Livertreats Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 What a chatty bunch today! :D Hi Livertreats, I've been looking at your web site (of course I had to go searching after you mentioned it ;)) and what great stuff you've done with your dogs! You must be very happy with Rebel's ahievements already in retrieving! I really like reading the run down of the trials, wish there was more of it. RS, I'm sure when you decide to take the plunge and enter a trial you will enjoy yourself and wonder what took you so long ;) Although your girl may not be working lines, I still think you've got the breed most likely to naturally do well at the sport. I enter my dogs earlier than you might in competition, if I waited until I was 100% sure they would succeed I'd never get there ;) Thank you FHRP, glad you enjoyed my website, I try to write something about the runs, just as a reminder of what a great time we both had. Yes I am over the moon with how Rebel is going, he has settled into it really well this season and his and my confidence grow with each trial. Its amazing how a single mark is made so different just by the different terrains and most of it is only accessed when there is a trial as they are held on private property. Rebel is from a long line of working dogs and I certainly think its helps but saying that Taylor isnt, and she learns stuff very quickly, just a shame I cant do retrieving with her as she loves it. Goes nuts when she hears the thrower going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollipop Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Molly's ovarian tumour turned out to be benign. I am so relieved!! We can get back to training as soon as she has healed after the operation. She'll be very keen to get a birdie by then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Phew! That's fantastic news mollipop :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHRP Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Great news mollipop!! :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubyroo Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Molly's ovarian tumour turned out to be benign. I am so relieved!! We can get back to training as soon as she has healed after the operation. She'll be very keen to get a birdie by then! Great new Mollipop! you must be thrilled! RV how is Zora settling in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 Great news on Molly!! Did some training this morning, and while Ruby started out being a little naughty, she got it together in the end and gave me some good stuff Definitely waiting until next season to trial, but don't worry, I won't pull out of it next season! I have set myself a goal and I will do everything I can to meet that goal! Had puppy cuddles of RV's new little Brittany, Zora today. Oh gawd is she a little cutie She's going to be a ball of fun for RV to train! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHRP Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) Brag alert Polo and I are recently home from our last Field Trial of the season. We went down to Sale for the GSP Club's exotic trial run on released partridge, pheasant & californian quail. The trials were both Open trials with some very accomplished dogs entered. Considering the dreadful weather conditions of gale force winds and then rain on Sunday, the heavy bracken cover which he's never worked before and the different game, Polo worked well, particularly on Saturday where he placed 2nd to win 3 more FTCh points and to gain his Novice Field Dog title!!! I am very pleased to say that his retrieving was near text book these trials although it did take until the second round on Saturday to get a retrieve as his earlier finds were on painted quail which could not be shot. His water retrieve on Saturday was by far the best of the three dogs that got that far, finally training was paying off Sunday he did not work so well, which has been the same for the other two weekends we've trialed, and his inexperience was shown up by the much more accomplished dogs. I am still pleased with him and he did a fantastic retrieve of a Pheasant that came down a long way out. We did not get through to the water retrieve on Sunday and considering just how foul the weather had become I'm not that displeased We have enjoyed our first season of Field Trialing and Polo has accomplished more than I dared hope for! Anyone with a Utility Gundog, you should really think about giving field work a go. There is nothing more these dogs love than using their natural ability and instinct to do what they were bred for. Edited July 11, 2011 by FHRP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Yay Polo 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 Love the pic too - he looks in brilliant condition. I'd like to try Springer trials one day but we've got plenty to work on just for the moment. I don't do obedience classes at my club so had to have Em assessed before she can start agility basics. Head instructor thought she was just too cute for words but really loved her focus so Em passed that with flying colours. Meanwhile I'm still working on overs and backs. On their own, overs are now 100% but introducing backs confuses things a bit so I have returned to training backs separately. Still super enthusiastic (both of us ;) ) so that's the main thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Livertreats Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) Congratulations FHRP, well done. Always good to finish the season on such a good note. I would love to go watch a field trial one of these days, but so far they have been when I do tracking or they have been cancelled because they did not have enough entered. Maybe next year. Sorry to ask on here, but is there instructions for loading photos on here, tried a couple of times but they failed. Edited July 11, 2011 by Livertreats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) Well done again FHRP and Polo!! Sorry to ask on here, but is there instructions for loading photos on here, tried a couple of times but they failed. You can either attach photos to your posts by clicking the "Click To Attach Files" underneath the area that you type in when you are adding a reply in the full editor, then just follow the prompts. I think the photos have to be under 100K in size or something like that. The other way is upload somewhere (like your website or photobucket) then link to it on here. There is a button above the box you type in that lets you put the image URL in there and it inserts the photo to your post. Edited July 11, 2011 by RubyStar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyValley Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Well done FHRP and Polo!! You must be so proud of your super talented boy. rubyroo- Zora is settling in well, you will notice how everyone who has met her says how I am going to have 'fun' with her, this is because she is a bit feral and constantly on the go or asleep She loves her toys and has such a lovely soft mouth (most the time). This week I will start doing some play retrieves with her later this week and yesterday I took her into the big field nextdoor and she had her nose to the ground looking through the long grass.... to find kangaroo poo (). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubyroo Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Congratulations FHRP :D Polly is such a clever boy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Livertreats Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Well done again FHRP and Polo!! Sorry to ask on here, but is there instructions for loading photos on here, tried a couple of times but they failed. You can either attach photos to your posts by clicking the "Click To Attach Files" underneath the area that you type in when you are adding a reply in the full editor, then just follow the prompts. I think the photos have to be under 100K in size or something like that. The other way is upload somewhere (like your website or photobucket) then link to it on here. There is a button above the box you type in that lets you put the image URL in there and it inserts the photo to your post. Thank you, will give it a go tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffy Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 How many of you Retrieving folk that do Obedience use your retrieving exercises to teach and proof Directed Retrieve in UD?? I've been doing a little bit with my BC and he's finding it tough. I certainly take my hat off to those of you competing in Field trials and being successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 How many of you Retrieving folk that do Obedience use your retrieving exercises to teach and proof Directed Retrieve in UD?? I've been doing a little bit with my BC and he's finding it tough. I certainly take my hat off to those of you competing in Field trials and being successful. Hi caffy I plan to but Em's only 10 months :D I have been meaning to post a video of a few drills that I do with Em that may help the UD folk. What I've noticed is how much time I spend training blind retrieves with Em but how small a part of UD and UDX they are - thus I guess some obedience people don't realise how complex they are. I recall Sue Hogben saying that directed retrieves are hard for dogs because they don't 'point' like we do ;) She started by throwing food in a direction and pointing with her hand next to the dog. Assuming your boy happily picks up one glove when sent, are you starting with 2 gloves at 180 angle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHRP Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I am yet to trial a dog I have competed in Retrieving with in UD. I have done some UD glove work with both my retrieving boys though and unsurprisingly they have done the exercise easily. The Wagon Wheel lining drill would definitely translate to the Gloves IMO, however in retrieving unlike UD you can relign your dog if you're not happy with their initial position. In UD, it's about turn and send your dog! Of course it's best if your dog is in the correct position initially in retrieving too and it is part of training the dog. Now, if I could get my retrieve mad GSP to use his nose instead of snatch and grab in articles... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I am yet to trial a dog I have competed in Retrieving with in UD. I have done some UD glove work with both my retrieving boys though and unsurprisingly they have done the exercise easily. The Wagon Wheel lining drill would definitely translate to the Gloves IMO, however in retrieving unlike UD you can relign your dog if you're not happy with their initial position. In UD, it's about turn and send your dog! Of course it's best if your dog is in the correct position initially in retrieving too and it is part of training the dog. Now, if I could get my retrieve mad GSP to use his nose instead of snatch and grab in articles... 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffy Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Hi caffy I plan to but Em's only 10 months :D I have been meaning to post a video of a few drills that I do with Em that may help the UD folk. What I've noticed is how much time I spend training blind retrieves with Em but how small a part of UD and UDX they are - thus I guess some obedience people don't realise how complex they are. I recall Sue Hogben saying that directed retrieves are hard for dogs because they don't 'point' like we do ;) She started by throwing food in a direction and pointing with her hand next to the dog. Assuming your boy happily picks up one glove when sent, are you starting with 2 gloves at 180 angle? I started with bait plates and stayed on those for awhile with no turns. I then used 1 glove at close distance...he is not gifted with locking on like my toller ;) Sue had me very close to the 3 gloves which were very close together with feet pointed at No2 and using my hand only as directional on each glove(does that make sense??)...he struggled with that so I would pick up one glove, say no3 with feet pointed at No2, throw 3 into it's position..that helped him lock on and then send. We are now full distance...one glove out straight in front, throw a toy close to the side and then ask him to lock on the glove with a hand signal....this is hard but he's trying hard now. Sue was describing birds being thrown and sending your dogs out while another bird is thrown as they are retrieving the 1st bird...amazing stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Sue was describing birds being thrown and sending your dogs out while another bird is thrown as they are retrieving the 1st bird...amazing stuff Maybe you should come join the dark side with Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Hi caffy I plan to but Em's only 10 months :D I have been meaning to post a video of a few drills that I do with Em that may help the UD folk. What I've noticed is how much time I spend training blind retrieves with Em but how small a part of UD and UDX they are - thus I guess some obedience people don't realise how complex they are. I recall Sue Hogben saying that directed retrieves are hard for dogs because they don't 'point' like we do ;) She started by throwing food in a direction and pointing with her hand next to the dog. Assuming your boy happily picks up one glove when sent, are you starting with 2 gloves at 180 angle? I started with bait plates and stayed on those for awhile with no turns. I then used 1 glove at close distance...he is not gifted with locking on like my toller ;) Sue had me very close to the 3 gloves which were very close together with feet pointed at No2 and using my hand only as directional on each glove(does that make sense??)...he struggled with that so I would pick up one glove, say no3 with feet pointed at No2, throw 3 into it's position..that helped him lock on and then send. We are now full distance...one glove out straight in front, throw a toy close to the side and then ask him to lock on the glove with a hand signal....this is hard but he's trying hard now. Sue was describing birds being thrown and sending your dogs out while another bird is thrown as they are retrieving the 1st bird...amazing stuff That's an easy one 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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