# Humorous field question of the week:



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Molly obsessively eats grass in the holding blind. It drives me crazy. She also does this thing where she will put her brakes on and stops walking if she sees that she's going to a holding blind. She will go to the first one just fine, but for some reason says she's had enough, no more holding blinds, after that first one. She only does this at tests, and I have had to take her by the collar and move her.

I do this really silly thing in the holding blind that no one knows about. I repeatedly tell Molly quietly while stroking her head: "you is smart, you is kind, you is important" from the book (and movie) _The Help_. It keeps her from eating more grass. But it stems from the fact that Molly is a worrier, and though she does not understand me, I tell her anyway that she can do no wrong. I know she will try her best for me.


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

Aww Viv that is sweet. When Katniss was worried about those live fliers when she first started I used to whisper don't be afraid of those birds...lol.

Katniss just sits there and literally just stares up at me and smiles....she really loves tests, I will tell her are you going to get a ribbon and she just smiles...She knows this is our thing. usually I will pet her while I'm watching the other dog run in front of us. 

The third leg she had our judge was really nice but a little high strung. The dog in front of us picked up a cripple and it didn't die. The handler sent him for his memory bird and the judge was left holding this duck that wouldn't die. Here is Katniss all facing me in the blind and chilling out and the judge comes up right behind the blind and is using the blind as a brace as he kills this duck who is squawking and squirming. Katniss was so startled and kind of jumped out. It was nuts! That's my awkward blind story for tonight.

Proof on the other hand cracks me up. He is all over that blind sticking his head under or around any way he can catch a glimpse of what is going on outside that blind. The gunshots drive him crazy, he wants to see so bad!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I have Tito sit with his back to the blind, so he is facing me. I put a hand on his shoulder blades, and talk calmly to him.
He's fine with the land holding blinds, but tends to whine when waiting in the water ones.


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## Golden Gibby (Jan 8, 2011)

One time I wasn't paying close enough attention to Gibby in a holding blind he peeked under the blind and then took off under it, thus tearing down the blind. Fortunately I did have his leash in hand so I got him back where the blind used to be. I then spent an tense few moments getting the blind back in place (while trying to control a very excited dog) before the judges saw what happened. 
A funny story UNLESS you are the guy in the holding blind.

Now I make sure Gibby gets my undivided attention while in the holding blind. I make sure he keeps eye contact with me and I talk to him.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Heel backwards into holding blind, dog sits with back to blind. I stand in front of the dog and watch the dog ahead of us. Boys know they can smell whatever they can reach without breaking a sit


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## SwimDog (Sep 28, 2014)

My dogs really really want to be grass-rippers. We have a blind to practice with and use it before we go swimming (for exercise) to give us another opportunity to practice calm/relaxation before exciting events. Making that a many-times-per-week training opportunity obviously helped the dogs get better and it forced me to practice a 'boring' skill.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

hotel4dogs said:


> I have Tito sit with his back to the blind, so he is facing me. I put a hand on his shoulder blades, and talk calmly to him.
> He's fine with the land holding blinds, but tends to whine when waiting in the water ones.



This right here!

Have the dog sitting with it's back to the blind facing you. It helps a great deal in keeping them calm and under control.


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## krazybronco2 (May 21, 2015)

normally i get to a blind tell the dog kennel and they do like they would in a kennel go in turn around and sit. normally all i get is some smelling around in the blind. 

now to come out of the blind. i have a very strict routine. sit the dog take three big steps away from the blind, command here, command heel. if any of that is slow or not to what i want it back in the blind to try again. if it is up to par then we heel to the line. but normally i can tell what kind of day we are going to have coming out of the first holding blind.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

When we first started hunt work, Shala went bananas in blinds. She hated having to wait, and she would try to jump up to see over them or try to look around the side. So we did a LOT of training in them - I always went towards the end of our training group so that she got used to waiting in blinds. And now she waits very calmly (except sometimes on the last water blind, she gets a little bit nosey and tries to look around!). I usually talk really softly to her, telling her she's going to do great, that she's going to get the birds and bring them right back - and let me have them. I got great advice from Barb (Hotel4Dogs) at our last hunt test to not think about what might go wrong, but to just think about what she will do right. So I sort of turned that into a little pep talk that helps both of us stay calm while we're waiting!


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

That's a fun question!

For me, it depends on the dog.
For my first dog, he would lean against my leg and I'd scratch him on the top of the head or behind the ears ... it seemed to settle him down (at least until he got on the line).
For my second dog, I tried doing the same thing, but it seemed to get her more wound up; hence, I learned that it was best to not pet her until after she had finished running the test and we were on our way back to the truck.

BTW, in training we always use holding blinds, maybe two, so the dogs learn the routine and we can figure out what's best.

FTGoldens


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Rose leans against my leg and I pet her, every now and then she want to look to see what is going on in the field. 

Darcy is progressing with blind manners. The first test I really thought she was going to pull my hand off. 

We do not always use the holding blinds when we are training. Something we should probably do more often.


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