Jump to content

Retrieving & Field Training Talk


 Share

Recommended Posts

Caffy if I can get Ness to lock in on a glove I am sure you can get Snazzy to lock in on a glove. I remember the lesson Sue ran with me and she got you and Alex to demo what "locking in" on the glove looked like. I still have that picture in my mind when I am training :thumbsup:.

And TSD I remember you posting that video of Em at another time - she is such a good little girl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 1.8k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

That's an easy one :laugh: Retrieving IS hard and so much of it is at a distance so your training has to progress carefully. Plus the dogs really, really, really want the bird so their self control has to be excellent.

What you're doing makes sense because I went to a SH seminar a few weeks back :D

I'm struggling to describe how I taught Em - videos are so much better!!! How I taught a 'blind' (which in the beginning is a 'sighted blind' which is similar to a directed retrieve) is to walk out with the dog, drop the article, say 'blind'. walk back to the start point, line the dog up, say 'blind', send the dog. Make it really easy to build lots of confidence. I did plenty of these, extending distance and then one day left Em in the car whilst i placed the dummy out at a short distance. Lined her up, said 'blind', sent and she did it. There is a basic video of her at 7 months here, which I'm not sure is helpful??? Probably more the start if anything...you can see I have the 2 dummies a LONG way apart to make it very, very easy for her to distinguish which one to get. Also our dogs learn to look forward when they mark the fall of a dummy/bird - we teach this by having someone else get the dog's attention by calling "hey, hey, hey!" and tossing the "mark" when the dog looks straight ahead.

Very nice!! :thumbsup: What a clever girl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree with the Wagon Wheel drill. I'm up to 8 bumpers now which can get tricky on occasion but I've put it on the back burner to really tighten up our handling skills.

Chatting with Sue H about the lining the dog up in UD vs retrieving - she said that's why she teaches a separate send next to the dog's face so if the dog lines up incorrectly the history of throwing food in that direction tends to overcome the line up.

..and to not always do the same turn to the same glove..that is do a complete about turn and keep turning and pick a glove to stop at.

Is the Wagon Wheel drill as it sounds?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree with the Wagon Wheel drill. I'm up to 8 bumpers now which can get tricky on occasion but I've put it on the back burner to really tighten up our handling skills.

Chatting with Sue H about the lining the dog up in UD vs retrieving - she said that's why she teaches a separate send next to the dog's face so if the dog lines up incorrectly the history of throwing food in that direction tends to overcome the line up.

..and to not always do the same turn to the same glove..that is do a complete about turn and keep turning and pick a glove to stop at.

Is the Wagon Wheel drill as it sounds?

Pretty much - with the dog at heel, toss a bumper, turn 45 degrees to the right, toss a bumper, turn 45 degrees to the right, toss a bumper, turn 45 degrees to the right, toss a bumper. Then turn 45 degrees to the right so you are back where you started. Send the dog. Turn 45 degrees to the right, send the dog etc until you've picked up all 4 dummies. Then do the drill to the left. Once that is really smooth, you add 4 more bumpers, one in between the usual ones but you throw them a little further out. You then send the dog in a particular order to teach them to take the correct line. You can also add orange dummies and another 8 dummies (16 in total) so the lines are very tight.

Thanks for the kind comments about Em. We both have an awfully long way to go, although time is at least on her side :laugh:

ETA: What ness said about the locking on is really important. You can see Miss E. do it in the videos. Try not to send until they are really in "the zone". Better off keeping it REALLY easy. One other thing is that I reckon drills are to retrieving as heelwork is to obedience :laugh: Unless you've got one of LL's working labs who thinks it's a hoot! So I use Sue H. style rewarding principles with drills including RUNNING with Em to the training bag for a food jackpot as well as tossing the odd happy bumper. It keeps her motivation for (repetitive) drills really high.

