# training plans for the week of July 31 to August 6



## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

I have a pretty big week ahead. 

Sunday - Day off. Dogs had a big day yesterday (Gabby and Quinn) so today it is all about Belle and Teddi. 
Monday - agility class, neurologist appointment
Tuesday - JH/Started/WC training session
Wednesday - probably some obedience work and perhaps a little agility drills
Thursday - bumper work (fetch, no fetch) and some hand held throws. 
Friday - field session with ducks at MIHRC meeting a friend 
Saturday - Kzoo HRC test

My goal also is each day (except Tuesday as we will be out early that day) is to get all dogs walked early in the AM most other work will be later in the afternoon. Gabby's first test is Saturday!!!! :crossfing


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

No set plans this week - I am on call at work and the client from ____ is having their first month end after almost 2 years of test driving the system.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

ok, here goes:

Sunday---matrix drill for angle backs
lining to poles in a straight line, tighten up the angle
weave poles (REALLY need to do this!)

Monday---move matrix drill to a different location
work on blinds with dead birds (not sure what the right term is)

Tuesday---water work, distinguishing which line to take, tighten angles
WATER HONOR
WATER HONOR
sight blinds on water

Wednesday---training group; land marks, land honor

Thursday---training with pro

Friday---whatever pro tells us to work on

Saturday---off (way too busy here at pet hotel)


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Monday - second pattern blind
Tuesday - pattern blind, maybe obedience run through
Saturday - obedience run through

I will probably run the pattern blind and some obedience training on days not listed, just not sure what specifically and when. Today I want to go to Lowe's and get some materials to make a chute box for fronts, make a gray pvc box for go-outs, get some stakes for pattern blinds, and a cone to teach BJ and prevent cutting corners.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Totally OT Lisa, but the easiest way to prevent cutting corners on the broad jump is to stand lined up with the last board, and when she's in mid-air, put your knee and foot out over the corner of the last board. She can't cut the corner or she will hit your leg.
Since you ALWAYS have your knee/foot in the ring with you, she will not know if it's going to appear over the corner of the board. 
Works like a charm. Really really.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> Totally OT Lisa, but the easiest way to prevent cutting corners on the broad jump is to stand lined up with the last board, and when she's in mid-air, put your knee and foot out over the corner of the last board. She can't cut the corner or she will hit your leg.
> Since you ALWAYS have your knee/foot in the ring with you, she will not know if it's going to appear over the corner of the board.
> Works like a charm. Really really.


I know an OTCh handler that uses this method - he adds that he ALWAYS puts his foot out on the first BJ; this way the dog will have a better chance of being straight in the ring. However, I tried this method once and scared my dog so much - well lets just say proceed with caution if you decide to try this


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Thanks Barb! I have heard of that and probably will do it for proofing, but my trainer wants to teach her to go around a cone first so she drives past the jump and goes around the cone. That will hopefully clearly teach her the expectation, and when the cone gets taken away I can use the knee trick but I also have that training from before establishing the expectation.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

guess I'm just really set in the ways of never training with anything you can't take into the ring with you. Old school way of thinking, I know


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

good lord, tell me you didn't KICK the dog!!!!




Sunrise said:


> I know an OTCh handler that uses this method - he adds that he ALWAYS puts his foot out on the first BJ; this way the dog will have a better chance of being straight in the ring. However, I tried this method once and scared my dog so much - well lets just say proceed with caution if you decide to try this


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Maxs Mom said:


> I have a pretty big week ahead.
> 
> Sunday - Day off. Dogs had a big day yesterday (Gabby and Quinn) so today it is all about Belle and Teddi.
> Monday - agility class, neurologist appointment
> ...


That is a big week! 
Good luck to you and Gabby on Saturday. Are you running Started?


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

hollyk said:


> That is a big week!
> Good luck to you and Gabby on Saturday. Are you running Started?


Yup Started. Should be fun. Gabby is doing well. If she handles this well we will enter a JH the end of Aug.


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Maxs Mom said:


> Yup Started. Should be fun. Gabby is doing well. If she handles this well we will enter a JH the end of Aug.


Good luck! Have a great time...Of course, as soon as you get home, and get the dogs taken care of, let us know how you did!


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Okay, here goes.

Monday: will be a light day as I have doctors appointments after work.
Tuesday: Tag-Sit, stay, cookie heel, here, and lots of fun bumpers. I'll try to get DH out to help throw. Breeze-Lengthening drills with launcher, in low cover. Dooley-Work on honoring with Breeze and begin doubles.
Wednesday: More of the same. Add some lining drills with Dooley.
Thursday: See where we are from previous work and determine where to go from there.


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Sunday-Off day (well for Winter- household stuff for me)
Monday- Obedience class
Wednesday- Big Group Training Day
Friday- Train with Pro. He will check where we are in casting.
The rest of the days 10+ hour work days, including next week-end, so we will see what I'm up for.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

this working for a living really sux, it totally interferes with training, doesn't it?


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> good lord, tell me you didn't KICK the dog!!!!


My goodness Barb!! Of course not!! But since I use almost exclusively positive methods, when Casey saw that knee/foot come out he totally freaked!! Took a lot of work to get him to trust those broad jumps again. And the sad part was, I should have listened to my instincts and told that trainer Nope, uh-uh, no way Jose!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

geez I didn't mean on PURPOSE Sharon, LOL! I know you better than that!


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Well we are started on our second pattern blind and it went really really well. Did some water cheating which was kind of fun. My friend tossed a bumper in the water, and if Scout tried to come out on the bank she would grab the bumper, tell her 'no' and toss it back in the water. Scout picked up on this really quickly. It was funny to watch her eying my friend as she swam by. Stinker. We'll eventually use corrections, but for now we want to teach her the expectation first.

Also did some obedience after the field training and it was rough. We were outside right by a pond and my first was training her dog next to me. Scout was highly distracted. Kept bumping into me, was way riled up, and wanted to go play in the water. So, it was one of those moments where I had to accept less than our best. Rather, she was making an effort to focus on me and I did less heeling before rewarding her. Just didn't flow as smoothly. I figure I reward the effort and just keep working on it.


