Most of the winter the snow was powdery fluff.  Over the course of the week we had warmer temperatures and bright sun which made the snow crunchy.  Add a strong wind and that made training a challenge this past Saturday.

After trying a couple of different spots, we finally ended up on the pond which was still frozen and not icy.  We ran a couple of sets of blinds which was great because that is exactly what our dogs need.

These Are The Two Sets Of Blinds That We Ran
These Are The Two Sets Of Blinds That We Ran

We first ran the blinds on the right and then moved over a bit and ran the ones on the left.  All the bumpers were visible and the handler was working on pushing and pulling the dogs to get them to go to the various piles.  These types of set-ups work on control because the dogs have to go over the snow piles that rim the pond on a slight angle and they have to forget the pile where they just picked up a bumper to go to the next pile.  This can take a lot of practice and drilling.

Storm was the first to get out and work.  She also got to try a blind in the field, but she kept sinking into the crunchy snow.  We worried about injury so we gave up on the field and stuck to the pond.

Storm Whistle Sit
Storm Whistle Sit
Walking Carefully And Making Her Paws Really Wide To Stay On Top Of The Snow
Walking Carefully And Making Her Paws Really Wide To Stay On Top Of The Snow
On The Pond With A Bumper
On The Pond With A Bumper
Over A Snow Pile
Over A Snow Pile
Nice Job Storm
Nice Job Storm

Storm did a nice job, but she could definitely use more of this type of drill work.

Freighter had more trouble with these two set-ups.  Our trainer suggested doing a lot more of these types of drills with him.  In fact he ran the set-up to the right twice.

You would like to see the dog line up correctly and then carry that line all the way to the pile of bumpers (since they are visible once they get close to them).  We actually did a lot of these drills with Thunder and it looks like his grandson will get to do them too.  🙂

Freighter Over The Snow Pile
Freighter Over The Snow Pile
Back Over The Snow Pile
Back Over The Snow Pile
Freighter Has Another Bumper
Freighter Has Another Bumper
Freighter With A Bumper From The Second Set Of Blinds
Freighter With A Bumper From The Second Set Of Blinds
Good Boy Freighter
Good Boy Freighter

Thunder got to run the set-up on the left.  With all the crunchy snow we debated running him at all.  At this is the time of year he always seems to cut a pad because….

He Has To Pounce On The Bumpers
He Has To Pounce On The Bumpers
And Run As Fast As Possible
And Run As Fast As Possible
Slowing Down Only To Get Up The Snow Pile
Slowing Down Only To Get Up The Snow Pile
And Then Charging Over Top
And Then Charging Over Top

Our training will be sporadic again until the snow melts or we get a good covering over the ice.  This time of year is always tough.  We want to get out working, but we have to consider the safety of the dogs.

We were the only idiots people to show up on Saturday besides a couple of new people with puppies checking out hunt test training for the first time.  I think it was mostly because despite the bright sun, the wind made it really cold.  Thanks so much to Darrin for working with us despite the less than ideal conditions.

16 thoughts on “Crunchy Snow

  1. On the bright side you can actually see grassy spots! Our snow has just gotten deeper the past days and temps colder. It will be a long time until we see any grass spots! It is nice to train when there aren’t so many around, usually you get more done and more attention.

  2. Crunchy snow and cold winds does not sound so great to us either. We think you deserve a round of applause for at least trying. Hope you get a break in the weather soon. Have a marvellous Monday.
    Best wishes Molly

  3. SNOW is a bad four letter word. Ug. I agree on the crunchy snow as we too got a little warm up over the weekend and the dogs did not like walking on the crunch. I tried my best to stomp down the snow in the yard so their paws would not get hurt. Today, it’s 21 degrees and it’s snowing here again. Gasp, I can’t wait for this stuff to be over already. We did get to see a little bit of grass over the weekend and that was a bright side. Stay warm!

  4. Snow was almost solid enough Macha’s feet were really snowshoes! My sister-in-law
    has Uggs for her King Charles Spaniel. Somehow, they would seem demeaning for
    Chessie. Always amazed at Thunder’s power, for an older fella he has stamina.

  5. Our snow is crunchy too and someone insists on going up on the hill in the back yard to check for ‘goodies.’ I try to deter her, but she’s stubborn.

    Good to see you could improvise by using the pond. I bet the dogs were happy to be out and running.

  6. Love the shot of Freighter pouncing! Glad you found somewhere safer to train. Our yard has gotten so icy over the last few days from it getting warm and then cold and then warm again that the dogs haven’t been able to have any fun at all.

  7. when training with multiple piles, did you start your guys out with the baseball diamond setup? I think that’s what I’m going to start the guys on this year.

    1. I am not great with all the terminology, but when we first started out, it was just two piles at each corner of a field. Then we went to three piles set equal distance from the line and spread pretty far apart. I would guess more basketball than diamond because they were not staggered in distance from the line.

  8. Hi Y’all,

    Wind gives my Human a headache and snow freezes my feet and mouth (if I have to retrieve) in about 4 minutes. So if we are in the mountains I do whatever I have to and race back to the house or car, ignoring any commands!

    Y’all come by now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

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