# April 2013 Field



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Thanks for starting the thread!
We are taking the week off again, well, I do hope to get to Dan's on Thursday. But we have agility trials Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the last of them until the fall, so I need him ready to take the agility ring by storm this weekend  .


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Yes spring is coming finally. We still have plenty of snow and still below zero a lot of nights, but our days are now longer than those of you in the lower 48. We can get snow until the end of May and beyond, but I'm hoping not this year.

Which new agility titles are you interested in?

I threw bumpers yesterday, but neither of mine were interested. They just wanted to roll in the newly formed mud puddles on the edges of the snow in my yard. It's either mud puddles or snow too deep to throw bumpers into. Our training group uses oil of anise on the bumpers to get the dogs interested in the smell. It works pretty well. But not yesterday. They looked at me like I was crazy. How could I possibly pass up a good mud puddle for rolling in! So after 3 throws a peice and no interest, I put the bumpers away and called it a day. Silly dogs. The melting snow is uncovering frozen moose poop piles in the yard, so they are pretty distracted. I wish I knew how to get their attention.


----------



## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Having someone else throw marks is SO much more exciting for the dog than tossing them yoursef. Conner always thought me throwing bumpers was the most boring thing in the world. Get someone out there throwing marks at a distance, and he suddenly remembered he's a retriever! Of course after the dog has been through force fetch I don't care how boring you think it is, you better drop what you're doing and go get it!


----------



## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Gladys has been going to field class where we both learned lots of lining and handling drills. I'm a little sad the last class is next week and I think its our last session as we have nothing else to learn, we have to take our skills outside and practice with distance.

We have weekend training sessions all the way thru the first test I hope to run, but I'm not sure we'll be ready. Its like 20 degrees out, Gladys was swimming for no reason like it was August last weekend, but I don't want her in the water too much with her postpartum thin coat and bald belly, she's been running in snow patches last few weeks and her boobies turn red, I'm done with winter!

I would particularly like to work on steady and honor before running any Sr tests, make sure to space them out, and work on manners. I guess Ill know after our batch of large group trainings where we stand in terms of readiness. She knows all the skills, I just want to make sure we're solid and have no development of bad habits!


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

hotel4dogs said:


> Thanks for starting the thread!
> We are taking the week off again, well, I do hope to get to Dan's on Thursday. But we have agility trials Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the last of them until the fall, so I need him ready to take the agility ring by storm this weekend  .


Dan is in the current issue of Delta Waterfowl magazine. He talks about introducing dogs to gunfire. Nice read.


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

I was going to write more but I almost forgot that I had to go to "circus training" with Rose; as my DH puts it. I planned to go to class early and work on a "special command". Yesterday I got a bit upset with him when he asked me about the "circus training" so today before class I taught Rose to bow at the word circus. 
He will not be using that word again in front of Rose. 
Meanwhile we (both him and I) are still working on marks which she now does good both indoors and in the yard and also with hand signals. Cigar holding is still a bit of an issue as you can see in the sig pic so we are working on that as well. 
And darn it - there is ALWAYS something. First the ice, then the snow now we have a fox roaming thru our back yard all hours of the day, which normally means it has rabies.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

We are hoping to finish his MXP (master agility preferred) title this weekend, you need 10 qualifying runs (Q's) to get it, he has 9. He recently finished his MJP (master jumpers preferred) title. 
When he finishes that, we are going to more or less retire from agility and take up tracking. We'll probably try to get his T2B (Time to Beat) title and his FAST titles (Fifteen and Send Time) in agility, but those are sort of "lesser titles" and we'll just do those just to keep him in shape over next winter, so I won't enter any of those trials until probably late fall or early winter. 
GDGLI, do you have a copy of Dan's article that you can scan?


----------



## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

Has anyone gone to a AKC informal trail? There is one coming up on May 4th that I would like to attend but I dont know what to expect. I was going to ask at the dog club meeting last night but those guys got so off focus and I was too sick to care.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

General,
Do you mean a picnic trial?


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Claudia M said:


> I was going to write more but I almost forgot that I had to go to "circus training" with Rose; as my DH puts it. I planned to go to class early and work on a "special command". Yesterday I got a bit upset with him when he asked me about the "circus training" so today before class I taught Rose to bow at the word circus.
> He will not be using that word again in front of Rose.
> Meanwhile we (both him and I) are still working on marks which she now does good both indoors and in the yard and also with hand signals. Cigar holding is still a bit of an issue as you can see in the sig pic so we are working on that as well.
> And darn it - there is ALWAYS something. First the ice, then the snow now we have a fox roaming thru our back yard all hours of the day, which normally means it has rabies.


Could be distemper as well. When we see "dizzy" raccoons it is often distemper rather than rabies--still don't want it near the dogs.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

It is ruddy well snowing here again. Big, fluffy flakes. The geese and ducks are back (I even saw 8 trumpeter swans the other day) and must be wondering why they are here! There are wood ducks on the pond at a friend's place a bit south of me--they usually do not return until the weather is nice, so this is not pleasant for them!


----------



## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

Well I dont think so they are called informal trails. I guess I will have to visit these clubs websites to see if I can figure it out. My lub is hoping to have a few this summer so I need to understand hat is going on.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Picnic trial=Fun trial=Gundog stakes=Informal trial

Also similar is the Super singles trial.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Living in the same area as Boomer's Dawn, it appears neither Faelan nor Brady will be ready for the tests mid May. They have not had water work yet since the water is still too cold (well for this area LOL) Oh well. 

Well, that and Brady hitting a burp when we tried formalizing the fetch portion of the retrieve (he is once again progressing with that).

Tito!!!!! Good luck at the agility trials this weekend!


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I saw 3 mallards walking in the road yesterday, I thought my goldens in the back of my SUV were going to loose their minds with excitement.

We are working hard on finding sources for birds. The ones we've been getting from the airport are shot with a shotgun, so they are in pretty bad shape. Our local lumber yard has offered to allow us to live trap. So I think we'll try that route. A musher a couple of hours south of here is raising pheasants. So he promised some for us. The club is putting together an order for live ducks, but they are so expensive and the darn shipping is more an the birds. There is a rumor that pheasants make it through the winter down in Homer. But the 6 hour drive is a bit daunting.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

General,
I've heard you have to wear camo for picnics and white jackets for field trials. Does anyone remember which ones use duck calls and which don't?


