# Hunt and Field Training Plans for the Week of April 22-28



## ashleylp (Jul 23, 2011)

I have a confession to make: we slacked on training a bit these last two weeks . Unfortunately school and work got SUPER busy for the both of us and training got pushed to the wayside. HOWEVER... we went to our club training day today and Remy did the best he's ever done. I don't know if he just really missed it, or what... but his head was in the game today! We ran two land singles, one very straightforward about 150 yards which was a breeze, and one shorter (about 100 yards) but in heavy cover. He's never had a bird land in heavy cover before so he was a little thrown off, but still got the bird without help and retrieved.

Later we did two water marks. Instead of standing where the more experienced dogs/trainers had their mat, we moved to a spot closer to the middle of the pond so Remy would be less likely to cheat. The pond has a peninsula. First bird was thrown a little ways from the shore (on land) and Remy entered the water beautifully, but got to the peninsula and cheated. He got the bird and swam all the way across on the way back... didn't cheat! Second bird was thrown and Remy did great! Didn't cheat and seemed to enjoy the cool water.

What I am most proud of, however, was his intense concentration. Today was the first time that I attempted to bring him to the line without a lead, and not hold his collar to keep him steady. The first mark he did he lunged but I was able to correct and get him focused and steady before releasing him. Every other mark he did GREAT at! His recall was beautiful and he brought the bird to hand after heeling at my side.

I'm sorry if it seems like I'm bragging...  I just WAS NOT expecting him to do well whatsoever today because I've been such a slacker these past two weeks. Once again, he makes me look good. We are pretty much out of hunt test season down here but our club president told me that if I keep up the good work he should be ready to run senior in the fall and skip juniors entirely. It's encouraging to hear that but I'm already nervous!


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Got out for a nice training session today with a small group of friends. One pair just got back from a winter trip to FL so it was good to get out with them and see their dogs again! Ran six dogs through 2 setups of 3 marks and 2 blinds.

Anney, recognize anyone?


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Hey! Thanks for the pic Shelly. How did he get those short little legs!! Probably the same place Slater got em! At least I recognize the tongue  I didn't get to see Joe & Gail when they were down here.


----------



## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

We took Tag out today and I too have a confession to make. It was the first time Tag has seen a bird thrown by a gunner in the field. (My bad) However, it's hard, especially in the winter when days are short and other people work to get help. I have been doing a lot of marks in our cow pasture, letting Tag run out ahead then shooting the popper gun and throwing opposite where he is so he gits a longer run. 

So, back to today, he was in a word...AWESOME! I can really see how force fetching helps mouth habits. He did drop the pigeon once and start sniffing (darn sniffing), but after a little "discussion" he didn't drop a bird again! He went out fast, came back fast, sat at my side and delivered to hand. At first, he hunted short (about what the marks in the field were) but he lined out nicely and pegged each subsequent mark. Plus, he is so darn cute and really growing up nice. The neighbors wife took some pictures. If she got any good ones, I'll post them.

Edit to add: This was his first time with a live shot bird. I think that is why he spit it out that first retrieve.


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

*Seasoned Pass*

Winter ran as test dog on Saturday for my club's Spring Hunt Test. 
She did alright, so a friend offered to run her Gracie as test dog today so Winter could enter and she passed. WooHoo.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Woohoo  Congrats!! 

You can enter the day of a test?



hollyk said:


> Winter ran as test dog on Saturday for my club's Spring Hunt Test.
> She did alright, so a friend offered to run her Gracie as test dog today so Winter could enter and she passed. WooHoo.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Training this week will be tough. We have the Nor'easter bringing us bad weather for the week. When there is a break in the weather, I will run to the park to do some drills. We are working on casting drills right now.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Sunrise said:


> Woohoo  Congrats!!
> 
> You can enter the day of a test?


You can in HRC if the club is accepting day of entries and the stake is not full.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

K9-Design said:


> Hey! Thanks for the pic Shelly. How did he get those short little legs!! Probably the same place Slater got em! At least I recognize the tongue  I didn't get to see Joe & Gail when they were down here.


Well, the Crashman did a terrific job yesterday. Ran the same big, complex blinds as the three Master dogs and did a great job of them.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

gdgli said:


> Training this week will be tough. We have the Nor'easter bringing us bad weather for the week. When there is a break in the weather, I will run to the park to do some drills. We are working on casting drills right now.


