My Duck Dog Training A to ?

This morning before school I had Andrew run some marks with Artemis while I gunned.  Two issues emerged.  1)he forgot to take te lead off of her twice in four marks - I reminded him before she was sent.  2)The commands on the line to get Artemis lined up were not used - we went over this too.

By and large this team is ready - I’m hoping that a pass will give Andrew the encouragement he needs to continue handling dogs in field tests.

Artemis impressed me this morning with how much obediance she showed to Andrews commands.

The marks were all fairly short - 2water with 30yd entry and 2 land.  The land marks were thrown as an over under with only one gunner in the field - so not truely an over under.  Artemis really slammed both of her water entries and on the long land mark she launched herself onto the air as she ran up a rise on the line to the mark - she sure is entertaining to watch 

Andrew has expressed an interest handling Artemis in a retrieving event. The two of us will be loading Artemis up and heading down to the Working Certificate Test held by the Mountain Valley Retrieving Club near Hamilton.Andrew was out today to run Artemis and Jenni was out with Tucker. They took turns throwing for each other which allowed me to stand at the line with Andrew and near the line (throwing a go bird) with Jenni.

The team of Andrew and Artemis did fine just as long as I was not standing beside Andrew - Artemis will heel in to me out of trained habit if I’m near the line. Andrew did very well with the correct cadence - he did need to be reminded to heel Artemis in to a sit square to the mark about to be thrown. They ran two land marks and two water marks and based on this alone I feel that they will do well together in Hamilton.

Jenni ran Tucker on a land water double. Tucker head swung on her before the go bird was thrown and before she moved on line. We picked up the marks and re-threw the double. Jenni was ready to insist that Tucker remain locked on the first bird down but he did without her intervention. He double was not a tough one - it was more for Jenni than it was for Tucker.

I attempted to have Andrew run Artemis on a down the shore water blind. It did not go well - despite using the proper cadence Artemis was not interested in locking in on a blind for him. I took over and she ran the blind with only one break point requiring attrition to complete the cast. I then set up a land blind for Andrew to run but with similar results. I will wait a few weeks before I attempt to get Andrew to run a blind again - the two of them need to learn to be a team on marks before the leap to blinds.

Jenni ran Tucker on both the land blind and the water blind. Tucker was less than enthusiastic about running the water blind but his attitude came up some for the land blind. Once again I am beginning to think that Tucker would be happier left on the couch.

Fun bumpers were thrown for each dog following the work - both the kids and the dogs enjoy this portion of a training session the most.

I managed to video tape the drills - once I get to a high speed connection I’ll up load it.

Andrew has expressed an interest handling Artemis in a retrieving event.  The two of us will be loading Artemis up and heading down to the Working Certificate Test held by the Mountain Valley Retrieving Club near Hamilton.

Andrew was out today to run Artemis and Jenni was out with Tucker.  They took turns throwing for each other which allowed me to stand at the line with Andrew and near the line (throwing a go bird) with Jenni.

The team of Andrew and Artemis did fine just as long as I was not standing beside Andrew – Artemis will heel in to me out of trained habit if I’m near the line.  Andrew did very well with the correct cadence – he did need to be reminded to heel Artemis in to a sit square to the mark about to be thrown.  They ran two land marks and two water marks and based on this alone I feel that they will do well together in Hamilton.

Jenni ran Tucker on a land water double.  Tucker head swung on her before the go bird was thrown and before she moved on line.  We picked up the marks and re-threw the  double.  Jenni was ready to insist that Tucker remain locked on the first bird down but he did without her intervention.  He double was not a tough one – it was more for Jenni than it was for Tucker.

I attempted to have Andrew run Artemis on a down the shore water blind.  It did not go well – despite using the proper cadence Artemis was not interested in locking in on a blind for him.   I took over and she ran the blind with only one break point requiring attrition to complete the cast.  I then set up a land blind for Andrew to run but with similar results.  I will wait a few weeks before I attempt to get Andrew to run a blind again – the two of them need to learn to be a team on marks before the leap to blinds.

Jenni ran Tucker on both the land blind and the water blind.  Tucker was less than enthusiastic about running the water blind but his attitude came up some for the land blind.  Once again I am beginning to think that Tucker would be happier left on the couch.

Fun bumpers were thrown for each dog following the work – both the kids and the dogs enjoy this portion of a training session the most.

