Monthly Archives: July 2012

A Visit With Freighter

Posted in dog training, Hunt Test, Puppies by

 

Last Saturday was a beautiful day in Michigan.  We finally had cooler temperatures and less humidity, so it was just about perfect.  It was a great day to train and to visit with Freighter.

When we pulled up, the trainer was working with a Chessie.  Who is that dog?  Could it be?  He has to be told to sit for marks.  Yep that dog is Freighter.  He sure has matured in a couple of weeks.

Looking More And More Like A Big Dawg Every Day

Unlike our last visit, Freighter actually seemed happy to see us.  He even licked me.  I am not one to encourage a dog to lick on me, but since I missed the pup, I was OK with a lick or two.  :)   I guess maybe the excitement lead to his being a bit uncooperative with the show dog stuff.  Hopefully we redeemed ourselves because my husband got to run him on a couple of water marks.

But first Freighter had to watch a younger puppy run the marks.  Better hang on tight to that collar!  He was so impatient he barked at the bumper in the water.  It was as if he was saying: “Let me.  I can get it.”  Of course it could have been: “Get out of my way!  That is my bumper!” :)

Watching Another Dog Run A Water Mark

His water work is coming along very nicely.  He goes straight out to the bumper and comes straight back.  He still needs to be reminded to hold the bumper as he exits the water.  That will come with training.

He sure loves the water…

Splash

Off To The Mark

Almost There

He Has It

On His Way Back

Hold That Bumper

Good Boy!

His land still needs work.  He goes straight to the mark, but won’t always pick it up quickly.  Again that will come with training.  We are very pleased with his progress so far.  Darrin is doing a great job with him.  He is a male Chessie and I am sure he can be a stinker at times.  :)

We are trying to figure out our hunt test schedule for late summer and early fall.  We are not sure whether Freighter will run a test this season.  There are certain skills we would like him to have before we test him.  Working with our first two dogs has taught us a thing or two and one of them is how easy it is for the dog to pick up a bad habit at a test, like poor line manners, bank running, or dropping birds.  You then have to spend time training that bad habit away, or the bad habit may never really go away and can show up again at higher levels. With Freighter we would like to avoid those frustrations.

Later this week, some of Thunder and Storm’s work.

 

Monday Mischief–Stacking A Puppy

Posted in dog training, General/Misc, Monday Mischief, Puppies by

When we visited with Freighter on Saturday, we tried to stack him for a picture.  Mischief must have taken over because he was not cooperative.

What Do You Mean Stand Still?

Hey They Are Throwing Bumpers Over There

Look I Am Trying-Cut Me A Break

Enough Of This Standing Stuff

Let’s Train

This is a Blog Hop.  Thanks to  Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Luna, a Dog’s Life, and My Brown Newfies for setting up this hop.  Please go to any of the sponsoring blogs to find out who else has been mischievous.

Monday Mischief

Distractions

Posted in dog training, General/Misc, Hunt Test by

Storm hasn’t had much time of the blog this week so I put together this slide show.  We were training Tuesday evening at one of the few local ponds that still has some decent water this summer.  Needless to say, that pond is very popular.  Storm got some extra distractions while swimming back with a mark.

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Update on Thunder’s leg injury… It has been two weeks since he has been on the medication regime that the orthopedic vet prescribed for him.  He is taking a very low dose steroid daily as an anti-inflammatory and another medication that is a pain reliever/anti-inflammatory on days that he is not training/testing.  The combination seems to working because we have not seen the limp even after heavy training/testing.  We spoke to the vet last night and he was happy to hear how well Thunder is doing so we will probably keep him on this regime through Labor day and then re-access.

We plan to do some training and to visit Freighter this weekend.  Since we were busy testing last weekend, we did not visit him.  It has been two weeks since we last saw him.  Of course he will probably be preoccupied.

Have a nice weekend!

This ‘N That Thursday

Posted in General/Misc, Hunt Test, Puppies, This 'N That Thursday by

A few random things from last weekend’s hunt test:

Several of you commented on the dog rigs in the picture that I posted yesterday.

This particular test usually draws a lot of professional trainers because it is one of the last opportunities to qualify for the Master National before the year-long qualification period ends.  To qualify to run in the Master National, dog have to pass 6 Master tests in a year.  There were pros at this test from as far away as Texas.  They have fancy dog trailers.  Nothing like the little one that we have on order which is delayed due to the company being behind schedule.  :|

This is Freighter’s brother Woody.  He and his human stopped by the test to say “hi” and visit.  To was great to see them.  He must have brought his Grandpa Thunder good luck for the last series.  :)   He sure is cute and a lot calmer than his brother Freighter.  Except when he heard one of the guns and then he just wanted to GO!

Woody

Finally, this is a cute chocolate lab puppy that one of the out of state pro’s brought along.

Chocolate Lab Pup

He was adorable.  His name is Bad Bad Leroy Brown.  Not sure of the spelling or his kennel name.  Who knew that I would meet two dogs with basically the same name in my lifetime. :)

The Other Badd Badd Leroy Brown From The Cobo Dog Show Last Winter

Haven’t met Leroy the Newfie?  Stop over and say “hi”.