I mentioned in yesterday’s post that Freighter ran the first set-up at Saturday’s training different from the way Storm ran it.  Freighter is not as advanced in his training so he is not quite ready for the more complex set-ups.

This was the set-up:

1st Set-up 3-22-2014
1st Set-up 3-22-2014

Freighter ran Blind #1, then he watched and ran Mark #2, then he ran Blind #3.  For comparison, Storm watched Mark #2 fall, but she was not sent to retrieve it right away.  First she ran Blind #1, then retrieved Mark #2, then she ran Blind #3.  A subtle but important variation.

Blind #1 became no more than a shorter cold blind for Freighter, Mark #2 was just a mark out in the field.  True you had the pull of Blind #1 off the right, but our dogs would much rather fetch a mark than a blind so that was no issue.  The difficulty of this set-up for Freighter was Blind #3.  Freighter had to get past the bumpers out in the field for Blind #1 and the spot where he picked up Mark #2 in order to get to Blind #3.

He also had to contend with these distractions:

Someone Thinks It Is Spring
Someone Thinks It Is Spring

Those darn Robins spent most of the day in the field and of course Freighter wanted to investigate.  But for the most part he did well on this set-up.  He needed casts to the shorter blind, but he took them which was good.  He hunted the mark.  I think because the smells of the birds were a bit more exciting than the smell of the bumper, but in the end he got it.  He did fairly well with the long blind (Blind #3).  He definitely needs work at long blinds, and hopefully we will be able to get out to do some of those.  (But can you believe we are getting MORE snow today?)

Some pictures of Freighter’s work:

Freighter Lining To The Mark
Freighter Lining To Blind #1
Heading Toward It
A Bit Off Line–Heading Toward The Woods
Stopped And Recast
Stopped And Recast
He Has It
He Has It
Good Boy
Good Boy

Next up the mark (Mark #2).

Freighter Watching The Mark
Freighter Watching The Mark
Darn Distractions
Darn Distractions
Back On Track And Spotted The Bumper
Back On Track And Spotted The Bumper
Freighter Returning With The Mark
Freighter Returning With The Mark

The last thing he had to do was Blind #3 which was at the far right corner of the field.  He had to run past Blind #1 and Mark #2 which added difficulty to this blind.

Heading Out To Blind #3 At The Far Corner Of The Field
Heading Out To Blind #3
He Is Too Far To The Left So He Is Stopped.  As You Can See, He Looks A Bit Confused.  This Is A Long Blind For Him.
He Is Too Far To The Left So He Is Stopped. As You Can See, He Looks A Bit Confused. This Is A Long Blind For Him.
Still Heading The Wrong Direction
Still Heading The Wrong Direction (Maybe Back Toward Those Robins?)
Stopped Again
Stopped Again
Now Headed The Right Direction
Now Headed The Right Direction
He Has The Blind
He Has The Blind Which Is About 120 Yards (And It Is Snowing So Crummy Picture Quality)
Good Work Freighter
Good Work Freighter

After all of the dogs ran the set-up on the right side of the field, we moved to the left side of the field.  Those are posts for another day.

14 thoughts on “Distractions

  1. Well done Freighter!

    We’re getting snow and more cold – let’s here it for spring :/

  2. Great job, Freighter! Those silly distracting robins! Those poor things are really looking for spring…we’ve had them back here too and they can’t even find much bare ground! The current snow storm coming our way is going to just miss us, I think, but we still woke up to 5 below zero this morning.

  3. Way to go Freighter despite the naughty little robins trying to distract you. They look very cute. Have a terrific Tuesday.
    Best wishes Molly

  4. I love seeing these photos and the sits in the middle – you can almost see the wheels working in his head trying to figure out what he’s supposed to do. Smart guy.

  5. I imagine it’s terribly hard to bypass something you know is RIGHT THERE! LOL Especially for a young and curious boy like Freighter, but he’s doing very well. You guys are doing a great job with him!

  6. Nice! Bailie has trouble with her nose/sniffing getting distracted. If she could turn off her smell, she would be so very much easier to train! Good work Freighter!

  7. Wow! Freighter is really getting a work out. Good job Freighter! Learning is hard work if you ask me (but well worth it). It is very interesting to see how these dogs are trained 🙂

  8. Our guys sometimes have problems with “trash” birds as well. Hopefully Freighter will get all these distractions out of his system during training.

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