Last night rather than train I went to Tiny Marsh to help erect the poles that will be used to house the Pheasant Pen - giving back a little for the use of the property.About 8:20 the bugs, mosquitoes and black flys came out so we called it a night. Greg Larden asked if I intended to train at The Farm (10 minutes away) tonight on some Cheating Singles water work. We decided we had just enough time so off we went.

Artemis was schooled on taking a line over a point. I had Greg throw 5 bumpers, one at a time. First bumper thrown was to land just in the water with a splash and the send line was from on the point where subsequent marks would have her cross. She retrieved the bumper and I sat her on this point, walked around the bay and called her in to the new (actual) running line.

The second mark was thrown identical to the first. She marked it well and swam out and over the point on the correct line. On her return she caved in about 5yds to the left - to the bay side of the point. I allowed her to take this line and as soon as she landed she got back into the water to complete her return. She then began to scalp hard toward the land to my left. I handled her back on line without any collar pressure.

The third send was from the same running line but the throw was to land on the shore with no splash. On her return she again scalped left and had to make a decision as to which side of a canoe on the point she wanted to return on. She decided to run towards the shore and I handled her back to the correct line and sat her on the point. A come in whistle had her launch herself into the water but she again began to scalp left. I handled her to the correct line and brought her in.

The fourth mark was run from a line that made the cheat going out more enticing - I also ran her from the cheaty side (left side) and had the mark once again thrown up on shore. She again took a great line to the mark. On her return this time she did not scalp as hard to the left and beached on the point almost on the correct line (2yds to the left). She re-entered the water and swam a MUCH improved line across the bay on her return.

The fifth mark was thrown landed much further to the left than the previous 4. It landed on the shore of an island. Seeing that she did not attempt to cheat the return from the AOF, only marginally on the initial return to the point and she had learned an honest return from the point - I hoped to make the initial swim to the point more black and white as to the honest line. She gave me an honest effort, not needing to be handled on this mark at all.

I put her up - short but good work.

I then threw for Greg & Suzy. She has an issue on water where she is noisy as the birds come down and yelps on the release. Of these short marks with a BIG splash, if she made noise Greg would take her back to the holding blind and I would pick up the thrown bumper. Then we would re-run the mark again. It had a good effect on her and she was silent for the final two marks.

We ran out of daylight before Tucker could have his turn so we released all three dogs to romp and play as we recapped our training session and discussed short term future plans in our respective training.

Tonight I needed to catch up on some chores around the house and I felt that a day off for the dogs to just be dogs was in order.  While I was puttering up in the garage I heard a loud crash of a water entry in the front yard.  I went to investigate and there was my 10yo son Andrew throwing a tennis ball for Artemis.  He wasn’t just pitching it in and letting her tear after it either.  He would heel her in say ‘mark’, throw the ball, put his hand down and send her on her name.  I watched a couple of retrieves with the biggest smile on my face.

About 15 minutes later I glanced out the front windows of our house to see Andrew put Artemis in a sit-stay on the shore, walk about 10 feet out onto our dock, cue Tucker for a mark, throw and release Tucker for the retrieve - luckily Artemis stayed solid in her sit stay.  Perhaps Andrew ranks higher in the ‘pack’ than I thought the dogs gave him credit for.

Now, this is truely amazing because my daughter Jenni has been the only person other than myself to take a keen interest in field handling.  Andrew has come out to throw for us but only rarely handled either dog.  So, as Jenni’s interest wains Andrew’s is piqued.  Perhaps Andrew and Artemis will make a hunt test team before too long.  Already we are discussing having Andrew run Artemis in a WC (working certificate) test one week Thursday.  Newest member of ‘Team Claimer’?

This past weekend we attended the Long Point Retriever Training Club’s Field Trial. Myself, Jo, Jenni, Andrew and both dogs camped out for two nights and I ran Tucker in the Qual Stake and Artemis in the Junior Stake. The judges in both stakes were Lee Woodhouse (aka Lips) enjoying his first stint in the chair and his co-judge Bill Kennedy, whose dog handling skills are only overshadowed only by his rapier whit - makes a fair judge too. Very much like playing Black Jack in Vegas - you know the game is gonna cost you money but it is easier to forget that when the guy(s) in control make it enjoyable.The Qual:
The first series was a wide open stand out triple land marking series. There was a pool of lunging water about 20 yards off of the line that influenced the dogs on the two memory marks. The cover was thick to shoulder height and had lots of small conifers and scrub bushes extending just over head height - great for pushing the dogs off line on route. Tucker came to the line eagerly but under control. For the first time in a long time he sat on the mat patiently as the marks were shot left to right. His head swinging was not evident and this was the portion of the test with which I was most nervous about. He collected the go bird without a hunt and heeled in nicely to deliver the bird - no rolling or dropping - again a nice change.