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Picnics are informal, and in my area include both field trial and hunt test setups. They are the field equivalent of sanction matches or correction matches in obedience. At ours, if it is a FT setup you can wear white, and the gunners are in white. If it is a HT setup, you wear camo or dark. In a FT setup, there is a shot and then the mark is thrown. For HT they may have a quack out in the field (or on the line) and the bird is "shot" at the height of the arc, again either from the field or on the line.


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

hotel4dogs said:


> We are hoping to finish his MXP (master agility preferred) title this weekend, you need 10 qualifying runs (Q's) to get it, he has 9. He recently finished his MJP (master jumpers preferred) title.
> When he finishes that, we are going to more or less retire from agility and take up tracking. We'll probably try to get his T2B (Time to Beat) title and his FAST titles (Fifteen and Send Time) in agility, but those are sort of "lesser titles" and we'll just do those just to keep him in shape over next winter, so I won't enter any of those trials until probably late fall or early winter.
> GDGLI, do you have a copy of Dan's article that you can scan?


Good luck to team Tito! Hope to see some pics of Tito Monster!


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

well, she did it - she broke the stay today ran to the bumper picked it up by the string and thought it was so funny and just great. When she realized no one else was having fun she corrected her hold and brought it back. I was confused myself - I wasn't sure if I should praise the last move or not so she just got a pet on her head and another mark hoping and praying that we could finish on a good note. She did. Phew.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Don't say anything. Just do it over.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Claudia M

Don't say anything, just do it over.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

gdgli, since she broke a stay you wouldn't have stopped her with a "NO! HERE!" and called her back?


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

I believe that is most effective if done almost instantaneously with the break in the stay. The further away from the infraction (time and distance), the less effective , IMHO. Giving a "No, here" after the dog has run even 5 yards means that the first 5 yards were OK.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

I am also giving safer advice about a dog I have not seen. I personally hate to say "no" to a young dog on the way to a retrieve.

An inappropriately timed "no" can be just as harmful as any other poorly timed correction. For example, I have seen a dog brought to the line to run a blind. The handler says no because she does not like where the dog is looking. The handler ends up giving several "no's". Finally. the handler sends the dog but the dog won't leave the line, the dog is afraid of going at all. Of course, one could then give an ear pinch and fetch command or force on "back" but I don't know that the handler has trained that way.

This is my opinion. I have had my dog refuse to go after too many "no's" at the line.


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

I may be reading too much into it but I think she knew/saw on my face that I wasn't happy, hence the self correction. I don't even remember if I said "hold it" when I saw her with the bumper held by the string. 

Yes GDGLI - it took me by surprise and it was too late to call her back, I took her for granted that she was going to do it as she has done before. Maybe I need to change and make the retrieves a bit more difficult; maybe she is just getting bored. Or maybe once again I am reading too much into it. I wanted to get a solid long retrieve before I introduced distractions like having my DD taking the recycling out at a distance etc. 

I felt like she just did not take me seriously and she decided that she was going to play instead. What makes me mad is that I don't think she would have done that with DH.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Thanks GDGLI, I have a tendency to think in terms of a dog who has more training, forgetting that she is a very novice dog. With a dog who *knows better* I would have "no'd" him back.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

hotel4dogs said:


> Thanks GDGLI, I have a tendency to think in terms of a dog who has more training, forgetting that she is a very novice dog. With a dog who *knows better* I would have "no'd" him back.



I really should have added that with my own dog, I will walk out to meet her, thus not letting her finish her retrieve, and she gets no praise. I re-run her and when it is done right she gets to run the whole thing. This is because I had a problem with an ill timed correction doing blinds and I swore to never make that mistake again. I had to overcome a confusion problem. 

For other situations I think "No, here" is just fine.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

I use "sit" to correct a break. Dogs don't generalize well so I like to give them a command. While I train "yes" as a marker to use as a reinforcer (like a click) for something like a break, I do not think they really understand _what_ you are marking as the error with the "No" in that situation--was it the line they took, the leaving without being sent, how they are holding the bumper, etc. With a break, the error is forward momentum and a violation of the sit command, so I want to redirect that momentum with a command that requires a cessation of movement and reinforces the command that was violated.

It is a different story with a more mature dog in advanced training that I would use attrition with because of a poor line, or avoidance of cover or such. That dog has the experience to try different things to correct the error they made, and you can always move up and simplify to help them make the connection and get it right before increasing the complexity again.


----------



## EvanG (Apr 26, 2008)

For a great many dogs, "No-no" procedure ("No", "here", and starting over) is more stressful than a modest, well timed nick and re-cast. Words to the wise. To the rest, carry on!

EvanG


----------



## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Well it's water water water for us. I'm hitting every pond I know of that I can sneak into. I have renewed hope and determination toward getting ready for Senior in June. It's the weekend before I leave so it would be perfect timing too if I could run her then drop her off with the pro afterward.

I've been slowly introducing doubles on water that are hand thrown by me. It's been a good exercise because it has made me go back to basics on teaching doubles. I've been building them and making sure the marks are short and very easy to see. (As they say, make the right thing easy). It does take some time to walk all the way around the pond, throw some marks, then walk all the way back and send the dog. But, I think it is paying off. We're starting small and slowly progressing in difficulty. So far I'm really pleased! If I want to do a longer more difficult mark I'll usually stay out in the field and send her from across the way, but I am trying to progress out of that too. Scout actually loves it when I throw marks myself, she can't stop whimpering the whole time I walk around the pond (I imagine she's thinking, 'just throw it now!')

