Retrieving & Field Training Talk

[rubyroo]

It's a great feeling when you can get them back on track with a few handles, we managed to do this yesterday as well, just wish I had a steep hill to practice on. We had a few fun retrieves in the water, jump in, shampoo, jump back in to rinse off, 3ft of air from land to water don't know what his problem was last week? The sun was awesome, jumped on the 4wheeler, not a chance I could keep up with the dogs! Man they can run fast! Pile work is brilliant, I try and do this a few times a week and his overs are starting to sink in and get better, definately worth the effort! Puppy cuddles are great!

[The Spotted Devil]

Much easier to do water work without all the pressure and excitement! Cheeky devil :D

I've been stuck at the computer for the last few days so just took Em out and blew the cobwebs out of both of us in some swirling wind! Mr TSD helped us out.....started with double fall (short - just concept work) and that went pretty well followed by a couple of 2 birds at a much longer distance. Interesting to watch her develop a "style" - with the 2 bird she seems to take a much straighter line to the 2nd dummy down but with the double fall, she definitely follows the first line and then veers off at the point she saw it and picks it up no problem. Finished off with some work on relocation....kept the relocation mark landing in the same place and heeled her at different angles to fetch it up. The penny really dropped with that one today so I added in a go-bird to distract her a little further. She was rather wild and lots of fun....the young lass with a giant camera/lens taking some shots of the valley got more than she bargained for :laugh: She was snapping pics of Em running flat out...I hope she got some good ones!

[The Spotted Devil]

Em and I went to the Vic Gundog club field training day! Pretty cold but the rain stayed away and we did a fair bit of walking so I was quickly shedding layers. Practiced working Em in a fairly tight quartering pattern....reckon she knows much more about it than I do but there are a couple of things that are desirable in the way they quarter that I tried to work on. No game as such to work with - just as well Em's an optimist :D Finished the day with a long cold blind up the hill...Em took a nice line but slowed down to hunt at the first big tree (very inviting!) so I stopped and cast her right back - she took that really well and quickly picked up the dummy. More puppy cuddles and then homeward bound.

[The Spotted Devil]

We have an agility trial this weekend so retrieving is a bit light this week. Headed out to KCC Park today - pretty heavy cover (for a short dog!) out the back so set up 3 cold blinds. First one was across a creek and up on a hill. I stuffed up the run as I lost sight of her more quickly than I realised would happen and she popped up miles away. Took the stop/casts well though, especially considering the distance, and I was really pleased with her. Second one, I modified our start peg position so I could see her in the long cover and she did pretty well with that one too - probably need to start keeping her on a tighter line but don't want to risk popping. She was funny with the whistle sits too - shuffling into position so she could see me. Third blind was a bit easier - tossed the dummy I had to my pile of gear, then realised I'd need to give her a leave command! That was cool, sent her for the blind and just needed to give her a looong left over to get her there. She ran very hard on that cast so was well rewarded for it. Sent her for the short memory mark just for fun. Gave both dogs a good gallop and Em was straight in the cold dam...crazy girl! So I set her up on a cheaty call through...not only did I walk around the water but Zig galloped around. A come in whistle and she took the correct line through the water so happy with that.

[rubyroo]

We've spent a week across the boarder at the gorgeous mt buller! We all had so much fun, the kids are getting really good and skiing. So no training or doggy things for a whole week back into it tomorrow hopefully.

How was the agility TSD? Are you attending bill Hillman later this year, I'm still undecided.

[The Spotted Devil]

Sounds like a nice break rubyroo

Had a super weekend...drove to the AA trial site on Friday afternoon, set up camp, heated up my meal and sat around the fire and chatted until late. Up at stupid o'clock on Saturday and drove nearly 2 hours to the agility trial. Zig was on fire - only errors were mine - I didn't stay for presentations but think he ended up with 4 quallies. Em ran fast and handled brilliantly but had a few dropped bars. Drove back to the trial site and had another nice meal/red wine/chat around the fire in the drizzling rain.

It drizzled and rained most of Sunday and I spent all day on the thrower. I was well rugged up though and it was a great opportunity to watch the AA dogs run. First run was a long mark, reload, send, 2 bird, send and then a blind beyond the 2 bird up a hill. Second run was a short water mark, long water mark and blind. Send for long mark then blind then short mark. Final run was a long, very cheaty water mark plus a longer land blind with poison blind. Pick up the blind then the mark. The game was different to usual so I took the opportunity to show Em between runs - a minute of shaping had her picking up the smaller one. The blind game was HUGE. At least twice the size of Em's head, very heavy and most people didn't think she could pick it up let alone carry it! Same process of shaping with food and she quickly got the idea - the judge then hand threw it as a mark and she flew out, picked it up with confidence and delivered to hand. Wish I had a photo!!!!

Don't think I'm going to Bill Hillman at this stage. Plan on stewarding at the National - not sure about the State - depends on how much time I have as I'll be entered the weekend before that. A lot of driving to Sale and back!

