# January Field and Hunt Training



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

It is a new year, new resolutions and the same old stuff. 

Started the year training yesterday.

Went back on working doubles with Belle. Got the head swinging under control and then by today we also "think" we got the breaking on the go to bird under control. Back to singles for awhile and improving on blinds.

Rose thinks she is with "puppies" again. She is lactating and nesting. This is the second full false pregnancy and I am once again contemplating a full spay for her. I am torn between what it is good in the long run for her. She did good on her double yesterday and a tricky blind which was only a couple feet from the working station on the memory bird. 

Darcy is doing good on her marking. Got her to look long and run long. But at her age her back legs are not keeping up with her spirits. So we are keeping it to a minimum. 

I feel fortunate to have all three of them. They have all taught me so much. And the learning continues in 2016.


----------



## krazybronco2 (May 21, 2015)

started the morning off right with some hold work with bodey he is holding the training buck for long periods of time so started moving with it today had a couple slip ups but got that corrected he will go anywhere with you and hold the training buck now. about time to move on to holding the big bumper then moving with it. 

went by myself today ran 2 simple setups belle ran them as doubles bodey ran them as singles. both were setup as hip pockets first setup was thrown left to right along a slight side hill both dogs picked the marks up short to long. second setup moved just a little hip pocket thrown right to left and both dogs picked the marks up long then short. both did well bodey had a hunt for a short bird belle had a hunt for a long bird neither one of the back sided a gun or had a super long hunt. so a nice easy sunday morning before we came home for me to do my weekly cleaning.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Today I just did some obedience with Buffy.

I did some yard training with Thor. I am training him to get up on a platform. We also did some lining over an obstacle.


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Had a nice training day yesterday. It was long and tiring but a good experience for the girls. Belle got to play with the Tito pup and threw some fun bumpers for the two of them. Wish I had a camera to take pics of them. 
It was also a sad and mourning day. We cried and hugged and remembered a sweet hard working golden boy who left us too soon. If there is one thing in this world that I truly hate it is called cancer.


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Yesterday : 
KRD drill in front field. Only snafu was wind in our face the dogs had a LOT of trouble hearing whistles on on blind in particular. Two of the blinds Bally two-whistled, the one it was a mess at the end with lots of slipped whistles. When I ran Slater and he did the same thing I knew it was the wind.

Turned around and ran a big double from the mound in the front field. Kristin cooked up the marks and they were super. Memory bird was about 300 yards, a bit over the crest of a hill. Bales everywhere. Now you could only tell this when you were the gunner, but about 2/3 of the way to the mark the dog went down in to a dip where you could not see them at all, and obviously they couldn't see you. So the rare opportunity to lose sight of the gunner, come up out of the valley and either fight it and stay on the right side of the gun, or cave and back side it. We ran this as a single first with Bally and Millie, they both did SUPER. Gunner stayed standing.
After everyone else ran, we did this same mark as the memory bird, but this time the gunner sat down. Now, the chair was not hidden but because of the crest of the hill, you could really only see the gunner's shoulders and head when they sat down. So "limited" retired gun. The go bird was very short, about 60-70 yards off to the right, converging throw. Both Bally and Millie STOMPED on their marks. REALLY GREAT. This was Bally's first experience with a "retired" gun and not only did he look right back out there, but you could tell he kept pushing kept pushing the whole way to the memory bird until he got right to the bumper, believing in himself that he remembered it. I was thrilled!!!

Today we went to the Santa Fe field and worked on no-no drills through this clump of trees. Set up two piles/stakes, the first one easier the second one really tight running through trees. For this one at one point they had to run between two trees that were only 3-4 feet apart. I put four bumpers at each stake, and back-chained them teaching Bally each way. On the first one he did flare around the wrong side of a tree so got some handling in. Then I put him up and we ran my friend's dog, which took FOREVER. Like 45 minutes for this simple drill. After that I brought Bally out and wanted him to line each blind. He lined the first one. The second one he needed one handle, then lined it the next try.

I used to do these same tree lane blinds with Fisher ALL THE TIME. They are great for teaching the dog to run straight, keyholes and taking precise casts. Bally has really come a long way in taking more precise casts recently. 

I will say, two different times yesterday and today, at a distance I stopped Bally, gave a cast, and he just sat there. I had to repeat the cast and then he went. Not sure if it is confusion, he is taking the correct cast. But I remember Fisher going through this phase but I let it get really bad, and my field trainer at the time taught me a whopper correction that fixed it almost instantly. I'm not ready to hit Bally with that yet but I'm writing this down here so if I have to come back to it in the future I know when it started!!!


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I've been working with Riot. He's 11 weeks and super biddable. Easy peasy because he's so young. So I've kept it simple with learning how to walk on a leash, recall, sitting, stay, all the usual puppy stuff. We also work on whistle sits and whistle recalls. We do lots of off leash trail walks. He keeps up pretty well with the big dogs. When he gets tired I pick him up. I only carry him for a short while and he wants back down. He can go very far now. He loves the snow and gets around well on the ice. He's learning to jump logs and scramble up and down hills. We walk mostly at night. So it's good for him to develop night vision. So far we've been able to not run into any moose, coyotes or wolves. I keep a light on all the dogs all the time so I can see where they are on the trails. I also have been working on short retrieves - singles and doubles. Keeping it fun, but making sure that he understands what he can and cannot do. He's been a very easy puppy so far. We are working now on the place command - I use a platform. He also knows kennel. I am practicing 2 sided heeling with him and he is understanding a little. I take short walks with him on leash. So much to learn, I just hope I can keep up with his little brain!

