I am honored to again join Heart Like A Dog to co-host the Follow-up Friday blog hop.  Thanks to Heart Like A Dog  for asking me to co-host this fun blog hop again!

It’s the the blog hop that lets you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend.

Hosted By Heart Like A Dog
Hosted By Heart Like A Dog

We hop every Friday so grab the badge and join us!

Why We Train “Steady” And “Honor”

It was great to read how many of you that you train some form of steady and honor, even if it isn’t for field work.

Sand Spring Chesapeakes, (who does train for the field), commented:

I would say we train for honoring a lot but that also goes along with steadiness, if you are honoring you have to be steady.

Good point.  One definitely goes with the other.  I have noticed that our two older dogs are a bit different when it comes to being steady and honoring.

Storm has a difficult time with steady.  She has broken off the line more than once unfortunately.  At a test, the call of a duck in the field can just be too much for her, so we work on her steadiness all of the time.  But, if she doesn’t break and makes it far enough in the test to have to honor, then she usually doesn’t move.

Fanny To The Ground Storm
Fanny To The Ground Storm

Thunder on the other hand is usually very steady at the line, even if it is a walk-up.  A walk-up is where the handler and dog are walking up to the line when the marks are thrown.  The dog cannot be told to “sit” until the first bird is in the air.  Then the handler cannot speak to his dog again until all the marks are down.  As you can imagine, with a dog already in motion and multiple marks being thrown, it can be tough for the dog to just sit and wait.

Steady Even On A Walk Up
Steady Even On A Walk Up

If Thunder has issues, it is usually with the honor.  He understands that if he sits still at the line for marks he will get birds.  But for honor, no matter how nicely he sits there, another dog is getting the ducks.  Sometimes it is too much for him.

ILoveDogs wrote:

Steady and Honor are good commands to teach any dog. I am trying to get my Aussie mix Pierson to stay and honor my Labrador Maya when she fetches. Otherwise, he beats her to the toy and she doesn’t want to play anymore.

This is a great way to work on the concept.  🙂

This ‘N That Thursday

Anyone who has ever had a puppy probably understands the fun of the adolescent dog.  With Chessies they get to a point when they try to claim their place in the pack.  All of mine went through it.  They know where they stand with the other dogs, but they also try to figure out their place with the humans.  They know they can’t pull one over on my husband, but they do try with me.  Oh the mischief that ensues.  I would say Thunder was the worst brat as a teenager, but when he turned 18 months old, he snapped out if it.  Here’s hoping Freighter follows suit.

Mischievous Puppy Thunder
Mischievous Puppy Thunder–Yes That Is My Jacket

We won’t know whether the breeding with Storm was a success for a few weeks when she has an ultrasound.  Despite best efforts, I guess the breeding did not go as well as hoped.  Sometimes it is just the way it goes…

Storm
Storm

We hope to get some training in when we drop Freighter off at the trainer’s tomorrow.  Of course it depends on the weather which has been most uncooperative this winter.

Thanks again to Heart Like A Dog for allowing me to co-host.

To see who else is hopping or to join the hop, click the link:

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Have a nice weekend!

27 thoughts on “Follow-up Friday 2-22-13”

  3. What a great follow-up! Thanks so much for co-hosting this week, we always love having you!

    I would say Sampson was out of his bratty period by about a year old, but we also had no other dogs around to tempt him. 🙂

    So if I’ve got this right, Steady is like a wait or a stay? I should practice that more with my guys because as soon as one of them sees the other getting any attention, here they come. 🙂

    Have a great weekend, I hope you can get some training in, we are expecting another two-day storm system, I’m hoping we will still be able to walk. 🙂

    1. Yes steady is like a wait or stay. But it can also be if you are upland hunting and the dog flushes a bird and stops until sent to retrieve. We just use one command though and that is “sit”. Sit means sit and don’t move until released.

  9. Woof! Woof! You guys always have an interesting training. LOVE your new blog header. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

  10. I’m sorry the breeding didn’t go as hoped 🙁 How will the pregnancy be determined/confirmed, by ultrasound?

    Oh my goodness, puppy Thunder just slays me! Those eyes!

  12. what a great follow up. Its funny how thunder was the worst brat, and hopefully it is a go for storm. I was just wondering where you put the mention of the ancient dog link you said your putting on (you won yay!), I’m seeing your posts mixed up a bit though so perhaps I have missed it. Anyways good luck to storm!!! Fingers crossed for her.

  13. One of the steadiness exercises my trainer does is to herd a bird around a dog that’s on point. Herding a duck around a Whoa’d Lab might also be a good exercise, but I haven’t tried it yet.

  14. Just wanted to let you know I love the new blog header!
    I hope the rest of the winter offers you more training friendly weather!

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