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## OwnedbyCasey (Jun 16, 2007)

This is really great. I love that there are forums here now for golden sports. I'm trying to train one of my dogs for junior and one for senior, though I have no clue how to actually teach a dog to handle. One of these days I'll have time to read some books and watch some videos! There are no training groups where I live and I'm very excited because we're going to be within 2 hours of two different training days this weekend for a family reunion...so I'm conveniently leaving for awhile with the dogs to attend .


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Welcome to the addictive world of field training. There are some great, top notch, trainers that frequent this section of the forum. Ask your questions, and I'm sure you will get more than you bargained for in response! I too am training a dog for JH and one for SH, so I'm right there with you.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

GoldenSail said:


> Well we are started on our second pattern blind and it went really really well. Did some water cheating which was kind of fun. My friend tossed a bumper in the water, and if Scout tried to come out on the bank she would grab the bumper, tell her 'no' and toss it back in the water. Scout picked up on this really quickly. *It was funny to watch her eying my friend as she swam by.* Stinker. We'll eventually use corrections, but for now we want to teach her the expectation first.


Careful of this. I think at best it teaches dogs to be wary of gunners. Or that they can't cheat if someone is standing there. At worst it teaches dogs to fear gunners, or that they are free to cheat if no one is standing there. It's clunky and inefficient. 
Check out Mitch White's decheating drill. It is a modern, modified Dobbs method and works much better. It's fantastic.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Hi and welcome! Ask away and you will get more advice than you bargained for, some of it good, some not so good! 
Where are you located?
Do you already have a JH on the dog you are getting trained for SH?



OwnedbyCasey said:


> This is really great. I love that there are forums here now for golden sports. I'm trying to train one of my dogs for junior and one for senior, though I have no clue how to actually teach a dog to handle. One of these days I'll have time to read some books and watch some videos! There are no training groups where I live and I'm very excited because we're going to be within 2 hours of two different training days this weekend for a family reunion...so I'm conveniently leaving for awhile with the dogs to attend .


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

we do decheating in a REAL simple way....if he looks like he's even *thinking* of cheating, whistle stop, over cast back farther into the water, come in whistle. Not much to it....


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Water work today due to the horrible heat and humidity. Added someone to the training today, which turned out to be more annoying than helpful. 
We worked on the "cold" pond, and did some lines across the pond to bumpers on the opposite shore. Had to plow thru some pretty thick cover to get to the bumpers, but they were thrown as marks so he knew they were there. 
Also a few of what I call taught blinds, no idea what they're really called, on the opposite shore. Maybe someone can tell me what they're called. After he had run a mark to that location, while he was swimming back my training partner put a bumper in roughly the same location while Tito couldn't see him put it out. Then I lined him back over to it. Same location, but the bumper not visible. What would you call that? 
Got some nice responses on handling in the water today. 
Tomorrow, land work here at my way cool designated dog training area, LOL.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> we do decheating in a REAL simple way....if he looks like he's even *thinking* of cheating, whistle stop, over cast back farther into the water, come in whistle. Not much to it....


Yeah, if your dog listens to you. Mine is intent on going to the bank right now. We have not done a lot of water handling work either. The intent is to whistle sit and correct her for not coming in straight eventually, but first we are using this method which did work for my friend's lab. Then we will use negative pressure--i.e. going the wrong direction whistle sit, collar correction if needed, come. My friend does not believe in using a lot of collar pressure in the water. Some, sure, but not as much as you might on land.

And I also admit being a novice handler who did not initially intend on doing field work I did let my dog cheat and run banks many times while playing with her and I think that is most certainly contributing to this--although I recognize running banks is a natural inclination for most dogs to some degree.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> Also a few of what I call taught blinds, no idea what they're really called, on the opposite shore. Maybe someone can tell me what they're called. After he had run a mark to that location, while he was swimming back my training partner put a bumper in roughly the same location while Tito couldn't see him put it out. Then I lined him back over to it. Same location, but the bumper not visible. What would you call that?


i would call that teaching the dog to return to an old fall on a blind. Not sure what the point of this would be other than getting the dog comfortable in going when sent even if he doesn't see anything. Which granted there is merit to that but generally we teach that through the transition flowchart rather than sending the dog back to an old fall. 
Some people do teach hard blinds this way, do it as a mark then come back the next day and run it as a blind. I've never tried it but have never felt the need to either. 
So tell us about the annoying training partner! LOL Adding new folks is always a nervous proposition!!


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

K9-Design said:


> Check out Mitch White's decheating drill. It is a modern, modified Dobbs method and works much better. It's fantastic.


Thanks Anney! In looking for this drill, I found this resource...I found it helpful, hope you all do too.

http://www.fcrsafield.com/resource list_f.pdf


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## OwnedbyCasey (Jun 16, 2007)

hotel4dogs said:


> Hi and welcome! Ask away and you will get more advice than you bargained for, some of it good, some not so good!
> Where are you located?
> Do you already have a JH on the dog you are getting trained for SH?


Thanks! I'm in SW Virginia. The closest training groups are about 3 hours away in NC. I'm going to a training day in MD (5 hours away) and one in Eastern VA (4 hours away) this weekend because I'm a crazy person. 

I have a friend/obedience instructor here who has trained several dogs for Junior and sent her dogs to pros for Senior/Master/Field trials. The dog I'm trying to train for Senior just has a lot of natural talent. I was introduced to field work when he was 11 months old, trained with my friend 8 times, watched a WC, entered him in the next one, he tells me shot pigeons are gross and he prefers not to pick them up (I agreed), entered him in another test a couple of weeks later (using pheasants) and he passed without a problem. This past fall, I finally got brave enough to go to a hunt test. I'd never been to one, entered him, drove 5 hours and got one pass and one fail (he brought back a decoy...he'd never seen them before). I went home, ordered some decoys, we had a couple of good training sessions about leaving decoys alone and haven't had a problem since.

So, yes, he has his JH despite my severe lack of knowledge and his lack of training. I've had several people recommend putting him with a pro, but he's just barely 3 years old and I'd like to learn to train for this myself because I absolutely love it! And it doesn't hurt to have a dog that is pretty darn good at it...my girl that I'm working on junior with is sort of a different story, but I'm determined to work through it with her. She just required a completely different training technique in all aspects, so it's been a challenge!