Miss Lucy has been sidelined now. But I came across Bill Hillmann's 2 minute drill. It might be a way to keep Lucy sharp and not lose what she has gained since I'm concentrating on the puppy. Here's the link and the actual drill starts about 2 minutes into the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu3M9xG-aZ8 I think it's a nice way to get in some quick updates with your dog when you don't have a full hour to train.

So my long term training plans are:
keep working with the puppy. Get him on some live shackled pigeons. Keep extending him distances and working getting his eyes to look out. His eyes are still developing as are his muscles and bones. Keep working obedience. Get him thinking about being steady.
Keep working Miss Lucy when I have time. She's probably not going to go a lot farther in the retriever world. I keep thinking she'll be ready for running SH, but probably not this summer again. So we'll be running spaniel tests. She needs 2 more passes for her SHU. Her mom's littermate is the first golden bitch with a MHU! So it must run in the breeding. Now whether I can get Lucy to sit on the whistle at the flush is a whole other story, and might be something she may never be able to do. It's a hard thing when a bird flushes in your face to sit! I would like to get her out hunting more in 2016. She is a very nice hunting dog. DH has really enjoyed running her on the trails with his fat bike and mountain bike. Lucy is super fast and has excellent trail manners. She can do such long distances without any trouble. Since DH races bikes, he's pretty fast. Lucy beats him on the uphills and he beats her on the downhills. Soon we will be able to add the puppy. He's going to get some nice roadwork on the trails. Great way to get in shape. DH got me a fat bike for Christmas, so I'm out on the trails now too.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

George,
when you say training Thor to get up on a platform, are you referring to the kind that mounts on the side of a boat for hunting?


----------



## TrailDogs (Aug 15, 2011)

Alaska7133 said:


> I've been working with Riot. He's 11 weeks and super biddable. Easy peasy because he's so young. So I've kept it simple with learning how to walk on a leash, recall, sitting, stay, all the usual puppy stuff. We also work on whistle sits and whistle recalls. *We do lots of off leash trail walks.* He keeps up pretty well with the big dogs. When he gets tired I pick him up. I only carry him for a short while and he wants back down. He can go very far now. He loves the snow and gets around well on the ice. He's learning to jump logs and scramble up and down hills. We walk mostly at night. So it's good for him to develop night vision. So far we've been able to not run into any moose, coyotes or wolves. I keep a light on all the dogs all the time so I can see where they are on the trails..


Sounds like you are off to a good start. This is one of my favorite Hillman articles: The Dog and Handler Relationship | BillHillmann.net


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Alaska7133 said:


> George,
> when you say training Thor to get up on a platform, are you referring to the kind that mounts on the side of a boat for hunting?


No. It is a wooden platform that I will be sending him to so that I can train alone, throw marks, and send him back to the platform. Dennis Voigt calls these send backs. You don't need the platform for this but I will be using the platform for other training. Plus by training him to get on it makes it easier to weigh him at the vet. Plus if I want to train him for the boat platform, this makes it easier. And you can use it to help teach steadiness.

Just another tool in the toolbox.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

George,
my platform is for the same purpose. I say "place" and the pup or dog has to run and sit on the platform. Mine is wood covered with commercial carpet and has handles on the sides. Then I can flip it over and use it to carry long lines and bumpers and stuff. I have seen other people like Pat Nolan use 1/2 of an old crate, sending the dog to that as the "place". Connie Cleveland uses them also. Hers is PVC pipe form with canvas fabric stretched across. I like my wood platform since we train a lot in the winter when it's cold. The dogs like to sit on it and get out of the snow. Sometimes I just drag a carpet square around if I don't want to bring the entire platform. Just send them to the square.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Stacey

Mine is also from scrap wood, my contribution to recycling. My command is "Table". I will use it for even more stuff. I would like to try it for go outs.


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

I bought one of those 36" square black rubber mats with the holes in it from Lowes, $22, makes a perfect place mat for dog training. I taught Bally (and KC) "place" where they must run to it and turn and sit. In fact both of them got a little force-to-place conditioning before ever being forced to a pile. This also turned into how I steadied Bally and it worked GREAT. I would leave him on the mat, do remote throws, if he broke I would say "NO - PLACE" and nick him to the mat. Once he figured that out and was steady to a remote send I could easily stand next to him and throw marks with him steady. I wrote more about it here:
http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...33-ballys-training-journal-9.html#post4869505

OK today we did land marks at the Horse & Hound field. The last time I was here the field was mowed, now there is lots of good cover (high but sparse) and the rolling mounds are tremendous, we just don't have that anywhere else. Set up a holding blind at the line, working on coming out and focusing on the mark to be run before approaching the line. Bally is starting to pick up on this. 









Anyways, ran them as singles 1-2-3
On #2 I first had Kristin throw a bird, but the visibility was obviously poor. He ran right at the gun and hunted it up. I immediately repeated the mark but had her throw a big white bumper with streamers. He stepped on it. Was REALLY happy with his #1 mark. LOTS of terrain to navigate. He took a line about 5' upwind of the bird, put up a tight hunt and found it. GREAT


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Took Buffy to the field. We did a double blind retrieve. Success. The suction from the shorter blind caused the slightest curve but she went right to the bumper. We also drilled on split casting and finished up with some walking baseball which is a fun drill for her.

Thor got some more yard training, three handed casting, some whistle conditioning too.

No training for a few days, I am off to a snowshoe rabbit hunt in Maine.