Nasty weather socking in here today as well--looks like it will be Wednesday before we get a break in it. *Snow* dammit!


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Yay Winter!  Way to go!
Around here, HRC Started and Seasoned never fill. Finished always does. So you can generally do day of test entries at the 2 lower levels here.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

A nice series of pictures taken by one of the other folks out training with us yesterday. Go Bon-bon!


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Cool pictures!!


----------



## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

Cool pics! Love seeing them launch like that.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

great photos Shelly! She's lovely!


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Actually did some field training today, mainly because Kristin and I had to go out and clean the duck pen, a totally awesome job if anyone wants to come and help us next time! It's as fun as painting fences!

Anyways we set up just a wide open triple with three holding blinds out there, no cover. Weather was perfect, 72º sunny and a moderate wind. Marks right to left, pick em up, a blind between R and middle mark, blind left of L mark between two large trees. Fisher, Sophie and Millie stepped on their marks, Slater got a little too close to an old fall hunting for the last one so I stopped him and had the gunner help. He was downwind of it and I kept expecting him to scent it...we used bumpers and I think had we used birds he would have. Anyways Fisher one whistled both blinds, Slater lined the left blind and I think 3 or 4 whistles on the longer right blind. Quick and productive!


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Oh the past two weeks I have been working on 2-tiered wagon wheel with Slater and his adjustments and focus on lining up for the blinds today was markedly improved, which made me very happy.


----------



## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

My big lovely field is all torn up so I have not had a chance to do any really long marks with BaWaaJige. I just go t permission to use a different field but I really dont like it it is very flat my other field had a small hill so you could work on different depth perceptions for marking. Oh well have to use what I have I did find another field that I like I need to find out who owns it so I ask if I work on it it has a small pond on it.

Working on being steady, and his single marks. I would like to get him to come back a little faster but that can take a back seat for awhile. It should be nice here so saturday I hope we can go to the lake and do some water marks.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I think that habits are easier to prevent than to break. I would not let the slow return take a back seat. JMO. 



General V said:


> I would like to get him to come back a little faster but that can take a back seat for awhile. It should be nice here so saturday I hope we can go to the lake and do some water marks.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

We have a very interesting training session scheduled for Dan's today. He is having the 3 of us that normally have consecutive lessons all show up at once, and we will do a 3 hour (!) group lesson instead. 
I'm really looking forward to this!


----------



## KathyG (Nov 21, 2011)

hotel4dogs said:


> We have a very interesting training session scheduled for Dan's today. He is having the 3 of us that normally have consecutive lessons all show up at once, and we will do a 3 hour (!) group lesson instead.
> I'm really looking forward to this!


Where's the 'jealous' button? Have fun.

Kathy


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

That sounds awesome  And more test like too!



hotel4dogs said:


> We have a very interesting training session scheduled for Dan's today. He is having the 3 of us that normally have consecutive lessons all show up at once, and we will do a 3 hour (!) group lesson instead.
> I'm really looking forward to this!


----------



## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

That's awesome Barb! Whenever I go to the pro I try to go with a friend and I learn so much more that way. Training approach varies somewhat with each dog so it is cool to see the different approaches and watch the other dogs progress. Plus it gives some break time between doing stuff rather than running the dog for an hour straight.


----------



## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

I dont know how to get him to come back faster. I am not using an e-collar does anyone have any ideas on what wold make him come back faster? Right now he runs out to the mark but he lopes back. At home he runs faster when I run him and Vendetta side by side. Vendetta is a fast girl and he tries to keep up with her.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

So Barb, how did it go ????? Inquiring minds would like to know 



hotel4dogs said:


> We have a very interesting training session scheduled for Dan's today. He is having the 3 of us that normally have consecutive lessons all show up at once, and we will do a 3 hour (!) group lesson instead.
> I'm really looking forward to this!


----------



## KathyG (Nov 21, 2011)

General V said:


> I dont know how to get him to come back faster. I am not using an e-collar does anyone have any ideas on what wold make him come back faster? Right now he runs out to the mark but he lopes back. At home he runs faster when I run him and Vendetta side by side. Vendetta is a fast girl and he tries to keep up with her.


