# 2020 Field Goals



## 3goldens2keep (Feb 13, 2019)

We are picking up a new field bred puppy around Jan. 20th. His pedigree and breeder come to us highly recommended by people we know and trust in the hunt test world. We hope to take him through hunt tests with a goal of making it to Master hunter, probably sometime in 2021. He of course will hunt waterfowl and upland birds with me and my adult sons as soon as his basic field training is completed, during 2020...

We are also considering expanding his training into the world of Obedience testing. As it would compliment his hunt training and make him a better dog, not to mention the added fun we all would have!

I will talk in more detail regarding the breeder and pedigree after we have the pup home...


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## myluckypenny (Nov 29, 2016)

My goals for 2020 include - 

Go to one seminar (if anyone knows of any good ones let me know)
Get through all transition work and start early advanced training with both dogs
Spend a week training with a pro - this will be my vacation lol
Go to the 2020 Master National in MN to spectate 
Dog specific goals
Rio - 
HRC Seasoned Title - Right now I'm thinking we will skip started level as I think they tests are sometimes set up to encourage cheating. 
WC Title

Fisher
HRC Seasoned pass - considering how long it took us to get a started title I will settle for a single pass in 2020!
WC Title


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

You can sometimes find seminars on Entry Express: https://www.entryexpress.net/loggedIn/events.aspx?tab=true&eventTypeName=Seminars

But the best way is doing internet searches for the names of pros who you'd like to learn from. Dave Rorem, Danny Farmer, Pat Burns are a few of the pros who conduct training seminars on a fairly regular basis ... and all three garner rave reviews.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Win an Amateur or Open stake.
Qualify for the NARC, and then win it.
Hope I'm aiming high enough

Best wishes to everyone in 2020.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

New field pup on the way. I’d like to get through swim by before freeze up this fall. I’d like to enter pup in junior hunt tests and have some fun. Get prepped for derbies in 2021.

Riot has been on vacation from field training since last June. So we need to revisit all the basics. Then I’d like to enter some master tests and get him back running qual’s.

Training goal for husband, is get him able to run dogs on blinds. This will be entertainment for the summer. It all looks easy if you aren’t doing it right?

Goal for me, learn when to hit the whistle at the right time, and use the right amount of pressure to get the best results.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Alaska7133 said:


> Goal for me, learn when to hit the whistle at the right time, and use the right amount of pressure to get the best results.


Worthy goals that I'm not sure anyone ever fully reaches.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

SRW said:


> Win an Amateur or Open stake.
> Qualify for the NARC, and then win it.
> Hope I'm aiming high enough
> 
> Best wishes to everyone in 2020.


You could aim for a NRC win. What the hell right? Nothing wrong with aiming high.


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## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

QAA our 2yr old: The issue is focusing on me after 150 yrds on blinds If it was a Hunt test she would line 90% of them. There are 3 parts to a blind: beginning, middle and end. The end is the issue. We are running 3 blinds a day and stretching them out over 300 yrds with me running behind her to close the gap,plus drills twice a week.Blinds have improved since end of October. Marks are good, but need to run more challenging AA marks including Quads and double retired guns.

14 week puppy: Obedience,FF, FTP, T,swim by,cheating singles, multiples with retired guns and simple blinds are on the horizon for her in 2020. I might have missed something  Ready for Derby in 2021.


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

The goals for my 2 year olds are largely the same ones that ELN has for his 2 year old ... get QAA in the spring and ready to run Ams in the fall (well, at least not look stupid running Ams in the fall). Similarly, the issues I'm having are related to control on blinds past 300 yards.

On marks, I've been running multiple marks with at least one retired and both of the mutts are comfortable with retired guns. I am currently trying to get them to understand that sometimes they have to go short for a retired mark even after they have gone long and even if there's a stand out gunner deep of the short retired (okay, this will probably be a lifetime goal). To work on this, among other things, I've been running interrupted doubles, with the long mark being the go-bird, then running a blind, then picking up a short retired mark. 

The accuracy of their marking seems to be declining with all of the multiples and interrupted set ups I've been running, so I'll try to make myself run them on singles for a while to get the precision back.