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

DNL2448 said:


> Thanks Anney! In looking for this drill, I found this resource...I found it helpful, hope you all do too.
> 
> http://www.fcrsafield.com/resource list_f.pdf


Wow, most excellent! Well maybe except for the recommendation of Koehler obedience method, all the other ones are great.
BTW Mitch's website is Gamekeepers Retrievers Home Page
I think you can order his books on there. I have his transition book and it's quite good. Basically the same as Lardy/Graham/et al but several of his particulars are tweaked and some people might prefer it. His decheating drill is outlined in the book 2, transition stuff. Mitch says he is working on an advanced book too.


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

That is a great website! I love how his clients dogs have their own web page so you can follow their training progress. Anyhew, I couldn't find where to buy the manuals, so I sent him an e-mail.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Yes, the point is going to be to send him to that same location cold the next time we're there, and see if he remembers it. This is not my pro doing this, this is a training partner suggesting it, so I'm just going along. We'll see what happens next week.
Ah, the new training person. Who will NOT be welcome back to our pond with us, EVER.
This guy has a wonderful young (18 month) lab. He has 2 SH legs on her, and his goal is to get everything as young as possible. He has an ego bigger than the lake we were swimming in. It's not about the dog, it's about how good she can make him look. 
He was clearly there to show off what his dog can do. The other 2 of us are there to show what our dogs CAN'T do, because that's how they're going to learn. Any time we suggested something that would be a bit challenging for his dog, even simple stuff like getting out and going thru some cover to find the bumper and then getting back in, he would say, "oh, she doesn't need to do that, she won't see that in a SH test". When my regular training partner did throw one on land for her, she was clueless and got out and started running around. After my regular partner helped her find the bumper, she came right back around the pond bank, total cheat, with the bumper. 
All he wanted to do was have his dog do repeated BIG swims from one end of the pond to the other, sometimes marks, sometimes blinds. It's a long pond, and was very tedious standing there in the heat while she was swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming.....
When his dog doesn't do something right, he really gets physical with her. At one point he kicked her in the ribs today so hard that she screamed and we thought he had broken her ribs. He just turned to us and said, "you have to do that once in a while". It was clear to us that she was just confused, and he is bordering on abusive with her. Might even cross the border.
I was very, very upset. A beautiful young lab with a lot of drive and talent. 
Then this guy tells us at the end, oh, well, my dog already knows too much for this pond, all she really got out of this today was working on honoring. 
(the pond is fantastic, spring fed, clean, cover all around , lots of possibilities for training with even just a tiny little bit of imagination)



K9-Design said:


> i would call that teaching the dog to return to an old fall on a blind. Not sure what the point of this would be other than getting the dog comfortable in going when sent even if he doesn't see anything. Which granted there is merit to that but generally we teach that through the transition flowchart rather than sending the dog back to an old fall.
> Some people do teach hard blinds this way, do it as a mark then come back the next day and run it as a blind. I've never tried it but have never felt the need to either.
> So tell us about the annoying training partner! LOL Adding new folks is always a nervous proposition!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

DNL2448 said:


> That is a great website! I love how his clients dogs have their own web page so you can follow their training progress. Anyhew, I couldn't find where to buy the manuals, so I sent him an e-mail.


Can you let us know what he says?


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

to each their own....
I work with an awesome pro once a week, but I refuse to send Tito out. For me, too, it's about the teamwork and the journey. People ask me what my goals are with him, and I say, "to take him as far as we can go together, as long as we are both enjoying it". I didn't send him out for his bench CH, either. Not something I'm interested in doing.
I have an acquaintance that has a young dog, 15 months old, that has been out with a pro since she was 12 weeks old. The dog has a JH, working on SH. (hasn't passed any tests yet, I think has 2 fails.) This acquaintance is insanely proud of the dog, and goes on and on. 
But I can't help thinking....
you didn't breed the dog
you didn't train the dog
you don't run the dog in tests
you don't live with the dog
what, exactly, are you proud of?
JMHAOWO, of course.


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Sunrise said:


> Can you let us know what he says?


Absolutely!


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> to each their own....
> I work with an awesome pro once a week, but I refuse to send Tito out. For me, too, it's about the teamwork and the journey. People ask me what my goals are with him, and I say, "to take him as far as we can go together, as long as we are both enjoying it". I didn't send him out for his bench CH, either. Not something I'm interested in doing.
> I have an acquaintance that has a young dog, 15 months old, that has been out with a pro since she was 12 weeks old. The dog has a JH, working on SH. (hasn't passed any tests yet, I think has 2 fails.) This acquaintance is insanely proud of the dog, and goes on and on.
> But I can't help thinking....
> ...


Ya, I don't get that either. My local pro picked up a clients puppy from the breeder and will train her to whatever level. The owner hasn't even seen the pup (she is real cute) other than in pictures. What is the fun in that? It's a status symbol thing I guess. Not my idea of canine companionship. :no:


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

*ROFL*



> "oh, she doesn't need to do that, she won't see that in a SH test".


Recipe for going home early!



> When his dog doesn't do something right, he really gets physical with her. At one point he kicked her in the ribs today so hard that she screamed and we thought he had broken her ribs. He just turned to us and said, "you have to do that once in a while".


I would have said "I think you need to leave. When you learn how to train your dog come back. You ain't doin that here with us".



> Then this guy tells us at the end, oh, well, my dog already knows too much for this pond, all she really got out of this today was working on honoring.


"Well I guess your wasting your time training with us."


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> to each their own....
> I work with an awesome pro once a week, but I refuse to send Tito out. For me, too, it's about the teamwork and the journey. People ask me what my goals are with him, and I say, "to take him as far as we can go together, as long as we are both enjoying it". I didn't send him out for his bench CH, either. Not something I'm interested in doing.
> I have an acquaintance that has a young dog, 15 months old, that has been out with a pro since she was 12 weeks old. The dog has a JH, working on SH. (hasn't passed any tests yet, I think has 2 fails.) This acquaintance is insanely proud of the dog, and goes on and on.
> But I can't help thinking....
> ...



