# Drifter



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

Shelly turned 3 years old a month ago so I think she is a year older than yours? Anyway, she was very very bad at fading with the wind and even now she can do it but over time she has gotten better. A lot of set ups where the wind puts them in a place of correction like a slope they square up behind the gunner. Water, would be drifting behind gunner and correcting for getting out too early. So I suppose over time she realized that if the wind pushes her she better be prepared for the consequences. Over time she outgrew it a lot more but still sometimes she lets herself go....Proof on the hand over compensates and will push too hard against the wind on water. 

What does she does when you kick her off a point into the wind? Will she go?


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

MillionsofPeaches said:


> Shelly turned 3 years old a month ago so I think she is a year older than yours?
> What does she does when you kick her off a point into the wind? Will she go?


 She's almost 3.
She'll take the cast off the point into the wind like a pro.


----------



## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Wind is often the factor with that affects dogs the most. Water can be tricky, often dogs can't tell where they are in water due to the surrounding terrain.
We do a cross wind drill with three single stand out marks. Run them so the dog is taking a little more cross wind with each one and sometimes progressively longer too. 
Long standout marks on a side hill with the wind and terrain both pushing the dog the same direction can help. Throw the mark uphill/upwind. The idea is that the dog will be consciously fighting the factors in route to the mark. Handle if the pup fades downhill.


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

SRW said:


> 1. Water can be tricky, often dogs can't tell where they are in water due to the surrounding terrain.
> 2. We do a cross wind drill with three single stand out marks. Run them so the dog is taking a little more cross wind with each one and sometimes progressively longer too.


1. Yep, that's why I've tried sight blinds, so she'll have a clear, definite destination (sight blinds have worked with my other drifters ... this dog's grandma was a drifter, but not quite as bad).
2. I do that drill, but it's usefulness is somewhat limited because the push off the line to the mark that she just ran helps her avoid drifting ... I believe that the push from that line hides her lack of effort to fight the wind.

How's Jake? Are there any trials to run in your circuit or does COVID still have them all shut down?


----------



## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

FTGoldens said:


> 1. Yep, that's why I've tried sight blinds, so she'll have a clear, definite destination (sight blinds have worked with my other drifters ... this dog's grandma was a drifter, but not quite as bad).
> 2. I do that drill, but it's usefulness is somewhat limited because the push off the line to the mark that she just ran helps her avoid drifting ... I believe that the push from that line hides her lack of effort to fight the wind.
> 
> How's Jake? Are there any trials to run in your circuit or does COVID still have them all shut down?


Maybe spread them out more or run the drill so that the push from old marks adds to the push of the wind?

Jake is doing great, thanks.
Not yet open on EE but Blackhawk trial is a go for June 4th. Open, Am and Derby, no Q this spring. Must be more derby dogs than Q dogs among club members.

Hoping to run both Open and Am if I can get away from work.

Anything scheduled in your area?


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

There's a trial with a Derby and an Open ... 
... mine are aged out of Derby and not ready for an Open!


----------



## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

FTGoldens said:


> There's a trial with a Derby and an Open ...
> ... mine are aged out of Derby and not ready for an Open!


Moving in the right direction at least. 
There will be a Q at the Tri-State Retriever club trial in Iowa, end of August. 
Not sure about the judges, enter at your own risk.


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

SRW said:


> There will be a Q at the Tri-State Retriever club trial in Iowa, end of August.
> Not sure about the judges, enter at your own risk.


Ha!
Have fun judging!


----------



## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

Still waiting here in MD. There is a double DQ scheduled for the June weekend of the 12th and 13th in VA. They are trying their best to get permits and wont cancel til the 1st of June. ( Day of closing on EE) After that I am waiting for a double DQ in the first part of August


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

bummed no amateur in Alabama next month but darn its gonna be soooo hot!


----------



## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

MillionsofPeaches said:


> bummed no amateur in Alabama next month but darn its gonna be soooo hot!


Enter the Open
I might avoid the heat but not the pros. You can learn a lot watching successful handlers and it's pretty cool if your dog shows that he belongs there, even if you don't place.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

SRW said:


> Enter the Open
> I might avoid the heat but not the pros. You can learn a lot watching successful handlers and it's pretty cool if your dog shows that he belongs there, even if you don't place.



Yeah I hear ya. My dog was the first dog to run the open two weeks ago at Tall Pines. I love the shot the club got of them together!


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

MillionsofPeaches said:


> Yeah I hear ya. My dog was the first dog to run the open two weeks ago at Tall Pines. I love the shot the club got of them together!


