# Current Favorite Set Ups or Drills



## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Bumping up


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

oh wow this is a great idea! My two dogs are both AA dogs currently. 

We moved into a new house recently and have several ponds to work with. One pond is a small acre pond and I have 8 pattern blinds set up around it. none of the blinds are more than 125 yards mostly they are 50 to 100 yards. They never change location but I change location. I have three "gunners" out and I move the lines around the gunners with one blind (the fun one for the dogs) is at the gunners feet. That blind they love so I use that one to get them to take crazy lines to it. I've extended the complexity and distance of all the lines continually as well. holding angles down slopes, cutting corners of the water at different degrees, keyholes through tight trees, crossing over the road at different angles and now even made them no see em blinds over the dike still cutting corners of the water or going over obstacles. This has helped tremendously for Proof who is just a hard dog on blinds. Since he knows where every blind is, it has become all about control. Control sitting and control on the casts. There is pressure for him if he doesn't sit quick or loops and hunts before he sits but there is no pressure on the training of angles or keyholes or obstacles to jump over (branches) So these blinds work for control on him. My other dog has benefited tremendously on taking tight lines on multiple blinds. Before she was flaring old blinds or going back to them. Also she isn't a watery dog so cutting little corners has helped her in that area. Now she is lining a lot of cold multiple blinds in training, making good choices to push off of the first blinds but not flaring. Running tight to poison birds or old falls and gunners. Its amazing the progress I'm seeing in both dogs! Proof's control is better and shelly's lines are better....
Another drill I do is probably like FT's. I have my son throw a duck and then I have blinds behind gunner, under arc and off the side of the fall. If they do the right thing they pick up the bird, if not and try to go for the bird, I put them up and then try again. I know dogs don't rationalize and stuff like a human but they do seem to understand they only get the fun duck if they restrain themselves and follow directions. Again these are very short drills and they have helped a lot. Especially for shelly who picked up the poison bird on the water blind in the open a few months ago and suddenly thought that was okay all the time even in training. We have been working hard on that reset, lol.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Here is a drill we do occasionally, I'm sure there is a name for it.
Three guns staggered from the line. Long gun could be 150 to 300 yards. 
We typically run the drill downwind, not wanting a crosswind factor. Ideally there is just enough cover to hide the birds. Points or lines of heavier cover and sloping terrain will add difficulty.
All throws are singles in the order requested by the handler. 
This is a great tune up for experienced dogs and a good teaching drill for young dogs.
The dogs have to run tight to and past guns, under arcs, through old falls, close to old lines, check down on short falls, etc. Too be successful they need to concentrate and mark the falls. Pressure is very rarely used in this drill. Stop and handle to teach proper lines. The throwers should be ready to help young dogs.


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## 3goldens2keep (Feb 13, 2019)

We are taking our 1 year old pup down to our trainers, Winter training area in January. I have been focused on running long single marks and running on piles, all over 125yds. Keeping him sharp and in shape! Also, doing obedience daily especially heeling and coming to heal when called. He also gets lots of whistle training and work to turn properly on back right and back left handles. He recently earned his JH, but about blew me over a couple of times when returning with marks...he is a bit over enthusiastic...thus the work on heeling on return!

All fun, we will spend time working with him and our trainers also...at Winter training! It is all bout moving on to SH in the Spring!


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

SRW said:


> Here is a drill we do occasionally, I'm sure there is a name for it.
> Three guns staggered from the line. Long gun could be 150 to 300 yards.
> We typically run the drill downwind, not wanting a crosswind factor. Ideally there is just enough cover to hide the birds. Points or lines of heavier cover and sloping terrain will add difficulty.
> All throws are singles in the order requested by the handler.
> ...


Great drill! I friend of mine (who happened to be a pro), ran a similar drill with typically 6 marks, starting at 200 yds for #1, then moving in 20 yards heading straight toward the line with each successive mark, alternating throws to the left and to the right (always flat throws), using orange bumpers on all marks except for the first one, for which he'd use a large white bumper.
He referred to it as the Tuesday Drill because he didn't train on Mondays, and it would take Wednesday and Thursday to get the dogs' heads straightened out after running the drill on Tuesday.


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

MillionsofPeaches said:


> oh wow this is a great idea! My two dogs are both AA dogs currently.
> 
> We moved into a new house recently and have several ponds to work with. One pond is a small acre pond and I have 8 pattern blinds set up around it. none of the blinds are more than 125 yards mostly they are 50 to 100 yards. They never change location but I change location. I have three "gunners" out and I move the lines around the gunners with one blind (the fun one for the dogs) is at the gunners feet. That blind they love so I use that one to get them to take crazy lines to it. I've extended the complexity and distance of all the lines continually as well. holding angles down slopes, cutting corners of the water at different degrees, keyholes through tight trees, crossing over the road at different angles and now even made them no see em blinds over the dike still cutting corners of the water or going over obstacles. This has helped tremendously for Proof who is just a hard dog on blinds. Since he knows where every blind is, it has become all about control. Control sitting and control on the casts. There is pressure for him if he doesn't sit quick or loops and hunts before he sits but there is no pressure on the training of angles or keyholes or obstacles to jump over (branches) So these blinds work for control on him. My other dog has benefited tremendously on taking tight lines on multiple blinds. Before she was flaring old blinds or going back to them. Also she isn't a watery dog so cutting little corners has helped her in that area. Now she is lining a lot of cold multiple blinds in training, making good choices to push off of the first blinds but not flaring. Running tight to poison birds or old falls and gunners. Its amazing the progress I'm seeing in both dogs! Proof's control is better and shelly's lines are better....
> Another drill I do is probably like FT's. I have my son throw a duck and then I have blinds behind gunner, under arc and off the side of the fall. If they do the right thing they pick up the bird, if not and try to go for the bird, I put them up and then try again. I know dogs don't rationalize and stuff like a human but they do seem to understand they only get the fun duck if they restrain themselves and follow directions. Again these are very short drills and they have helped a lot. Especially for shelly who picked up the poison bird on the water blind in the open a few months ago and suddenly thought that was okay all the time even in training. We have been working hard on that reset, lol.


Great idea to make them no-see-ums!


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## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

We have a 3yr old Q/AA level setups and a 14 month old running AA singles.
With time being very short in the evenings we are running the same basic drill/marking set up like SRW described 2-3 times a week. Hopefully it has helped the 3 yr old because she hooks every bird thrown to the left no matter what, it’s a step on hook.( we have tried everything) Birds thrown to the right she doesn’t hook at all. With her we throw both from the same station right after each other of course in opposite directions. For the 14 month old it has helped her focus and we alternate from station to station more.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Staple in our diet are staggered triple configuration, run in various ways. Whether I want to do a triple, double/single or all singles might depend on the dog and the relationship of the marks, difficulty, etc. 
If I only have one gunner we do a triple-as-singles with the short bird first, medium bird second, long bird last, all as singles...but don't put stickmen out until the dog has picked up the mark. So throw the short bird, leave a stickman and walk to where you're going to throw the medium bird. Throw medium bird, leave a stickman, walk to the long bird, throw the long bird. I cooked this up myself, it allows you to both get the dog running past a shorter gun but yet every time he comes out of the holding blind he is picking out the "long mark." Hope that made sense. It's less pressure than always running singles long-to-short with all the guns out, and fosters looking long and running past short guns you've already picked up.
We also will do the long bird as a single first and throw my trusty white pigeon! I need to buy more pigeons LOL
My assignment recently is to do very large, open triples with Bally, to foster confidence, and retire everything. I have questions on how to help or handle if he doesn't go exactly where a retired gun is. Working on things. 
Brix needs tons of blind work, Bally does not. I have found with Brix he runs blinds much better if I even just throw a bumper as a little mark first. He doesn't like coming out and doing blinds cold. I love KRD drill and used to do it tons with Fisher & Slater.
They hired a gator trapper at our training grounds, hoping we can use the water within a few weeks.
Brix has gone two-for-two in his first Master tests this past month!


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Here is a good drill that can be done with just two people.
It can be made more or less challenging buy increasing distance and by how it is run. For young or inexperienced dogs the distance to the gun might be 25 yards and the blinds maybe 75-100 yards. 
For a young dog, the mark could be thrown left then pick up the right blind then the mark. As the dog advances you can send under the arc first, pick up both blinds first and then send for the marks, etc. Typically the last bird picked up will be a blind dropped right in front of the gunner.
Increasing the distance of the gunner will add a lot of difficulty.
Pressure should rarely if ever be used on this type of drill. It teaches the dog to be comfortable running past guns, under the arc, reinforces the "dead bird" cue, introduces some complexity to blinds, etc.
A variation is having two gunners or a gunner and a stick man about 5 yards apart with a long blind up the middle.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Wow, lots of great ideas! Thanks for sharing.
Miss Ruby has begun FF. I never thought I’d start a dog so late on FF (she’s 13 months). But she matured slowly and I was waiting for the right time. She’s responding very well to pressure. She’s super fun. She‘s great on simple pile work and has been for months. But pressure is what she needs now. I’d like to run her in derbies next year, but I don’t know if there will be any in Alaska. Hard to know if there will be enough dogs.
Riot is like Proof. He knows where the blind is and is very hard to run out past 100 yards. I’m not sure what we’ll do in the future. He is a very nice tracking dog, I‘d like to get a TD on him next year.


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

Alaska7133 said:


> Miss Ruby has begun FF. I never thought I’d start a dog so late on FF (she’s 13 months). But she matured slowly and I was waiting for the right time. She’s responding very well to pressure.


It sounds like your timing of FF was just fine. As an amateur, the only timeline by which you must abide is your own!


