Tag Archives: HRC Hunt Test

Another Cold Training Day

Posted in dog training, Hunt Test by

The day started out sunny and not too cold.  As the day wore on, the wind picked up and it started to sprinkle.  The temperature seemed to drop and we were adding layers of clothing to keep warm and dry.   But Spring is trying to make an appearance.  The field that was snow-covered last week, now only has a spot or two of snow left and the pond is finally open! 

We had a nice sized training group again.  Many of the dogs and handlers are entered in a double-header Master stakes this Friday/Saturday/Sunday.  Best of luck to all of them!

This training was a chance to work on cleaning up things like being steady, honors, and tricky single marks. 

Good Boy Thunder!

The first single was thrown just to edge of one of those remaining  snow patches.  A white bumper on white snow has always been a tough one for Thunder.  Plus while his mark was being thrown, an honor dog was getting a correction.  All of that lead to a bit of a hunt for Thunder, but eventually he found it.

One of the things we asked the trainer to work on with Storm is multiple marks.  If she sits and waits for the marks to fall, she can usually do just fine.  However, she tends to get so excited with the first (“Memory”) mark that she doesn’t always remember it by the time she picks up the second (“Go”) mark.  It is hard to explain, but that is what it seems.  While the other dogs did the single mark, Storm got a second hand-thrown mark.  The second hand thrown mark was the “Go” mark and the first mark was the “Memory” mark for her.   

Short Hand Thrown ("Go") Mark

Storm Returning With The Longer ("Memory") Mark

Normally our trainer encourages the owners/handlers to handle their own dogs during these training sessions, even those he has been training all week.  However, Storm’s training is going well and we are hoping that she will be ready so he can her in a couple of Senior tests in May.  In preparation, he is doing most of the handling with Storm right now.

Storm is still working on sitting still at the line.

Fanny To The Ground Miss Storm!

But I think Spring must really be in the air because all of the dogs seemed over excited and ready to run.  Dogs who had been steady the last few weeks were not as steady and honor dogs had a lot of corrections.  Also, more of the dogs seemed to hunt marks than normal.

All of our marking exercises must be working for Thunder because with the exception of the first mark, he did very well and if he hunted, it was short-lived.  He even did well on the 100 yard mark (these he would routinely pull up short on).  He ran right after Storm though and of course he followed her pattern to that mark exactly.  Hopefully he won’t be following right behind her in any test.  While some hunting is allowed, too much is not good.

Thunder Picking Up The Long Mark

Thunder Return

The last set of marks were very interesting.  It was three singles just a bit behind the decoys.  The first was thrown to the left of the thrower.  The second was to the right and back.  The third was to the right but forward (angle in).  The “trick” was that third mark because many dogs overran that mark.  Thunder nailed all three marks.  Again our marking drills seem to be paying off.

Storm ran these as three singles (no extra marks were thrown for her here).  She also overran that third mark.  The trainer elected to handle her to that mark and her handling is coming along very nicely.  She was quick to sit and took all casts.  Nice job Storm.  She is still learning though and when that last mark was re-thrown for her, she seemed confused as to whether she should go or not.  She did eventually get it.  Hopefully she will understand that handling and marks can all happen in one series.

Nice return Storm

Good Girl Storm!

Our plan going forward is to wait until the end of April to figure out which, if any, tests to enter in May.  If Storm is ready, she may run Senior and maybe some Seasoned (HRC) at the end of the month.  We hope to enter Thunder in some Seasoned tests before Senior.  The advantage of entering a Seasoned test for an inexperienced handler is that even if your dog messes up an element in the morning, you can still run the whole test.  By running the entire test, you can find training holes and work to fix them.  In Senior Hunt Tests they have call backs after the morning session and if you don’t pass, you don’t get to run the water portion.

I have been working on a couple of posts to explain the requirements of the Senior Hunt Test and Seasoned Hunt Tests.  Hopefully I will have them done this week….well hopefully.  :)

Return To Winter But Still Training

Posted in dog training, Hunt Test by

The snow returned but a lot of dogs turned out for our training group anyway.  This week we did a series of four singles on different parts of the field.  The first two were midway down the field, one to the right by the tree line running down the side of the field, the other was out to the left.  The third mark was a long one thrown at the back of the field (100 yards).  The last mark was close, thrown just on the other side of the decoys.  The twist this week was that we used frozen pheasants instead of bumpers.  This was good because the 2 brown dawgs have not had birds since last Fall.  Both Thunder and Storm did very well on all of the singles.  They marked every one and went straight out and back with no hunting.  Storm was a bit slow on her pick-up, but the trainer reminded her that she needed to pick the bird up quickly.  She was much quicker the next time out.

