Monthly Archives: March 2011

Return To Winter But Still Training

Posted in dog training, Hunt Test by

The snow returned but a lot of dogs turned out for our training group anyway.  This week we did a series of four singles on different parts of the field.  The first two were midway down the field, one to the right by the tree line running down the side of the field, the other was out to the left.  The third mark was a long one thrown at the back of the field (100 yards).  The last mark was close, thrown just on the other side of the decoys.  The twist this week was that we used frozen pheasants instead of bumpers.  This was good because the 2 brown dawgs have not had birds since last Fall.  Both Thunder and Storm did very well on all of the singles.  They marked every one and went straight out and back with no hunting.  Storm was a bit slow on her pick-up, but the trainer reminded her that she needed to pick the bird up quickly.  She was much quicker the next time out.

It was a bright sunny day, but still freezing cold.  We really need to get the dogs in the water, but the pond is still frozen.  We are hoping for some warmer weather before the first tests start in May.

Here are some of my photos.

Thunder and Storm are both honoring the black lab. Thunder is closest and Storm is on the far side with the trainer.

Thunder At The Line.

Go Thunder!

Almost There!

Good Boy!

Storm To The Line. (Nice heeling, ear to the pant's seam. :) )

Go Storm!

What do you see Storm?

Good Girl Storm!

Sunny (But Still Cold) Training Day

Posted in dog training, Hunt Test by

Finally the sun was out for a training day.  It was still cold, but the sun made a big difference.

Since it was a decent day, a lot of people showed up for the training, including a lot of Chessies, (and a Standard Poodle).  We all laughed that there were more Chessies than labs.  If you are a Chessie owner, you get the joke.  :lol:

Even though there were a lot of dogs, we kept moving and got in several training scenarios.  The first two were medium-long singles, but with a twist.  A “Bubba” gunner was stationed about 10-15 feet out in front of the dogs.  I had never heard of a “Bubba” gunner before.  It was explained that these are not common in a Senior level hunt test but are sometimes placed in the Master level tests.  Normally the popper guns are fried from each of the bird stations out in the field; however when a Bubba gunner is used, that gunner fires all of the necessary shots from where he/she is stationed out in front of the dog and no poppers are fired in the field.  The issue for the dog could be that it takes the focus off where the mark lands because the dog has glanced at the Bubba gunner.

Thunder At The Line--Bubba Gunner to the Left of Dog/Handler

Thunder was fooled by the Bubba gunner on the first mark and ended up hunting past the mark.  However, he did much better on the second mark, found it and brought it right back.   Part of this scenario was for the dog to honor the work of the dog which follows.  In the next picture, you can see a Golden Retriever honoring Thunder.

Thunder At The Line (Golden Honoring)

Storm did fine with the Bubba gunner and all but ignored it.  She has always been a bumper-a-holic, (meaning she has ALL of her focus on the bumper).  Her issue is remaining steady at the line because she can tend to creep and worst case, break completely.  The next picture shows her fanny not on the ground as it should be.

Storm At The Line (Cheating)

This is something the trainer has been working on with her.  The next time she came to the line, he gave instruction on how to correct her creeping and she was much better.

Storm At The Line (Better Sit)

 Because Storm was seated and focused, she went right to her mark and made a nice straight return.

Nice Mark Storm

The next scenario was handling.  The more advanced dogs honored the beginner dogs while they ran a simple mark through the decoys.  Then the more advanced dogs were handled to a blind off to the far left of where the beginner dog had fetched its mark.  The issue for the dog is that once it has seen a mark fall and a dog pick it up, it is then sent to a completely different area to pick up a bumper that it did not see fall (blind retrieve).  Most of the advanced dogs did very well on this. 

Thunder and Storm are at an intermediate level, so they did not watch any marks or dogs before they were handled to the blind retrieve.  Thunder’s handling is coming along and improved even during the course of the day.  Storm was handled by the trainer since he has been working with her on her handling.  She is also really coming along.

Storm-Given A Left Back

Storm Got It

Good Girl Storm

The next scenario was a double mark, both being thrown at the same time, one right, one left.  Both Thunder and Storm got the first mark easily, but had to be handled to the second.  These were very advanced marks.  It would have been nice if Thunder and Storm had watched the second mark fall, but since they did not, it was a good opportunity to work on handling.

The last scenario was a long single.  No problem for Thunder and Storm, out to the mark and back with no hunting.

Nice Return Storm

Good Boy Thunder!

Thunder Honoring

There was ample opportunity to work on honoring and Thunder is getting steadier each time.  It was a very productive training day.  Unfortunately, the group training will soon come to an end because it moves to weekdays and we are not able to attend those. :(   We will continue individual training, but this group has been a lot of fun!