----------



## krazybronco2 (May 21, 2015)

gdgli said:


> Took Buffy to the field. We did a double blind retrieve. Success. The suction from the shorter blind caused the slightest curve but she went right to the bumper. We also drilled on split casting and finished up with some walking baseball which is a fun drill for her.
> 
> Thor got some more yard training, three handed casting, some whistle conditioning too.
> 
> No training for a few days, I am off to a snowshoe rabbit hunt in Maine.


how do you snowshoe rabbit hunt? only rabbit hunting i have done is with beagles almost as easy as deer hunting just sit or stand there till some comes by.


----------



## krazybronco2 (May 21, 2015)

i have been working bodey in the dark in the mornings and afternoons sometimes gets a morning off or an afternoon just depends on what is going on. his OB really i feel made a turn this week the not having to get onto him for little things when he gets tired (sloppy sit or trying to front sit you) and his hold work is going great training buck no problem holds just fine he can hold and move and do a little OB with it in his mouth, moved to the big bumper and it is like starting over he will finally hold it but he has such a small mouth that it is not easy for him to really hold it but he will figure it out. marks on the weekends and doing great with them, lots of marking concepts (hip pockets, inlines converging, ect...) and lots of long gun then short gun then short gun then long gun trying to keep that balance.


----------



## NicoleGold (Dec 8, 2015)

Happy New Year! After taking the last 3 weeks of December off from hunt test training, my husband and I got back at it New Year's Eve. That Thursday and Saturday we went out just the two of us and ran some handling drills and singles with Mo and Amos. Montee also ran lots of singles with the goals of stretching her out and working on her depth perception. Sunday we were invited to train with a new group for the first time, and went out and ran two setups. We worked on inlines, which isn't something we've done a lot with. Both boys had a nice day.

This Saturday we're headed out house hunting. We're transfering to south eastern PA for work, and hoping to find something with at least 5 acres for the dogs. The number of acres we're looking for keeps going up - first it was at least 1 acre, then at least 3, now we're up to 5....


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Training today. GORGEOUS weather. 63º and sunny!!!

Trained at Lazy J. First did two water drills :
back-cast-down-the-shore
and
3 piles angle entry drill

I've been wanting to do some water blinds with big square entries, no factors up close, no nitpicking a line, just go. I also need to start stretching Bally out on his blind entries into water. So today I set up two water blinds on Middle Pond. Both roughly 150 yards with a 50 yard entry. OK maybe more than 150, I don't know. Anyways, both had a big square entry, no factors up close. The one was truly out-to-sea just swim all the way across the pond. The other was past two points and another good 50 yards up on land. The wind was working in concert with the points pushing them into the point. Here's the diagram:









Green lines are the two blinds I set up.
Well, I initially sent for the right hand blind (#2), but Bally's entry line was a bit splitting the difference. That was OK, I was determined not to stop him unless he had a really bad entry angle. I was very pleased in that he looked right out into that big water, ran 50 yards to it, LEAPT in and swam out to sea with not a second thought. And guess what, even though his line wasn't perfect, it wasn't too bad either, and he *kept swimming straight*. He fought the wind and held his line and didn't cave to wind, the two islands, or bail out and head fatter into water. I never stopped him on this blind and eventually he saw the right #2 stake (it was right at water's edge) and went to it for his bumper. WOWWWWWWW
I did not run the second blind. There was too much good out of that between the entry, the determination, and fighting the wind to keep his line for me to possibly mess it up with a second blind. VERY HAPPY
Perfect example of why training is training, not testing. Bend and be adaptable to what the dog is giving you. Read *INTENT* of the dog.


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

K9-Design said:


> Training today. GORGEOUS weather. 63º and sunny!!!
> 
> 
> Green lines are the two blinds I set up.
> ...


I thought I heard someone earlier today yelling "WooHoo Bally!!!!!"


----------



## TrailDogs (Aug 15, 2011)

Ripple, my young pup, went to a continental shoot today. She had a blast.


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Great job Ripple and TrailDogs! Looks like a fun day!

We had a semi fun day. Started with the gun jamming, switching guns and then when I ran Belle on a double the flier was thrown but no gun loaded. After a couple seconds I decided to send Belle. I knew she was not afraid of the bird, I just was not 100% sure how she will bring it back. She brought that duck back alive and undamaged - that is a golden soft mouth with courage and a great nose. She never killed or damaged a cripple bird. Not so good on the triple but it was the first time for Belle so all in all it was a good productive day.
Rose had her second triple of her lifetime. She did awesome. The flier which was the second bird ended in a valley across a hill. She gave it a good hunt, got it and came back for her third bird without flinching. Finished with a nice blind.
Darcy did good on the double, not so good on the triple but this was her first time on a triple as well. Practice makes it perfect!


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Riot was wonderful at class today. He's got it all figured out. 12 weeks old and full of spunk. He's a thinker. His whistle recall is excellent. I don't know why I even bother with the long line. Now I need to work in having him return to my side instead of doing a front. While waiting in line to run him, it was fun to watch him watch the other dogs. When another dog ran, I made sure to sit him and tell him no bird. The ground is too frozen to put up holding blinds until you drill holes in the ground. Everything is new to him. I got to throw for a 6 month pup out of Hawk, the big derby dog. She was fabulous. The owner is all excited to run her in derbies this summer. Hope I get to see her run!


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

krazybronco2 said:


> how do you snowshoe rabbit hunt? only rabbit hunting i have done is with beagles almost as easy as deer hunting just sit or stand there till some comes by.


