# If you need yet another reason to do field work



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Just got done grooming Tito. He's going to be 8 in March (wow, where did the time go???) and I would (and will at National) still put him in the ring up against the boys who are 5-6 years younger than he is.
As I was grooming him just now, I couldn't help thinking how being active out in the field has kept him sturdy and strong, well muscled, in hard working condition. I can't imagine any other way to keep your dog in such great shape, because field work uses ALL the muscles. The only thing that might come close is swimming, but I don't think just swimming uses all the muscle groups the way that field work (including water retrieves) does.
I do love this boy.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

It's really too bad that my dog who needs to lose 10# is so terrified of loud noises, because I'd be right there just for that reason. Every field person I know feeds a ton of food to keep weight on their dogs.


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

Yes, I love how strong Katniss is. Her muscles are rippling and her thighs are steel. I don't think you have to use guns to do field work. I rarely use them at all to train. I truly feel (and I know this is going to get negative feedback) that unless there is a true reason that you can't get your dog outdoors to train on retrieving (anytime of retrieving, whether it be balls or bumpers) you are doing your dog an injustice by not taking them out several times a month to just run free and chase stuff. 

I also do not feed Katniss a ton of food. She is the type that if she eats too much she immediately puts on weight so I'm very careful about it. Occasionally I'll see she is losing a few pounds and I'll add some higher caloric food to her diet for a few weeks but then I take her off of it again.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

MillionsofPeaches said:


> I truly feel (and I know this is going to get negative feedback) that unless there is a true reason that you can't get your dog outdoors to train on retrieving (anytime of retrieving, whether it be balls or bumpers) you are doing your dog an injustice by not taking them out several times a month to just run free and chase stuff. .


I 100% agree with you. These dogs need to get out every day, and several times a day. In Jacks and Bertie's case - they are going out at the break of dawn with me to hike and run loose over fields and so on. With Jacks, it kept him very muscled and in good shape right up until a year ago when he started to self-regulate or hold back because of an injury. He's 10# over, but still a very athletic and sound dog - and that's a credit to keeping him active.

That all said - the people I know who do field work through spring and summer - holy crud, their dogs can't keep the weight on them. I haven't gotten into fieldwork with him because he can't test because of his sound issues. And I need goals to aim for.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Plus - it's just so awesome to see them charging out across a field and down a hill and back up a hill to pick up a bird, and then come charging back with it. Ditto watching them take off into a pond with such enthusiasm and come back with the prize. 

And yes, Megora, I do feed Shala a ton! She has no fat on her at all. Three cups of 30-20 sport food (30% protein, 20% fat). Plus loads of treats. She is 45 pounds of lean muscle. If you really want to do field training with Bertie (is it Bertie you're talking about?), you could always do the training and not compete (where they do use the guns). We don't always use gun shots in our training group (my trainer mixes it up). But - the other thing - the first time Shala ever heard the gun, she didn't even flinch. And it was right beside her. She was so concentrated on the duck that flew up in the air and came down in the pond that she didn't care about the noise. Now, to be fair, she had had no issues with loud noises before that, so I wasn't really worried about it. But it was louder than anything she had ever experienced. You could maybe condition him to be okay with it. A good trainer could help you do that.

Edit to add: Just saw it's Jacks.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> Edit to add: Just saw it's Jacks.


 Yep. 

Bertie is in field classes (we're off until next summer) and he's not affected by anything.


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## ktkins7 (Jul 20, 2013)

I sure hope I can get Ella to do well with field work. We're only at the very beginning, but her retrieving drive has really come through over the last couple of weeks. She doesn't want to stop. I just hope we'll be able to get her just as excited over birds as bumpers. So far she is very interested in the duck wings we have but won't pick one up.

The exercise is definitely good for her too. Haven't weighed her since we started but she does need to lose a few pounds even though she only gets a cup of food a day.


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

Megora, I love that you take them out in the fields or hikes and let them run free. To me, that is the same thing. In my neighborhood we have fields all around us. Several neighbors have goldens and labs (most are so overweight) and keep them in the backyard all year round. They never take them just a quarter of the mile down the road and let them run free. To me, its easier to just do that then anything else and when I'm crunched for time I will do that instead of training. They just love hopping through the cover and smelling all the deer and wildlife that has come through. OH and we have a neighborhood pond we can use and I'll take them to swim and play and it is so sad to see all the dogs just walk by watching with envy at my girls playing. The owners tell me it is too much a hassle to wash them afterwards. Ugh. I just feel like with sporting dogs, that means so much to them and they have such a short life, why not let them experience it a few times a month, even? I do understand there can be circumstances that prevent that, I understand. 

With Kat's weight, our vet warned us when we spayed her that some dogs will get fatter no matter how much you feed them. So I think for Kat, if she wasn't exercising so much she'd probably be a tub, poor thing. She is just like her mom (me, ha ha.)


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Kate, if you ever wanted to attempt it, we introduced Conner (a very spooky dog who is terrified of everything) in a way that had him loving gunshots in just a few minutes.

We used wing clipped pigeons. Did a couple of marks with just a hey-hey. This got him super excited, ready to take off from the line. Third time, as pigeon is in air the gun was shot. His focus and excitement were so intense, he didn't think to be scared. He quickly connected gunshot meant bird, and it only took a couple of marks for the sound of the gunshot to get him Excited.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

hotel4dogs said:


> Just got done grooming Tito. He's going to be 8 in March (wow, where did the time go???) and I would (and will at National) still put him in the ring up against the boys who are 5-6 years younger than he is.
> As I was grooming him just now, I couldn't help thinking how being active out in the field has kept him sturdy and strong, well muscled, in hard working condition. I can't imagine any other way to keep your dog in such great shape, because field work uses ALL the muscles. The only thing that might come close is swimming, but I don't think just swimming uses all the muscle groups the way that field work (including water retrieves) does.
> I do love this boy.


We were grooming Darcy for a conformation show back in August and the breeder could not stop touching her and feeling her muscles. The field work has really brought this girl to shine, both mentally and physically! Such a transformation.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Kate, Darcy was completely terrified of the gunshot sounds. She used to hide, crawl under the car, behind the door. Now she hears a gun and looks to see where the bird is. She is still scared of the thunder but we are progressing there little by little as well. Once she associated the gun sound with retrieving a bird the fear turn into excitement.


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