A Little Help For Our Friends

Posted in General/Misc, Rescue by

Today, the 2 brown dawgs would like to share their blog.

It has been a week since the earthquake and tsunami changed Japan forever. 

The people of Japan have endured so much suffering and so have their pets.

We read a good news story about two dogs who were left tied in a yard as the tsunami raced toward their home and their owners had to flee leaving them behind.  Miraculously they survived and they were reunited with their owners.

Two Dogs Defy the Wave

Then we read the story and saw the video of a dog protecting his injured canine companion.  Both dogs have now been rescued, the injured dog is in an animal clinic and the other is safe in a shelter.  Time will tell if they are reunited with their owners.

Dog In Japan Stays By the Side Of Its Ailing Friend In The Rubble

We also read about the search and rescue dogs who tirelessly search for survivors among the rubble.  Many of these dogs are rescues themselves. 

They are the real heroes of the canine world.

Canine Heroes: US Dogs Search for Survivors in Japan Devastation

If you would like to help these dogs and others in Japan, the AKC CAR Canine Support & Relief Fund is  accepting donations for disaster relief in Japan.

From the AKC Website:

In light of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, many fanciers and concerned dog owners have asked us how they can help the companion animal victims of these tragedies.

If you are interested in offering your assistance, we encourage contributions to our AKC Companion Animal Recovery Canine Support and Relief Fund. Started in the wake of 9/11, the fund has donated more than $3 million to search and rescue teams and for companion animal relief during natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

Funds will be donated to appropriate organizations in support of search and rescue dogs’ efforts to find survivors and to aid in disaster relief for Japan’s displaced companion animals.

Click here to make a donation and please note that it is on behalf of “Japan.”

Thank you for keeping the Japanese people and their pets in your thoughts.

I am sure any little bit will help. 

Hug your dawgs and count your blessings because you just never know.

Soggy Training Days

Posted in dog training, Hunt Test by

Over the weekend we met up with our training group.  As you can see the snow is slowly disappearing from the training field.

Training Field

The day started out almost warm and almost bright.  Storm has been spending some extra time with the trainer so first he ran her on some pattern blinds.  She is coming along but at times still wants to do her own program.  I guess she figures, “Why should I go over there and look for another pile of bumpers when I know perfectly well there is a big pile straight out!”  But handling is going where the handler sends the dog.  I think she is starting to get it!

Storm Sent To The Bumper

Good job Storm! Right out to the bumper and straight back.

Once the group assembled we ran two series of doubles, one long mark  and one short mark with a walk up.  A walk up is where the mark is thrown while the handler and the dog are approaching the line.  This tests the steadiness of the dog as they cannot leave the line until they are released.  The person throwing the long mark also fired poppers, making it more enticing for the dogs.  Both Thunder and Storm were steady at the line.  (Yay!  We did work this all the long winter.)  However, their doubles need work.  They seem to have the most trouble with bumpers that land in the snow.  We aren’t sure if it is a marking problem or just because they are not used to trying to find a white and black bumper in a field of white.  Thunder seemed to do fine when the bumper was thrown on the grass, and he did fine with a very long single.

Thunder Long Mark

Got It!

Good Boy!

During the training session the day turned colder and rainy, (mixed with snow of course).  I had to put my camera away before Storm ran the marks so I don’t have any pictures of her running them.  She is most definitely rusty, but that is something that will be worked on.  As the cold rain continued to fall, our training group started to be fewer and fewer, so we wrapped it up a bit early.  That was fine with me because it really was nasty standing out there.  I had every piece of clothing on that I brought with me and I was still cold!

Thanks to daylight savings time, we are now able to train in the evening.  Yesterday we went to a park close to home.  It was raining again which meant that we had the park to ourselves and the rain had washed away all of the snow.  But because it was so wet, I left my camera at home.  First we trained some handling with Thunder.  He seemed to not “feel” like doing it.  Once we worked through that, it is clear that he is really coming along.  Then we threw some marks for him.  One long (memory mark) thrown all  the way across the field, and the second (go mark) was hand thrown.  He did very well on those long memory marks…running right to them.  The only one he did not go straight to was because he veered off to a plastic bottle someone had left on the field.  He spied it on his way by and it looked just like a bumper, (why can’t people pick up their trash?).  After getting a bit closer to it, he saw it wasn’t the bumper and immediately went back to where he “knew” the bumper was laying.  We will still work those long doubles (and add in triples), but I think it may have been the snow which confused him in that other field.  I think if we had been able to train more in the snow, those kinds of marks would have been easier for him.  Eventually we will try to find a field with some cover and practice there and hopefully work in some ducks rather than bumpers.