We hunted in knee deep snow. Very poor scenting conditions. The hounds were Portuguese Podengos. VERY TOUGH HUNTING. Temps in the teens. The bunnies are white, hard to spot. These rabbits ran a much wider circle than cottontails, you wouldn't believe it. Plus, the habitat consisted of thick stands of conifers.

We stood on the edge of the woods and let the dogs run the rabbits. We did not get many shots but did manage 4 bunnies on Saturday. Then it was time for adult beverages.


----------



## NicoleGold (Dec 8, 2015)

Despite the fact that it is getting much colder around here, and its been raining a ton, we were able to get out training twice this weekend. Friday we met with our training group and the most experienced member had set up some marking drills to working on converging and hip pocket marks, and also a double blind - one tight to the backside of the gunner and one under the arc. Despite the fog and poor visibility, both boys did great. More impressed with the pup, who ran all the marks as singles and didn't struggle at all - we were using pheasants and she had no problems driving right past the area of the old fall. She was also very steady at the line and worked on honoring for the first time, and she did great. Yesterday, my husband and I just ran handling drills with the boys and long singles with the pup.

Looking at houses Saturday was interesting. Currently, our house sits on a 1/5th of an acre. All the homes we looked at had at least 5 acres, although some had land that was more useable than others. I think being out on some nice field training properties has really messed with my perception of what an "acre" looks like, though. 5 acres sure felt so small compared to the 40-60 acre properties we're used to training on!


----------



## NicoleGold (Dec 8, 2015)

Alaska7133 said:


> I got to throw for a 6 month pup out of Hawk, the big derby dog. She was fabulous. The owner is all excited to run her in derbies this summer. Hope I get to see her run!


When getting my youngest, I looked at quite a few Hawk litters (I think he had recently turned 2, and everyone must have been lining up to use him, because I think every litter advertisement I saw was a Hawk litter!). So far, no one around here has a puppy sired by him that I've met, but it will be interesting to see what he produces.


----------



## krazybronco2 (May 21, 2015)

gdgli said:


> We hunted in knee deep snow. Very poor scenting conditions. The hounds were Portuguese Podengos. VERY TOUGH HUNTING. Temps in the teens. The bunnies are white, hard to spot. These rabbits ran a much wider circle than cottontails, you wouldn't believe it. Plus, the habitat consisted of thick stands of conifers.
> 
> We stood on the edge of the woods and let the dogs run the rabbits. We did not get many shots but did manage 4 bunnies on Saturday. Then it was time for adult beverages.


i like that last part the whole standing in snow knee deep snow does not sound fun!


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

This past weekend I went with Kristin to the Treasure Coast D/Q - she competed with Millie. Millie went out in the first series but we had a good time. Our friend Bob WON the Q with his young golden AUSTIN and Brad A. placed second with SASS to earn QAA. My training partner raised and did all the derby work with Sass before she was sold and put on Brad's truck. 
Yesterday did some land marks at Lazy J, then over to water where the landowner and his pro trainer were running young dogs on two water marks. The trainer asked if we wanted to run our dogs on it, I decided to do one of them with Bally as it was exactly what he's been training on : past three points/islands, with a strong cross-wind pushing into shore. We line up, the mark goes down, I send Bally, and the honor dog breaks and takes off after him, so right before they get to the water here's two intact males sizing each other up. Actually they were really good, had expressions of "Whoa - what just happened!" 
We round them back up, get Bally back in the holding blind, go out and watch the mark go down. Bally watches it, then looks off to his right. I've noticed this one other time, a few weeks ago he was called back with nicks for cheating on a pretty technical water mark, and after watching the mark go down a second time he looks off. Silent protest I guess. Anyways I got him back focused and sent him. He got in and swam about 30 yards, with ears pinned back on his head, and popped!  I just said "Back" and he continued and completed the mark with little trouble. I know all of that was caused by the honor dog. The good news is Bally had zero trouble with the mark, so I'll take it. 
We're going back out to work on blinds today.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Anney,
isn't every day a different day when training a dog? You never know which dog you picked up until you start training sometimes.

I train with show labs. There I've said it, I train with show labs. It's a thought process really. There is no other group in the field that has the highest disregard in the field than show labs. I know you think show labs and you think fat and lazy, which isn't always the case. Some have a LOT of drive. Some roll like a ball across the field. Some flip you the bird and only do what they want. Some are into birds like nothing else. Yesterday I trained with a show lab friend. She was a golden person, but swore off goldens when her last one died of cancer at age 8. But show labs? So anyway she is very nice and competes in obedience and has for many years. She is one of those people that takes in all kinds of rescues and competes with them. Right now she's competing with 2 St Bernard's. Anyone who can get an Open title on a St. Bernard deserves my respect. So yesterday we traded out field help for obedience help. My goal with Riot is to have him heel nicely and easily on either side. Of my 6 goldens, I've only had that with 1. So anyway I got some nice help with obedience work. Mr Riot has real potential. He could be my first utility dog. We shall see! Anyway the show lab was fat and slow and not interested in learning much. She was a pain. 9 months old and bored after the second throw. My goal is to help the owner get to a JH. So she'll help me get a novice title on Riot and I'll help her get to a JH. It will be interesting to see who gets there first!


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

Alaska7133 said:


> So she'll help me get a novice title on Riot and I'll help her get to a JH. It will be interesting to see who gets there first!


I know where I'd be betting my $$$ ....