I agree completely! It's about me having fun with my dog which is why I do all the training myself. Although I do wish I could train with a pro regularly. Haven't trained with a pro yet so far although might if I can ever find time and the right fit.


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

> For me, too, it's about the teamwork and the journey. People ask me what my goals are with him, and I say, "to take him as far as we can go together, as long as we are both enjoying it".





> But I can't help thinking....
> you didn't breed the dog
> you didn't train the dog
> you don't run the dog in tests
> ...


:appl::appl::appl::appl::appl::appl::appl::appl::appl::appl::appl:


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

GoldenSail said:


> *Yeah, if your dog listens to you.* Mine is intent on going to the bank right now. We have not done a lot of water handling work either. The intent is to whistle sit and correct her for not coming in straight eventually, but first we are using this method which did work for my friend's lab. Then we will use negative pressure--i.e. going the wrong direction whistle sit, collar correction if needed, come. My friend does not believe in using a lot of collar pressure in the water. Some, sure, but not as much as you might on land.
> 
> And I also admit being a novice handler who did not initially intend on doing field work I did let my dog cheat and run banks many times while playing with her and I think that is most certainly contributing to this--although I recognize running banks is a natural inclination for most dogs to some degree.


It will be hard to decheat reliably until you can handle your pup. First multiple entry that will allow a cheat your pup will take it.

Your friend is right the worst thing you can do right now is correct with an ecollar in water. Water needs to be a safe place. Let her get dry then correct sit nick sit cast back into the water. Or you can sit the pup when she gets dry. Take the bumper throw it back to the fall. Walk back to the original line and cast her to the bumper. Whistle and HERE the second she takes it. It helps to take them back to the point they made a wrong decision and show them the right one. If she heads for the bank walk down the shoreline opposite her whistling and try to get her to the original line following you.
You really need to do this with someone familiar with it. Pro or experienced amateur. If you haven't done swimby I would not attempt it till after I finished it. You should be able to handle her in the water also before doing this. 
Just a thought.
I decheat after I can handle the pup and after swimby. 

Very few dogs won't run the bank when given an opportunity.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Thank you Radarsdad, my friend doesn't really want us to worry about decheating her on water until she is handling blinds reliably on land. She's on her second pattern blind, but these things take time. Also not correcting because she has not been through water t (although we have started it). But, we are doing a few simple drills like the one mentioned that are not that hard on the dog because we are still doing water marks and to start to give her the idea that she needs to be in the water.


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

GoldenSail said:


> Thank you Radarsdad, my friend doesn't really want us to worry about decheating her on water until she is handling blinds reliably on land. She's on her second pattern blind, but these things take time. Also not correcting because she has not been through water t (although we have started it). But, we are doing a few simple drills like the one mentioned that are not that hard on the dog because we are still doing water marks and to start to give her the idea that she needs to be in the water.


:dblthumb2:dblthumb2


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## OwnedbyCasey (Jun 16, 2007)

hotel4dogs said:


> to each their own....
> 
> But I can't help thinking....
> you didn't breed the dog
> ...


Well said!!! I wish I had access to training with a pro, but it's been a fun journey, even if this is as far as we get...I've said that after each title we've earned and sure, it might take me 10 years to get a MH on him when a pro could do it in 1, but we'll have a great bond and having this dog will be more than just paperwork, but something meaningful I will carry with me forever.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> I have an acquaintance that has a young dog, 15 months old, that has been out with a pro since she was 12 weeks old. The dog has a JH, working on SH. (hasn't passed any tests yet, I think has 2 fails.) This acquaintance is insanely proud of the dog, and goes on and on.
> But I can't help thinking....
> you didn't breed the dog
> you didn't train the dog
> ...


FOR REALS! I guess she is proud to write a check??? I don't get it either. Clearly it's something we're missing because a lot of people do it, I wouldn't want to take away their joy but it's clearly not the same goal I have.
Sorry you had to train with such an a**hat, with the lab. That sucks. Has he actually titled other dogs before? Wow.
Here's what we did tonight:









Single marks. Did long mark first, although the water is lower than the Google image so there was a bit more land to navigate on the middle point. Then we ran the short mark. The banks were high, probably 7-8 feet elevation and this mark was thrown on the downward slope of the back of land, so the dog did not see it fall all the way. It was inline to the gunner for the long mark. They all did a very nice job.
Next we set up a blind, first ran the short line which was a LONG angle entry and basically made the dog make a decision when to get in the water, as they traveled parallel to the shore before the shore fell away to their left, it was either go straight and get in or be bad and cheat and follow the land left. They were all good dogs, the only one who repeated was Bark who sorta bailed and got in the water too soon, but that's a good mistake to make. Then we backed up to the far shore and ran it from full distance. Both Fisher and Sophie got in fat and headed down the middle of the channel, completely avoiding the true line. I tried to handle but it got messed up so I called him back, walked up and sent again, this time he saw the picture and took a lovely line, got all the way to the far pocket of water and needed one cast to keep straight in the water. 
Slater is just starting on blinds in the water so I ran him from the inside "elbow" straight across the water to the pile. 
Do you like my little orange bumper pile?


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Cool set up! Sounds like a beneficial session. Yes, your orange bumpers are classic!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

yes, he put a MH on a dog that he ended up retiring because he can't get her to stop breaking. Probably running AWAY from him, not to the mark....
I love your diagrams, Anney. Looks like a great session. The orange bumpers are awesome, LOL


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> to each their own....
> I work with an awesome pro once a week, but I refuse to send Tito out. For me, too, it's about the teamwork and the journey. People ask me what my goals are with him, and I say, "to take him as far as we can go together, as long as we are both enjoying it". I didn't send him out for his bench CH, either. Not something I'm interested in doing.
> I have an acquaintance that has a young dog, 15 months old, that has been out with a pro since she was 12 weeks old. The dog has a JH, working on SH. (hasn't passed any tests yet, I think has 2 fails.) This acquaintance is insanely proud of the dog, and goes on and on.
> But I can't help thinking....
> ...