Even as babies ( 8 weeks) we teach hall way doubles so they always know there is another retrieve. Maybe he is loping because he doesn't want to give it up? You could try just swinging another bumper as he comes in to encourage him.

Or you work on walking fetch on leash, fetch..heel and it should be fast to avoid a collar pop. Don't nag!!!!!

The longer you let him take his time to return, the harder to fix. Plus, when there are four birds on the ground, the more memory he is wasting.

Kathy


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Sooooo, we ran as Seasoned test dog last Saturday at my HRC Club's Hunt Test and then ran officially on Sunday for a pass.
I'm pretty sure that even though we passed it we were not quite ready. 
Here are a few things that we need to work on and a couple we did well.
Winter is very steady on walk-ups and diversions so no problem. Land blinds at the Seasoned distance were not a problem.
Marks, when multiples fly right to left, I can push her and we are fine, at least in HRC where I can talk to my dog at the line. But when I need to pull her left to right, not so great. 
On Saturday, both the Land and Water marks were right to left, and it was a bit tough for us. Water marks the winger noise and big splash let us get it done. On Land she never saw the Go bird, so we picked up the Memory bird first, and I lined her up for the Go and sent her. Winter took and line and held it out to the AOF and beyond (needed to get on that whistle sooner), I whistle sat her, called her back to the bird and she picked it up. 
There is great gal with Golden's from Canada who has been down training in the area for the past few weeks. After Winter ran and I was once again thinking "when will this dog learn to swing", Kathy came up to me and said "Your girl certainly trusts you, she did not see that bird go down and she ran that line you gave her a with confidence, not bad for a dog you say is not ready for Senior", maybe that's why you need training partners, perspective and encouragement.
Saturday's water blind was straight across a pond and I think I had 2 or 3 whistles, we were asked to challenge the line and we did so.

On Sunday, both series were thrown right to left and Winter picked them all up without a handle.
Sunday's blind was tough for us. It was a shoreline blind and we haven't run a shoreline blind before. Winter scalloped her way all the way out but she responded to every whistle. I was worried at the end that she might lose confidence and collapse in, because her scallops were covering less ground and there were a lot of whistles. So I let her get out of the water with about 7 feet to go and then handled her to the bird. As I was leashing her up the Judges told me that I passed the water blind but they thought that I gave up a little at the end (which I did) and they thought with one more whistle she might have winded it.

I don't think I will be entering any Hunt Test for a while. Winter needs to swing better and I really need to do formal water blind work and give her lots of different pictures. I was happy to see all the time we have put into running land blinds is starting to payoff and she just might be becoming a confident blind running dog.


----------



## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

Anybody heard from Barb. I am starting to worry about Tito???


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

One of them turned out to be one of your judges from the finished test last weekend, Dean. Nice, nice, nice guy. Did I mention he's a nice guy? The other was Dave, who you know, also a very nice guy.



KathyG said:


> Where's the 'jealous' button? Have fun.
> 
> Kathy


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Holly, congratulations on the pass!! Way to go!!!