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

I was thinking the same thing! ^^^


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Quick yet very productive and successful training today. Two blinds both about 275-300 yds. Gunner at ~100 yards off to the right. Here's how I ran it:
1 - Sit dog at line. Dry pop from gunner (thanks for the idea Shelby Songy)
2 - Run blind 1
3 - Poison bird thrown right to left from gunner
4 - Run blind 2
5 - Pick up poison bird
Total success. Bally lined both blinds, perfect manners on line, and stepped on his mark at the end. I couldn't believe it!
Also, have you ever seen a cuter stick man drawing?


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Claudia M said:


> Great job Ripple and TrailDogs! Looks like a fun day!
> 
> We had a semi fun day. Started with the gun jamming, switching guns and then when I ran Belle on a double the flier was thrown but no gun loaded. After a couple seconds I decided to send Belle. I knew she was not afraid of the bird, I just was not 100% sure how she will bring it back. She brought that duck back alive and undamaged - that is a golden soft mouth with courage and a great nose. She never killed or damaged a cripple bird. Not so good on the triple but it was the first time for Belle so all in all it was a good productive day.
> Rose had her second triple of her lifetime. She did awesome. The flier which was the second bird ended in a valley across a hill. She gave it a good hunt, got it and came back for her third bird without flinching. Finished with a nice blind.
> Darcy did good on the double, not so good on the triple but this was her first time on a triple as well. Practice makes it perfect!


Too bad about the gun jamming. Blame the gunner?

How did you teach the triple? I am not doing triples yet with Thor.

I would think that the flier would give a lot of dogs trouble considering it was not the go bird. How did the other dogs handle this?


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

TrailDogs said:


> Ripple, my young pup, went to a continental shoot today. She had a blast.


I love working those shoots.


----------



## TrailDogs (Aug 15, 2011)

gdgli said:


> I love working those shoots.


Me too, they get tons of practice hunting birds in some tough cover, lots of diversion birds, and it's a great place to work on steady and honoring.


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Brag of the week - I debated if I should post this and the more I thought the more I said, yup, I should brag. 

After her first semester of college my daughter made the Dean's List. I said, well it is just the first semester; but the more I thought the more I realized how hard it is for majority of those youngsters to transition from high school to college study. 

This is a young lady that drives to school 25 min each way (sometimes more than once per day), has two part time jobs (any time she is needed because of a no show she jumps in the car and goes to work even if not scheduled), still volunteers at the local SPCA, on weekends comes to either take pictures of the "mutts" or throw ducks for us, helps with household work and still finds time to pet sit for the neighbors. And she is saving her money for DPT.

I am proud!

ETA - IF she keeps like this she will graduate magna cum laude, if she improves by just a couple digits she will graduate summa cum laude.


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

gdgli said:


> Too bad about the gun jamming. Blame the gunner?
> 
> How did you teach the triple? I am not doing triples yet with Thor.
> 
> I would think that the flier would give a lot of dogs trouble considering it was not the go bird. How did the other dogs handle this?


Normally we do a double and then after couple dogs we repeat by adding the go to as a third mark and then the 2 and 3 will be repeated as it was on the double before. 

The difference in the dogs was proportional with the maturity of the dogs. 

Well, the gunner apologized and we all felt bad.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Riot is growing fast! Lucy actually likes him and has excepted him pretty darn well. Not in our wildest dreams would we think that would be possible. But she has and what a relief!

Tomorrow is field class. I've dropped Lucy completely from class and switched to training Riot. He's fantastic! Makes some of the other older dogs look bad. His recall is excellent and he recalls on the whistle only. Now we're working on heeling either side. His heeling is improving but has a long way to go. He's got that pep in his step that makes him so much fun to work with. We're also working on steady. I have him sit and not eat out of his bowl until I say he can. He's pretty good. So this morning I took his bowl away while he was eating, had him sit, then put the bowl down and waited a moment until I released him to eat again. He was completely fine and didn't break. So we're getting there. I've tried it with toys, throwing them and telling him to sit. His eye sight is getting better and he can see further out. So this weekend we'll stretch him out a little further and see how he does.

Plus he's really cute and so so sweet. I mean really sweet. He will lay in my lap and fall asleep. And he's not a bitey puppy with humans at all.


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

Alaska7133 said:


> ... switched to training Riot. He's fantastic! Makes some of the other older dogs look bad.... He's got that pep in his step that makes him so much fun to work with.


I'm not at all surprised by this (and who says I'm strongly biased to the favor of field dogs : ).



Alaska7133 said:


> His eye sight is getting better and he can see further out. So this weekend we'll stretch him out a little further and see how he does.


Great! Stretch that little rascal out ... I bet he goes farther than you think he will!


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I forgot to mention last Wednesday's walk. I walk every Wed. with some forum members and our herd of goldens. It's a great time. This last Wed. towards the end, one woman asked how Riot's recall was. We were out on the trails in the dark. The dogs had lights hanging from their collars, none of us women had our headlamps on. I always walk with my whistle hanging around my neck. At that moment I could not see any of the dogs they were way far ahead. So I stopped and took out my whistle, and hit it 3 times. I didn't use my voice at all. Riot was the first dog back! He came and did a perfect front! I knew I was taking a huge chance by doing that with no way to follow up if he didn't come. But I didn't let that enter my mind, I just knew he would do it. And he did. You really can't beat that. In the dark. While playing with the other dogs out on the trail. Wow!


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Picking up a new truck tomorrow. Next step is to set it up to carry all my training equipment and dogs.


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

gdgli said:


> Picking up a new truck tomorrow. Next step is to set it up to carry all my training equipment and dogs.


What kind?


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Winter roadwork. Snow bikes aka fat bikes are the way to go on frozen marshes. Dogs love it!


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Claudia M said:


> What kind?


