Yep that is what we will be working on with Freighter after this past weekend’s disappointing hunt tests.

We knew we were in for an interesting weekend when we left Freighter in his crate to help set up for the test and in that short time, he ripped up the pad-like bed in his crate.  Hopefully he didn’t eat a bunch.  It was hard to tell in the carnage.  Needless to say he has lost bed privileges.

I was marshal for the Senior test both days.  The marshal’s job is to oversee the test and decide running order and make sure dogs are ready to go so that the test moves along as efficiently as possible.  Our test had some breaks because we had some pro handlers who were busy running dogs at other stakes.  Nobody likes breaks, but that is the way it goes sometimes and can’t be helped.  Because I was busy, I wasn’t able to get any pictures so here are a couple of pictures of Freighter from last weekend.

Freighter Heading For The Water
Freighter Heading For The Water

Saturday Freighter did not do too badly on the land series.  It was a walk-up and he was nice and steady and sat on the whistle.  He had to hunt for the marks but did well.  His land blind was nice. The blind was a challenge because it ran parallel to the flyer station.  The trick was to keep the dogs from going over there.

The afternoon was the water series.  He was steady for the marks.  There was a breaking bird thrown right in front of the dog.  That was tough for Freighter but he was OK.  He needed a handle on the memory bird, but you are allowed one handle at a test.  He did a very nice water blind.  To do the water blind, the handlers had to walk the dogs quite a long way to the corner of the pond.  The judges said they would not judge the dogs walking to and from the blind but it was nice that Freighter actually walked mostly at heel.

The honor was a to the side of the running dog and that breaking bird.  Freighter kept getting up, letting out a little bark or two, spinning around, then he would sit back down.  He did this about three times before finally breaking when the running dog also broke.  All day and he blew it on the very last thing.  Urgh!

Launching
Launching

Sunday, he was very geeked up.  He was unsteady at the line and actually broke on the flyer.  Hubby called him back, and he got both marks without needing to hunt.  He was awful on the blind and would not sit.  Hubby finally just picked him up and so he did not finish the test.

We thought about scratching him on Sunday based on his Saturday performance and maybe that is what we should have done.  Hubby knows he has to work more on his sit in order to be successful at tests, so Freighter will be working a lot on that and not just while training in the field.  He will be doing a lot of long sits with distractions away from the field and in the field until he understands what is required.

We were also able to get some training ducks left over after the test finished and we will try to find places where we can use them to help reinforce that sit.

Headed For A Bumper On Land
Headed For A Bumper On Land

Since this was our club’s test, it made for a long weekend.  We were out the door at 6:30 am and didn’t get home until after 7 pm each day.  Our fellow club members did a great job putting on this test and we had some awesome ROTC kids that worked long hours along side club members.

Good job Michigan Flyways Retriever Club!

23 thoughts on “Sit Sit Sit

  1. Sorry to hear there were some disappointing results, but it sounds like Freighter did well on some of the earlier tests. I guess the rebellious puppy in him decided to come out at the wrong time!

  2. I’m sorry, it wasn’t the result you expected, but I’m sure next time Freighter will be as fabulous as always. He is a wonderful dog and I love it to read about your great work and to watch your videos.

  3. We too are sorry the results were disappointing. LOL I suppose trashing the bed was a sign of what was to come. Rebel you Freighter. Have a marvellous Monday.
    Best wishes Molly

  4. Oh, poor Freighter. I wonder why he was so over excited this weekend? It sounds like he will be working on his “sit” during some big training sessions. Even though he didn’t do as well as expected, I just love the photos (even if they were from a prior weekend). He is such a good looking dog.
    Oz

  5. Freighter is just so EAGER to work – hard to keep all that energy focused.
    Every trial is a learning session 🙂

  6. Bummer he was so disappointing, but he sounds like he behaves more like my sisters and I…when he feels like it. We will see how we do on our ORT tests this week. Mom is a bit nervous.

  7. I’m sure that was disappointing for you, but you know now what he really needs to work on. I think that is a positive thing that it happened within your own group. 😉

    I think honoring is difficult for some dogs. I’ve only seen it done at the Rally/Obedience shows I’ve marshalled and while there are some distractions, they aren’t nearly as distracting as it must be for hunting dogs. I have every confidence that Freighter will get there.

  8. It is all a learning process, right? We know that you and Freighter will work on this stuff some more, and surely he’ll improve next time. 🙂

  9. Aw, I’m sorry about that. That’s disappointing. He’ll get there though. Better luck next time! 🙂

  10. I know that you’re disappointed but your dogs are always so impressive. I’m sure that he will do much better next time. If it makes you feel any better, we are trying to get Bentley to simply sit and stay for a photo. He has trouble with that so Freighter is way ahead of him! haha!

  11. Guess the humans have more patience than the Chessie! I cannot imagine either Macha or Coco standing still for any of this hunt test routine! Their MO
    is simply most direct route, (including bank), do stop for anything interesting, and do not let that other dog retrieve before “I” pick it up. Greyhounds of the marsh.
    Freighter, God bless your little Chessie instincts and enthusiasm. Do be a good boy, for practice makes perfect. You will show everyone how great you are!

  12. Oh, that’s too bad. But now you know what to work on, and maybe you can get it straightened out in time for the next trial.

  13. Hi Y’all!

    Sounds like Freighter was just plain out of sorts! Our performance horses got like that sometimes…we used to say the were “rank”. They’d be so “wound” sometimes that they could dump you off in a heartbeat or just take a hold of the bit and run off with you. No fun when you’re sittin’ on the back of a 1000 + pound animal who isn’t about to listen to you. I found the best solution was to “give them their head” and let them get it out of their system, then they’d “come back to you” (slow down) and be fine (come under control). Sounds like that was what Freighter wanted…a good day of exhausting hunting.

    Not sure I can post…can’t post on Heart Like a Dog. Giving me errors for Java and cookies, both of which are up to date and enabled.

    BrownDog’s Human

  14. Those are definitely long days and I’m sorry it didn’t go better. At least you now know what you need to work on, and I’m sure you’ll get there with him.

  15. Thanks for helping out with your club’s hunt test, they couldn’t be done without volunteers! Sorry to hear that Freighter had problems with his tests, it’s sometimes hard to tell what goes through a dog’s mind.

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