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Training was good yesterday. There were 3 of us with 3 dogs. Me, Dave (who has trained here with me) and a guy named Dean who apparently is in charge of making sure the running rules for HRC don't get violated, and is an HRC finished judge. Very, very nice guy. They both have young (about 18 months old) black labs. All 3 dogs are at about the same level.
Tito once again did wonderful water marks, doubles, and blinds. Swam a really nice channel mark which involved one channel 10 feet wide x about 40 feet long, then a patch of land about 20 feet long, then another channel about 15 feet wide x 100 feet long. Tito who didn't even THINK of cheating the bank. 
Then we moved to another field, and did a "triple walkup" which meant 3 handlers/dogs at once doing the walk up, not 3 birds going down, lol. All 3 dogs did well with that, although both labs (high octane dogs, both of them) needed some collar corrections. 
Next Dan had the 2 labs each run 3 finished level blinds, which took quite a while because the blinds were very, very hard. He didn't want Tito to run them before the marks, because we are concerned about his attitude on the doubles and Dan was afraid that if I got into a battle with him on the blinds it would cause a problem on the marks.
Then we ran marks, started with a couple of difficult singles. I was pleased, Tito stepped on all of them. Dan said we need to start challenging him more on singles, these were hard but he said it's obvious he's capable of much more. 
Ok, on to the *issue*, the double. The memory bird was one of the singles we had already run, plus the bird that had been the walk-up before as the go-bird. That was a short little mark, only about 20 yards away from the running line. The memory bird was about 80 yards out. 
He had Dave hand-throw the go-bird, and used a live duck with its wings taped. 
So he launched the memory bird, had one of his assistants out behind the holding blind out there in case Tito needed help. Dave blew the duck call and fired the shot for the go-bird, and gave it a toss.
WELL that duck hit the ground running!!! Dave and Dan both later said they'd never seen a duck run like that, only pheasants do that. I sent Tito, and within about 2 seconds both bird and dog had vanished into the tree line that was only a few feet away. 
I went to whistle him in, and Dan said not to because he had to go see where he was first, there were some unsafe areas over there. So he took off after dog, dog was after bird. After what felt like about 1/2 hour (and was probably 2 minutes or less) he found Tito, who was in the creek among the trees, in mad pursuit of a wildly swimming duck. He called Tito back, along a safe route. There were lots of boulders, downed trees, and broken fencing all over there. 
Tito was soaking wet and having the time of his life. He LOVED the chase, it's his favorite thing to do. 
Dan also said not to be mad at him, he had done nothing wrong. He was chasing down a running cripple, and was very intent on catching it. He said that's just good hunting instinct, and Tito did stop when Dan called him back. I was scared for his safety, whereas Tito thinks we need to run lots more marks like that one.
Well at that point there was obviously no way in heck Tito would remember where that memory bird had gone down! So Dan tossed a couple of birds for him just to get his mind off the live bird, which Tito obviously knew was still out there, and then we put him back in the truck and ran the other 2 dogs on their marks, which took about 1/2 hour. Then we got Tito back out, and ran a double with him. Dan moved the marks because he didn't want Tito heading anywhere near the direction he had been going in when the live bird took off. It was a very easy double, the go-bird was hand thrown about 30 yards out, and the memory bird was about 80 yards out thru some cover changes. Tito HAD NO PROBLEM! It was easy, but he did fine and didn't show the attitude issue we've been trying to work thru. Then a few singles just because Dan rarely finishes on a double.
Finally, off for some water doubles and singles. They were also easy doubles, and all 3 dogs did well.
All in all, a good day. Tito sure thought so!


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

nope, I didn't sell him or kill him. Just tempted, but didn't.



Radarsdad said:


> Anybody heard from Barb. I am starting to worry about Tito???


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Whoeee  Sounds like Tito had a blast. 

I hope the duck safely finds his way home and/or the tape releases from being wet.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I'm guessing the tape will quickly release, his feet weren't taped at all, just a little masking tape around his wings and a few flight feathers pulled.


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

I wonder why Dan essentially threw a wipeout bird when you are concentrating on a problem with memory birds? Short live flyer is sure to make him forget a memory bird. Or was he trying to elicit the behavior problem?


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Yes, he was trying to see if it would cause the behavior so that we could address it if it did. The test he failed had involved a live flyer wiping out the memory bird....


----------



## KathyG (Nov 21, 2011)

hotel4dogs said:


> One of them turned out to be one of your judges from the finished test last weekend, Dean. Nice, nice, nice guy. Did I mention he's a nice guy? The other was Dave, who you know, also a very nice guy.


Did he tell you about my very naughty red head???

Good luck today! Pouring rain right now and the high in the 40's with 20 mph winds. Awwww, dog sports!

Kathy


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Didn't end up getting much training in this week. We are doing foluffy dog this weekend--one of the few local UKC shows so I had Breeze and Butch there today with a friend's dog, Severn, who got BOB in both shows to finish her U-CH. We are back tomorrow to see if I can get Breeze finished!

Aside from the baby-puppy craziness (they are HUGE for two weeks!), the other wrench in the training works this week was a work opportunity. Two library headships came up, and I decided to go for it--so had interviews and all that stuff, but I ended up getting one so I will be at a new school in September running the library. New wrench--our National plans--I cannot very well be taking a weeks leave one week into a new school year in a new position...