Edited by The Spotted Devil
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pretty much - with the dog at heel, toss a bumper, turn 45 degrees to the right, toss a bumper, turn 45 degrees to the right, toss a bumper, turn 45 degrees to the right, toss a bumper. Then turn 45 degrees to the right so you are back where you started. Send the dog. Turn 45 degrees to the right, send the dog etc until you've picked up all 4 dummies. Then do the drill to the left. Once that is really smooth, you add 4 more bumpers, one in between the usual ones but you throw them a little further out. You then send the dog in a particular order to teach them to take the correct line. You can also add orange dummies and another 8 dummies (16 in total) so the lines are very tight.

Thanks for the kind comments about Em. We both have an awfully long way to go, although time is at least on her side :laugh:

ETA: What ness said about the locking on is really important. You can see Miss E. do it in the videos. Try not to send until they are really in "the zone". Better off keeping it REALLY easy. One other thing is that I reckon drills are to retrieving as heelwork is to obedience :laugh: Unless you've got one of LL's working labs who thinks it's a hoot! So I use Sue H. style rewarding principles with drills including RUNNING with Em to the training bag for a food jackpot as well as tossing the odd happy bumper. It keeps her motivation for (repetitive) drills really high.

Yes, Alex is great at locking on...Snazz is not and so I have to work harder...hence all my questions.

I think Alex only ever failed DR once...he has spoilt me :D

Emm is a little ripper...keep up the good work :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:laugh: Ness hasn't entered probably as many trials as Alex but she has me spoiled for DR to as its an exercise she has never failed :rofl:. Pity she couldn't get her act together with the rest of it. Once we got over our early battles with it its probably her best UD exercise.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did the 4 bumper wagon wheel ex from Dobbs using gloves fairly close up.

Great exercise for DR.

Then did 3 out in a line and threw toy close to left side when asking for glove 3..I think the boy has got it.

Thanks for the suggestion :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's great caffy! I would keep at that drill for a bit longer just to make him feel confident. I think the movement helps and not fetching straight away. Very cool indeed :D

Certainly will keep at it and increase the distance..thinking the gloves will need a toy in them to get a good throwing distance. I like to have a good foundation on every exercise and I can see a good end result with this exercise...thanks again. :D

ps Sue suggested 8 dummies up to 100 metres away, or you can have 4 dummies (12/3/6/9 oclock) at 50 metres away and fill in the gaps with another 4 dummies at 100 metres .....uh yeah :eek::rofl:

I'll stick to this for awhile :D

Edited by caffy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:laugh: caffy no I think Kenz reckons she is an honorary retriever - they were doing some retrieving training after tracking on Saturday and Kenz went out and did it effortlessly when the goldie was struggling :rofl:.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yay Polo :cheer: What a wonderful finish to the season for you FHRP - congratulations!!! You should be absolutely delighted! You also had a mention in this month's Vic Dog as coming all the way to Vic for your first trial. Definitely committed :D

Thank you all for the congrats, I am so happy with Polo's first FT season.

I saw the Dogs VIC article TSD, it's great that they publish Gundog stuff :thumbsup: And they almost spelled my name right! :laugh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And then you add orange ones, which the dog can't see against the grass ;)

Love your sense of humour...I can see BC brains exploding SD :laugh:

I'm with the BC :D

Oh, and idiot that I am wrote 45 degrees instead of 90 :hitself::o

Ah yeah, I knew what you meant :rofl:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And then you add orange ones, which the dog can't see against the grass ;)

Love your sense of humour...I can see BC brains exploding SD :laugh:

I'm with the BC :D

Oh, and idiot that I am wrote 45 degrees instead of 90 :hitself::o

Ah yeah, I knew what you meant :rofl:

I was busy doing the math and had to do it a couple of times to go ohhh I think she meant 90 degrees laugh.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just keeping you on your toes ;)

More success today..that Wagon wheel ex works a treat!

After doing that exercise before each session, our DR is deadly :rofl: I wish I had done that a lot earlier. Certainly a lightbulb moment for the BC ;)

Thanks again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats FHRP. It's hard to believe that the season is over already.

We have our last trial this weekend apart from the one in Sept/October.

I am taking Molly just for 1 day and won't force her to work if she's not up to it.

I want to expose my puppy to all the sights and sounds so she is coming for a day out.

Are there any more trials in Canberra?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share


×
×
  • Create New...