Exactly !! You put this so well.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

I abandoned the squirrely idea of running WC this month; neither Gladys nor I need something added to our plates at this time; continue to focus on Jr, singles, obedience (esp heeling esp to line), and continue collar conditioning and whistle / sit.


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## OwnedbyCasey (Jun 16, 2007)

I love the google diagram! Great setup! 

We actually trained last night, too. Lots of hills and the sun was setting, so they had to deal with some weird shadows. We only did land, but I was pleased with how it went. For Chance, we just did doubles. The winger malfunctioned on his go and he didn't see the bird go down. Since I'm trying to get him used to the idea to "go" anyway, I sent him. He went straight out and got it. Beautiful retrieve. His memory bird accidentally got thrown over the hill, so he only partially saw that one, but again, straight to it. I love this dog! He comes back to the line like "what, that's it?" I wish we had better training grounds so we could make longer marks and had more varying terrain.

For Bailey, we ran the same marks, but as singles. She has a serious issue going to the gunner station and sitting nicely to ask for "help". She's just started this and it's driving me nuts. They ignored her and she did eventually go and find the bird in both cases, but it took a lot of me threateningly yelling "fetch it up _NOW_!" She is not force-fetched...definitely need to work on that one. However, her second mark was the longest one she's ever run, so the fact that she did eventually work it out I count as progress!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

People don't think. That includes me.
We set up a "WCX land run" this morning. Three throwers, one dog running.
The line was at the corner of a cone shaped piece of land, so to speak. One mark was about 60 yards down one side of the cone. The middle mark was 120 yards straight out from the line. The third mark was 80 yards down the other side of the cone. Cover is pretty thick and heavy, about shoulder deep to the dogs, alfalfa and hay. Dead birds, mixed pheasants and ducks.
The first two dogs had a really hard time with the marks. We suspect that's partially because wet alfalfa has a very strong smell of its own. Anyway, the next dog the guy ran the middle mark first and then picked up the 2 outside marks. (Dog is much more advanced than Tito is). So now everyone told me I should run Tito that way, too, picking up the middle mark first, which we now threw as the go-bird.
My mistake, I should not have done that. It felt wrong to me, I wanted to run them right to left, and I should have listened to my gut instinct. He ran out and slammed the long mark, no problem. But when I ran him to the right outside mark, which was a bit tight to the long mark, when he didn't find it right away he started heading for the old fall. I'm sure he would have headed for it if my gunner hadn't "hey hey'd" him back to the correct mark. He picked up the last mark without a problem. My mistake, I should have run him in the order I wanted to.
Now for the "big disaster" (I am exaggerating, but it COULD have been if Tito wasn't a basically sound, confident dog)
For his second run, I decided to run him right to left as I had wanted to do in the first place. The gunner on the right was standing on mowed grass, throwing about 10 yards into the heavy cover. Well, in theory that's what was supposed to happen.
When he threw the bird, it went straight up in the air and came down right at the edge of the cover/mowed grass, about 6 feet from where he was standing. Now here's the stupid part....he also had a bird lying on the ground right in front of him for his next throw.
So out comes Tito, and of course he gets a good whiff of the bird lying on the ground near the gunner's feet (which is only a few feet from the true mark), and he rips over and picks it up.
THE GUNNER SCREAMS AT HIM!!! NO!!! NO !!!! 
Tito froze. Dropped the bird, and flew off to pick up the middle mark instead. 
As far as he was concerned, he'd found the mark, picked it up, and got no-no'd off of it, so he'd better head to a different fall. 
So now this same gunner starts yelling NO NO at him again, as he's heading for the other fall. Tito hasn't got a clue what's going on at this point. I SCREAM out....THROW THE OTHER BIRD!!!!!!! So the gunner throws the other bird, Tito comes back with it.
Now to make matters worse, the dog that ran right before Tito peed in the high cover right in front of the line. This would not normally be a problem...IF IT WEREN'T A BITCH IN SEASON!!!!! So now when I head him out for the long mark, his head shoots to the ground and he starts vibrating....BITCH ALERT!! BITCH ALERT!! He does a couple of circles and I have to grab him and re-send him in no uncertain terms.
The poor dog. It's amazing that he ever gets anywhere with this stuff.
After that disaster, I put him back in the house for a while. Then when we were all done, I pulled him back out and had them hand toss a real short, easy double, only about 30-40 yards (but in the heavy cover) with the marks falling about 120 degrees apart. Made a big deal of it when he stepped on both of them.
SHEEESH.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Yikes Barb! I was taught a long time ago that when you are a gunner you hold all of the bumpers (or birds) in your hand so that does not happen. At least for more inexperienced dogs...and if I run Scout when she is in heat it is with permission from my group and it is always last.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Well, we did a pattern blind this morning our second pattern blind and our second time out. I was very happy with how she did. I let her watch me set them up (first time my friend dropped them to identify the piles) then sent her. Next time I won't let her watch and I will back up. She was steady, looked straight, and went when she was sent. Perfect!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Yes, and do NOT scream at someone else's dog NO NO when they have just picked up a bird....
The thing is, this guy should have known better, too. He's the only one who has been training for years, the rest of us are new. 
Of course, it was also his bitch that was in heat.



GoldenSail said:


> Yikes Barb! I was taught a long time ago that when you are a gunner you hold all of the bumpers (or birds) in your hand so that does not happen. At least for more inexperienced dogs...and if I run Scout when she is in heat it is with permission from my group and it is always last.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Did he tell the group that his bitch was in heat before you started? Because that really is inappropriate IMO if he did not. Also, I personally think make sure it is ok with the group if you even run at all. I did not expect that I could run Scout in heat, but my friends are ok with it so I do.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

...oh, and I wish I had a video of my pattern blind! She was so naughty when I posted the single t, and she is not like that anymore. One of these nights or mornings I'll see if I can get someone to tape it.


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Yikes! Thank goodness for Tito's sound mind. Poor boy, that could have been real bad.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

No, he didn't say she was in heat. When Tito did that, I asked him, hey, is she due to come in season? He said...."oh, she's overdue. Probably coming in now..." I said let's take a look....sure enough, all swollen....


