Sunday morning bright and early we were out working on Freighter’s heel & sit because Freighter failed his test on Saturday when he broke his sit before being released to retrieve.  For our dogs “sit” means stay put until I tell you otherwise.

We set up a triple similar to the one Freighter saw at the test and he did a walk-up just like at the test.  The walk-up is always on the first bird thrown.  The dog must walk at heel until the bird is in the air, then the dog should sit.  The dog must watch all the other birds being thrown (usually 2 more), before he can retrieve any of them.  Walk-ups have always been tough for Freighter because he gets so excited, he tends to try to get out ahead of his handler and since he is already in motion it is hard for him to stop and wait.  However, heel & sit are things he must learn no matter how excited he is.

Freighter ran the triple a couple of times and hubby reinforced Freighter’s heel & sit several times as they were approaching the line.

Freighter Heeling To The Line
Freighter Heeling To The Line

Freighter is watching me to see if I am going to throw a bird, but the “walk-up” mark was across the field in front of him.  I had a remote to launch it though.  Freighter is too smart for his own good at times.

Signaling For The Mark
Hubby Signaling For The Mark

As soon as the bird is thrown, hubby tells Freighter to “sit”.

Heel & Sit
Sit Freighter

And that is it.  Freighter then watched as I threw two more marks for him.  I made sure to take a good long time between throwing each bird to reinforce him waiting and sitting.  Once all the birds were in the field, he was allowed to retrieve them.

Chesapeake Bay Retriever
Finally Freighter Is Released To Retrieve
Chesapeake Bay Retriever Pounce Bird
Pouncing On The Bird
Chesapeake Bay Retriever Bird
Returning With The Bird

We were in a park so we could not use actual birds or gunshots.  Instead we used training dummies that look like birds.  These usually bring up Freighter’s level of excitement.  It was also cut grass which means the birds were fully visible in the field, again hoping to bring up Freighter’s level of excitement.  We are working on Freighter containing his excitement and remembering his obedience no matter where he is or how excited he is.  This refresher training went well so next we will repeat this in a field with cover, dead birds and shots.

11 thoughts on “Heel & Sit, A Refresher”

  1. Freighter knows! Should I be an independent Chessie or cooperate?

    1. LOL of course that is always it with a Chessie, although Hubby thought he looked a bit confused on the walk-up and that is partly our fault for not training it enough this Spring.

  3. Oh Freighter, we sure hope you do better next time. Sounds like you did well in your practice. We will cross our paws for you.

  4. I’m glad that worked out for you. I wonder if just the excitement at the test with all the people and other dogs is a factor for him?

  7. Mom is working on Bailie with sit and stay. She has the sit, but she can’t seem to stay no matter what, thus more working necessary.

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