# August 2016 field training



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

A new month. Would love to hear about the latest with field training.

My report:
Rainy day today. Well I have lost too much time. I will don my poncho and train in the rain.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Had the seat heaters on in the car yesterday. Aug. 1st means winter is coming. 

Riot ran his first derby on Sunday. The weather was nice. It wasn't raining or too windy. I think it was about 55 degrees, so very pleasant. 

Riot was super sweet at the line. He's run 4 NAHRA hunt tests, 1 AKC junior test, plus mock test and picnic tests. So he knows what's happening when he's going to the holding blind. He's a pretty good guy. His handler though could use a tune up. This coming weekend will be his second derby and the last one of the season up here in Alaska. We have 6 derbies total. Next ones will be in early June. So we have lots of time to train. But at least we know what to expect for next year.

We have a few things to work on:
1. Marking on doubles. I'm going to get some white stickmen made for my launchers. He's forgetting about the second bird. Which is normal for a 9 month old puppy. But we need to get him thinking about that second one.
2. Get him used to running from a mat surface. I had forgotten about field trials having mats at the line. I couldn't get Riot to sit on it! Poor guy. 
3. Work on getting him marking each gunner separately, the pulling him off a gunner when he's lining up on the wrong gunner. Sunday he locked on the first gunner and wouldn't look at the second gunner, so he missed that one completely.
4. More swimming of course. I don't think at this point I'm going to mess much with doubles on water. I want him doing doubles on land well. But he is a great swimmer and has very nice water courage.


On another note, I enjoyed shooting live flyers for our club Open field trial last weekend. I shot 20 birds with 20 shells. Not too shabby. Not one "no bird" that day.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Sounds like a fun experience, Stacey! I'm super jealous of your weather. This month.

I ACTUALLY FIELD TRAINED TODAY. It was a nice little break-in after a month break.
I'm hoping I can keep the schedule of only field training 2-3 times a week, not every day, and keep Bally's momentum up and build on the skills he already has.
BB wants me to really focus on obedience at the line, which is 100% important, and something I need to be more consistent with. And if he's going to take the time and effort to help me, which he already has, I'm all in. 

Today we just did a few water marks, singles, long gun first. 

The water is up and cool in the morning. NO GATORS. Not sure how we are lucking out on that.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

URBAN TRAINING

I ran Thor on three doubles and he did quite well. Hoping to increase the distance and make tighter angles in the future.

I ran Buffy on a triple followed by two blinds and she did quite well.

All in a city park. But my evening was spoiled when someone stole a stickman and white shirt while I walked back into the field to pick up more equipment. Urban trash.


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

Wow! You must be enjoying some cooler temperatures! Jealousy abounds here!!!


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

It's been too hot to do much, but I've been working on a short blind drill with the mutts. I got this drill from Dennis Voights "Essentials" DVD.
My boy-dog has a bit of an issue with change of direction (he'd prefer to continue digging back), at least with the first cast, so I'm doing this drill for a few days.
Two cones are 12 - 15 feet apart, with six bumpers at each cone; back up 75+/- yards for the line; establish the line to each cone by running each blind one or two times (this isn't hard because the dog sees the cones).
Send the dog to the left cone; stop him 1/2 way; give a right angle back to the right cone. If dog takes it, give him a "good dog" when he picks up the bumper; if dog doesn't take the cast, stop him and give him a "no" ... you may want to call him in a little ... then repeat the cast; if dog still doesn't take the cast, you can stop him and give another "no" or a low level nick, doing this until he takes the cast. After getting that bumper, next let him line all the way to the left cone.
Repeat the process to the right cone (i.e., angle back cast to the left cone, followed by lining to the right cone). Repeat as you see fit.
Once my boy-dog gets this down pat, I will work on letting him get very close to the cone, stop him, call him in, then give the angle back to the other cone ... I anticipate some difficulties with this stage.
FTGoldens


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

FT

It is hot here too! I do drills with the dogs placed in a shady area and we do setups from 7:30 to 8:45 PM.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

It's not too hot here! Driving down the inlet last night you could really see all the trees changing. The frosts have hit already up high. Every year we panic about this time to get everything done before winter hits. Water work is one of those things we try to get in before we freeze up. Could be early September or it could be mid-October.

Tomorrow is Riot's last derby of the year. We've been working hard on memory for his doubles. He's got the terrain, the distances, and the vegetation figured out. It's remembering that second bird we are working on. He's also been listening to a duck call combined with a shot and a throw. Now on derbies it's just a shot and a throw. So he needs to focus on that person in white and their gunshot. So moving his focus from one person in white with a gunshot to the other person in white with a gunshot has been a little challenging at times. He tends to lock on at the first shot and forget that he needs to swing over to the second shot. We'll get there, he's only a baby dog at 9 months old. He's come so far in such a short time.