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I have found that there's some sort of electromagnetic field or something in video cameras that causes the naughty gene to surface...



GoldenSail said:


> ...oh, and I wish I had a video of my pattern blind! She was so naughty when I posted the single t, and she is not like that anymore. One of these nights or mornings I'll see if I can get someone to tape it.


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

K9-Design said:


> Check out Mitch White's decheating drill. It is a modern, modified Dobbs method and works much better. It's fantastic.





K9-Design said:


> BTW Mitch's website is Gamekeepers Retrievers Home Page I think you can order his books on there. I have his transition book and it's quite good. Basically the same as Lardy/Graham/et al but several of his particulars are tweaked and some people might prefer it. His decheating drill is outlined in the book 2, transition stuff. Mitch says he is working on an advanced book too.





Sunrise said:


> Can you let us know what he says?


Here is the info on ordering the training manuals. From the e-mail I received:

You can purchase the set of both manuals by sending a check for $80 to:

Gamekeepers Retrievers, Ltd.
16100 Township Road 390
Frazeysburg, OH 43822

Include a note with the address you would like the shipped to and I will send the right out to you.

Thank you,
Maria White


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

I had a fun "baby dog" training session yesterday. There really just 3 dogs, one of my friends Chris, also has a dog who runs master so she was the 'expert'. She also has a 7 month old male lab pup. We met at a high school, it has AWESOME land, and an amazing pond!!!! The third member of our group has a show lab, she ran a JH a couple weeks back, from what I hear it was a HARD test, and her dog failed so her confidence is CRUSHED! So that was where we started. 

First we did land, no super long marks, we did some that landed just inside cover. Our cover was the edge of the woods, where they stopped mowing. That worked well, as dogs have to "run through" to get to their marks sometime. There was a drainage area with rocks we threw marks so the dogs had to run across the rocks to get to it and return. Lots of slopping land so we did some work with hills too. There was a mark where Chris thew and angle back, and Gabby stopped short marking off Chris. Yup I really need to work on that. 

This pond was gorgeous. It had a nice little cove area where you could do land/water/land marks, it has spots of weeds on the shore line where you could send your dog through, or land the mark in to be retrieved. We did a shoreline mark where the line to you from the mark was clearly water, but the shore was tempting. (Not at all like Anney's diagram) When the show lab ran, when he eyeballed the shore, I had an umbrella (on hand for cheating work) and I just softly opened and closed the umbrella walking on the shore to encourage him to stay in. No with an advanced dog you would not do this, but for these dogs who don't understand decheating work yet, it worked wonders for our purposes. Gabby's first mark, the umbrella holder lost focus, and Gabby came on shore back to me. No big deal, we did it one more time, and I had the mark moved more over the main water but still placed on the shoreline, so hopefully she would swim back and she did very well. The first mark was almost on land in weeds, she marked it well just saw the easier opportunity to get out instead of turn around in weeds. 

At the end we all did a retrieve with a duck. Chris had a GORGEOUS mallard. Really it was pretty. The show lab did an awesome retrieve, probably about 75 yards just in the edge of the woods cover. Gabby had the same throw, and I started about the same place. She lined it great, but was not picking up the duck...odd.... So thank goodness for collar fetch, "Gabby FETCH 'nick' FETCH" and she picks it up and brings it back great. We did one more for prosperity, and she slammed that mark. I was a bit perplexed by the reluctance on the first retrieve, then I thought, that duck is very fresh I wonder if Gabby was just not sure because of the freshness. She still needs to work with shackled ducks or fliers. 

We worked from about 9AM until 1:30PM. It was awesome. We are hoping we can get together again next week. 

Ok I have a question... Gabby has her test (Started) on Sat. I suspect she will do fine. We have another group training session set up for Friday PM. We plan to work with ducks (on land) I do not plan to do any water with Gabby, I want to keep it simple for her. I am thinking about just doing some medium distance angle back single retrieves. Maybe about 5 no two falling in the same area, hoping for cover changes. Does that sound ok? Thursday, I plan to do some 'fetch/no fetch' work with bumpers.


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

I try to make tests simpler than training. I will give mine marks and blinds harder (longer) than the test we are about to run.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

well this is OT here, but Tito did awesome in his agility private lesson today. The guy who wasn't sure he liked the teeter now goes up it just to amuse himself while we are standing around talking. Also getting better and better on the weave poles, the only thing holding us back from entering a trial.
My agility instructor is in my training group, she has a real nice flat coated retriever, so afterward I stuck around and we did a few water honors.
HE
KEPT
HIS
BUM
ON
THE
GROUND ! ! ! !


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

Good Job Tito!!!!!
Sounds like he's getting it. 
For now.


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

WOOOHOOOO!! Way to go Mr. Tito-Man! Lightbulb moment!!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Oh the fact that we have (temporarily) fixed that problem just means I haven't had time yet to see what problem will replace it :doh:



Radarsdad said:


> Good Job Tito!!!!!
> Sounds like he's getting it.
> For now.


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

hotel4dogs said:


> Oh the fact that we have (temporarily) fixed that problem just means I haven't had time yet to see what problem will replace it :doh:


We are staying tuned and not changing the channel:--big_grin:


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

yep, we are out with our pro tomorrow morning, I'm sure I'll have some boneheaded antics to report.


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Sunny, 77 degrees, light wind, picture perfect training day.
Today was Big Training Group Day.
Did casting and it is looking good. Was told we will be moving on to some sort of blind work on Friday.
Water Singles for us today. Winter did ok. There was a one land, water, land, water mark that she handled well. But on another, land, water, land, water, land, water, land, water mark, (4 lands) she came up one land too short and needed help (dirt clod). The last land was pretty tall and I was not sure she would make it up and over it. We reran the mark and she pushed though it.
Worked on having "Dog" called after mark was down, she broke one one mark but not after that. We started honoring today and she did well. However, if for any reason the dog at the line would not be able to pick up their mark she was ready and waiting.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Today. Too hot out. Water was like bathwater. This was more work than fun.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

that sux Anney. The weather, that is. When it's so hot the dogs get overheated just swimming, let alone running land. 
Our weather is FINALLY supposed to be more seasonal here, which means low to mid 80's, for the next week.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

a bit OT, but when I first joined GRF there was never ANY action on the field section of the forum. So nice to see such great participation in the threads now!