Toyota Tacoma


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Nice truck!


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

gdgli said:


> Toyota Tacoma


I'm jealous. That's what I want to get in a couple of years. You will have to let us know how you deck it out.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

hollyk said:


> I'm jealous. That's what I want to get in a couple of years. You will have to let us know how you deck it out.


Buying a cap today. Will be ready in 2-3 weeks. Meanwhile, I should be building a false floor.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Hope to train today. The snow will ruin everything.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

George,
So once you have your cap on your truck, how are you going to outfit the interior of the bed? One set up I saw had a wire crate on top of a drawer with storage to the side. What are you thinking?


----------



## NicoleGold (Dec 8, 2015)

gdgli said:


> Hope to train today. The snow will ruin everything.


We went out training this morning for the same reason. Supposedly getting 3 feet of snow by the end of tomorrow.... Might be a while before we can get out again.


----------



## Poppy2 (Jun 23, 2015)

gdgli said:


> Buying a cap today. Will be ready in 2-3 weeks. Meanwhile, I should be building a false floor.


I saw your post on rtf and that dudes false floor is lame! Raise those draws up 3" and you can store your guns under there. You can also get rid of those 2x12s and replace with 1x4 both top and bottom of your draws. Then add rails with wheels to pull draws out with one finger.


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Here lots of people build boxes with 2 drawers one for wingers one and the other drawer divided for other stuff. Crates on top with tie downs. 
What size cab did you get?


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

I got the Tacoma Double Cab with a 73" bed. I ordered ARE MX cap with windoors, tilt split window and rear window with double handles and roofrack. One rig that I saw in one of my clubs does have drawer slides as Poppy mentioned. 

Important for the Toyota is the tow package that includes seperate transmission cooler. That is a must because if the transmission line is cooled through the radiator you risk a big problem. Google strawberry milkshake in Toyotas.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Poppy2 said:


> I saw your post on rtf and that dudes false floor is lame! Raise those draws up 3" and you can store your guns under there. You can also get rid of those 2x12s and replace with 1x4 both top and bottom of your draws. Then add rails with wheels to pull draws out with one finger.


There are different designs. Perhaps his design suits his needs. It does look well thought out.


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

gdgli said:


> I got the Tacoma Double Cab with a 73" bed. I ordered ARE MX cap with windoors, tilt split window and rear window with double handles and roofrack. One rig that I saw in one of my clubs does have drawer slides as Poppy mentioned.
> 
> Important for the Toyota is the tow package that includes seperate transmission cooler. That is a must because if the transmission line is cooled through the radiator you risk a big problem. Google strawberry milkshake in Toyotas.


Good to know about the towing package.
We tend to keep our cars until they fall apart so I'm getting all the options this time around.


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Hmmm, plenty of room for 3 crates in the 73" bed.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

3 Holly? Do tell!


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Riot got stretched out in class today. Holy cow! At 14 weeks he's way ahead of most of the other dogs! He marks perfectly. He doesn't get distracted by the decoys that were all over. He doesn't care that is 15 degrees and the wind is howling. He's so much fun to watch. Doesn't drop his bumpers, runs in straight lines, doesn't mind the cover. So hey 40-50 yard marks he's great on. I know he's a baby dog, but he's a thinker, and it's fun to watch the wheels turn in his little head. I hope I'm getting a lot of his training solid before he goes through his teenager stage. Then things can fall apart I know. But in the meantime this puppy boy has been just a dream to train.


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Alaska7133 said:


> 3 Holly? Do tell!


Not me, George and his shiny new 73" bed.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

hollyk said:


> Not me, George and his shiny new 73" bed.


I can hardly wait to set it up. Cap should arrive in 2-3 weeks. 

PS Right now it looks like there is 2 feet of snow in the bed.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Great weekend training. I've been helping my friend with the show lab. I had her run Lucy a few times to get used to how a dog to leave and return with a bumper. How to line a dog up and look at the spine. All the details. Lucy was very good for her and did everything as asked. I remember what it was like to not only have to figure out how to train a dog but also how to figure out what was needed to run a hunt test. Kind of hard to do the first time with your first dog. So hopefully running Lucy will help her understand what is needed. Lucy has always been an excellent marker. So the first few times this weekend I ran her dog to show her how to line her up, whistle, and handle her back at the line. Then she ran her own dog and I think understood what needed to happen. We did work some hold. She's doing a good job. 

Had a great time with Riot. Oh my gosh he is awesome. Amazing what a top notch pedigree will do for you. It has been a joy to work with him. I'm very fortunate to have such a pup!


----------



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Trying to get back into training with Molly. No hard stuff, just happy stuff. We did go back to our group for the first time since the day she fell apart, and I asked everyone to cheer for Molly. She LOVED it and it really perked her up. 

Maise (she's Maisey but we call her Maise like the corn) is growing up. I can let her out of the car when we get home and not have to leash her up to get her in the house! She has run out onto the street before, zooming around like a crazy lunatic yelling "I'm free!" Thank goodness we live in a quiet area. She is also delivering to hand. FF is going well. She loves her small birds but I am embarrassed to admit I have not shown her a duck, dead or alive yet. Her mouth is still pretty small and even dokkens are too big for her. I'm going to go thaw one out one of these days. She's so much fun.


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Winter and I are also getting back in the swing of training. 
I have Maise's littermate Flyer and FF is going well for us too.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

How old are Flyer and Maise? I've been debating about when to start FF with Riot. He hasn't lost any teeth yet. Don't want to start too soon or too early???