I lined him up for the second bird (middle) and he glanced at the right memory bird. I was able to get him to lock on the middle bird and then I sent him (in hind site, perhaps I snt him too quickly). Ten yards from the line he turned left and split the memory marks. Were it a training situation I would have No-Here’d him and resent. But it being a test I allowed him to roll hoping he’d remember before to long. He didn’t. The judges cautioned me that he was not allowed to run in the adjacent planted field located beyond the test. I acknowledged their instruction and before Tucker made it to the field he turned and began hunting in. There was a pond that was not visible from the line that Tucker decided to hunt in - he disappeared behind the berm holding the water in the pond. The judges then asked if I could see my dog, did I know where he was? My reply was yes, TOOT-TOOT-TOOT HERE HERE - he’ll soon be right beside me - I picked him up.

I was disappointed but not discouraged by his performance. The way he ran this set up was almost identical to how he ran the tight triple at The Farm in training last week. Then, I neglected to correct him so how can I expect him to know the correct way to run a similar set up. My disappointment was directed at myself for creating the response and to Tucker for what I consider a lack of effort. I will not be running Tucker at Lee & Howard’s trial - he needs more training with appropriate intervention to show him what is expected of him.

So ended Tucker’s first ‘09 Field Trial.

Artemis ran in the Junior Stake the following day. The first two series were land doubles. She lined up for me very well and I had no problem getting her to focus on the birds that were being shot. After I had run the first series, Lee Woodhouse, one of our judges and one of my training partners leaned in to take the last bird from me and quietly asked me why I had stepped in to swing her to the go bird gun station BEFORE the memory bird was on the ground. I had been looking at my dog rather than the guns and while I had counted what I considered a good amount of time, the gunner was a touch slow on throwing the bird after the gun had gone off. This created NO problem for her, as Artemis locked on the memory throw until the go bird gun was fired.
There was one of 15 dogs dropped following the first series. The second series was run in much sparser cover and was considerably longer - memory bird was about 260yds out. Artemis had hunts on all four of her land marks - which was not as good as she had been doing in training but I considered it still pretty good work. In fact, I had been concerned that due to the lack of hunts she had to put on in training that her perseverance to dig a bird out would not be developing. This series of test put my fears to bed. The judges dropped another 3 dogs following this series reducing the field to 11 of the original 15. Heading to the water there were about 4 dogs that had done superior work than Artemis and a bunch that had done similar.

We knew it would take the judges some time to set up the water series so we took this opportunity to head back to our camp and strike our tents and stow our gear for the trip home. The kids were even able to get in a quick 25 minute swim while Jo and I packed the van. Upon arrival at the Water Series I watched two dogs get completely lost on the water SINGLE that the judges had set up. Apparently only one of the first 5 dogs had been successful in collecting the mark and the judges then made the decision to scrap the test and set up a new one in an adjacent pond.

The test was a water double with the memory bird being the ‘money bird’. Down off of a dyke with a 30yd angle entry into the water. The perfect line took the dog over a floating log that was located between two dead snags. There was suction on the right created by an island and a point that some of the dogs chose to beach on. There was suction on the left created by open water once the dogs got past the snags. This proved to be a very good bird to test marking ability, perseverance and bravery on for our young dogs.

Artemis had her first line mistake of the day on this test. She acknowledged the close go bird station and as instructed she locked on the memory bird station. As I called for the first bird she glanced at the go bird station. I was able to get her to swing back to the memory bird but I believe the damage to her mental picture was already done. She collected the go bird well and on the line she quickly and completely locked on the memory bird. I sent her and she skipped down the hill, making me nervous that she may balk at even entering the water. She entered with a hard splash and she began to make the 120yd swim. Artemis began to look around at about the half way point and she had drifted to the left side of the left snag, well off of the direct line. After she passed the snag she spotted the white gun station and her swim to the gunner took her directly over the floating log that was the best line to the mark. Unfortunately she only managed to get over the log heading from left of the line to the gun station - certainly not the best line. She beached on the correct side of the gunner but then set up her hunt and hunted the right side of the gun station (bird was on the left side) she quickly extended her hunt to include the left side and when she made her way back to the waters edge she winded the bird and collected if without further effort.