It was a bright sunny day, but still freezing cold.  We really need to get the dogs in the water, but the pond is still frozen.  We are hoping for some warmer weather before the first tests start in May.

Here are some of my photos.

Thunder and Storm are both honoring the black lab. Thunder is closest and Storm is on the far side with the trainer.

Thunder At The Line.

Go Thunder!

Almost There!

Good Boy!

Storm To The Line. (Nice heeling, ear to the pant's seam. :) )

Go Storm!

What do you see Storm?

Good Girl Storm!

Soggy Training Days

Posted in dog training, Hunt Test by

Over the weekend we met up with our training group.  As you can see the snow is slowly disappearing from the training field.

Training Field

The day started out almost warm and almost bright.  Storm has been spending some extra time with the trainer so first he ran her on some pattern blinds.  She is coming along but at times still wants to do her own program.  I guess she figures, “Why should I go over there and look for another pile of bumpers when I know perfectly well there is a big pile straight out!”  But handling is going where the handler sends the dog.  I think she is starting to get it!

Storm Sent To The Bumper

Good job Storm! Right out to the bumper and straight back.

Once the group assembled we ran two series of doubles, one long mark  and one short mark with a walk up.  A walk up is where the mark is thrown while the handler and the dog are approaching the line.  This tests the steadiness of the dog as they cannot leave the line until they are released.  The person throwing the long mark also fired poppers, making it more enticing for the dogs.  Both Thunder and Storm were steady at the line.  (Yay!  We did work this all the long winter.)  However, their doubles need work.  They seem to have the most trouble with bumpers that land in the snow.  We aren’t sure if it is a marking problem or just because they are not used to trying to find a white and black bumper in a field of white.  Thunder seemed to do fine when the bumper was thrown on the grass, and he did fine with a very long single.

Thunder Long Mark

Got It!

Good Boy!

During the training session the day turned colder and rainy, (mixed with snow of course).  I had to put my camera away before Storm ran the marks so I don’t have any pictures of her running them.  She is most definitely rusty, but that is something that will be worked on.  As the cold rain continued to fall, our training group started to be fewer and fewer, so we wrapped it up a bit early.  That was fine with me because it really was nasty standing out there.  I had every piece of clothing on that I brought with me and I was still cold!

Thanks to daylight savings time, we are now able to train in the evening.  Yesterday we went to a park close to home.  It was raining again which meant that we had the park to ourselves and the rain had washed away all of the snow.  But because it was so wet, I left my camera at home.  First we trained some handling with Thunder.  He seemed to not “feel” like doing it.  Once we worked through that, it is clear that he is really coming along.  Then we threw some marks for him.  One long (memory mark) thrown all  the way across the field, and the second (go mark) was hand thrown.  He did very well on those long memory marks…running right to them.  The only one he did not go straight to was because he veered off to a plastic bottle someone had left on the field.  He spied it on his way by and it looked just like a bumper, (why can’t people pick up their trash?).  After getting a bit closer to it, he saw it wasn’t the bumper and immediately went back to where he “knew” the bumper was laying.  We will still work those long doubles (and add in triples), but I think it may have been the snow which confused him in that other field.  I think if we had been able to train more in the snow, those kinds of marks would have been easier for him.  Eventually we will try to find a field with some cover and practice there and hopefully work in some ducks rather than bumpers.

Training—Making Progress

Posted in dog training, Hunt Test by

Thunder and Storm continue with their hunt test training and are making progress.  Some days they look like superstars.  Other days they are just dogs in need of more training. :)   The high temperatures have made it difficult to run long marks so their training has been mostly handling drills at medium distances.  This day it was drizzling on and off so it was nice and cool and they could run longer distances.  I snapped some pictures between rain drops.    

Their T’s are coming along.  T drills work on teaching the dog to handle…to move back, right, left on command.  The trick is to get them to go in the direction you send them every time.  :lol:   

Thunder’s T  

   

Storm’s T 

    

They are also working  pattern blinds.  This drill helps train them to learn to run in a straight line to a mark which may not be visible to them.   

First up Storm…   

Storm is ready.

 

Right to the bumper.

 

She Got It!

 

Thunder is next…   

Thunder at the line.

 

Heading for the bumper.

 

Return.

 

Coming back to heel.

 

Good dog!

 

Thunder, Storm and their handler had a great training session this day!