Snuck into one pond last week that's in a small town. Really, middle of nowhere feel. It's kind of an eerie place to go, especially by yourself. It's in an abandoned subdivision after the economic crash. Paved streets, all named, with sidewalks and post office boxes but not a single house. None. Lots are all labelled ready to sell but there are no buyers. They are full of nasty cheat grass and the trees are dying. Oh, but they have ponds! And the ponds are cheat grass free, thankfully.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

EvanG said:


> For a great many dogs, "No-no" procedure ("No", "here", and starting over) is more stressful than a modest, well timed nick and re-cast. Words to the wise. To the rest, carry on!
> 
> EvanG


Agreed--it can make some dogs very worried--to the point they will give up rather than keep trying.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

GoldenSail said:


> Well it's water water water for us. I'm hitting every pond I know of that I can sneak into. I have renewed hope and determination toward getting ready for Senior in June. It's the weekend before I leave so it would be perfect timing too if I could run her then drop her off with the pro afterward.
> 
> I've been slowly introducing doubles on water that are hand thrown by me. It's been a good exercise because it has made me go back to basics on teaching doubles. I've been building them and making sure the marks are short and very easy to see. (As they say, make the right thing easy). It does take some time to walk all the way around the pond, throw some marks, then walk all the way back and send the dog. But, I think it is paying off. We're starting small and slowly progressing in difficulty. So far I'm really pleased! If I want to do a longer more difficult mark I'll usually stay out in the field and send her from across the way, but I am trying to progress out of that too. Scout actually loves it when I throw marks myself, she can't stop whimpering the whole time I walk around the pond (I imagine she's thinking, 'just throw it now!')
> 
> Snuck into one pond last week that's in a small town. Really, middle of nowhere feel. It's kind of an eerie place to go, especially by yourself. It's in an abandoned subdivision after the economic crash. Paved streets, all named, with sidewalks and post office boxes but not a single house. None. Lots are all labelled ready to sell but there are no buyers. They are full of nasty cheat grass and the trees are dying. Oh, but they have ponds! And the ponds are cheat grass free, thankfully.


Thanks! You have reminded me that there is an abandoned airport that I want to get into. It is swampland with ponds.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Today I started the day helping my club set up for agility trials this weekend. Done by 4:00 Buffy and I went to meet up with our training group. Only two of us showed up but it was a beautiful day so we trained. We even went to water.

Next week is supposed to be in the 60's so I am expecting to get in a lot of training. And Sunday is the last continental shoot of the season, all pheasants and he will be throwing a lot of birds. A friend of mine who has recently moved here from Maryland will be shooting and it will be his first time seeing Buffy work. Looking forward to a good time.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

We are leaving this morning for an amateur "training jamboree" being put on by another forum to which I belong. It should be a grand time, about 30 dogs we think, and so nice to put faces to the names online after all this time.
Not sure how much I will run Tito, since he has cold tail right now. It does seem quite a bit better this morning, though.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

doesn't get any better than this....awesome people, great dogs, gorgeous grounds, and even perfect weather. Having a wonderful time!


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

We had a great time this morning getting out and enjoying the new snow. We're supposed to get 10 - 16" By tomorrow morning. Our puppy training group met up to work on e-collars. One boy in our group is super in love with my girl Lucy. So every time he was too close to her he got a little jolt. I think it started at 1 on the dial since he's a sensitive boy. But as the walk went on he had to be increased all the way to 4 to get him to break off chasing her. We're trying to keep him from paying more attention to commands than to girls. By the end of the 2 mile walk he was very good. One boy gets too far away so the collar was used to enforce his range. My 2 are still wearing dummy collars so I haven't turned them on yet. Since we have an I visible fence, everything time my dogs heard the beep of another collar they returned to me. So I think e-collar training will be very easy transition. It will be interesting when we introduce the birds or bumpers.

Found a great source for pigeons. We have a friend that manages a warehouse in town with open sides so the forklifts can access stuff. There are office in the center, so the area stays just warm enough for the pigeons to survive the winter. They were super happy to provide us with pigeons. They are killing them with a pellet gun, so they are in very nice shape. The pigeons we were getting from the airport were blasted with shotguns and in terrible shape. So now I have some very nice pigeons to share with my training group.


----------



## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Great training at the club day today with water. We drew a large number and despite the marks going all over the place she handled all three of her water marks very well. We even ran the Senior blind and she did ok. I got some good advice from a judge (who said we could've passed with the water blind if her land blind was better). There is some handler error (sorry Scout, you're my first field dog). He said I was casting too fast and I needed to s-l-o-w down. I did and she handled so much better. Go figure!

The only trying thing is they had one set-up and it was sooo slow getting through all the dogs. I pulled #79 and after five hours they were still only in the 30s. My friend left and gave me her #53 but I still didn't get to run until almost 4 pm, or 7 hours. While the training was valuable, that's pretty tough when you only have one dog and you are watching people run 3+ dogs. Anyone else have this trouble? A few weeks ago it was not this bad.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Wow, we do not get that many dogs out at a training day. That would be frustrating--ours are split if we have enough for 20-30 dogs at each level.

We had a picnic trail today--first one I have had Breeze in since her failed pregnancy. She did a triple with a blind up the middle crosswind of two of the gun stations. At first she was uncertain about going on the go bird, I think because she has been off so long. I was afraid she had not seen the longer memory birds, but she stepped on both of those! End of her blind was a bit choppy, but for her first Master level blind in months I was not to other end, especially since a few others had issues at the end as well. Little Wings did three singles--she got hung up in scent on the way to the long bird, but got there with gunner help and did a good job on the others. Bonnie did the marks as a delayed triple--scent at the short go bird hung her up a bit on the way to the long delay bird, but she worked it out and them hammered the memory bird. So her marking is still good even after a layoff. Did not do the blind with her as there was far too much in it for her--a few people with Senior level dogs got into huge issues trying to get their dogs to do it and really the dogs did not learn anything, so I did not want to get into a mess like that with her when I am just getting her into being a team player!


