water work. Lulu has gone from waiting beside the water for Ari to come back so she can steal from her, to running in ahead of Ari to get the item. Zora was a little less enthused this time around but we think there are other explanations for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyBlue Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Awesome pictures. Looks like the dogs had a great time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Lovely Springers FHRP....they're taking over the world :D RB - the dogs had such a great holiday. They exercised all day whilst we ate and drank. I've been pouring food down their throats, trying to get the weight on. Not quite so for us Had lunch with Em's breeder today - so interesting to talk pedigrees etc. Em was declared to be very pretty and sweet and JUST like her Mum. Mr TSD could not believe how similar they were in mannerisms and looks. We always loved Rosie best so it's wonderful to have our Rosie puppy I also got to cuddle and critique baby Springers and baby GSPs :love: Seriously could have brought them all home - will be exciting to follow their progress as most will go to field/retrieving homes. I think I will consider field work one day too...it does sound like fun so I will try to get to a trial or two in 2012 as a spectator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Merry Christmas all you crazy retrieving/field trial people I rewarded myself for facing the shops on Friday and Saturday by taking the dogs water training We all had so much fun! Lots of laughs at the expense of poor Zig who hasn't yet mastered the complex art of swimming... his enthusiasm more than makes up for his lack of skills and he nearly 'killed' 2 dummies today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Glorious training session today Lablover and I got ourselves organised, packed up the bumper boys, a nice lunch and thermos and went out to a farm to "test" the youngsters. It was also my first opportunity to shoot over Em now I finally have my firearms license. Em received a kid's cap gun for Christmas ( ;) )and Mr TSD and I got her accustomed to the sound in no time yesterday. I was really blown away by Em's response to the gun today, though - even seeing it for the first time she went quite silly with excitement and anticipation. Set her up for a mark and she was all over it - in fact she handled the gun a hell of a lot better than I did to begin with Then it was a matter of me getting some steadiness with the gun - making sure I turned off the safety switch, put the gun to my shoulder, fired, broke it, sent her calmly, reloaded etc A couple of marks Em did not see at all (my fault - too busy worrying about the gun) so I had to handle her - decent cover and distance away but I thought she stopped and cast really well for a youngster. On the flat she runs straight and true but with all the cover she was bounding through the grass like a little jack rabbit - it was impossible to keep a straight face with those ears flapping around and tail madly wagging :D Fascinating to watch her hunt and quarter too with her Spaniel genes - an absolute joy. More water training to follow over the ensuing weeks and the next trip to the farm we will take birds and throwers! She came home and crashed but has now recharged those energiser bunny batteries and is giving Ziggy the $h!ts again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkyTansy Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 WEll done TSD on a good training session!!! You must be so pleased!!! Love that pic of her sprawled out on the chair!! So ladylike!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyValley Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Looking forward to the upcoming season to hear how well Em does TSD!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Yes, I'm quite delighted - funny how everything seems to have fallen into place at the same time! ST - she was watching us prepare the cats' dinner and her little head just dropped down as she fell asleep RV - I'm looking forward to the season too! It will be a big step up from training but I feel much more prepared. How is your little Zora going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkyTansy Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Lulu has become obsessed with retrieving only the dummy, which is a good thing, however she will not pick it up off land if it has dirt on it (she is so like her mother)... so to pick it up she finds either the rope or she picks up the end and shakes it to remove said dirt... What would you do to train her out of this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyValley Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 TSD- Zora's enthusiasm is there. We are working on a more formal retrieve now. She loves to fetch things and runs out so fast crying out the whole time with excitement but still has a problem with showing off with retrieve items. She has a keen nose for rabbits and has been stalking and pointing at the wild rabbits on our block - the other day she caught one, mum had to go over and pick her up but the rabbit was unharmed, only a bit slobbery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Lulu has become obsessed with retrieving only the dummy, which is a good thing, however she will not pick it up off land if it has dirt on it (she is so like her mother)... so to pick it up she finds either the rope or she picks up the end and shakes it to remove said dirt... What would you do to train her out of this? Personally I would shape the delivery and only reward for holding the dummy in the middle. Keep the criteria really tight - I described what I did (based on Sue H's advice) somewhere in this thread but also worth chatting to Ptolomy et al. who would be able to demonstrate. Once you have that sorted, it's just a matter of association and backchaining which both my dogs picked up really quickly. Let us know how you go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 TSD- Zora's enthusiasm is there. We are working on a more formal retrieve now. She loves to fetch things and runs out so fast crying out the whole time with excitement but still has a problem with showing off with retrieve items. She has a keen nose for rabbits and has been stalking and pointing at the wild rabbits on our block - the other day she caught one, mum had to go over and pick her up but the rabbit was unharmed, only a bit slobbery. A bit slobbery Sounds like Zora's got what it takes RV - you just can't train that desire to hunt. I get endless deliveries of geckos - mostly alive but they tend to lose their tails and occasionally die of shock. The other day she would not come inside - finally I twigged after observing her "puffy" cheeks, opened her mouth and out ran an enormous gecko completely unharmed Em used to show off her retrieve item, particularly when we switched to birdies. She spat out the cheese reward in disgust too so I played the "2 food game" with a couple of dead pigeons :D Not the most fun I've ever had but Em thought it was AWESOME!!! She improved a lot and I think a bit of maturity helps too. I continue to reward the present especially as we are often training something new - sometimes food or praise or a happy bumper - if you think about it heading back with the dummy is nowhere near as much fun as chasing it down in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkyTansy Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Thanks for the tip TSD - that makes sense... I should be working on delivery separately anyway but admit I've been a little slack in that department lately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 I have a nearly 3 year old lab - his retrieve instinct is incredible, he cannot NOT retrieve something, took me ages to get him to have a nice hold etc, but now my nearly 6 month old loves holding things in his mouth, carries toys, sticks etc, whatever he can find, but if some thing is thrown he is not as keen to go out and fetch it. He will do it as long as its thrown not too far. Is that pretty normal for his age?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 M_G - too hard to say really. Depends on so many things. - his genetic drive, maturity, life stage, training methods etc. Em did lots of stuff I couldn't figure out at the time but in hindsight it all makes sense. Age has changed her attitude in a huge way - for the better of course! Some Labs at 6 months are training every day pretty seriously but they are all individuals. Keep it light and fun. Make it easier if he is struggling and stop before he has had enough. Has he had an injury - could running hurt him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyValley Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I should do a video of Zora going out to retrieve something - pure joy. I'm sure Gibbs entusiasm will come maybe he needs to build confidence first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) He did have an injury but is almost 100%. I think a lot of the problem is that I had to restrict his land based exercise up until about 2 weeks ago. He mainly did swimming, because of this his water retrieves are enthusiastic but not so much with the land retrieves!! Edited January 4, 2012 by Mason_Gibbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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