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Back from our SH test.
The weather was just plain miserable. It was raining, windy, and very cold. Just dismal, all day.
The land series wasn't bad. The memory-bird was a walk-up with a hidden gunner, about 45 yards out. The go-bird was a shot flyer about 75 yards out, which fell just over the crest of a small hill. Well, more of a swale than a hill. If it hadn't been for the rain, it would have been easier. 
I was so pleased that Tito stepped on both birds. With the problems we've been having with the memory bird, that just totally made my day regardless of what else happened.
The blind was 85 yards out (according to the judge), over some very small rises in the ground, in moderate cover, but smack in the middle of the field with nothing to run to or aim the dogs at. 
Tito LINED the blind! He took THE most perfect line, it was as if he knew right where it was. Not the slightest scallop or waver off the line, just straight to the bird. There was a serious crosswind, so for him to continue straight the whole way was simply amazing. When he picked it up HE GOT A STANDING OVATION FROM THE GALLERY!!!! (before he even came back...dangerous!)
So on to the water  Tito prefers water, so I was feeling mildly confident. Until I saw the water. 
The go-bird was a short mark, about 35 yards out, thru sucking mud, heavy cattails, weeds, and some splashing water. Tito loves water...but HATES mud. It was off to our left, encouraging lots of cheating by the sharp angle. 
The memory bird strangely enough was the shot flyer, and it was the money bird. It was directly across from us, probably almost 100 yards out, but it was thru the weeds, then water, then out onto a chunk of land, then thru more water, then thru more weeds, then 20 yards out on land up a hill. WOW. 
So Tito plodded thru the mud to pick up the go-bird, and it was clear he wasn't happy about it but he found it quickly and came back (slowly) with it, picking his way thru the muck. He looked like a black lab by the time he came back. I turned him toward the memory bird, and he told me that after running thru all that muck he wasn't really sure where it was, although he had some idea. So when he veered off the line, since I hadn't handled on any other marks, I sat him and handled him to the bird. Took about 6 whistles to get him there. 
(warning....very major brag coming....skip over it if you are tired of hearing me brag about this dog). 
When he was on the way back, one of the judges said to me, and I quote pretty exactly, "nice, nice, nice, nice handling dog. I can't say enough about how impressed I am with the way he handles. He is the best handling dog I've seen in a very long time". 
Of course it was hard to turn toward the blind with my chest puffed out so far, LOL, but I managed. The blind was mostly straight thru some weeds etc., but it was a floater so once they got thru the weeds it was clear sailing the rest of the way. He came back with it, and I collected my congratulations from the judges. 
So he did get a pass today. I was very pleased with him. (caveat...the memory bird on land was short, and his issue seems to be on long memory birds on land, but I was thrilled anyway).
After lunch at the clubhouse they did the ribbon ceremony. When I went up to get his ribbon, the judge said to the club people standing around, "if you want to see a really nice handling dog, you need to watch this dog run". Once again, my chest puffed way out! 
I did look at his score sheet. He got all 10's from both judges on the land series. He got mostly 10's and a few 9's on the water, except he got a 6 from each judge on "marking" because I had to handle him to the second mark.
Of the dogs that went to water (I believe 14 of them), only 2 didn't have to be handled to that second mark so I didn't feel bad at all about it.


----------



## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Huge CONGRATULATIONS Tito and Barb!!!


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Yay Barb & Tito  Sounds like Team Tito showed them what a Golden can do!!

Oh, you must have looked wonderful out there - I wish I could have seen you working together!


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

There were several goldens running in senior today, and other than 1 eating the bird (! ! !) they did a great job. It was a golden day today!


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Way to go Barb and Tito!


----------



## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Wow congrats!


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

WTG BARB and TITO

BTW I almost typed "Toti" which is a funny name


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Well today our club had a "seminar" with a field trial pro. The title of the seminar was "integrating marks and blinds" which I thought had potential, so Kristin and I drove together and we both had just auditing spots. 
Well there were some interesting tidbits to be had but overall, they did two setups, land and water, and it was WAY OVER the heads of 95% of the dogs there. Basically they were derby doubles with a 300 yard land blind (no blind on water???). ONE of the working dogs got the land without help. I have NO idea why he purposefully set up a field trial type scenario for this HRC hunt test club. It was frustrating to watch.
After seeing about 5 dogs struggle mightily on the water setup, I took Slater over to a pond elsewhere on the property and had Kristin throw some cheating singles, which I was quite pleased he did perfect on, so hey, that was productive.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Congrats Barb!


----------

