Welcome to the This ‘N That Thursday blog hop!
It’s a little of this and a little of that and everything in between…
Today I am going to follow-up on questions from last week and tomorrow will be follow-up on questions from this week. Sorry to be so far behind, but this time of year my schedule is crazy.
Monday Mischief–Searching
Gizmo asked: In cover like that are you using any scent on the bumpers to help the dogs?
No they are just regular bumpers. They may have scent on them from previous uses and may even have bird scent on them because sometimes we will carry them in a bag with birds. We didn’t do anything to intentionally scent them.
Marcie asked: Where are the other two dogs while the one is searching for the bumper?
We have them either in crates in the car or in crates in the dog trailer. We train one dog at a time unless we are working on honor and then we may have two out for a brief time.
snoopys@snoopysdogblog asked: I don’t think my Mum would let me run in that because of my coat, does it not get stuck in your fur cos it’s nice and short?
The nice thing about Chessie coats is that not much sticks to them. Usually seeds and burs just brush off.
murphydogs asked: Do you attach wings to your bumpers for training?
No we don’t. I know some people do, but we don’t. We have done it when the dogs were small puppies, but not now that they are older.
Time To Cool Off
Many of you commented that the pups must be hungry after all of that training. They are retrievers. They don’t need any excuse to be hungry. 🙂 But seriously, it can be difficult to maintain their weight when they are training. We are always adjusting the amount of food they we feed them.
Marcie asked: Is the path you prefer conveyed to them verbally or with motions/sounds at some point or are they trained to follow the most direct route?
We train them to run the most direct route which is a straight line. We also work on turning them in the direction we want them to run before we release them. It is much easier for them to remember multiple marks if they can pick them up quickly and efficiently. The more zigzagging they do to avoid a hazard in the field, especially when they are retrieving multiple marks, the more likely they are to forget where the marks are located. Hazards they might see are puddles, strips of cover, a bush, even a pond. Of course in the heavy cover, it is can be difficult for the dog to maintain a nice straight line.
We work on stretching out marks over time and hopefully the dog keeps the nice straight line. For blinds, we run lining drills to practice running long lines. There are also lining drills to help the dog with marks. Once the dog is proficient at handling, if the dogs tries to avoid a hazard during training, you may stop and handle them through it. Hopefully the next time the dog will keep the line while taking on the hazard. We also work on the dog returning in a straight line too and handle them if necessary.
Jodi wrote: It seems like this training pass is really paying off for you by providing all different scenarios for them to train with.
If nothing else, it is much more enjoyable. It is quiet and pretty there. We don’t have to worry about soccer players or off lead dogs. We pack a lunch and at some point take a break to eat it. I’m not sure it will be a magic pill to help our older dogs pass, but I think for a young dog like Freighter, it has been very beneficial.
murphydogs commented: I think one of the tougher things to train a retriever to do is turn around and swim back when that close to the bank,
True. I think the pro may have worked on this with Freighter. If Freighter tried to get out of the pond on this particular day, I was standing right there ready to encourage him back into the water.
Tomorrow, Part 2 of my Follow-up.
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I am learning so much about retrievers now! There used to be a Chesapeake Bay Retriever that lived in our lakehouse neighborhood. He always roamed around and was friendly and went swimming with us giving us rides on his back to the shore from the dock. The only bad thing I remember was one day when he just would not stop humping me lol.. oh well guess he was feeling frisky that day.
I am glad you found a friendly Chessie. Some (especially the old time Chessies) were not always friendly to strangers.
Oh really? This was probably 15 years ago or so… he was very nice 🙂
Thanks so much for answering the questions! It’s so interesting to see how you train them and you explain it all really clearly!
Excellent answers and explanations today…You really are a great teacher…Thank you
We have learnt so much and in the main that it takes dedication and training. Next time we will watch a shoot in a very different manner. Have a tremendous Thursday.
Best wishes Molly
If you go to one, we would love to hear about it!
Hi Y’all!
Super great! Love the expression on Freighter’s face as he eagerly launches himself into the water…still concentrating on the mark!
Y’all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog
Since we aren’t involved in this training it sure seems complicated and like a lot of work. How much time a week do you spend training and do you train several days a week?
I really loved this post and how you answered the comments/questions of others during the week. You are sure lucky that burrs and all seem to just brush off those coats!
Great TNTT comment and answers with great pictures! Have a great day.
This is all so cool. How and why did you end up with Chesapeakes and doing retrievals?
I am (as always) amazed at the work you put into your dogs. How do you find the time? You write a blog, comment on other blogs and are kicking butt on Candy Crush. 🙂 How do you do it?
Candy Crush on my phone and long car rides are the secret. 🙂
You are all so amazing! You all, dogs included, must have so much patience to learn how to get this right. You are making Ma want a retriever again!
I just love learning about the cool work the Brown Dawgs do 🙂 There is so much to know!
Everyone had a lot of great questions this week! Happy Thursday to ya
,
You may already have addressed this, but I’m curious about how much time you spend in training. And when you have a dog with a professional trainer, how much time a day is that dog actually in training activities?
Amazing! My first impression was that this training was easy. But there is so much more involved and I can’t help but to be amazed at how well these three do. It looks like a lot of work but seems very rewarding at the same time. BTW, it’s so true that Retrievers don’t need an excuse to be hungry. 😀 I know with my Lab that it is difficult to maintain her weight. We just had to increase her portions due to more activity and she couldn’t be happier about it.
Hey Guys,
Thanks for answering my question – Oh that must be heaven to have burrs just slide off! They bug the life out of me!
Hope you’re having a fun day,
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
Great This ‘N That Thursday. I love that about Chessie coats, even burrs come right off, not to mention they also dry pretty quick 🙂