Based on this last bird, I suspected that she would be worthy of a CM but not in the ‘colours’ today - this proved correct. Artemis took home a Certificate of Merit or Greenie. This signifies that she did the work but there were at least 5 dogs that did superior work to her on the tests presented.
At the award presentations I was pleasantly surprised by the number of notable pro and respected amateurs handlers that stepped up to shake my hand on congratulations for earning our CM. While a CM in Junior is only a minor blip in their careers, they acknowledged that for me it was an accomplishment - hopefully one of at least a few in the years to come.

My training partner Greg Larden and his wife Tina also ran their dog Suzy in the Qual Stake. Suzy did a great job on the first series of marks and was invited back to run the land blind, actually a double blind located between to of the earlier series marks. She ran the short blind really well and it appeared that she may line the long blind but about 15 yards short of the blind stake she angled left. Unfortunately Greg was unable to get her to respond to all of his casts and she was not carried to the water blind. Still, we were all pretty pleased with her performance, just need to keep training.

Another friend Marc Comtois and his wife Arlene were running their dog Ace (littermate to Artemis) in the Junior Stake. She ran fantastic all day long and they were rewarded with the BLUE ribbon - FIRST PLACE! Way to go Marc - It’s been a hard earned reward for some really good training. Robert Wright ran another Artemis litter mate, Storm. They had a GREAT first two series. Storm was the ONLY dog to complete a retrieve at the water test that the judges scrapped. Unfortunately, storm had some trouble on the last bird of the water double - tough break! Hopefully we’ll see them out a few times later this summer.

A new friend, Tom Robins, ran his Chessie to a RCM finish. Coooowe, I’ll tell ya what, this Dawg can mark. Anyone interested in buying a Field Trial prospect Chessie, let me know, I’ll get you Tom’s contact info!! (nice job Tom)

There were two other trainer/handlers I’ve trained with at The Farm running in this Junior Stake.  Ian Crokem with Izzy and Martin Pinder with his Chessie Deep.  Izzy had some confusion on the first series and came back to the line without a duck.  On the resend Izzy easily picked up the bird showing he had marked the bird but with thr resend was eliminated from competition.  While running test dog n the second series Izzy did a great job.  Deep ran the first three series well but ran into difficulty (as Artemis did) on the final bird of the test.  He was certain the bird was thrown up on shore and following a prolonged hunt, Deep came up with the bird.  Unfortunately the judges felt he had mis-marked the bird sufficently to be removed for the competition.  Talking with Martin after the test he suggested that Deep’s confusion stemmed from training on longer water exits similer to those he’ll find in All Age Stakes.  Illustrating yet another pitfall we as trainer/handlers we need to be aware of and avoid.

Although this weekend was ‘all about the dawgs’, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the social (human) aspect of the trial. We camped at a local conservation area and were VERY impressed with the facilities and maintenance of the grounds. We were only minutes from all of the venues and were able to have a camp fire both nights that adults and kids alike enjoyed. Greg Larden and Tina shared our site with us and that made the weekend all the more enjoyable. The host club put on a Tailgate party on Saturday night that was fantastic - steamed muscles, plank cooked salmon, pork roast, 4 types of salads, veggies, desert - just a great spread. We were able to talk to a number of old friends and make a couple of new friends - just a first class affair.

For our two kids the weekend could have been long but they seemed to enjoy themselves. A number of adults engaged them in conversations at various points in the trip and both read their books and cheered Artemis & Tucker on in their ‘games’. I know that for them both of the camp fires were the highlight of the weekend - we’ll definitely revisit the camping aspect of future Trials to keep the kids interested in attending with us.

I recruited Jenni tonight to throw for me - we ran both dogs at the Black’s pond.Artemis was first and we ran some of the de-cheating singles that she had run a couple days ago. I increased the distance to the water from the line and this increased the difficulty of the drill. She did very well and only needed a couple correction casts to get her on the correct line.

Following the cheating singles she ran some relatively simple longer exit singles. These were more therapy than they were instructive. She did very well with them and she was hesitant to get back in the truck - she was having too much fun.

Tucker ran 5 singles and they were long entries and long exits. We challenged him a bit by putting the bird placement behind obstacles. He did very well and put on a couple well structured hunts to dig the bird out.