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

This past weekend was our club's HRC test and I let a 7 year old boy handle Molly as started test dog. It was the cutest thing.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Vivian, Good for you! Get those kids involved. The dogs love it too! I've thought about it more than once with my dogs. If I could find a kid, I'd let them run Lucy or Riot. It would be fun for everyone.


Riot was in his second derby yesterday. All of 9 months old. He made it through the 1st series! I was so happy. He did pick up the memory bird fist, but he remembered this time that he had a second bird. We were out on the 2nd series, the memory bird was pretty far away. Here's the photos. The 2 tiny white dots are the gunners. The left hand gunner was the one he had a problem with. The dogs had to run through alders that were over 4' high. Riot just couldn't figure that part out. When he got halfway there I think he second guessed himself. So he switched. I yelled NO HERE, and he came back! What a good puppy. Our derby season is now over. No more derbies until June 2017. We have one more retriever hunt test weekend in 2 weeks and one more spaniel hunt test weekend in 3 weeks. Then it's opening season for ducks. The summer is too short in Alaska.


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

In my region of the country, it's just not worth trying to get a big training group together to run a couple of marks, which is about all we can do with the heat.

My routine this week has been to run a few blinds or a blind drill in the morning before work, then just before sundown, run 2 - 3 "poor man" singles. (I haven't yet done the drill where I get the dog close to the bumper and then cast him to another bumper...I anticipate that's going to take longer sessions than the weather allows right now.)

Fall and cooler temps can't get HERE too soon!!!


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Beautiful day today. Cooler temps + lower humidity=training.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

I shot at WRC's Derby stake yesterday. Got a good look at what was going on. Perhaps a Derby for Thor in September?


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Our ponds on state land on Long Island have an advisory by the NYSDEC that that there are dangerous levels of blue green algae. Tough to train water here.

Health officials: Cyanobacteria found in Calverton pond and Peconic River | RiverheadLOCAL


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Darn that's no fun George!

I shot for the junior test last Saturday and ran the puppy in junior, then judged junior on Sunday. Last retriever HT/FT of the season. Way too short here. 

I'm planning on going to GRCA national special field trials with the puppy boy. He's doing so well. Super sharp at the line. Easy peasy to turn and mark on different gunners. He doesn't break and he's very calm. He's got it all figured out as we walk to the line. He's so cute when the bird is thrown, he sits up taller and taller as it falls. 

So far Riot has been super sweet to run. I leave the line with a smile on my face every time.

So our record this summer is 2 out of 4 on NAHRA started tests. He was only 6 months old for the first 2 tests and thought he should retrieve the water decoys. 
2 for 2 on AKC junior hunt tests.
2 entries in 2 AKC derby field trials. 1 out in the first series, 1 out in the second series. We're learning!
And now he is 10 months old. I wonder what next year will be like?

Just for yucks, if anyone is interested, here's a link to my youtube video channel with videos of our Alaskan FT/HTs from this summer. The locations are Point MacKenzie and Turnagain Pass. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKcc32w13KD-VCia8QEbT7Q


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

I'm taking Maisey north to train the next two weekends. I might run her in the WC coming up. Molly cannot run marks anymore, even for fun. It turns out she has arthritis in her right wrist as a result of a previous bone fracture. Apparently a dog can break a wrist bone and never even limp. So, no more retrieving or fun bumpers on land. We were also working on her CDX, but I won't jump her anymore.


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

gdgli said:


> Our ponds on state land on Long Island have an advisory by the NYSDEC that that there are dangerous levels of blue green algae. Tough to train water here.
> 
> Health officials: Cyanobacteria found in Calverton pond and Peconic River | RiverheadLOCAL


Awww man, that stinks!


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Vhuynh2 said:


> I'm taking Maisey north to train the next two weekends. I might run her in the WC coming up. Molly cannot run marks anymore, even for fun. It turns out she has arthritis in her right wrist as a result of a previous bone fracture. Apparently a dog can break a wrist bone and never even limp. So, no more retrieving or fun bumpers on land. We were also working on her CDX, but I won't jump her anymore.


Wow that's too bad. Poor Molly. First her eyes and now her leg. I'm sure she look sad when you leave the house to go train the puppy.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

We have trained consistently throughout the summer, but only 1-2x/week, did water when it was too hot.
I had to miss training several times b/c I couldn't get away from the desk. :-(

I ran Gladys in her first Master test; it wasn't that difficult of a test, but we both need a lot more training. She split the difference on 2 marks then went for the one she could see. I saw other dogs get in trouble doing that so I tried to handle her but she wouldn't listen. If I had let her do it her way she may have managed b/c she does have an elephant memory. 
She just turned 7 too. Clock always ticking.