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

I was just thinking that the other day! I find I get bummed if we don't have a new post for a couple hours. I love hearing about everyones successes and challenges. Plus, with the knowledge base we are building, will really prove to be an asset to new subscribers in the future.


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> a bit OT, but when I first joined GRF there was never ANY action on the field section of the forum. So nice to see such great participation in the threads now!





DNL2448 said:


> I was just thinking that the other day! I find I get bummed if we don't have a new post for a couple hours. I love hearing about everyones successes and challenges. Plus, with the knowledge base we are building, will really prove to be an asset to new subscribers in the future.


I have been thinking this also......great minds.


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

That is so funny you said that I TOO was thinking that. I spend MOST of my time in this thread area now. LOL


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

We had another great day. I set up the pattern blinds this time with Scout in the car. Also ran her from slightly further back. She nailed them all. However, she was a little tired near the end. This is a large grassy area at a park that has off-leash hours so we are legal--but must share with other dog owners if they are there. So we had to wait and practice obedience until the field cleared. Obedience was good though.


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

Just worked on some OB, CC and more on hold. Also worked on coming in to heal after retrieve. He's getting big enough now that it won't be long before he can take me out. Course he still thinks coming straight in piling into dad and getting a good scruffing is much more fun. Just for fun had him remote sit and threw a bumper 90 deg, sent him on an over cast. He thought that was pretty cool coming in and doin the puppy strut at the end. Repeated on the opposite side and quit. Whistle response getting much better remote with distraction.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> a bit OT, but when I first joined GRF there was never ANY action on the field section of the forum. So nice to see such great participation in the threads now!


And I used to avoid this section of the forum--felt like it was over my head and something I wouldn't do with my current dog.


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

Sucked you right in! LOL
Now your sneaking in pattern blinds at the park!!!!
And probably looking for water and land you can run on.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Trained at Betsy's tonight (roundish pond I've posted a picture of, with all the little round ponds at the top). Anyways we set up a really short double, under the arc blind down a short channel, and that's it. It was 99 degrees when I got there at 6:15. OMG
Well Fisher was a freakin animal. He was all over the place on the line. I wanted to repeat the little double and make him sit still, of course I forgot to tell the bird boys that this was NOT a walkup and it was complete chaos. Anyways I ended up doing two short bumpers in the water with him and making him sit still for a long time before sending. ARGH Not a good thing a week before our test. 
However the little star was Slater. He did his first REAL water cold blind today and was phenomenal. I couldn't believe it. Well I guess I can. I say first real blind because it was more than just straight across a channel or something simple like that. It was about 50 yards of swimming, past floating decoys and past a point (well, the point was probably about 10 yards off the line but for a baby dog that's close, and I kept him off the land). He took all my casts, such a good pup!!! He loves his blinds, that's the best part. 
So a mixed bag, we have one more training day before we leave for Ohio.


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Well, if you don't check in before you leave, have a super fun weekend filled with orange!


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## OwnedbyCasey (Jun 16, 2007)

hotel4dogs said:


> a bit OT, but when I first joined GRF there was never ANY action on the field section of the forum. So nice to see such great participation in the threads now!


This is the whole reason why I came back...when I was on the old site years ago, there was basically no one who did anything with their dogs (at least no one who posted regularly). I was just getting involved in dog sports and had a ton of questions...now that we're moving up through the levels I have a ton of questions again! It's great to see so many people going through the same joys (and frustrations) of training!

Looking forward to the training days this weekend hosted by PVGRC and ODGRC. Hoping we get a break from the heat, but packing lots of water, ice, and fresh batteries for the fans!


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

K9-Design said:


> So a mixed bag, we have one more training day before we leave for Ohio.


Annie, just how far do you think is too far to drive for a test? Good Luck.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Best of luck this weekend Anney, I'll be thinking of you and hoping for Orange. Weather is supposed to be great up this way, that should make the boys feel good and help you have a successful weekend!


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

Here in Texas you've got at least 8 of them within a 3 hour drive, that's just AKC.

Good Luck Anney pick up the chickens.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Good luck Anney


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## OwnedbyCasey (Jun 16, 2007)

Good luck! 

I almost drove 16 hours to go to a test in Wisconsin this summer...the closest test to me has been 2 hours away, but of course I couldn't go to that one. Closest one I've actually been to is 5 hours...driving 4.5 hours tonight just for a training day tomorrow (though I'll be going to a family reunion 2 hours away from that later that day). Does everyone have to travel so much for hunt tests?


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

We have local hunt tests that are about an hour away from me (about four), a traininndg days that occur a few times a month. They are all in the spring though, and there are definitely a lot of people that don't go to them for that reason. They do not want to get their dogs in cold water, or they want to practice more in water before hitting the tests. If you miss those few tests you are looking at driving over 12+ hours. I wouldn't mind if it were a double header, or if we were really ready to move up. But I figure Scout will not be ready for Senior in the spring anyway, so there is no need to worry about driving.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Oh and I have two good things to share! Going to meet up with a guy on Monday who just got a golden puppy and introduce the pup to birds. The guy is interested in field training, so hopefully we can suck another one in.

And, they are undergoing a huge renovation to one of our state parks that we train at. The place is large with lots of fields, and all of the park rangers are so friendly and love to watch us train our dogs. They have no problem with them running off leash. With the new development though, they want to put in a dog park for the public (boo) and limit that to a small off-leash section. A bunch of field trainers though are proposing they section off a large section of the park that is currently unused and put in a bunch of technical training ponds (they are already planning on more ponds). Then charge a yearly or daily use fee. Move the small public dog park somewhere else. It sounds like they might bite, so cross your fingers for us!


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Well that sounds darn cool. Where is the park proposed to be?