Last night I trained at The Farm with Greg, Lee, Howard and Mike. We ran 9 dogs through a triple, double blind and derby double. Not bad for only a couple hours training.Tucker ran a tight triple left to right, long-long-short. Go bird no problem. Middle bird he had difficulty on locking onto it for the send. I was patient and he finally settled down and locked on. About 20 feet after the send he scalped out to the left hand bird - Mike even made comment ‘that lying bastard!’ I allowed Tucker to collect the left bird and on his return I received some ‘input’ from Lee about why I had allowed Tucker to carve to the left bird without any thought of correction or intervention. I simply (and wrongly) stated that that was the bird he wanted. Lee’s advise was then to put Tucker up BEFORE I sent him to the middle bird and rerun the set up after all the other dogs had run. While this conversation was taking place, Tucker had returned and had locked on to the middle gun station. I arrogantly decided to send Tucker to the middle mark. Tucker left the line, went out about 30 yds of the 200 he had to go and proceeded to pop. NO-HERE and then I put him up.

After the other dogs had run I once again brought Tucker to the line. While he never left the mat, he was doing pushups and fidgeting while the birds came out - for which he received a stick correction. Once again the go bird was collected easily. Middle bird - scalped hard back to the go bird AOF. NO-HERE. Can’t get him locked on to the middle bird - ask the gun to wave arms to attract his attention - success. Lined him up for the left bird, he begins to head swing badly. I finally get his attention onto the left bird and, after the send, he scalps hard right back to the middle AOF. NO-HERE. Ask the gun station to throw another bird - it is Lee’s station and he’s out of birds so he throws the bucket! Tucker locks on and collects the bird. The dog may not have learned much but the handler hopefully did.

Next set up was a double blind with a stand out gunner for suction. The All Age dogs were sent through a large juniper bush on route to the long blind. I modified the blind and ran Tucker beside it - he ran the short blind well and the long blind OK, he had to back to back cast refusals and I gave him a sit-nick-sit to which he responded well.

The final set up was a very wide double about 180yds each. Tucker’s line manners were much better on this set up. He collected the go bird well. On the memory bird he ran out about 40yds and began to pop - I gave him a loud verbal BACK and he resumed his running and collected the mark after a good hunt. This pop was (I believe) caused by the earlier set ups recalls after the sends.

Before everyone arrived I was able to run Artemis through a 8 bumper wagon wheel drill.  She did well but still needed some help to suck her hips in on ‘Heel’ when she wanted to lock on a bumper other than the one I wanted to send her to.

Artemis ran the triple as singles and did a fine job on them. I wasn’t going to run her on the blinds but Lee encouraged me to with some simplification - hid the gunner and moved the line to avoid many of the enroute factors. Artemis did well on both of the blinds. I am finally understanding the need to handle her for casting rather than line. That is - literal cast her, if she scalps, cast her again with the same cast, if she scalps again then sit-nick-sit and cast her again same cast. When she takes the cast don’t worry about the line to the blind let her run, this lets her know she took the correct cast - even if it takes her off line to the blind. On this long blind she only received one nick and than was for a slow sit.

Artemis’s final set up was a derby double. She pinned the go bird and on the memory bird she ran a good line to the AOF and almost ran through it, checked up, set up a good hunt and dug the bird out. I’m beginning to get excited about this coming weekend at Long Point - if I don’t screw her up she should do well.

Lee beat my chops about MY mistakes with Tucker and hopefully I’ll remember and more importantly, put into practice what I learned last night.

Today I recruited my son Andrew to gun for me and we headed to the ‘Black’ pond for some de-cheating work.Artemis once again showed that she had made progress and also that she understands the channel blind concept. There was more collar pressure used in this drill than she has previously encountered. She responded well to it and I’ll be sure to monitor my use of the collar so as not to ‘create’ problems for us.

Tucker did well too. He needs to be held responsible for taking the correct line the first time - every time I corrected him or cast him he understood what was expected. We have been doing much longer entries with Tucker than we are with Artemis.

I had a commitment to honour in Niagara today so I made arrangements to train on my way down. For the first time I was able to get out with Chris Bayles and his wife Pat - they run Artemis’s home kennel . Also training were Mark Comtois (owns a litter mate) and Skip Snow. I met up with them at the Christie Lake Conservation Area.I only had time to run one set up. Tucker was run on a water blind past a large island. Tucker did well but he was sucked in behind the island and need to be handled back on line.

Artemis was run on a water double shot long short. I really concentrated on her line manners and head swing - she did very well - this gave me confidence in her possibility of completing all of the series in the trial this coming weekend.