# Trial/Test Season is fast approaching!



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Well, thinking about some hunt testing.


----------



## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

Big maybe for my girl. I think she could get a WC. I did some doubles with her last week. Problem is training alone so if have to be my own thrower. I also need to get some birds out for her. My boy still doesn’t have enough training yet. Place I usually train is 2 hours away and I haven’t been told of any practice times yet this winter.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

oooh I can hear the excitement in your post, FT. I can't wait until you start running, I want to hear all about it! I agree, derby is so fun. Man, I wish I had appreciated it more because this all age stuff is hard, ha ha. 

We are plugging away. Trying some new stuff to get better on all age blinds. I am the pits. Proof has gotten pretty good at them now but my timing is so bad. So we will see how the training goes for the spring and from there I will see if I will run him or not. I probably will, mainly for the fun for proof. I don't like running and screwing up blinds every trial and sometimes we can get through them ha ha ha. oh well, it gets old and depressing doing well in the marks and sucky on the blinds but he doesn't care. He loves trials. ha ha. 

Anyway, its been a few weeks off with proof due to some unexpected stuff so next week we will get back into it. He is climbing the walls, I can't wait to train again.


----------



## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

Good Luck! FT Goldens! We are training hard for the Q this winter. Things are coming along pretty good. I would enter a Q now if it was just land  We need water work. Our original goal was the fall for the Q but if the water work comes along nicely we are looking at Memorial Day at the earliest. We cant get in the water til the beginning of April so a lot of work is on the horizon. Derby's are so fun, it sucked we missed out on the last four months of her Derby's and had to scratch the last two. BUT remember as some great mind told me " You only need to be a pinpoint marker for about 6 months"  Take care!


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

that is the truth! Derbies you pretty much have to pin every bird to place, I have found that even a handle can win the occasional all age trial. Just GET and STAY IN THE AREA! That goes a long way!


----------



## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

Yes, Derby's wasn't kind to us. (which I knew would happen and people told me not to run them and train AA) Our young dog will never pin point a mark. She marks off the gun and loops 50% of the time. She will always come back with the bird and stay in the area until she finds it though. I am excited to move upward because she has a great memory and has no problem going very long though old falls on her retired birds. She just wants to work, mistakes or not she loves to work and is a team player and totally trusts me. We will see how she progresses. We are working through obstacles now on her land blinds which is going well. Only time will tell when the water gets warm enough


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

that sounds like the kind of dog I would love to own! How fun for you!! I know what you mean. My other dog doesn't pin every mark. She doesn't mark of the gunner and she usually will go into the area and do a couple loops while Proof would just go right to the bird. BUT she is a huge team player, almost always goes straight to the area in front of the gun, and cannot get enough work, she lives for it. I think she will do better in all age because of this. Plus it doesn't help when she is running against her littermates in nearly ever trial and they are all very close to equal in marking. just depends on the day...she has a few months left but I don't care about derbies like I did with proof so who knows.


----------



## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

Bryn, a puppy from my first litter, will be running JH this year and hopefully pass the WC I'm planning. Our HT season doesn't start until the very end of March. I'm so nervous for her but I really think she'll do great. She's always shown a ton of confidence and drive.

Teal took a long break but I'm hoping to have her ready for the WCX so she can attempt a triathlon award at our specialty :crossfing

Here's Bryn coming back from her first water mark at just under 5 months. She's just a little proud and so was I.


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

Abeille said:


> Big maybe for my girl. I think she could get a WC. I did some doubles with her last week. Problem is training alone so if have to be my own thrower. I also need to get some birds out for her. My boy still doesn’t have enough training yet. Place I usually train is 2 hours away and I haven’t been told of any practice times yet this winter.


I hear what you're saying about training alone. Right now, my training partners are more focused on duck hunting than dog training, even though the ducks are extremely sparse around here ... my interest in duck hunting is as low as the duck population right now! I have a couple wingers to help me with marks, but it's not the same as a person throwing a bumper or duck.

Just curious ... have you looked at the Field Network list of trainers and clubs listed by state? The list is on the GRCA website; may be you can find a club or person to train with.

FTGoldens


----------



## Sweese (Sep 25, 2013)

My main goals are within the HRC though my field trial training group will continue to push me to qualifiers for Cassie. There are only so many weekends in the spring and summer. The fall is usually a non-starter for me since the dogs and I are guiding starting September 1.

Cassie (R) will start off with upland tests for UH then move to the regular HRC hunts and continue to add finished points. 
8 month Rory (L - GRHRCH Yeti x HRCH Cassie) should be ready for seasoned(HR) this spring and Lord willing we will work towards HRCH this summer in Colorado. He is training up VERY fast.

