The week flew by and I never found time to write a follow-up post. Maybe next week when hopefully things get back to normal. 🙂
This weekend our club is holding a hunt test and hubby and I will be working both days. Hubby is supposed to be shooting flyers and he has to run Thunder so he will have his hands full. (Someone will relieve him, but when you work, you are always kind of rushed to get your dog out and ready.) Also, it is supposed to be 80 degrees, sunny with light winds, so we will no doubt be cooking out there. Both Thunder and Storm are entered. I’m not sure how Thunder will do after his performance last weekend. Hopefully he will at least get the “go” bird. 😕
I guess that was what was so frustrating about what Thunder did at that test. He usually has no issue getting the “go” bird. It was the last mark he saw fall. It was not particularly far away and he did go right to the area of the fall, but he did not stay there and find that bird. Now this is a hunting dog who understands that he has to bring all the ducks back and usually relishes the work. Maybe an off day, or maybe he was just being a Chessie. Thunder has always understood the difference between hunting and testing and I think he saw all of the birds fall in that field and figured if the first mark was too tough, he would just find an easier one. That is something we will be working on.
Not to dwell on the failure, we thought we should find some cover to train in. The problem is that we do not have access to a lot of fields with cover. Sunday morning we got up and headed out to an area that is a designated field trial area. It is great land, with some hills. Unfortunately the state no longer maintains it and will not mow the field, which is too bad because now there are small trees starting to grow there. But at least we knew there would be cover.
Part of what we wanted to accomplish was to work Thunder in cover, and part of what we wanted to do was to build his confidence back up on marks. I think he understood that he did not perform correctly on the test the day before. For one thing he did not get to pick up all of the birds. His handler ended the test for him after he picked up that blind. Also, he did not get a recall whistle when he picked up the blind. No, you were not told to pick up that bird, silly. Maybe it was a bit of Negative Punishment like our pal Jodi Stone wrote about? (If you have not had a chance to stop over and read her post, check it out for a good chuckle.) I guess the lack of recall whistle confused Thunder a bit because he was headed back to the truck with that bird rather than to his handler. I suppose he just lost track in that field, (he was confused). We laugh about it now. 😆
Back to our training…we set a double in cover. The “go” bird was in deep cover and the memory bird was on a little hill. He had no trouble digging out the “go” bird the first time, but he had a bit of trouble the second time we ran it.
We ran him on a total of two doubles and he had trouble with both. They were fairly simple. Yikes! We also ran him on a couple of blinds and he did better on the second one than the first.
By the time we got out there and set up, it was getting pretty hot so we packed up after the two doubles and two blinds. We had wanted to at least get a nice double out of Thunder, but we did not want to overdo in the heat. We would just continue another day, (well every day :)).
Finally on Thursday Thunder ran a nice double which we set up with a bunch of factors to make the fall less visible and to make it more difficult. He seemed confident and marked the falls nicely. Of course a double on cut grass is not a triple in cover… It could be a short test for him. 🙂
Freighter is going to have a sleep over with his sis Sunny. No sense him hanging out in a crate in a hot field for two days. I bet he has a blast!
Have a nice weekend!
I’m sure Freighter will have a great time on his mini vacation! Sounds like you’ve got a good plan to work out the kinks with Thunder; it’s great that the test pinpointed so well the area in which he needed more practice. He’ll master that high cover hunt in no time! Have a great time this weekend! 🙂
Hopefully Freighter will not beat up his sis. He can play rough…lol.
Good luck this weekend! I hope your pups remember their lessons and perform better for you. Hopefully the weather will be cool, it is never fun to run a dog in the heat. Wyatt has the same trouble in cover, well really anytime he didn’t clearly see where it went. Just something that takes more training and confidence building as you said. Weird how the labs don’t want to use their nose as much, Luna is great about hunting it out when her mark was off. But I guess that’s just genes for you too, retrieving is their forte not scent tracking past a point.
Have a great weekend
Anna
http://www.akginspiration.com
We kept saying that we needed Storm for that test last week. It was set perfect for her (if she did not break…lol). Thunder is normally very good at using his nose even when he should use his eyes. He can find a duck in the thickest marsh reeds. So who knows what his issue was… At least there will be a shot bird and he should get that one!
I often wonder what goes through their heads when they are having ‘off’ days. 🙂 I’m sure all the work you have put in this week will pay off and Thunder will do well.
I bet Freighter has a ball with his sister and comes home one tired little pup.
And thanks for the shout-out, happy I could bring a chuckle to your lips. 🙂
This week did go by fast!
Good luck this weekend and I hope you don’t cook too much:)
Sounds like another busy weekend ahead. I’m sure Thunder will do better. I guess even bird dogs can have an off day! LOL! Have a great weekend!
Good luck Thunder! Have fun at the sleepover Freighter! : ) Have a great weekend.
Bella and DiDi
The last test looked so complicated, I think he got confused. Good luck this weekend, go get them Thunder!!
We bet Thunder will do better this weekend!!! Probably just an off day 😉 Good luck to both Storm and Thunder this weekend– we’re cheering for ya from Miami!! And sounds like Freighter is going to have lots of fun with his sis 🙂
Hi Y’all,
How y’all doin’? Just stopped by for a visit. Playin’ catch up on my readin’.
Sounds like Freighter got the best deal this weekend.
Hope y’all had a great if busy weekend!
Y’all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog
HELLO!!! For some reason, known only to blogger, you dropped off my reading list–I think this happened once before…ARGH!! But I get your posts via e-mail and usually read them at work in between patients (don’t tell the doctor!) but I’ve not replied because you weren’t on my feed when I was reading and replying to blog, and for some reason wasn’t putting it together that your blog wasn’t on my list…WHEW…..Anyway, I know I’m rambling, but I just wanted to tell you that I’ll now be seeing your posts twice, via e-mail and on my feed…I HOPE because I’ve so enjoyed your blog!!! Paws crossed that it works this way!! I do hope you’re doing well, and have had a good weekend!!! 🙂
We are rooting for you sweet Thunder you are going to do just fine!!! Bet Freighter had a great visit with his sister. We all even fur babes have our off days. Hope this week holds all wonderful things for you and you get all done you want. Hugs and nose kisses
Sorry to hear that Thunder had a tough time with his retrieves.