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Golden Sail

Take advantage of the situation and work on other stuff---heeling, hold, attentions with distractions, etc. Not to do so means missed opportunity.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

*Our Tail of Woe*

Thursday we went out to Dan's. Did a few very long water marks, in mostly lunging water. The monster boy was "vaulting" all the way there and back. Did a great job.
Then we went and set some stuff up on land, and he was acting totally strange. It was as if he didn't want to be there. I have NEVER seen anything like this in Tito when there are birds around. He was looking around, not interested in the birds, just not into it at all.
I was very, very worried. We played around with him a bit with a few bumpers and he seemed okay, but still not himself. Dan and I talked about whether we had put too much pressure on him the previous session, and neither of us could think of anything we had done that might have caused this sudden change. As Dan so often says, you can train anything into them but desire. I felt like quitting. 
A couple of hours later at home, I thought Tito was acting very strange. He was very clingy, putting his head in my lap constantly, following me everywhere, trying to lie under my chair, etc. Not like him at all. Then I noticed....his tail wasn't moving! 
The poor boy! He had cold tail!! (dead tail, limber tail, etc.). He's had it twice before, but it's been several years and so it didn't even cross my mind. He seemed to be in a fair amount of pain. A golden without its wag is so sad looking.
Of course, this with the big agility trial weekend, and the training jamboree 3 hours from here that I was hoping to attend.
I had to think long and hard about whether or not to let him run in the agility trial on Friday, and decided to go ahead. By Friday morning his tail was *a little* better, but still pretty pathetic. Anyway, he finished his MXP title on Friday!
So we did head down to the training jamboree. I was very nervous when I got there, and wasn't sure I was going to run him. I was telling a couple of people there what had happened, and the general consensus was that he was in a lot of pain, and that's all that was wrong.
So I got him out of the truck, and we wandered around socializing. He seemed subdued but otherwise normal. 
THEN
He got a whiff of the birds. Head JERKED up, totally alert. Almost pulled my arm out of the socket heading for the burlap bag of birds lying on the ground nearby!!! Then headed straight for the drying rack of ducks.
Yep, Tito was back!! 
We ran him on land and water there, and he was totally fine, having a blast. Then on the way home today I stopped at Dan's and we ran him on some marks there, and again he was his old self. So to celebrate we released a shackled, wing clipped rooster pheasant and let Tito chase it around for a while. In a true "where's the camera when you need it" moment, the bird flew up a bit, Tito leaped into the air, turned his head backward over his shoulder, and plucked the bird out of the air! We were all astounded. 
So all's well that end's well. His poor tail still isn't 100%, but it's getting there quickly.
And I have learned a very important lesson.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

I have seen cold tail once. The dog looked like he was in pain. I had heard that this dog tended to get cold tail.

Dr. Ed's wife I believe did research on it. Might be a good place to look for info.

Glad Tito's OK and congrats.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

It's pretty common in retrievers. He seems pretty much back to normal today, the last time he had it was much, much worse.
At the training jamboree this past weekend lots of people were saying that their dogs have had it, too. 
I believe it's very painful for the dogs.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I feel the need to contribute a quick brag for my Faelan. He did his very first delayed triple, including his first water work of the season, PERFECTLY!! And the memory bird was thrown below a mound in a corn field  Good boy Faelan!!

It was a beautiful place to train with gently rolling hills - mowed grass where the lining drills were done and then corn stalk rows with a pond where the delayed triple was run. I believe it was the first time Faelan had ever been there so he seems to have started generalizing the memory bird concept - his blind drill work is also being generalized to new locations well.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Wow a triple is so exciting. I can't imagine my dogs ever getting advanced enough to try that level of work.

Yesterday only 2 of us could get out. It was -8F in the morning, but came up to 2 above by the time we got started. It was very sunny and super nice. we had only 3 dogs. Reilly was first up. He's such a well behaved boy. Still popping his jaws and shaking when it's his turn, but he's so obedient and calm. Since there were only 2 of us, we just threw singles. Reilly went bounding through the snow every time. He always does a nice flip on his return and hands me the bumpers so gently and ready for his next bumper. Lucy was an absolute pain. She had no interest in bumpers. She kept looking for birds. After 4 throws, I put her away, no need to reinforce bad behavior. Next up Lucy's brother Barney. He's delightful.just wonderful to watch. I made sure to throw the bumpers in the snow to make him work. He hunted them up every time, no problem. He's a whirlwind on the return and ready for the next bumper. He will do well at the picnic trial next month. With Lucy my mistake wa letting her play with her brother on the walk to the training area. I think she wanted to play not work. I won't do that again. Puppies can be so difficult. Easy one day, terrible the next.


----------



## MarieP (Aug 21, 2011)

Ugh ugh ugh!! That's really all I can say about our recent field work. I am so frustrated with myself. I don't feel like I am able to explain to Riot what I want. We have been working on ftp, since we had to go back and kind of start over. Things were going well, I showed our trainer what we were doing and she helped us move forward a bit. Then the other day, it just fell apart. The goal was to send to pile, he gets the bumper, then he has to sit on the whistle on the way back, gets casted back to the pile. He is supposed to take the bumper back with him to the pile. Well, he just kept spitting the bumper out then going to the pile. So I would stop him, no fetch, sit him again, then cast again... spits out the bumper. We went around in a circle for a few minutes, then I quit. I wasn't frustrated with Riot, I was frustrated by myself because I couldnt figure out how to help him get it. And then this makes me feel like maybe I shouldn't do field because I don't want to make Riot worried and unstable because my corrections aren't making sense. I know part of the issue is that I haven't been able to get out with my training group (too much working, hate how it gets in the way!). I feel like I'm all on my own and I'm ruining my dog! ::sigh:: ok, thank you for letting me get that out. I'm sure it will get better, right? 

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

yeah, I know that frustration very well. I was planning to start working Rose on doubles - she was doing so good with singles that I felt she was getting somewhat bored. 
But it seems that the spring has brought a whole new set of distractions we need to work on - the cows, the squirrels and most interesting the birds in the air. They are flying all over, chirping, making their nests and oh wow is it hard to get her attention. As always she listens to DH and she did couple retrieves with him. We are going to have to start teaming up and both of us will be outside with her. 
With work and house work it gets frustrating but I keep on telling myself that Rose has to have time to rest, snooze and be on her own some too. This year I have hired someone to mulch my flower gardens, I will still do the weeding since the last time I hired someone I lost several of my flowers.


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

And the frustration continues - talk about morning change of plans! Three mallard ducks in my back yard and my brat trying to make a run for it. Put her in a sit, got closer to her, put the leash back on and we watched and watched and watched. Thank God there were no ducklings but they will be here shortly. 
I was lucky I caught her in a moment of hesitation, it was almost like she was pointing, small, quiet steps and then looked back as if for permission. She almost did not obey the sit command; I wonder if she felt my worry mixed with frustration mood when she decided to plop her behind down. 
We finally turned around with a "That's enough, let's go" and went for a walk. The walk was a continuous smell the entire road as if she was still looking for them. 