[Staff'n'Toller]

If you do end up going to Bill Hillman - would you mind letting me know? If he's selling his basics DVDs there I wouldn't mind grabbing them for the future. :)

[rubyroo]

SNT if you can't wait till the seminar you can purchase direct from:

http://www.hawkeyemedia.net/

Great DVDs !

[Staff'n'Toller]

SNT if you can't wait till the seminar you can purchase direct from:

http://www.hawkeyemedia.net/

Great DVDs !

Yeah thanks - I can wait - I don't need them right now. And I live quite near to TSD. :)

[The Spotted Devil]

Stoopid headache has had me out of action all week....Mr TSD convinced me to take the dogs training this afternoon just for a short session. Em is now more relaxed which is one thing at least! We just did 2 birds and double falls....the former are easier of course as she has been doing them for longer plus Mr TSD's throwing arm seems to go KAPUT for double falls and he throws them right in her path! Super pleased with Em though - there were moments of confusion where she was unsure about which dummy to pick up but she took every stop, cast and "leave" that I gave her, even when she was sitting just about on top of the dummy. I learnt some important things about lining her up correctly for selection too. Slowly, slowly...

[The Spotted Devil]

If my first day away on holiday is spent scouting around for training grounds for Em, does that mean I'm obsessed?

Found a super pond - longish, not to wide and perfect to practice longer cheaty swims. Mr TSD threw progressively longer marks until she was swimming the full length and back again. Only one stop and right cast back needed when she thought about taking an easy way but she did well. Did a couple of double falls on land to warm her up. 7 retrieves all up and it barely took the edge off her! At least Mr TSD's throwing arm is working well.....despite having to juggle holding Zig at the same time. That's quite a handicap :D

Edited July 21, 2013 by The Spotted Devil

[The Spotted Devil]

Em had energy to burn and there's nowhere safe to let her run free without risking the local bird life so we took her to an open park on the way back to our campsite to run T-drills. Started with left and right back to a pile - decent distance me to Em to pile. Dropped another dummy and set Em up between that and the pile. Threw a dummy just over her head and asked her to take a long right cast instead. She wanted to go back very badly so just stopped, 'leave' and cast right again. Repeat to the left. Then sent her for the dummy straight in front (the one she had to leave) and again for the double rise. One dummy left on the original pile at quite a distance so sent her for that. She picked it up and flew back - about half way I stopped her and treated it as a land version of a swim by. She thought I was NUTS :laugh: but pulled it off without too much trouble. Hopefully she will sleep well tonight!

Edited July 21, 2013 by The Spotted Devil

[The Spotted Devil]

We drove to Wentworth today and it was straight to the tourist info centre to find out where we could exercise the dogs :laugh: Gave them a huge run at the Perry Sandunes and then combined some sight seeing with a few drills at the Murray-Darling junction - left/right backs, a couple of two birds and half a wagon wheel. Lots of selection practice! Em was red dirt from head to tail so finished off with a double mark in the river....pretty much the only way to keep her mind off the beautiful local birdlife!

[The Spotted Devil]

Went back to the pond this morning....well it felt like morning but I suspect it was after midday Had Mr TSD throwing marks about 2/3 the length in the same place each time and I progressively increased the entry distance. First one was easy, second one was good in terms of not cheating but quite dreadful in terms of being distracted by the ducks landing right in front of her (little turd :laugh: ) and the third one was excellent. The wind picked up on the third one so it drifted just about to the shore line - she needed one handle to keep her in the water coming back.

Let her run around to dry off and she was straight back in the water so had Mr TSD throw some single land marks using some very small hills...really mixed up distance, angle, direction etc. First 3 were spot on. Final one was a bit crappy....suspect the ducks took her attention for a split second and she didn't mark it properly. Hunted a bit short, then went wide but realised it was where she thought it was and hunted it up.

After lunch and coffee we dove towards Red Cliffs for wine tasting and gave the dogs a huge swim and run at Karadoc Sand Bar, right on the Murray. Beautiful.

Edited July 23, 2013 by The Spotted Devil

[The Spotted Devil]

Another trip to the pond yesterday before an afternoon of wine tasting and lunch!

Set up 3 cold blinds and threw an easy mark first....first blind was up the middle of the pond with a decent run to entry and a small run to exit. I wanted her to really see the choices and be tempted to cheat. 3 handles to get her there (a tempting sand bar pulled her off line) and 1 to keep her in the water coming back. Next two were fairly simple land retrieves....second blind I lined her poorly so it took a long right to pick it up. Third blind was better from me but the contours dragged her right so it took a couple of casts to get her to the dummy. I put a video on YouTube but it doesn't look half as good as it did on the iPad.

Dogs lazed in the sun (actually Em spent the entire time bird watching) and gave them a good gallop at a local park later on.