----------



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

6 months. I did do a little bit of "hold" before she started teething.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I've been doing a little "hold" too. More encouragement when he doesn't drop the bumper. I'm hoping that "hold" is easy for him to grasp. I need to get to the pool and start working on water retrieves and getting him to hang onto the bumper when he comes out of the water. Easier to do with they are puppies!


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I know this isn't field related. But Lucy really has excepted the little guy and decided not to kill him. It was touch and go for the first couple of weeks. But I think we're all good now. Here they are laying under the office conference table. It won't be long and he will be bigger than her.


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Stacy, I had not planned on FF Flyer until he was a bit older.
My Pro is leaving in Feb. to head south to train and will be gone until May. He knew I was a little nervous with the thought of doing this with him so far away. ( I have only FF one dog 5+ years ago) So this fall, when he had a couple of dogs going though basics and I would arrive early to training days to watch him work with them. He would talk me though what he was doing and what he was seeing in the dog. It was a little Master class in FF. About three weeks ago after he was done working with a dog, he told me to go get Flyer. He checked out his mouth and said he thought we were fine as far as his mouth went for FF. We talked about it and he said that he would like to start Hold with him and see if Flyer was mental mature enough to start FF. So that day the Pro started Hold. He worked with Flyer because he wanted to be able to judge whether or not Flyer was ready to start this process. He likes to start puppies a little older. Fly was just fine with hold and I worked it for a week and then we went back down and moved into FF. If Flyer would not have been ready we would have stopped and waited a couple of months and I would have tried again. I actually almost chickened out and had the Pro put him through FF. He told me he would take him but that I would do just fine and the knowledge that I gained about who my puppy is, would be well worth it. This last week we moved to FF on birds and I have been either texting or talking to the Pro every day and I’m being quizzed about his momentum. He likes to be careful with pressure when you move to birds.
I should be finishing up FF this week and getting FlyBoy out marking. My plan is to mark him for about 3 months and let him mature before I move forward with handling.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Thanks for sharing your process Holly. I have Saturday classes I take with a pro. In class all the dogs are at different levels. So each week he works with each individual dog on hold, or FF, or pile work, or wherever the dog is at. So I've been watching each week and learned a lot. When Lucy was FF by a friend, I did video several of the sessions. Lucy was a completely different dog to FF than Riot will be I can tell already. The pro I work with does come into Anchorage most week days for his job. He has offered to work one on one with Riot when we are ready. DH may do the FF since he is far better reading dogs than I am. FF for me is so intimidating. I feel like I am not very good at reading dogs at all.

Yesterday I took off early and went with a friend to Potter Marsh before it got dark. We ran our dogs on a mark and a walk out blind. So with each dog we threw a mark in the reeds, then sent the dog to blind, then sent the dog to the mark. Nice little drill. So last came Riot. I shortened it all up. I walked him to the pile and kept it at about 25 feet away. I tossed the bumpers up in the air, said dead bird, let him retrieve one. Then walked him back to the line. My friend threw a bumper about 40 feet away and I sent Riot to retrieve. He came back all happy. So I turned him to the pile. He was confused and had forgotten I think. The pile was in the snow and I was using black/white bumpers so they were obvious to me. So I took a step forward towards the pile, said dead bird and did a throwing motion. The light went on in his head and he dashed off to the pile. He shopped a bit until he found the right bumper (there were only 3 in the pile). He came running back all happy. So I turned him back to the thrower and he did another retrieve. Then turned back to the pile. I did the same dead bird, took a step forward and said back. He went running to the pile. Happy dog! So we repeated that drill with Riot 3 times. He was so good! I can tell when we do FTP work he will happily go to the pile again and again (unlike another dog I know).


----------



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Maisey saw her first duck today and she LOVED it. She practically did somersaults in the air (she has springs for feet). It is really big for her mouth right now so we just went back to hold. I threw a few fun ones and she grabs it better when retrieving it than when I put it in her mouth.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Wrapping up the month on a high note with the pup. He turned 15 weeks today. We are definitely headed in a good direction. His recall is wonderful, verbal or whistle. His sits are nice. He understands double retrieves (short). He understands a walk out blind. He is happy to run through brush instead of going around. He is in great shape and enjoys running with the bikes on the trails. He does very well off leash. Good in the crate. Started working on "hold". Nice pup all around. Super biddable. 

Not so good walking on a leash. He's good until he sees or hears something he's interested in, then he pulls hard on the leash. His housebreaking is going a little slower than planned. We still have occasional accidents, usually my fault, but he's not good at letting me know he needs to go out. Need to get more solid on whistle sits.

So our goals for February are getting better on doubles and walk out blinds. Getting some "hold" work done. He's teething now. Get better on leash walking. Need to get him on a leash more often, my dogs are off leash almost all the time, which doesn't help. Need to get him returning to my side. Right now his fronts are super nice, but need him sitting at my side and looking out for the next bird. I also need to get him to the pool for some swimming retrieves. I'd like to get him to some show n gos. I'm not showing him, but I think standing in line with other dogs that might be in heat, that have treats like him, and need to learn to walk nicely on a thin lead/collar would be good for him. Learning to stand quietly as someone goes over him is a good thing for him to learn. We also will continue on with our field classes. Oh and continue to work on steadiness. So much to do!


