The first series Thunder ran at Saturday’s training was a triple. He did a nice job and picked that up clean.
The next series was something that Thunder has never seen before…a quad or four marks.
The marks were thrown in the order numbered on the diagram.
As Thunder watched the marks fall, it was pretty clear that this combination blew his mind a bit.
As you can see in the picture, Thunder did not turn to watch Mark #4. He is used to seeing 3 marks, but not 4. He was fixed on one of the marks out in the field.
Even though he did not watch it, the first mark Thunder’s handler sent him to pick up was Mark #4.
Thunder has been trained that if his handler lines him toward something and sends him, then he should run until he finds it. Where a dog doesn’t see a mark, this can help out a bit. It took some hunting, but Thunder finally found the bumper.
Thunder’s handler wanted Thunder to pick up Mark #2 next. His handler turned his body so that Thunder would come back to heel and be ready to head in the direction of that mark.
Thunder is still thinking about those marks out in the field. In his mind, there are only three marks. He is used to retrieving three marks. He is over thinking this a bit. After a big hunt, he found Mark #2.
Next he is going to pick up Mark #3 which is out in the field and to the right.
Thunder found mark #3, but he was not really confident about it. Luckily he caught a glimpse of it as he was running by. At a test and in cover, unless he catches a whiff of a duck, he might just breeze by that mark, but today he got it. Good job.
Now the hard one, Mark #1. It is the first mark Thunder saw fall. He thinks he got all three marks so he is kind of lost on this one.
He could not find this mark, so he was handled to it. Eventually he got it.
We will definitely train these again, but all in all Thunder put in some nice effort.
Well done Thunder. Clever boy. Bravo! Have a terrific Tuesday.
Best wishes Molly.
Mom just looks and says what great, well behaved dogs. Yes, we are basically good dogs too, but my sister and I are challenging breeds that don’t like to be told what to do, so this kind of thing would never work with us. Every dog breed has its own thing.
Well Thunder I think you did fantastic!.
Blessings,
Goose
Good boy Thunder, that is what we call a monster setup! He will get it next time without handling, nothing wrong with handing thou. Have a great day.
Wow, well done Thunder! It’s so interesting that they can kind of count how many marks they’ve picked up, and an extra one can throw them off. Really interesting post.
Good job on Thunder and his handler’s parts! Is this something typically found in hunt tests or have you just encountered this? Will you school Freighter in this fashion to prepare him for the more complex challenges?
Woof! Woof! PAWtastic!!! Good JOB!!! Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar
You are a star, Thunder! We hope you got a suitable reward for all this effort. Love from Rolo and Annabel. (Chocolate Labs)
Silly question:
You ever let the dogs play with the bumper? Or is it just for training?
Good job, Thunder! The humans are trying to trick you, but you’re putting up a good fight!:) They are giving you more and more complex tests at you, and it’s really interesting to see that you are able to count and remember.
Wow, great work! So interesting how his mind was working during the whole process.
This exercise sounds very complicated; Thunder did a great job!
It’s hard to outsmart a great dog. Good work, Thunder.
Good job, Thunder! That must have been a difficult retrieve especially since you only saw three of the four being set.
*high paws*
Oz
Great job Thunder!
That’s a lot of memory work for Thunder…Great job!
Great job Thunder terrific first run and even though you thought the second run seemed like a trick, you got that one too 🙂
And effort is all that matters. Nicely done Thunder. You’re the man. Or dog. 🙂
Awww, handsome Thunder you did good and the pictures are super!