This evening I will let DH take her in the back yard!


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Claudia M

Keep up the good work!


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Marie, I wouldn't worry too much about the casting back w/ bumper. At this stage in the game it's sort of an advanced thing to run with bumper in mouth. Riot's probably trying his best to do what you want : go and get bumper!
I am a big believer in disciplined casting (casting/sending w/ bumper in mouth) but not until the end of T work.
I would scrap that particular exercise for now and not let it bother you.

This weekend we had our local Northeast Florida HRC test, Fisher was super squirrely on Saturday so no pass, but really good on Sunday and had no problem getting his 3rd Finished pass. In fact he would have lined a rather difficult shoreline blind had his handler not chickened out and handled him 
Slater got to run as test dog both days which was GREAT. He did a nice job and had a fun time.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

K9-Design said:


> Marie, I wouldn't worry too much about the casting back w/ bumper. At this stage in the game it's sort of an advanced thing to run with bumper in mouth. Riot's probably trying his best to do what you want : go and get bumper!
> I am a big believer in disciplined casting (casting/sending w/ bumper in mouth) but not until the end of T work.
> I would scrap that particular exercise for now and not let it bother you.


Agreed--we do disciplined casting at the final step of TT and of Swimby. I do not ask for it before then.


----------



## MarieP (Aug 21, 2011)

K9-Design said:


> Marie, I wouldn't worry too much about the casting back w/ bumper. At this stage in the game it's sort of an advanced thing to run with bumper in mouth. Riot's probably trying his best to do what you want : go and get bumper!
> I am a big believer in disciplined casting (casting/sending w/ bumper in mouth) but not until the end of T work.
> I would scrap that particular exercise for now and not let it bother you.


Thanks guys. Makes me feel much better. I figured that I was just asking for too much too soon. We did a short session this morning and it went fine. I'm trying to work out a little flair on the left back. We will soldier on


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

Hey everyone. Wow, I've not scrolled down here before and it is so neat to see there is a field forum! I have a 13 month old, Kat, that I got back in December that loves to retrieve. I was getting burnt out on the obedience training because of the rigidity so my breeder suggested I mix in some field training. I'm so glad we did. We enjoy it so much and Kat is moving right along. I swear she had the biggest smile on her face today. Currently, I'm aiming to break the ice in June with a WC test. It will be first time to participate in any testing (besides her CGC) as this is my first dog. I don't expect too much out of it other than experience but I'm very excited nonetheless. 
Anyway, I hope you don't mind me jumping into your monthly topics. I love talking about this hunt stuff but I think everyone is getting burnt out on hearing it! ha ha. Also, I am learning so much from reading y'alls posts. 
Anyway, I look forward to chatting..


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Well, we are back at it after a 3 week field layoff. 
I'm still teaching Winter to realiably count to three. It seems to be a flickering light right now, also working on water blind concepts. It is going well but we have a ways to go to be a the Finished/Master level. 
Hunt Test Season is officially upon us, hopefully we will manage that last Senior leg.
She also needs one more leg for her CD so looking at when I can fit that in too.

Here's a funny thought. Last year this time I was sure that I would never teach Winter to swing to the next mark. Yesterday we were running singles off of multiple guns, 1st mark went up and Winter swings to look for the next mark and you could see her eyes dart from station to station even though they were behind holding blinds. This is after running very limited multiples all winter and spring. I was running HRC style and on a bucket so the gun was right at her level not swinging. So it was clear the gun, stand up, step forward/nick and then a send. Yeesh! After that we were on the same page. Driving home I did have to laugh since a spent a good portion of last year worrying that she would never learn to swing. All in all I think I will keep her.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

MillionsofPeaches said:


> Hey everyone. Wow, I've not scrolled down here before and it is so neat to see there is a field forum! I have a 13 month old, Kat, that I got back in December that loves to retrieve. I was getting burnt out on the obedience training because of the rigidity so my breeder suggested I mix in some field training. I'm so glad we did. We enjoy it so much and Kat is moving right along. I swear she had the biggest smile on her face today. Currently, I'm aiming to break the ice in June with a WC test. It will be first time to participate in any testing (besides her CGC) as this is my first dog. I don't expect too much out of it other than experience but I'm very excited nonetheless.
> Anyway, I hope you don't mind me jumping into your monthly topics. I love talking about this hunt stuff but I think everyone is getting burnt out on hearing it! ha ha. Also, I am learning so much from reading y'alls posts.
> Anyway, I look forward to chatting..



Peaches and Katniss look pretty intense. Game in the field?


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

they were up high on a slope that overlooked a swampy pond waiting their turns while watching other dogs doing water marks. One of the women always has a camera on her and took this photo of them. I had no idea until she tagged me on Facebook. So far all of their field shots come from her, how lucky am I?


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

what is it about Goldens and head swinging? 
We ran nothing but singles for WEEKS. Singles off multiple guns mostly.
Ran ONE stinking double. Next time to the line...yep....looking for that second bird.

edit to add...
I think I will just tell Tito when we go to the line whether it's going to be a single, double, triple, or quad. I've decided that the dog is so flippin' smart he will know exactly how many stations to look at then. (yes, I'm kidding).
Can you see me going to the line....
Ok, Tito, this is going to be a triple. Check left, check center, check right. Good dog. Ok judge, ready....


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Here are my troublemakers. It seems like they have found the bird seeder and Rose has found them!!! 

Rose has gotten into a huge bad habit. She gets the bumper and comes back, does a big circle as if trying to entice us to play with her and then she comes back to the heel position. I swear she is winking at me as if saying "What are you gonna do now! Catch me if you can!"

I am thinking long leash on her again to stop that ASAP! Any other ideas?