[The Spotted Devil]

Drove back to Wenworth today, had a delicious brunch then headed out to the sand hills again. Mr TSD threw multiple single marks in moderate but dense cover and we had her crossing a small tributary and a track. It took some work to get her mind off bunnies and on the dummies but then she marked everything really well, and at supersonic speed :laugh: Little devil has an insatiable appetite for running - we let her do that for a good 40 min up and down the sand hills and she only slowed down when I put a leash on her!

[rubyroo]

Wow TSD a week away with the dogs, how lovely. Not a chance mine would be allowed to come unless there was a trial. So many new areas what fantastic training opportunity. We've just been doing a few line drills, backs and overs, all going well. We have about 6 memory blinds on our walk and he is loving it. Will have to start to have a few new ones shortly. Have a good weekend!

[The Spotted Devil]

It's pretty nice rubyroo - our camping holidays revolve around finding good places for the dogs to train/run and great places for us to eat :D I don't have acres at home on which to train either so I'm constantly on the look out for a pond or bit of cover or a hill to work on a concept.

Known blinds sound like they are going well - it's so nice to see that penny drop!

We arrived home Friday night so didn't do anything with the dogs on Saturday except to give them a good sprint up the back. Mr TSD helped me out today....Em was off her nut after 2 days off. Started with a double mark across very heavy cover (landing in clear ground). Go to mark (right) was great, memory mark was ok. Had Mr TSD move so the memory mark was to the left through heavy cover and the go to mark was through a pond. Great line on the over water mark and memory mark was better although not brilliant. Moved again to 2 ponds for a single cheaty mark - thrown into the middle of the 2nd pond it drifted right to the far edge. The only time I had to remind Em to take the line was when she hit the land between the 2 ponds - very pleased with her effort. I decided that was plenty so just finished with a double mark on land to warm her up as it was a bit of a hike back to the car. Ran it with memory to the right this time - go to mark was great with a nice angled line down the slope. There were lots of distractions with white rubbish lying around for the memory (I should have tidied them up) but she pushed past them to find the dummy.

[rubyroo]

It's pretty nice rubyroo - our camping holidays revolve around finding good places for the dogs to train/run and great places for us to eat :D I don't have acres at home on which to train either so I'm constantly on the look out for a pond or bit of cover or a hill to work on a concept.

Known blinds sound like they are going well - it's so nice to see that penny drop!

We arrived home Friday night so didn't do anything with the dogs on Saturday except to give them a good sprint up the back. Mr TSD helped me out today....Em was off her nut after 2 days off. Started with a double mark across very heavy cover (landing in clear ground). Go to mark (right) was great, memory mark was ok. Had Mr TSD move so the memory mark was to the left through heavy cover and the go to mark was through a pond. Great line on the over water mark and memory mark was better although not brilliant. Moved again to 2 ponds for a single cheaty mark - thrown into the middle of the 2nd pond it drifted right to the far edge. The only time I had to remind Em to take the line was when she hit the land between the 2 ponds - very pleased with her effort. I decided that was plenty so just finished with a double mark on land to warm her up as it was a bit of a hike back to the car. Ran it with memory to the right this time - go to mark was great with a nice angled line down the slope. There were lots of distractions with white rubbish lying around for the memory (I should have tidied them up) but she pushed past them to find the dummy.

Lucky you! Yes known blinds are good, but today mr smarty pants thought he knew where I was going to send him, so I found it very difficult to line him up, (this was rather frustrating). I'm also finding as soon as I say 'dead bird' he keeps jumping forward, I think the heeling stick needs to come to training! I did a little water work, but surely it isn't pleasant it hasn't been warmer than minus 4 for a few days, I'm really wanting to focus on this now. But still need lots of land work, so much to do before all the snakes come back

They are funny after a few days off, mine just follow me and whine and bark until I do something with them, rocket will find anything to put in his mouth to bring to me hoping we might do something. Your training sounds great, she really is doing a great job, she is really understanding what she is required to do, good on you both! National next year?

[The Spotted Devil]

I'm certainly happy with her progress but it's tough to get the balance just right in training...there's always something I've neglected...like memory marks today! It's been suggested to me that I should consider the National next year....once we've got some AA runs under our belt of course I've put my name down to steward at this year's Nats....not sure if I can manage the State trial too as that's the weekend before and the weekend before that is a trial so a lot of commitment in a short time.

When Em's had a few days off, she will get up to more mischief around the house (hoarding cat toys, wallets, mobile phones, wrestling with Ziggy and Dizzy the cat), retrieve small gheckos and break into the back area to go hunting. Nightmare she is!

Actually I got excited when Em started breaking on known blinds. Just went back to some steady feet games away from retrieves and give a NRM if she broke after that. She would pull herself up and race back into position which was pretty funny. With lining issues I would just go back to wagon wheels. Today, whilst I was waiting for Mr TSD to get in position I played with heeling on the spot as it has been a bit crappy in training - turns out I was giving her a slightly different physical cue than when we do obedience work and as soon as I fixed that she was a different dog

Bloody snakes...clearly you get them pretty bad?