# What are you working on.



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

I took a break over holidays from field training and are just back training. 
Anyone have a concept they are working on? 
I still need to work on running blinds that are tight to the gun. Flyer will flare to one side or the other. Then when I try and correct his line he flares to the otherside and so on. 
I think I’m going to back away up and run a simple mark/blind drill with him and see if I can get this worked out.


----------



## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

Finally the snow/ice/slush mess is gone.( I don't train in that mess) We are doing singles with multiples in the field and 3-4 blinds a day during the week ( Its just me and 3 wingers). On weekends we are doing every triple with a retired gun set up you can think of and 2 blinds. 


" I still need to work on running blinds that are tight to the gun. Flyer will flare to one side or the other. Then when I try and correct his line he flares to the otherside and so on. 
I think I’m going to back away up and run a simple mark/blind drill with him and see if I can get this worked out"


I would put a 6 inch piece of orange tape on the top of your blind poles.. This teaches the dog to look out and gives them confidence going tight to the gun and also taking your cast. We do this with all young dogs running blinds. They run hard and with confidence. They don't pick up the tape right away so its kinda a in the middle thing but they forget about the gunner and go right to the pole. After 3-5 days you should be fine. Just my opinion. 


Lee


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

With my Derby-dogs-to-be, I'm running lots and lots of singles,with multiple gunners (or stickmen) in the field. Typically the longest ones first, then concluding with the shorter ones, but occasionally running the short ones first if they are set up to be a factor in getting to the longer ones. 
For many of the singles, I'll toss a bumper from the line in order to make it the pups use a little bit of memory; this also forces them to re-focus on the longer mark instead of keeping their focus on the long gunner the entire time. 
For the time being, I've pulled them off the pattern field and focused on marks.
Additionally, I've been introducing retiring gunners, as well as retired gunners.

For my older dog, I'll let him run some of the marks, then run him on some LONG blinds.

BUT THEY ALL NEED WATER WORK! And with the nighttime temperatures near or below freezing for the next couple of weeks, I don't think that's going to happen for a while.


----------



## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

I gotcha FT Goldens, I made the mistake of doing a blind a long side a frozen pond on Saturday, It was a double blind but this one was on the outside of the mark with a strong crosswind blowing away from the water. I never thought she would fade into the wind, so whistle stop and then a angle right and nope she went over left out on the ice. Cmon spring!!!! At least she doesn't mind going into the wind and into the water at 20 degrees out. I love young dogs!!!


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

We are day training with an all age pro now. It is mind blowing all the stuff Proof needs to learn and so do I. Currently our biggest thing to fix/work on is blinds. Proof goes nuts on blinds and can get out of control in a split second. The pro has given me some new ways to work on his problems and in the month we've been training its been pretty neat to see some improvement. For example, today we ran 4 land blinds and one water blind. The wind was a 15 mph crosswind. That is usually the kiss of death for us on land. If he doesn't line the blind and I have to blow a whistle (which how can you not in AA blinds) he usually will sit on the whistle then start smelling and then out of control. Especially going through cover strips. All the blinds played off each other. After we were done with the land blinds everyone agreed that they were good blinds....for proof. So the fact that I was able to keep him from jumping up and hunting and winding everything was a huge improvement. So I'm hopeful for the time being. It will be a slow process but at least we have seen some improvement and hopefully in the future we can get past the second series land blind, ha ha.


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Just Brix is doing field now. We are working on 3 handed casting on a full-sized T pattern, he's casting about 85% now so getting there. Whistle is next. We are also working on some decheating stuff in the water. Steadiness.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Winter here means shorter marks and blinds. Let’s face it, trudging through snow for hundreds of yards for setups has little appeal. So we’ve resorted to shorter more complex set ups. Riot is doing really well at times. Then other times not so much. His explosiveness and speed are fun, but hard to control. We need to work on more keyholes. He still tends to flair away from the area of a previous fall, instead of running over the top when needed for a blind. I think he and I just need more experience. Last weekend we ran lots of blinds on a frozen marsh with lots of cattails and grasses in patches all over. Huge place. He’s really decheated well in that environment that I’m hoping translates into water next spring. When I train I usually run Lucy too. She’s always been such a nice marker. Her blinds are creative and all over the board in unexpected answers. She’s the complete opposite from Riot, so it’s good for me to train 2 totally different dogs that think and react so differently. 
I have started a Sunday women’s shooting group at the local 5 stand range. We’re having a lot of fun. We all hope to hit all our chukar next summer and ducks in the fall. Can’t shoot well if you don’t practice. And it’s nice to do it in the company of women only.


----------