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

hmmm...I'm not very experienced but my girl was doing that exact thing, going in a large half circle with her head down very slowly showing me her bird and willing me to reach for it. 
My trainer said take a few steps back to show you aren't interested and she will come. Sure enough after a few times she got the idea and I don't have to do that anymore. He said it was teaching her that the game is all about finding and fetching not coming back and playing the chase me and my bird game.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

would it be cheating if you taught your dog that? LOL! I'm sure they could learn it!


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I do actually know someone who tells her dog "check left, check center, check right" as applicable. So if, for instance, there's a gun station in the middle that's not part of the double, she will say, "check left, check right". Then when she is getting ready to send the dog for the memory bird she will remind him which gun station it came from (e.g., "check right"). 
Sort of like agility, where a lot of people do tell their dogs "turn right" or "turn left".
But I can see it falling down at Master level, where you might have in-line marks.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

wow! I'm new at all things dogs and hearing these stories simply amaze me!


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> what is it about Goldens and head swinging?
> We ran nothing but singles for WEEKS. Singles off multiple guns mostly.
> Ran ONE stinking double. Next time to the line...yep....looking for that second bird.
> 
> ...


I bet you could teach the cue "singles". I do say "marks" when we are running marks and "dead bird" is my blind cue. You can tell by her body language she understands the different.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Mushers here teach right and left (gee and haw) with a 20 dog team your dogs are so far out ahead there would be not other way to turn a team. It's pretty amazing to watch people handle large teams.

Got the puppy group out today. 20F this morning, so spring is headed our way. 16 hours of daylight now! Made it through another winter. Puppies are all doing well except for my Lucy. She has the enthusiasm, the drive, the speed, the smarts, but she just won't get excited about the bumpers anymore. She just a bird dog.
So we worked the puppies willing to chase bumpers on singles getting longer and longer. The pups had to bound thought the compressed snow about 12" deep, so it was a good workout for them. We keep the marks shorter about 50 yd or so. Happy sunny morning. I think our group of puppies will have a good start for training in the spring.

It's been interesting watching the field pups and the show puppies develop their skills. The field pups are definitely leaner, narrower, and faster. They almost seem to have more physical reach with their legs to bound through the brush and the snow.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

Today I went to a field seminar hosted by my trainer. Anyway, since I'm totally knew to the dog world I've never really seen field goldens before this. There were about five today and boy they sure are alot smaller and leaner. They were very beautiful and looked like they belonged out there way more than my girls do. 
So Katniss has some issue with birds like a lot of dogs do at the beginning. But she is weird. She has to be privately introduced to the bird before she will take in the field. This makes me nervous that she will have a new bird at a trial and she won't take it. My trainer said we'd work her through it. All I can do is laugh at this point. We figured this out because she wouldn't take the wing bumper until I brought it home in her familiar surroundings. Then without hesitation she takes it and then from then on she will take it out in the field in front of everyone. So next we through the pigeon and I think she'll take it. She high tails it out there gets to the bird and stops cold in her tracks. Nothing I can do can get her to take it, though she is all fired up over it just won't put her mouth on it. So I bring it home and again she immediately takes it. So next time we're out in training she loves it and takes it as well as the winged bumper. So we though out a duck. SAME exact scenario.

So today at the seminar she runs for all the birds and even takes a quail for the first time and with an audience! But the mallard, same story. We just laughed. But I was proud that she took the quail. That is progress. 

Anyway, I'm sunburned and tired but had a great day. WE finish up tomorrow. I'm excited to see what we'll learn!!


----------



## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

We got our first JH pass today!

I had no idea when I signed up, but it turned out both of the judges were golden people. I thought that was pretty cool.

Flip did really well, a little hunt on the first mark, pinned the other three. Had a moment on the final bird where he thought he should drop the bird next to me and lick it. Thankfully he did pick it back up on command.

And now that's it for us this season, back to obedience! We'll probably enter again next season and hopefully get a title.


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Barb to fight headswinging I never use a handler's gun on singles and I always use a handlers gun on multiple marks. Have not had big problems on headswinging.


----------



## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

JH done now I feel re-energized and chomping at the bit to enter Senior. I looked at some from these last two weeks and I think we can...she did great at the pros other than the channel blind so he wants us to revisit some water work before entering. Hopefully I can get one in early June.

Also on the agenda is to teach 'place.' Does anyone else do this? I've been getting more and more comfortable throwing my own marks. Walking back in has some of its troubles (i.e., she has figured out now after watching me walk around ponds and back that's a great option). My pro teaches his dog to return to a mat on the line. He'll throw a double, send the dog from the field, send them back to their place, then send them for the memory. Great tool for training alone.


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Loisiana said:


> We got our first JH pass today!
> 
> I had no idea when I signed up, but it turned out both of the judges were golden people. I thought that was pretty cool.
> 
> ...


Congratulations Jodie and Flip!


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

GoldenSail said:


> JH done now I feel re-energized and chomping at the bit to enter Senior. I looked at some from these last two weeks and I think we can...she did great at the pros other than the channel blind so he wants us to revisit some water work before entering. Hopefully I can get one in early June.
> 
> Also on the agenda is to teach 'place.' Does anyone else do this? I've been getting more and more comfortable throwing my own marks. Walking back in has some of its troubles (i.e., she has figured out now after watching me walk around ponds and back that's a great option). My pro teaches his dog to return to a mat on the line. He'll throw a double, send the dog from the field, send them back to their place, then send them for the memory. Great tool for training alone.


It sounds like you are describing "stand alones".


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Now that right there is the idea of the year!
Thanks!




K9-Design said:


> Barb to fight headswinging I never use a handler's gun on singles and I always use a handlers gun on multiple marks. Have not had big problems on headswinging.


----------



## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Mr. Flip with his first ever orange ribbon


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

no field training this weekend. Instead we had "garden training" with field in mind. I was weeding my flower beds and re-working the area in front of the flower bed. Wow was it a new concept for her to see me dig into the grass and not break a sit/whoa to go help me pull on it (after all she was just trying to help!)!!!! Needless to say I will have to rework that trench.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

We teach "place" before we teach anything else. Our group makes wood platforms with carpet on top. The platforms are a little smaller than 2'X2' and about 6" high. When we don't have the ability to bring a platform, we use capet squares. We use them in the field and in the arena. "Place" works for so many things. It works for a stay in a specific spot. It also works nicely on the line while they are waiting. We all made our "places", but I think you can buy the too. Since teaching my puppy, I've taught my older dogs. It seems pretty each to teach. They seem to like knowing they have a specific place to go. 

