# Hunt and Field Training Plans for the week of May 20-26



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I can't believe we're already to the end of May. Where does the time go? It's downright scary.

Anyway, what's everyone training this week? I think Tito will have the week off. I'm crazy busy this week, and Dan is out of town for the Grand. I may try to get Tito up to the cold pond on Tuesday, but more just for fun than for training. Although I guess if I'm going to go, I could probably add a few training concepts in there. Maybe an easy water triple. 
My training partner's dog has a nasty eye infection. He thinks he may have picked it up in some of the really bad water around here.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Hopefully more swim-by but Scout's got a cut on her neck...I think from our hike and a barbed wire fence so might not want to put that in dirty water


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

I feel like I stole sumthin but ---- I found a really awesome pond to train in ---- and hopefully we'll go this week and train there


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

K9-Design said:


> I feel like I stole sumthin but ---- I found a really awesome pond to train in ---- and hopefully we'll go this week and train there


Drool...ponds are so hard to find!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

especially ponds without gators...


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Well yesterday was a not so great day. Friend brought his box launchers--the kind used for flushing dogs, so they do not launch real high--and another friends brought ducks. I was going to run a double, but I wasn't sure how well Scout would mark on those launchers since they scarcely launch much higher than hip length do not have an attention quack, and the cover was really, really tall and thick. She sailed right past the mark for both box launchers and while I hated to do it with no help at the launchers and the suspicion that she was blinking the bird I handled her to both marks. In retrospect I question whether or not she was really blinking the bird...some people thought so...but she is not used to those launchers and she was not using her nose but her eyes after coming off a winter training on dead, short, flat vegetation. The mark that was hand thrown did not have these problems either. And as a friend mentioned...she hasn't had blinking problems before that we've noted at the last few tests or training days. Anyway, stewing over it because I know she's capable and not sure what happened. Will discuss with the pro. On the positive end she ran a really beautiful blind after the marks that was very in-line with a Senior test mark...if only she had handled the marks better....

In other news they shaved her cut today at the vet. Why must they shave it to look at it? Anyway, she's fine and I have permission to keep putting her in the water for training so swim-by resumes tomorrow. Can't wait for the next step now that I have been given some better direction from the pro.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Yahoo another great day of swim-by! I did as my pro suggested and at the over pile I cast her back into the water by throwing a bumper and using low continuous. Worked like a charm for the most part. Once she had the bumper though she angled right back into the shore and swam by the shore. So the next time I threw the bumper I raced down to the exit point to emphasize the correct exit point and she did great. Tomorrow I'm going to throw a second bumper at the exit point to keep her rolling and if she does that great might try it without the second bumper throw, but probably keep the first throw, then if that goes well the next day phase out that too. It's coming along.

What I can't believe though is someone who posted a video of their swim-by and being nearly done with it by day 7. Crikey! That's not me...although I can see where my next dog might progress faster just because I will have more experience under my belt.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Lise did you do a "run by" on land drill before starting swim by?
Also I teach the swim by first sitting them at the left over (no bumper pile), throwing a bumper to the right over pile then casting over. Repeat without throwing the bumper but they already know the pile is there at the right over so no problem swimming to it.
Honestly if your dog is well prepared (and a thorough T and run-by on land makes them VERY prepared) I can see getting through swim by in 7 days, especially if you did 2 sessions a day.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

No I didn't do anything on the land first. As far as sitting on the left over and throwing a bumper to the right over my pond is a little large for me to be able to do that. I know it is bigger than ideal, but it is what I have to work with.


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

We just had a long weekend. Friends came down from Ottawa (it was my biorthday and one of the other friend's birthday over the weekend) so we had a dog training/birthday party weekend! It was great to get that multi-handler/multi-dog thing going. Breeze did really well on Saturday's setups, and then went to pieces on the concept we worked on Sunday morning. So in the afternoon I did her water marks as singles to build her back up. Monday we did some water blinds before they all hit the road for the 6+ hour trip home.
Bonnie did good work all weekend, and was such an honest little thing even on some fairly cheaty water marks. We went to our swimby pond after everyone left, and added the stop en route without issue. It is supposed to thunderstorm later today so not sure if we will be able to safely get a session in tonight. But she gets the back pile and stopping and casting back with good momentum, so we will be adding in the overs this week, likely on our next session for the first one. Her mom just "got" swimby after her TT and disciplined casting work and she seems to be the same way.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

happy birthday Shelly!