FTGoldens


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I had to do a double take, I thought this was going to be a thread about the football playoffs


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## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

FT Golden’s made me think of something we have been working on for about 4-5 months and will continue to work on it. We have had pretty good success and that’s ideal selection. Rex Carr invented it ( we always think secondary is the way to go) but Dave Rorem wrote a good article on it. The concept is picking up the short retired or any short bird last. We worked on it briefly before our last trial in Oct. and my goofy dog automatically did it on the land series after deciding she wanted the long bird second before the short retired. She was the only dog out of 35 to select the birds that way and she knew where the retired was because she looked over at it on the way back from the long middle bird. It’s a neat concept that’s worth running in training on occasion because you never know what you may face at a trial.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Alaska7133 said:


> You could aim for a NRC win. What the hell right? Nothing wrong with aiming high.


Might as well finish the year strong.
We are at a disadvantage though, Jake has never been in a time out and I've never offered him a "treat trade".


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Edward Lee Nelson said:


> The concept is picking up the short retired or any short bird last.


It is a good concept to train for but very risky in a trial. Getting a dog to check down on a short retired after running long is not easy, especially when revved up at a trial. 
Most people think of secondary selection as picking up the last bird down first then the rest from shortest to longest regardless of the order they were thrown.


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## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

SRW said:


> It is a good concept to train for but very risky in a trial. Getting a dog to check down on a short retired after running long is not easy, especially when revved up at a trial.
> Most people think of secondary selection as picking up the last bird down first then the rest from shortest to longest regardless of the order they were thrown.


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## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

SRW, yes I think it’s very tricky, I have a strange selector. I have always trained secondary selection with our dogs. But my 2 yr old will secondary, primary, ideal, flyer 2nd or 3rd at a trial. I have no clue what’s in her mind when I get on the line. I go with it. I can’t fight her. So, I decided to train a few setups a week on ideal and maybe throw in a primary test. I want to be prepared. There are different views on ideal selection. Dave Rorem does a lot of ideal selection with great success but he trains on it. I think it depends on your dog. Will your dog go back to a long bird twice after being there once? A good test is the killer of all: the short middle retired. We ran that the other day and all dogs went short middle retired second and had to be handled back, we ran ideal and picked it up last with success. I just like to be prepared. I am no expert by any means. My issues isn’t marks though, she always gets her bird. It’s blind control 200 yrds out which we are working on.


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

Lots of secondary selection but never running past a short check down bird.


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

It depends on the dog ... generally, but not always, *when running a trial*, if the dog sitting/crouching by my side _strongly_ indicates that he/she wants a particular bird, I'll let him/her have it. 
Of course, if I've watched 10 out of 10 dogs fail to get the birds in the order that Fido wants to go get them, I'll try to persuade Fido to follow my plan. 
I had a pretty nice boy that would often save the short retired for last ... and he often knew best .... 
You gotta know your dog.
FTGoldens


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Edward Lee Nelson said:


> SRW, yes I think it’s very tricky, I have a strange selector. I have always trained secondary selection with our dogs. But my 2 yr old will secondary, primary, ideal, flyer 2nd or 3rd at a trial. I have no clue what’s in her mind when I get on the line. I go with it. I can’t fight her. So, I decided to train a few setups a week on ideal and maybe throw in a primary test. I want to be prepared. There are different views on ideal selection. Dave Rorem does a lot of ideal selection with great success but he trains on it. I think it depends on your dog. Will your dog go back to a long bird twice after being there once? A good test is the killer of all: the short middle retired. We ran that the other day and all dogs went short middle retired second and had to be handled back, we ran ideal and picked it up last with success. I just like to be prepared. I am no expert by any means. My issues isn’t marks though, she always gets her bird. It’s blind control 200 yrds out which we are working on.


No my dog won't go back to an old fall (Knock on wood). As you said, a middle short retired can be a killer. I went out in the 1st along with half the field in an am last fall. Middle retired, followed buy a short stand out, then a long flier, in an open pasture. Nearly every dog that missed the middle retired hunted upwind & deep and did not recover. A couple sent to the middle retired 1st but the dogs got sucked into the flier and then would not go back to the middle. Tough test but fair. We honored the eventual winner and the handler did what I should have done, she took a lot of time before sending on the retired bird making sure the dog was lined up and looking correctly. 
Nothing wrong with what your dog does, can defiantly be a plus on some tests. 
200 yards seems to be the magic distance for a lot of dogs on blinds, they start thinking it's time to hunt, maybe getting worried thinking they should have the bird. Once they gain confidence past 200 yards 3-5 hundred yards comes easier.
A very experienced training mentor says trials are won and lost on the retired guns, more often than not he is correct.