----------



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Is it the norm to work steadiness at the line with puppies? I would think at this age it should be all about going. Steadiness will come later. Unless you're talking about sit stays in general.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Not at the line yet. I have all my dogs/puppies work on sitting until I say go. Whether it's waiting to put down the food bowls or at the front door. To me that's part of learning steadiness. At the line with bumpers, right now I'm holding him lightly and sending him as the bumper hits the ground. But as time goes on, I'm going to wait a little longer after the bumper hits the ground before sending and work farther and farther from that. DH and I believe that sit means sit until I tell you to do something else. For me that builds steadiness. I see it as a progression and it's all tied together. Riot is excellent at waiting at the door until I let him go (off leash). He's also excellent at waiting for me to release him to his food bowl to eat. All those things will help him sit calmly in the holding blind or at the line later on. I also work on "watch". Look at me before you do something. So I don't release the dogs to their bowls until they are looking at me.


----------



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

That makes much more sense, just different terminology. I just call it waiting, and we also practice sit means sit. So much that when I started to add the word "wait", Maise got confused. I thought about not using the word "wait" or "stay" at all, but I like to take advantage of that that extra "wait" or "stay" command we get to give in obedience when the judge says, "leave your dog" for the recall or group stay. Steadiness to me means steadiness at the line.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

wow stacey you are doing quite a bit with Riot. I'm glad you are having so much fun with him!!

And Viv, I didn't work on steadiness until 7 months really...


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

MOP,
But you did sit means sit until I tell you differently right? How about sitting at the door and waiting until I tell you to go through. Or waiting to load in the crate. You probably did the same thing I'm doing. In the past I waited until the pup was older, I didn't think they would understand at such a young age. This puppy I went a bit differently. DH told me just assume he knows what you mean and go from there. Be committed in your commands and don't make them a suggestion (I'm still working on that part).


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

I was different in that I was so concerned about momentum and confidence because I overdid with Katniss. Plus, Proof did everything I wanted. I am just not as strict on a ton of house stuff but I do have limitations and boundaries. I had him fairly steady at 7 months already but I started to get on him with force at seven months. before he would just not get to pick up a bird if he broke and that started as soon as he was pinning birds with great speed, around six months. I could ask Ben he'd remember better than me. There are things I do wrong I know, but there are other things I do right. So I don't try to judge everyone's methods for the most part. Unless they are utterly crazy, which I know a few of those.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

MOP,
Now you have me worried that I'm overdoing it on obedience. I don't want to loose momentum, but I don't want to have a crazy beast that is a pain at the line. Hmmm you have me thinking...


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

don't worry about me at all! Just do what you feel is right for your pup. Proof has a little too much momentum so I probably could have been a bit harder on him when he was a pup. BUT that dog had the best recall I've ever seen and he was just doing everything I asked so I didn't push him harder than he needed. I was very afraid of overdoing it. 

then one day a FT great saw me run him at 7 months and called out his window get his A$$ sitting on that mat! And that is what prompted me to get on him harder. He told me that with a dog like proof I didn't need to worry about momentum anymore. Only on dogs that crept out to retriever or acted shy. I doubt that is Riot, ha ha ha. I'm sure you are doing better than me!


----------



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

I think you can train house manners and not have it interfere with momentum in the field. I don't tell Maisey to sit at the line. She doesn't even know she's supposed to. I just hold her collar so she doesn't go until I let go, but I let her go RIGHT when that bird hits the ground. When she was *really* young, I actually let her go half a second before it hit the ground. She can heel and sit in general, but I don't ask for anything at all at the line. The only thing that matters is going.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

Yep at first I just let him go as the bird was falling and gradually made him wait longer and longer. 

And house manners do matter to me, I am just not super uptight about every detail. I did make Proof sit for his food and he would do it perfectly but after awhile I just gave it to him because heck, I'm running after my kids and doing stuff. But every so often I will make him sit and he will do it without hassle. Proof didn't chew really too much up, slept in his crate quietly when he was in it and didn't have many accidents. He was a pretty easy puppy to be honest. Still he is a good house dog.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Sounds like Riot and Proof are a lot alike. Riot's house manners matter a little more to me because he comes to work with us every day. So I can't have him being a pain around the office.

At the line I am still letting him go right as the bumper hits the ground. He's crazy fast to get the bumper and crazy fast to come back. He marks super well. I'll gradually hold him back a little longer and eventually not hold his collar. Even now though, I don't have to hold him back much, just very lightly. He's got it all figured out. I was pretty shocked this week when he ran those walk out blinds without any issue. Just a little help and he was on his way. This weekend I think we'll continue on that. I have been trying to send him from both sides. That's a lot harder for me to remember to do. 

I really hope I don't screw this puppy up! He's such a super puppy.


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

I remember at four months old I had Fisher doing an out-of-sight sit stay NEXT to his bowl of food on the ground. I'd leave him and walk out of the kitchen. Didn't have much impact on his steadiness  He was the King of Creep and broke in his fair share of tests 
Now my dogs have to jump around like idiots and actually DO STUFF for their dinner. No more food for sitting on your azz.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

ha ha, I can vouch for Anney's poor dogs!!! LOL LOL LOL!! She's SO mean to them...so mean. Proof said wow, mom, I'm so glad you are lazy not like their mom!


----------



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Maisey had another session with a duck today. I wanted to do a little bit of force with it but she was so excited for it that I couldn't get her to sit and wait. She's on the bird before I can say "fetch". I didn't want to turn it into a sit exercise and keep telling her no, off, sit, and possibly turn her off of the bird, so I only managed to get one force in and I called it quits. She does have a great sit and wait in other situations. We were doing this in the backyard and poor Molly was watching us from the bedroom French doors. She was whining and pawing at the glass and window blinds so I locked her out of the bedroom so she couldn't damage the blinds.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

So looking forward to having the snow melt. We all need to get back out to the field.


----------