I think Connie Cleveland has some videos on you tube about teaching place.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

We had our final picnic trial of the season yesterday. Had hoped to get out to train on SAturday as well, but we had snow squalls and 50 MPH wind gusts! Luckily yesterday the sun was out, so the snow melted and we had a good day.

Bonnie was my little star. She marks so well. She had a big hunt on the longest, hardest bird, but in retrospect I do not think she saw it fall as it was very hard to pick out. She just went because she heard the gunshot and I sent her, and then she used her nose once she got out there!

Little Wings was very funny. We moved up on that last big mark to get her past the scent area of a bulldog mark, and when she got out to the fall area she spotted the gunner who was hiding behind a tree. She gave a big WOO! at him and then froze on him--he had to throw her another bird--I think it just surprised her to find him hiding out there!

Breeze left her brain at home She was not sure about going on the first bird and then ran all around the mark without managing to scent it and find it, stepped on the second bird, and then peeled off to the left when sent for the final bird. I called her back in, lined her up again, and resent her, and then she stepped on it! She also decided that she no longer needed to stop on a whistle when running a blind. :doh: Serious tuning up needed for her!

Here are some pictures of Miss Wings doing her thing


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

Well, guys, today was the day. We began force fetch training with Kat. Eek. I know I can do this, I know I can, it will just be hard. I hate to have to hurt her when that time comes. Today she did good with the beginning part so I'm hoping this will be the way she acts the whole time...Fortunately, this should help with new birds and a few other bad habits she has. 

Also it was a fun day, it was water marks and my girls can't get enough of the water!!


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

M o P

It's not about hurting her!


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

I don't mean that. I just mean when/if the time comes. Or rather I should say, use negative pressure.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I prefer to think of it is "compulsive retrieve" rather than "force fetch"  .
Tito was very, very hard to "force fetch" because he's just too willing. He will pick up anything, anytime, anywhere when told to do so. So it was very difficult to determine if he was doing it because he understood that he HAD to, or if he was doing it because he's just a cooperative type of guy.
It sorta sounds like it doesn't matter, but it in the long run, it really does.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

wow thanks for your feed back. I haven't heard that term used yet. 
Tito sounds like Katniss. She took to the first step so easy that my trainer said we need to wait her out until she gets sick of holding in order to "teach" her to hold. If she does it on her own we can't tell if she gets the point. 
Well, this is something that I'm ready to get over, that's for sure.


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

We had to run Tito fairly hard on hot days, then when he was hot, tired, and panting heavily, make him heel in big circles while holding the force fetch bumper. (please note, we never had him in any physical danger from the heat). It was the only way we could get him to really, really not want to hold the bumper, and impress on him that it wasn't optional.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

You don't have to put a disclaimer, I know that you wouldn't put him in danger. And for future reference I couldn't ever hurt my dog, she is my heart. 

As far as Tito, that might be the direction we will have to go with Kat. Right now we are just telling her fetch, then hold while we all just sit. She opens and is ready for it when I say fetch and will hold for just about ever. So my breeder (who is practically another trainer for me, lol) suggested putting small pressure on the dowel while saying hold and see if she will let it go. Sure enough she started to let it go and that gave me the opportunity to say, hold and teach her. Sort of like proofing a sit/stay with the leash pull. 
My field trainer trains with so much compassion and enjoys working with "soft" dogs so I feel very confident with him, since I'm very soft myself, ha ha. He said that it generally takes four weeks because of the slow, calm steps we take and he doesn't believe in ear pinch, like some trainers do. 
Since I'm so soft, this is something that has me anxious but hopefully I can do it with her. 

Thanks for all your feedback, it helps to read how others did it. I will let you guys know how tomorrow goes. I think he is going to be doing hold and walk and see if she is ready for that yet.


----------



## Kmullen (Feb 17, 2010)

Okay....I am now getting back on board here!! It has been way too long! I have 3 dogs in training and we have been working them daily (Remi-4 years,Cannon- 2 years, and KC-16 weeks).

Since Cannon just finished the show ring, as soon as we got him home 2 weeks ago, we have been working on marks daily. Now, question for you guys. Would you go back through force fetch? We went through force fetch, but has been a good 8 months or so ago!

He has been doing great. Bringing it in, I am making him hold it. If he gets tired and drops it, I do step back and say fetch it up and he does fetch it right back up without hesitation. So, would you still go back through it or just wait for a moment of correction?

We are going to go run a UKC started test in 2 weeks. I think he is ready for JH, but want to do started first. He has a ton of drive and hopefully can be my SH. I am thrilled with his progress thus far.

KC (up until 2 weeks ago) did not want nothing to do with bumpers. We were doing paint rollers, but I think seeing cannon and remi going crazy over bumpers, she has picked up their willingness to do so. We have been doing marks with her and she is doing fantastic. Doing short water retrieves. 

So excited to be back training for this. Dogs are happy which makes me happy


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Welcome back Kelly!


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Just checking in.

Faelan has been introduced to diversion birds and is doing well in his training. He is, however, now on the injured list for the next 2-4 weeks due to a pad injury. Funny; the examining vet commented on how rough his pads were - guess she is not used to seeing a working dog's feet.

Brady is at least temporarily on the obedience/agility track without field. This will be re-evaluated in a few months.


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Tuf-Foot for Dogs (Bonaseptic): Tuff Foot for a Tough Dog's Pads/Feet or Mushers Secret All Natural Paw Protection.

I have used the tuf-foot before. No knowledge on how good the mushers is.


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Kelli I would DEFINITELY go back on a refresher course for FF with Cannon.
EVERY time he drops the bumper, you must not hesitate to ear pinch FIRST. Do not TELL him to do it, make him do it via ear pinch. Otherwise the behavior will never diminish, it will become a habit because he is never corrected the first time it happens. If you only tell/remind him to pick it up, that whole sequence will become a habit.
Bally was cool on bumpers up until about two weeks ago too. Or he would grab them by the string. Now he thinks they are great! We did three marks in the water yesterday, on the first one he was WHINING as he swam to the bumper! Oh geeze....