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## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

Mine isn’t a hunt situation past 175-200 yrds, she goes into auto cast mode and into lala land? she runs blinds like marks.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

SH for Brix.
Just taught him his three pattern blinds, starting blind drills today.


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

to place in an amateur this spring with either dog. I am also hoping and praying for proof to finish an open. He is looking real real real good. I hope he can keep his stuff together for the trial.


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## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

MillionsofPeaches said:


> to place in an amateur this spring with either dog. I am also hoping and praying for proof to finish an open. He is looking real real real good. I hope he can keep his stuff together for the trial.


Pulling for Proof and I guess the black dog?


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

ha ha ha, thanks.....that black dog is teaching me how to run blinds with the red dog so she serves an invaluable service to the red dog world! ha ha! just kidding!


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Alaska7133 said:


> Goal for me, learn when to hit the whistle at the right time





Edward Lee Nelson said:


> It’s blind control 200 yrds out which we are working on.


Thought of something relevant while training yesterday. I'm sure many here know already but for those new to running long blinds it is important and maybe something they have not thought of. 
We ran a couple blinds after a marking setup. Someone ask about the distance and I had my range finder in the vehicle, about 300 and 460 yards. Terrain, cover and wind all significant factors in addition to running through old marks.
For a dog that runs very fast on blinds you need to think ahead about where and when to stop him. If I wait until Jake is off line to whistle he will be way off line by the time he hears it and gets himself stopped. Extended range amplifies the potential for error because of the time it takes for sound to reach the dog. 
There are different handling methods. Most handlers will use a verbal back along with a hand signal in some situations, for example a straight back. If you stop your dog 300yds out and want straight back cast you need to give the verbal back before the hand signal. If you give the verbal and hand signal simultaneously the dog will have already taken the cast when he hears the verbal. My dogs reaction would be to take too much angle, left or right, then he would be confused hearing the verbal after taking the cast. It can be difficult to time correctly but hearing the verbal a bit before the hands signal does not confuse him so that is the way to err.


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## drdawg (May 31, 2011)

3goldens2keep said:


> We are picking up a new field bred puppy around Jan. 20th. His pedigree and breeder come to us highly recommended by people we know and trust in the hunt test world. We hope to take him through hunt tests with a goal of making it to Master hunter, probably sometime in 2021. He of course will hunt waterfowl and upland birds with me and my adult sons as soon as his basic field training is completed, during 2020...
> 
> We are also considering expanding his training into the world of Obedience testing. As it would compliment his hunt training and make him a better dog, not to mention the added fun we all would have!
> 
> I will talk in more detail regarding the breeder and pedigree after we have the pup home...


why not try some field trials,. Derbies in Alaska should be a lot less pressure and you might actually have fun!


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## 3goldens2keep (Feb 13, 2019)

drdawg said:


> why not try some field trials,. Derbies in Alaska should be a lot less pressure and you might actually have fun!





drdawg said:


> why not try some field trials,. Derbies in Alaska should be a lot less pressure and you might actually have fun!


Alaska is a long drive from Missouri! that being said...

We have thought about Field Trials in the past. I know if one really wants to go after a 'Trial' title, that you need to plan on a 'campaign' type of approach Additionally, until you have actually started working with the dog and with your trainer, you really cannot access if the dog has a shot in Trials. I may be open to this, but it is premature to start thinking in that direction...


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

3goldens2keep said:


> Alaska is a long drive from Missouri! that being said...
> 
> We have thought about Field Trials in the past. I know if one really wants to go after a 'Trial' title, that you need to plan on a 'campaign' type of approach Additionally, until you have actually started working with the dog and with your trainer, you really cannot access if the dog has a shot in Trials. I may be open to this, but it is premature to start thinking in that direction...


Just so you know, My dog stays at home with me and the trainer pulls him out of my car when he wants to run proof. Proof only goes with the trainer on special training trips out of town or for summer trips when its too hot for GA and I can't afford to stay in Vermont or Michigan all summer. My dog has a shot in trials. You really have to find the right trainer that will work with you.


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## 3goldens2keep (Feb 13, 2019)

Our trainers are perfect for us! They only train Goldens...they have a perfect set up for training. They are 6 hours away from us. We are retired so we can work with that. Thanks for the comments...


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