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

FTGoldens said:


> It sounds like your timing of FF was just fine. As an amateur, the only timeline by which you must abide is your own!


Thank you for saying that. I had a friend of a friend that wanted to learn how to FF her year old golden. She wants to hunt with him. So we’ve been FF together every day. Without her, I probably would have continued to put off FF. It’s been really nice to work one on one with our dogs. We do a FF session with each other’s dogs every day too. Which has been nice. I think they will be really solid dogs when we are done. Normally we FF our dogs at home by ourselves, Cody and I. But with a novice handler, it’s making me think differently. How to explain what and why you are doing a FF step has been helpful for me. To plan ahead and look at the past on where we’ve been. FF for me is a big undertaking and quite mentally taxing for me since I’m not very knowledgeable.


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## Noyb72 (Jan 11, 2021)

I really appreciate all this information, although it honestly will take me a month of Sundays to figure out the jargon.
Ronald Jones


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Noyb72 said:


> the jargon.


Feel free to ask, some of it varies in meaning with different training groups.


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## Noyb72 (Jan 11, 2021)

To start, what is FA and FF, as well as an AA dog?
I believe a mark is what I call a bumper, I'll have to reread the thread to come up with some more.
Ron Jones


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

FA - Don't know, maybe a typo
FF - Force Fetch
AA - All Age meaning Amateur or Open stakes at a field trial, the highest levels.
A Mark is a bird or bumper thrown for a dog to retrieve.


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## Noyb72 (Jan 11, 2021)

Thank you,
What is a force fetch?
Thanks again
Ronald Jones


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Noyb72 said:


> Thank you,
> What is a force fetch?
> Thanks again
> Ronald Jones


It’s a training process that lasts about 4 to 6 weeks, depending on the dog. The process is first convincing the dog that they have to hold whatever is in their mouth - bird, bumper, etc. The next step is fetching an item and bringing it to you without any issues. Problems that dogs have are not bringing the item all the way back to the handler or eating the bird. The training process is basically brain washing the dog. Let’s face it the dog wants to play with the item or bird, or eat the bird. We’re training them to not do those behaviors. We “force” them to fetch and hold the item all the way back to the handler. It’s a communication process the handler and dog go through. It takes time, so that’s why I say 4 to 6 weeks. It’s a very slow process you work on for a few minutes every day until complete. You can do additional exercises beyond hold and fetch afterwards, but the first 2 are hold and fetch. 

Anyone please correct me if I’ve misspoken. Putting FF into words is always difficult for me.


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## Noyb72 (Jan 11, 2021)

SRW,
As it turns out, several videos available on force fetch. I always called that making the dog bring the thing back. I appreciate you detailed explanation. My dog is living with a trainer and we started working together last weekend. I never believed that a dog could fetch the way my dog is now. I would assume that my trainer has been putting a lot of effort into force fetch.
Thanks again


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Noyb72 said:


> SRW,
> As it turns out, several videos available on force fetch. I always called that making the dog bring the thing back. I appreciate you detailed explanation. My dog is living with a trainer and we started working together last weekend. I never believed that a dog could fetch the way my dog is now. I would assume that my trainer has been putting a lot of effort into force fetch.
> Thanks again


I didn’t explain it but you are welcome anyway.
Force fetch is not bringing back a bird.
It is a foundational element of advanced field training. There are a number of DVDs available that will explain it very well.
I would not assume that your trainer knows anything about it. I’ve seen a great many so-called pros that have no clue.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

SRW said:


> I didn’t explain it but you are welcome anyway.
> Force fetch is not bringing back a bird.
> It is a foundational element of advanced field training. There are a number of DVDs available that will explain it very well.
> I would not assume that your trainer knows anything about it. I’ve seen a great many so-called pros that have no clue.


I should have said picking up the bird is the fetch, not bringing back the bird. 
I've had more than one friend get suckered in by a "pro" that had zero experience but talked a good game. Or the pro that thought FF just meant turning up the collar. 
All I can say is, it takes a long time and it's very slow. Some dogs progress well, some dogs don't. Some dogs if they've been spoiled are a pain in the neck. Some dogs are happy to fetch and aren't so happy to give up what they have. Riot had to be FF to drop the bumper or bird. Force fetch gives you the opportunity to work closely with your dog.


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## Noyb72 (Jan 11, 2021)

Thank you Alaska 7133. Rona started with a collar two weeks ago. He is a year old and the progress that as been made in the last 5 weeks is truly spectacular. Te trainer has been doing this for a good long while and the references I contacted are happy with him. I know that I couldn't get my dog to where he is now, which is further than any dog I've ever had.

I appreciate the help and hope to someday be to the point that I can try some of these drills.

Ron Jones


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Noyb72 said:


> I know that I couldn't get my dog to where he is now,


Yes you could.


Noyb72 said:


> I appreciate the help and hope to someday be to the point that I can try some of these drills.


That could be today.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Who was it that said “if you think you can or if you think you can’t you are right“


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