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I should have mentioned the injury is a puncture wound most likely from a possum bite. He went after the pad big time further injuring it before I got him to the vets the next day. I might try the Tuf-Foot though 



Claudia M said:


> Tuf-Foot for Dogs (Bonaseptic): Tuff Foot for a Tough Dog's Pads/Feet or Mushers Secret All Natural Paw Protection.
> 
> I have used the tuf-foot before. No knowledge on how good the mushers is.


----------



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

We finally had decent weather here and got out training SAturday and SUnday. On Saturday a friend brought out his Thunder Launchers. Very cool toy, except the bumpers are quite different from what my dogs are used to. Wings would not pick them up, so we had to throw birds for her afterwards, and Bonnie put on huge hunts because she was not scenting them as well as birds or our usual stinky bumpers.

Yesterday we used birds. Little Wings did well until the very last mark, which was thrown angle-back up a hill, when she decided she was not going past the gunner and stood there barking at him! (The other marks were winger thrown). So for her it is going to be a steady diet of hand thrown marks, thrown by men. Breeze is being weird about big marks and multiple, and would just rather run blinds, so she will be getting no blinds for the next little while, and only doing lots and lots of long singles. 

Miss Bonnie was a terrific little girl. She did a double and a long single on our first setup, and then did her very first real triple on the second setup! She just loves to run marks. She is just the opposite of her mom--blinds are not her favourite thing as she has to relinquish control!!


----------



## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Busy with some life things, but I have been working on teaching place in the backyard. She really kind of already knows it--she knows to go to her bed and her crate, she's also gone to a place when we were obedience training. The problem is in Scout fashion she can't just go to the box and sit on it. Oh no, she want to try every variation possible but the correct one to see if she can get away with it. So--run to the box and lie down. No, not right. So--run to the box and paw at it. No. Start barking. Run to the box and sit next to it. Run to the box and sit on half of it. Ack! I have to be really firm that there is one, and only one, correct way to do this exercise. Run to the box and sit on it with every single foot on the box--no exceptions!


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Still waiting for the snow to go. It was about 40F on Saturday, but the wind was howling. The ground is still frozen, so no mud yet, which was nice. It was very sunny and the mountains were perfect in all their snowiness.

Our golden training group had a lab and a duck toller added. The duck toller did the usual screaming, which is always shocking to my ears. Their excitement is a little over the top.

Reilly was his usual wonderful enthusiastic self, but his medical issues grow and grow. He had enough energy for 4 short thrown birds. I was very happy to see him out and enjoy chasing birds even though he doesn't feel good. Extra heavy doses of Tramadol for him when we got home.

Lucy is learning to understand her e-collar better. We worked with her a lot to get her to make the connection between a nick and a re-call command. She did very well. We still have a ways to go. Her retrieves were very nice, except the last bird was a pigeon and she really wanted to eat it. It was jammed into the back of her throat and I had to open her mouth to take it out. Poor puppy, she really really wanted to keep it. You could see her looking around when she came back to me, trying to figure out where she could go with her pigeon.

All the puppies are coming along nicely some did doubles and some did singles. Lucy's brother decided he didn't want birds, he only wanted bumpers. How strange is that?


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I use Mushers Secrect in the winter to keep the snow from getting trapped inlet ween pads. Works ok for that. Never used it for anything else. It does not have a residue that sticks to anything, so it seems to sink into the dog's pads pretty well. It is not messy stuff.


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Shelly, all my little buddies in Ohio have the Thunder launchers, it took some adjusting with my dogs too. Of course I wasn't smart enough to introduce them before running marks with them! LOL Once we played with them a little my dogs understood to look for the "beer bottles." They love them now 

Kristin and I trained on Saturday at the L pond. Set up a pile with about 30 bumpers, and everyone but Bally  ran multiple times to it, moving each time to establish a different line. With Fisher and Sophie, on the last two blinds we did an under-the-arc poison bird (Fisher was a nut) and then an en-route diversion -- WOW -- that took some handling! Send dog on blind, about halfway out gunner stands up and throws a mark that lands about 10 yards off line to the blind, next to the dog, keep handling to the blind....


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

It was a rainy, drizzle rain Sunday at our house with Rose. She has discovered that if she grabs the bumper by the string it will make a quite entertaining toy. I was alone with her in the back yard and threw the bumper for her. The first time was great, she darted for it, grabbed it, brought it back and swing into a heel, halfway cigar holding. The second time even more enthusiasm going after the bumper BUT she discovered the string. She was having so much fun running with it following me running again that thru my entire frustration I couldn't get mad - she was just having so much fun. I did not call her back, I clapped a couple times for her to come back towards me which she did (but it was mostly to get me to play with her) and let her get some steam out.
DH came out and called her, she ran across the field to him with the bumper. We were going to work together, I was the bumper thrower and he sent her for them. She was a little confused on the first one she wasn't sure who to bring it to. But she figured it quickly. I threw the fifth one by mistake behind the trees and a bush; I looked at DH he said we'll see and she went for it. She did get it. We stopped there and let her play and run around the yard.


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Sometimes I tend to get wrapped into the training mode and training results and forget about having fun. When I finally got home from the office I looked at Rose, at how happy she was I was home, DD was at a bike race and came home later and I looked at her being greeted and licked all over by Rose with the both tumbling on the kitchen floor and playing. DH then was telling me how he took Rose out for a run in the back yard and was completely confused to why Rose was such a Velcro to him, she would run a little bit and then come back to him - it took him several times to realize he had a bumper in his rain coat pocket. She knew it was there and she wanted to run for it. 
All in all it is amazing how much joy she has brought into the house.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Even though my dogs are working dogs, they sure are fun. We play with them and laugh and I know they laugh too. It's great!


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

And an excellent reminder to just relax and enjoy your dogs sometimes! I have so little spare time, I tend to forget sometimes to just enjoy them for who they are, not for what they can do. 



Claudia M said:


> Sometimes I tend to get wrapped into the training mode and training results and forget about having fun....All in all it is amazing how much joy she has brought into the house.


----------