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

It's Eagle Island


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

GoldenSail said:


> It's Eagle Island


Oh, I love that area! I hope you get it passed, then when we visit Cindy and Phil, we can take the puppers out.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

GoldenSail said:


> Oh and I have two good things to share! Going to meet up with a guy on Monday who just got a golden puppy and introduce the pup to birds. The guy is interested in field training, so hopefully we can suck another one in.
> 
> And, they are undergoing a huge renovation to one of our state parks that we train at. The place is large with lots of fields, and all of the park rangers are so friendly and love to watch us train our dogs. They have no problem with them running off leash. With the new development though, they want to put in a dog park for the public (boo) and limit that to a small off-leash section. A bunch of field trainers though are proposing they section off a large section of the park that is currently unused and put in a bunch of technical training ponds (they are already planning on more ponds). Then charge a yearly or daily use fee. Move the small public dog park somewhere else. It sounds like they might bite, so cross your fingers for us!


Wow, cool! Approach the pond building from the angle of wildlife/migratory bird preservation and hell you might get a government grant for it! LOL


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

hollyk said:


> Annie, just how far do you think is too far to drive for a test? Good Luck.


Colorado was too far. Mainly because Nebraska was half the journey.

I'm lucky in that my parents live in Atlanta, which is 6 hours from me and a really good jumping off point for a lot of places. Leaving from Atlanta I can make it to Ohio or New England in one day.
Colorado and Oklahoma took more than that


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

GoldenSail said:


> Oh and I have two good things to share! Going to meet up with a guy on Monday who just got a golden puppy and introduce the pup to birds. The guy is interested in field training, so hopefully we can suck another one in.
> 
> And, they are undergoing a huge renovation to one of our state parks that we train at. The place is large with lots of fields, and all of the park rangers are so friendly and love to watch us train our dogs. They have no problem with them running off leash. With the new development though, they want to put in a dog park for the public (boo) and limit that to a small off-leash section. A bunch of field trainers though are proposing they section off a large section of the park that is currently unused and put in a bunch of technical training ponds (they are already planning on more ponds). Then charge a yearly or daily use fee. Move the small public dog park somewhere else. It sounds like they might bite, so cross your fingers for us!


That really sounds awesome... Keep the public dogs in the small off leash area, then set aside the rest for REAL dog training!!! I hope it all works out. I want to come there too.


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

Fingers,toes and eyes crossed. Really, Really hope it goes through. Yearly or daily fee I would pay in a minute for technical pond access. Since our clubs is gone. (dam broke owner won't fix it)



GoldenSail said:


> Oh and I have two good things to share! Going to meet up with a guy on Monday who just got a golden puppy and introduce the pup to birds. The guy is interested in field training, so hopefully we can suck another one in.
> 
> And, they are undergoing a huge renovation to one of our state parks that we train at. The place is large with lots of fields, and all of the park rangers are so friendly and love to watch us train our dogs. They have no problem with them running off leash. With the new development though, they want to put in a dog park for the public (boo) and limit that to a small off-leash section. A bunch of field trainers though are proposing they section off a large section of the park that is currently unused and put in a bunch of technical training ponds (they are already planning on more ponds). Then charge a yearly or daily use fee. Move the small public dog park somewhere else. It sounds like they might bite, so cross your fingers for us!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

geez Lisa, that sounds AWESOME!! I sure it works out!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

DNL2448 said:


> Here is the info on ordering the training manuals. From the e-mail I received:
> 
> You can purchase the set of both manuals by sending a check for $80 to:
> 
> ...


Received my copies and started looking last night - I am really loving it so far. The drills make sense, he makes a point of mentioning that not all dogs are labs and his plan allows training for the more biddable type  

I have not taken it to training yet but as I said I am liking them !! Thanks


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Well, darn! I sent my check out just minutes before I posted this and I still haven't got mine. Maybe today, we are pretty far from Ohio. Now I really can't wait!! Thanks for the critique.


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

Sunrise said:


> Received my copies and started looking last night - I am really loving it so far. The drills make sense, he makes a point of mentioning that not all dogs are labs and his plan allows training for the more biddable type
> 
> I have not taken it to training yet but as I said I am liking them !! Thanks


True, not all dogs are Labs but the trick is to read your dog through the basic skills they need. Goldens are smart and can read a drill very quickly and in a sense are ADHD. This can work against them in teaching to fight the various factors thrown at them in a test or in the field. They have to focus and persevere through the task they are given. They also have to understand that you are in the drivers seat and to look to you for direction. Once they read the drill, change to where success means following your direction. They have to understand that even though they have done this before they have to do it again. They are not driving the bus you are. When you become a team then there is no limit.
Just my observations.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Sigh, Dan is always telling me this will get much easier when Tito stops trying to figure out a BETTER way to do it and just does it MY way....



Radarsdad said:


> True, not all dogs are Labs but the trick is to read your dog through the basic skills they need. Goldens are smart and can read a drill very quickly and in a sense are ADHD. This can work against them in teaching to fight the various factors thrown at them in a test or in the field. They have to focus and persevere through the task they are given. They also have to understand that you are in the drivers seat and to look to you for direction. Once they read the drill, change to where success means following your direction. They have to understand that even though they have done this before they have to do it again. They are not driving the bus you are. When you become a team then there is no limit.
> Just my observations.


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Radarsdad said:


> Goldens are smart and *can read a drill very quickly* and in a sense are ADHD.
> 
> Once *they read the drill*, change to where success means following your direction.


:doh::doh: Now see, THIS is where I have screwed up my training. I have been reading the drills, I should have Dooley reading them too. Should I also have him watch the DVD?:


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

DNL2448 said:


> :doh::doh: Now see, THIS is where I have screwed up my training. I have been reading the drills, I should have Dooley reading them too. Should I also have him watch the DVD?:


You should have Dooley trying to read *YOU*.
Hope that makes sense just my philosophy on training. WHAT DO YOU WANT NEXT???? This a fun game!!!. But I understand YOU (trainer) set the rules.


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Radarsdad said:


> You should have Dooley trying to read *YOU*.
> Hope that makes sense just my philosophy on training. WHAT DO YOU WANT NEXT???? This a fun game!!!. But I understand YOU (trainer) set the rules.


I was only funnin'. I know what you were trying to say.


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