Um yes, and your other dog (whose color we won't discuss) earned an RJ in the Amateur with you at her side!
Congratz!


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

thank you! It was super exciting!!! I ran both in the amateur it was neat to have two to run for a change!


----------



## DaveVerbyla (Oct 28, 2019)

I like to start with simple "walk-around" water blinds on any windy day.
The idea is to condition pup to the expectation of a long swim directly into the wind... fighting the wind.
With pup, I plant an obvious bumper or 2 along a lake shoreline, then we circle back to the
opposite shore. Pup knows the bumpers are on the opposite shoreline, so pup is eager to go. Then a long swim directly into the wind, so pup eventually has a default behavior to fight the wind in water.

Some dogs seem to learn to enjoy a long swim fighting the wind to get that reward.
So the end of the blind should be obvious to pup.
I think a long swim is important because on blinds, I don't want pup to immediately smell a bumper and swim to it....only after a long swim will pup be smell the bumper.

After pup has been conditioned to a default behavior to a long swim directly fighting the wind,I think it is easier to teach pup to fight a crosswind. In this case, a tune-up type drill has worked for my dogs where each blind will be a cross-wind blind. I think repetition is important and pup seems to improve understanding after running 5-7 cross-wind water blinds in a tune-up drill. On blind 1 they may appear clueless and require lots of stop/cast, but by blind#7 it seems like they start to understand the crosswind concept.

It is easier for a dog to understand if the shoreline is close as they can understand the concept to fight the cross-wind and not to beach on the shoreline. Big open water cross-winds are more difficult for the dog to understand because there is no positional reference out in big open water.


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

Dave,

I like your idea of running some blinds directly into the wind ... it's something that I've not tried.

_'preciate_ the suggestion!


----------



## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

FTGoldens said:


> Dave,
> 
> I like your idea of running some blinds directly into the wind ... it's something that I've not tried.
> 
> _'preciate_ the suggestion!


The first time my most experienced training mentor set up a blind into the wind I thought he had lost his marbles. It was one of the many training days when I learned more than the dogs.
It can be a huge confidence builder for a young dog to fight the wind for a good distance then wind the blind near the end.


----------



## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

Sometimes I don’t have a choice but to run into the wind because of the way our training grounds are set up with the sun, time of day, wind direction etc. I used to hate running into the wind but gradually turned it into a positive. Yesterday was one of those days, 25 mph winds, had to train earlier in the day and wind blowing straight in. It was great for the pup doing long marks and the 3 yr old doing extra long blinds into the wind.


----------



## DaveVerbyla (Oct 28, 2019)

I think it is important with youngsters not to tire them out running too many water blinds directly into the wind.
I often start with one long water blind into the wind and call it success and quit. Gradually they get stronger
and stronger with more endurance for big swims, but too much too soon may be counterproductive in terms of fatigue and water attitude. I also use an aquarium thermometer and want the water temperature above 60F...water is typically the warmest in late afternoon.


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

DaveVerbyla said:


> I think it is important with youngsters not to tire them out running too many water blinds directly into the wind.
> I often start with one long water blind into the wind and call it success and quit. Gradually they get stronger
> and stronger with more endurance for big swims, but too much too soon may be counterproductive in terms of fatigue and water attitude. I also use an aquarium thermometer and want the water temperature above 60F...water is typically the warmest in late afternoon.


Good points. 
This mutt is not really a youngster, turning 3 years old in the not too distant future. Endurance shouldn't be much of a problem since she is accustomed to our pond/lake, which has 200 yard swims in just about every direction ... nonetheless, I'll keep an eye on that. 
Our water temp around here is rarely too cold for training except December - February, and even then we can have warm spells where the water temp is acceptable. In this area, heat is a bigger issue that cold.
I'm hoping that the wind picks up soon so I can start with the new plan!


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend.

Over the last few days I've had a handful of opportunities to run water blinds into the wind. On the first one, "The Drifter" didn't do a bad job and stayed fairly close to on-line for the entire distance with only a few handles; the other mutt, however, required A TON of whistles ... and this was on a sight blind! On subsequent blinds, they both got a little better.
Yesterday, we had a strong wind out of the east, so I set up a cross-wind sight blind to see if The Drifter was any better. Well, she seemed to be slightly better, however she still drifted twice as much as the other one. So, there's improvement, although slight!
I'll keep working on it ... stuff like this takes time to learn, after which it takes time to ensure retention.

And it's entirely possible that at a trial, I'll just have to _*play my slice!*_

FTGoldens


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

well, you never know, maybe all this repetition will help. Indeed its been very windy these last two weeks! Lucky opportunity for you guys!


----------