Dee Dee finished her JH a couple weeks ago. It was kind of sad b/c Junior is fun. She likes to do "dead bird, back!" but I don't see her doing down the shore blinds. I'll keep training her anyway, she likes it.

Now we're training for WC, see if the little midget can do it this year; and Gladys will do the X again to get triples practice.
Fun Trial in the fall, Gladys will run the Qual again and Dee Dee will do advance singles stake.

So much dog stuff to do, so little time.
ETA .. there was a lot less dog stuff to do this year b/c 2 area clubs had no AKC HT this yr.
And 2 area clubs had no NAHRA tests this year either. Very sad.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

boomers_dawn said:


> ETA .. there was a lot less dog stuff to do this year b/c 2 area clubs had no AKC HT this yr.
> And 2 area clubs had no NAHRA tests this year either. Very sad.


Dawn, how come they didn't have any events? That's very sad.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

FRUSTRATION!

I stepped out the front door to get ready to train just now, 6:48 PM. How can I train, it is 92 deg outside!


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

gdgli said:


> FRUSTRATION!
> 
> I stepped out the front door to get ready to train just now, 6:48 PM. How can I train, it is 92 deg outside!


Agree it was too hot today. Except maybe for some light drills or practicing heeling into the holding blind.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Alaska7133 said:


> Dawn, how come they didn't have any events? That's very sad.


One of the clubs had neither an AKC nor a NAHRA test, just plain lack of manpower. Same committee year after year, most of whom aren't even running dogs, just working their b**** off for 2-3 days from sunup to sundown, getting up at 4-5 am, 3 days in a row, to drive hours and work all day. Dwindling membership, lack of workers.

The other club that had no NAHRA test, not sure, they never got huge entries, maybe it wasn't worth it.
The other club I was thinking of DID have their AKC HT. I looked on RTF to see if I could find why they didn't have it, but they did, moved the date early spring, that's why I didn't see it on the calendar. 

So it was only one AKC HT down in our area. 2 NAHRA tests down.

I'm finding in all of my clubs most people are willing to work but not to chair. It's too big of a commitment for working folks.
On top of it, 2 of my clubs in NY have lost long time experienced core membership because people started training with pros and training on pro grounds, so they don't need the clubs. 
I myself dropped out of 2 of my 4 clubs because it's too much volunteer work. I still have too much with 2 clubs.

Also - I started doing this about 10 years ago and see a huge change in the entry sizes and participant population. They used to be smaller and have more club members therefore the workload was shared more evenly.
Now huge entries with mostly non-club members who show up to run their dogs but don't belong to clubs and work. 
My former club that had no tests this year are tired of working for free for people who don't work back.
I think they are discussing becoming a training only club. I don't know how they will make $$.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

gdgli said:


> FRUSTRATION!
> 
> I stepped out the front door to get ready to train just now, 6:48 PM. How can I train, it is 92 deg outside!


supposed to cool some by next weekend. Low 80s.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

boomers_dawn said:


> One of the clubs had neither an AKC nor a NAHRA test, just plain lack of manpower. Same committee year after year, most of whom aren't even running dogs, just working their b**** off for 2-3 days from sunup to sundown, getting up at 4-5 am, 3 days in a row, to drive hours and work all day. Dwindling membership, lack of workers.
> I'm finding in all of my clubs most people are willing to work but not to chair. It's too big of a commitment for working folks.
> On top of it, 2 of my clubs in NY have lost long time experienced core membership because people started training with pros and training on pro grounds, so they don't need the clubs.
> Now huge entries with mostly non-club members who show up to run their dogs but don't belong to clubs and work.



Dawn, you have some great points above. I haven't been doing field work for very long. But I have noticed that there is definitely an ebb and flow. It seems that so much depends on who is teaching classes. If no one is teaching, the numbers go low. Also getting people to help can be hard. Chairing an event is very time consuming. I don't know how people do it actually. We have a high reliance on retired people to take up the slack. This summer we have a guy that houses the ducks at his house, brings them to the events, acts as chair or secretary for the field trials, judges field trials and hunt tests, camps out at the location of our field trials and hunt tests to make sure all goes well, and he runs a dog. He's an amazing guy, but how many like him does each club have?


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

I had a lot of fun training Maisey last weekend. We trained with some Canadian field trialers. Until then she had only seen hunt test stuff. Most of the marks incorporated some sort of water, either longer swims or across small channels. It was so cool to watch Maisey take water and not cheat when the water entries were almost 100 yards away. I didn't exactly know how she would do, but since she could handle, I was able to run her from the line and handle her if she thought about cheating (as opposed to walking up). She was a good girl and we didn't have to handle. She had a blast -- if she could run around the globe, she would, so these long marks were so fun for her.


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