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Bon-bon swimby update--she was driving hard to the back pile, so I taught her the right over on Wednesday and last night added in the left over. She is even getting right back in the water after picking up the over bumpers and not attempting to run the bank back to me. Yeah Bonnie!!!

Then took Breeze down to the luxury subdivision (it has its own lake and not very many houses yet) where I set up two past-a-point-to-a-deeper-point blinds for her. I gave her a fairly generous corridor on both of them and will go back on the weekend and rerun them but closer to the shore and temptation!


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## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

I am still having some issues with Jige not plowing into the water and going out past a certain distances. I have gotten him up to about 25yds which is alot better than it was a few weeks ago. I have been taking him out almost everyday working on building his distance and his confidence.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Still working on swim-by here but I feel really close. Now that all the pieces are falling into place I understand how people can get through this drill quickly, but hey it is my first time so give me some credit. Plus I think my pond is probably twice as long as ideal :/ Anyway, doing nice swim-by with me hardly moving as long as I identify the over pile before casting back into the water. Tried without identifying but she came into the bank...but I also think I should have stood farther down the shore and when I tried that it was much better but I ended up tossing one into the pile about halfway through as she started to break down. Also identified that our right over is the weak area...she's great at going left over and I can just stand at the center and cast her left and she goes...right over she breaks down and angles toward shore.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

I am getting ready for my trek north to Ohio, I leave on Tuesday. I'll be there til the end of June. First weekend is Bridget Carlsen seminar in NY, next two weekends are HTs at Hambden, then the last week is the two day specialty in PA. I took the plunge and entered Slater in the two master tests at Hambden.
If they are straight forward he should do OK. I don't expect to pass but I think it will be a good experience. He is doing some things GREAT and others its obvious I need a lot more work, but we're getting there. 
Slater's blinds are coming along. Honestly I don't know if the dog suffers from great training or he is just that smart, but the past few weeks I have thrown all kinds of blind concepts at him and he eats them up, especially in the water. Granted they haven't been with a lot of suction from marks but I can only work on so much. I finally started cracking down on cast refusals, giving him only one chance to take the right cast before sit-nick-sit and demanding precise literal casting. I was a little nervous to bite at that but he has really improved.
I firmly believe that Mitch White's decheating regimen is pure genius. I did NO decheating with Slater AT ALL until March. Yes, almost 3 years old, Senior title and no decheating. Once we started we have not looked back. I can now do cheating singles with him with AMAZING precision and confidence. He ran his first true channel blind last week (VERY narrow channel....about 8 yards across and 50 yards long)...with a 25 yard entry cold blind down the channel he nailed the entry and lined it. Never ran a channel blind before....it's totally the dog thinking, OK, gotta get in straight and there's only one good way to do it so guess what, I'm doing it.
On Tuesday I upped the ante. I trained at a small oval pond. Set up a bumper pile on the shore, in the middle of one of the long sides (it was probably 20 yards back from the shore). Ran about 6-7 lines to it from various points of the pond, working on different angles and levels of difficulty, and Slater was perfect. On the last send he was cutting a very narrow slice of the corner, probably 3-4 yards of water he had to take. He was perfect sending from my side. Next time I sat him about 20 yards from the shore, and walked back another 20 yards or so, and casted him back. Honest as he is, he started to cheat around the shore. I let him commit, stopped, HERE-nick-nick-nick until he was back at his starting point. I stopped him, repeated the cast, he spun around and LEAPT into the water and straight to the blind! WOW I repeated it from even further back and he took even more water, it was wonderful.
After a rest I set up another pile, this time close to the corner on a short side of the pond. I sat Slater on the long side so the correct cast was a straight back but he needed to get in the water and swim down the shore. This is something he has never done (shoreline cast into the water). The first time, I left him on seated on the shore, I walked about 20 yards down the shore, and when I turned around to give him the cast he WHINED. Silent back cast, he took a sideways leap into the water, dug back and swam a perfect line 3 yards off the shore to the pile!!! 2nd time I sat him this time about 30 yards from the pile, I was at the opposite end of the pond, same cast and same result, no hesitation got in the water and swam down the shore. Last thing I did was sit him in front of me on the opposite short end of the pond from the pile, casted back, he entered the pond at the perfect spot and swam down the shore. I was thrilled!!!! One of those "You need to know this buddy so sure hope you understand what I want from you" and NO DOUBT he knew EXACTLY what was expected!


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Anney, did you post a thread on that de-cheating regime? Sounds like it works awesome!


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