I hope to have both dogs in the Grand 2020. The red dogs wish everyone successful hunts, hunt tests and trials in 2019!


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

MillionsofPeaches said:


> We are plugging away. Trying some new stuff to get better on all age blinds. I am the pits. Proof has gotten pretty good at them now but my timing is so bad. So we will see how the training goes for the spring and from there I will see if I will run him or not. I probably will, mainly for the fun for proof. I don't like running and screwing up blinds every trial and sometimes we can get through them ha ha ha. oh well, it gets old and depressing doing well in the marks and sucky on the blinds but he doesn't care. He loves trials. ha ha.


I know what you mean about the timing of whistles on the all-age blinds. I've had a couple rockets and even if I was quick to react, I was too darn late ... I had to learn to anticipate what the dog was going to do. Sometimes that resulted in whistling when I didn't need to whistle, but I figured that an extra whistle was preferred over the risk of getting in trouble. And it's made extra hard with the distances involved in the all-age blinds because a dog can travel several feet, maybe yards, between the time the whistle is blown and the time the sound reaches the dog. (So who will do the calculation: If Spot is 385 yards away from Sally and Spot is running 25.5 miles per hour away from Sally, (i) how long does it take for the sound from Sally's Green Monster Whistle to reach Spot's ears and (ii) how many feet has Spot traveled between the time Sally first blew the Green Monster Whistle and the time it reaches Spot's ears? (And let's assume that Spot has a pretty good "sit" and travels only 15 feet after he hears the Green Monster Whistle.))

FTGoldens


----------



## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

Abeille said:


> Big maybe for my girl. I think she could get a WC. I did some doubles with her last week. Problem is training alone so if have to be my own thrower. I also need to get some birds out for her. My boy still doesn’t have enough training yet. Place I usually train is 2 hours away and I haven’t been told of any practice times yet this winter.


 
Abeille, My wife and I train alone probably 95% of the time, we both work full time jobs and squeeze training in 5-6 days a week. We have 3 wingers, ATV, chairs and stickmen, we get it done the best we can and make due. We have fun! I worked hard to find training places close to us. I knocked on a ton of doors, put ads on facebook local groups for places with fields and ponds. I was shocked on the great response we got. We ended up with some real nice properties. I also contacted every shooting preserve for left over birds. Our freezer is full with dead ducks. It can be done without breaking the bank. The main thing is we have fun. A lot of it isn't conventional training and supplies we use but it works for us and the dogs Good luck!


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

Edward Lee Nelson said:


> A lot of it isn't conventional training and supplies we use but it works for us and the dogs Good luck!


This particular sentence made me smile because like you, I do things that aren't necessarily per "a PROGRAM." We do the best we can with the time and resources that we have. 
My greatest limitation is time; I have a 45 minute commute to/from work, so during this time of the year, I train two days a week at most ... sometimes I have to take shortcuts or be satisfied with "good enough." But that's okay.
FTGoldens


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

FTGoldens said:


> I know what you mean about the timing of whistles on the all-age blinds. I've had a couple rockets and even if I was quick to react, I was too darn late ... I had to learn to anticipate what the dog was going to do. Sometimes that resulted in whistling when I didn't need to whistle, but I figured that an extra whistle was preferred over the risk of getting in trouble. And it's made extra hard with the distances involved in the all-age blinds because a dog can travel several feet, maybe yards, between the time the whistle is blown and the time the sound reaches the dog. (So who will do the calculation: If Spot is 385 yards away from Sally and Spot is running 25.5 miles per hour away from Sally, (i) how long does it take for the sound from Sally's Green Monster Whistle to reach Spot's ears and (ii) how many feet has Spot traveled between the time Sally first blew the Green Monster Whistle and the time it reaches Spot's ears? (And let's assume that Spot has a pretty good "sit" and travels only 15 feet after he hears the Green Monster Whistle.))
> 
> FTGoldens



Can you do the math??? Please??? its so complicated for my brain....Oh but my 14 year old son just downloaded a game for our V/R. Its a game where you have to watch and react really fast. I am not so good at it, but I'm thinking it might help me out with my reaction time....Geez anything I can do to mentally get faster, ha ha ha.


----------



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

If I didn’t make a mistake somewhere, Spot hears the whistle at 397.8 yards and stops at 400.8 yards. 

I’m going to run Maisey in the local Master tests when they start up in May. I may let her travel to the OOS ones with the pro. She needs 4 Master passes by 7/31 for the 2019 MN. 

