Last weekend Freighter did some training with shot flyers.  It is important to train with live birds now and again because when you are hunting, you are hunting live birds.  We also train with dead birds, but nothing gets a hunting dog excited like live birds.

In Freighter’s case, he needs to work on tamping down his excitement.  If you follow the blog, you know that this is very difficult for Freighter.  Steadiness is important for both hunting and hunt testing and Freighter has struggled with this when live birds are involved.

Freighter got two chances to practice his steadiness with a shot flyer last weekend.  The first time he did a walk-up as part of a double (or two birds thrown for him to retrieve).

A walk-up is where you walk up to the starting line with the dog at heel.  The first bird is thrown in a surprise situation and once the bird is in the air, the handler can either blow a sit whistle or say sit.  The dog should then sit and watch the rest of the birds thrown.  The dog should not take off to retrieve until it is sent by its handler.  This has been the tough part for Freighter, but not on Saturday.  He stayed right with his handler, watched the marks fall, and then went to retrieve them.

The birds were falling in some cover and Freighter had to dig them out.  When you add things like cover and multiple marks, it tests the dog’s memory because he has to remember where the birds fell even though he may not see the exact spot.

The second time around Freighter watched the birds fall while sitting at the line and he saw the birds fall in reverse order from the first time.  The first time, the dead bird was first and then the flyer.  The second time he watched the flyer first and then the dead bird.  This was to test to see if he would look away from the flyer to watch the dead bird.  Live birds are much more interesting than a dead bird to a hunting dog.  Freighter did a very nice job of turning away from the live shot bird to watch the second (dead) bird.

Hubby has also been working with Freighter on his barking at the birds as he is watching them thrown.  The barking popped up for the first time during the last test.  It is just a matter of excitement.  Freighter knows he has to sit and wait, but his excitement got the better of him.  He needs to be both steady and quiet.  He was so he was rewarded by being sent to retrieve the birds. He did a nice job digging them out of the grass.

Of course when a flyer is involved, Freighter has no trouble finding and retrieving them.

Freighter has a hunt test this weekend.  Unfortunately it is going to be extremely hot.  I hope the judges take the heat into account when setting up the test because Freighter is scheduled to run near the end of the running order.  I also hope Freighter remembers to be steady and not bark at the birds.