I think I’m going to go check out Canadian hunt tests with Molly. Maisey will have to keep her focus on AKC.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Vhuynh2 said:


> If I didn’t make a mistake somewhere, Spot hears the whistle at 397.8 yards and stops at 400.8 yards.
> 
> I’m going to run Maisey in the local Master tests when they start up in May. I may let her travel to the OOS ones with the pro. She needs 4 Master passes by 7/31 for the 2019 MN.
> 
> I think I’m going to go check out Canadian hunt tests with Molly. Maisey will have to keep her focus on AKC.



Sound travels 1100 ft/sec at 68 deg, slower in colder temperatures. At 397.8 yds. that is about 1200 ft. It took over a second for the sound to reach the dog. OK, maybe you are just being figurative but we should keep in mind two factors when using our whistle:

1. "Lock time"---thinking time to sound producing time---may be about 1/6 of a second, reflex time
2. Travel time of sound

An article by Dennis Voigt made me aware of this (i.e. travel time) and he states that this results in many of us doing a nic/burn too early. If you don't consider these factors you just might administer a correction before the dog has time to hear or react. Just think what this does to the dog. Food for thought.


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

With the water temp near 50 and the air temp at 60, we hit the water on Sunday! For not being in the water for several months, I was pretty pleased with the boy-dogs ... unfortunately, the girl-dogs are all in season, so they had to stay home. 
It looks like I may have to play hooky from work on Tuesday afternoon (temp is again forecast to be 60).
... so may be those early trials are within reach ....
FTGoldens


----------



## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

"With the water temp near 50 and the air temp at 60, we hit the water on Sunday"

That's pretty good. I checked the water temp yesterday and it was 37 degrees, so it will be a while and after today ( supposed to hit 60) a cold front comes in with snow on Sat night/Sunday. It will be April before we get in the water. I would go down South for a week but then I eat up my days that I use for going to the trials  She did run a very nice land blind yesterday full blast out and back!!!!! Life is good!!!!


----------



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

Edward Lee Nelson said:


> I would go down South for a week but then I eat up my days that I use for going to the trials


Yep, I know of what you speak! The life of a working amateur!:smile2:


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I'd love to become a better handler. Riot is way better than me. And he's fast like his cousins. I'm trying to get better at deciding before I go to the line, where I need to whistle my dog. I'm not very successful yet. Last weekend at group training, I threw for an hour before running my dog. I wanted to see how the other handlers ran their dogs first and what kind of pitfalls the dogs were having. So we did a lot better having that time ahead. But so much of the time at a test/trial, you don't get the opportunity to plan ahead. 

Last weekend Riot did break for the first time in ages. I was completely prepared. We were required to honor the other dog first, before running our dogs. So the honor was first, which we've never done before. When the distraction bird landed 20' in front of him, he took a step and raised his butt slightly. I caught him just right.I don't think he'll break again anytime soon. 

 We're going to try master this summer. We need a lot of water work. I'm hoping for early spring thaw. We'll go for Quals depending on schedules. I don't know if I want to run Amateurs. No derby dogs in Alaska again this year. 2 years of no derbies. We'll run master spaniel hunt tests again this summer. I want to finish his Open obedience title. I really want to enter him soon in Utility. We are struggling heeling of all things....

Lucy I'm not so sure what the heck to do with her. She has so much Personality. Some days she's an amazing marker. Some days she's a lot of fun to run on blinds. And other days, she has no desire to do anything but greet people and get petted. Entering her is always a crap shoot. A couple of weeks ago, I had a friend run her at training. She was perfect. Who knows what goes through that girl's mind. Consistency is not in her vocabulary. So we'll leave her on the sidelines. Run her in senior spaniel hunt tests and call it a summer. Maybe we'll win the club Chukar Challenge again.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

FTGoldens I'm super excited about your spring derbies!! I can't wait to hear all the details. 

Woohoo back to training today. Proof has been off since December 19th. that is an eternity for him. Saturday we took him hunting for the first time and he did very well and was super stoked. That was the first time he had had a bird in his mouth and it was in a hunting scenario. Today I didn't know what to expect at training. Would he be super loose? Would he break? I pulled him out of the truck and I swear he was so hyped but did all the work very well. I was happy, he was happy. We are all satisfied in bed now, ha ha. 

The weather was extremely cold in Nov but December it has been warm and today the high was 70 as it will be the rest of the week. We haven't had to really stop water work except in Nov. The water temps are still high enough, though. Today we did three marks on water as well as a water blind. Its nice to keep working water in January, wow!


----------

