We weren’t sure what to expect for Freighter’s first test, but we wanted to see where he was in his training before our hunt test season wrapped up for the year.  The first series was a walk-up to a land double, a diversion shot from the memory bird and a land blind.

Senior Land Series
Senior Land Series

Freighter was pretty rambunctious in the holding blind which was not a big surprise.  This series required the dog to come out of the holding blind at heel and walk toward the test.  As the handler and dog approach the test, a bird is launched in a surprise situation without a duck call.  For a walk-up the bird should fall between 35-45 yards away.  I would say this bird was probably closer to 35 yards.  It was close.

Walk-ups can be a challenge because the dog is already in motion when the bird is launched.  The handler is allowed to blow a whistle or say “sit” to sit the dog once the bird is in the air.  I was worried that this might be tough for Freighter because he was already getting excited while waiting his turn.  He did a decent job on the walk-up.  He could have been a bit closer at heel, but for his first time and considering his excitement level, he did OK.

Freighter Coming Out Of The Holding Blind
Freighter coming out of the holding blind and approaching the line.
Freighter sat when his handler blew his whistle, but he was a bit ahead of the handler. This is a pictures of Freighter being released to retrieve.
Freighter sat when his handler blew his whistle, but he was a bit ahead of the handler.  He got a little excited when the flyer was shot and stood up, but did not break.

As soon as Mark #1 hit the ground, the judge signaled for Mark #2 which was a shot flyer.  Freighter was so excited he stood up, but did not leave until he was sent.  We need to work on cleaning up his walk up.  He should stay seated until he is sent to retrieve.

Mark #2 was landing either on the road or in the field.  Since these were shot birds, they did not land in the same spot.  To get to this bird, Freighter had to break quite a bit of cover, which he did with no trouble.  He put on a small hunt (flyers always put a lot of scent in the field because they land in different spots).  When an inexperienced dog has to break cover, it can take the dog’s eye off the mark and pull them off a bit.  It wasn’t long before he had the bird.

Freighter hunting the flyer.
Freighter hunting the flyer.
He has the duck.
He has the duck.
A picture of Freighter breaking cover on the way back.
A picture of Freighter breaking cover on the way back.
Almost through the cover.
Almost through the cover.
Good job Freighter!
Good job Freighter!

Remember Freighter is now retrieving double marks and he still has a bird in the field.  We will see how good his memory is.  As a general rule. the longer a dog has to hunt a mark, the higher the likelihood that it will forget where the other mark fell.  Luckily Freighter did not have a huge hunt on Mark #2 (Go bird).

Mark #1 was falling in the open, once the dog broke a line of cover.  A lot of dogs had to hunt that mark, but Freighter did not.  He went right to it.  He has a good memory it seems.

Mark #1
Mark #1

One thing that gave Freighter a bit of trouble was the diversion shot.  Most of the dogs got their shot when they were back at the line, but not Freighter.  His was fired when he was about even with the gunner.  It was super loud and surprised him so much that he dropped the duck and spun around to see what it was.  We have practiced diversion shots with him, but not like this one.  His handler told him to fetch up the duck and he did and delivered it to hand.

What the heck was that?
What the heck was that?

All that was left in this series was the land blind.  Freighter did a very very nice job on this.  His handler did not want to let him roll too much on this blind.  Whenever Freighter got a bit off line, his handler stopped him and put him back on line.  He probably could have got to the blind with a whistle or two, but his handler wanted to see how well he handled in a test situation.  I think he gave Freighter about 4 casts to this blind, but Freighter took each one and that was the important part.  Darrin (Freighter’s trainer), did a very nice job teaching Freighter handling.

Off to the land blind.
Off to the land blind.
Whistle sit. You can see how excited Freighter is by the way his tongue is hanging out. It was not that hot.
Whistle sit. You can see how excited Freighter is by the way his tongue is hanging out. It was not that hot.
He has the blind.
He has the blind.

I could see from where I was sitting in the gallery that as the series went on, Freighter was getting more and more excited.  Even though we trained each section of the test, we never put them together like they are in a test.  Freighter seemed a bit confused by having to do them all together.  Getting him this experience was part of why we entered him.

So after that nice land series, what went wrong?  In a word water.  The water series was a double with one mark falling very close, a water blind and an honor.  Freighter got himself so worked up and excited that he just could not sit still for the marks.  The handler had to call for the marks with a duck call which just ramped him up more.  He broke on the first bird.

Walking to the line. freighter has already busted the gunner station.
Walking to the line.  Freighter has already busted the gunner station.
At the line before he broke (left before being sent by his handler).
At the line before he broke (broke means that he left before being sent by his handler).

At least Freighter’s handler was able to call him back before he got to the duck and believe me, that little dog is a fast swimmer.  Technically you get a controlled break in Seniors so Freighter could have finished the test, but his handler had already decided that if he broke, he was going to pick him up and not let him get the birds.  His handler leashed Freighter up, thanked the judges, and left the line.

We know Freighter needs to work on line manners and steadiness so we will be working on his obedience all winter and hopefully he will mature some too.  We also saw that he is capable of doing the work so we were happy with that part of the test.

What about Storm?  Well she broke too.  She is becoming a frustration, (more on her test on Thursday).  Storm will be off training for a bit because she is being spayed today.  We decided to get it done now because she won’t be running any more tests until we can get the breaking business under control.  If she has her surgery now, she should be ready for hunting season.

26 thoughts on “Freighter’s First Attempt At A Senior Test”

  1. Hopefully spaying will also help Storm focus on the task at hand. And it will definitely simplify your life! They always seem to know when the entries are in the mail and either blow coat or come in season!

    Freighter did an amazing job! What a wise decision for your handler to bring him back so he doesn’t learn bad habits at a test.

  2. Freighter did great. I would never be able to focus on a task as long as he did, so congratulations to him. In our opinion, that is a lot to expect from a dog but that is what they are trained for. Hope the spay goes well for Storm and she recovers quickly.

  3. Great recap of Freighters senior test. Great pictures. It’s so hard when they are young and full of energy. Sometimes I think I need to let my guys mature a bit before I run stuff but that will never happen. LOL

  5. Wow I’m so impressed with how far Freighter has come. He’s doing so well. I can understand his enthusiasm and I just love seeing it in his expression. Great post.

    I was wondering – and this may be a really dumb question, but until I started following your blog I knew nothing of what hunt training consisted of – is a freshly shot duck ever just so lightly wounded that it fights back when the dog tries to grab it?

  6. Well done Freighter. We hope all goes well for Storm and she will be back to training soon. Have a terrific Tuesday.
    Best wishes Molly

  8. I’m still so impressed with the way he works, I imagine it must be exciting for him to have so many things to do. And the gun going off right in front of him could have thrown him, right? Right? RIGHT? lol

  10. It sounds like Freighter really did great, even though he needs more work. I would think maturity might help for sure, it seems sweet to me that he is so excited (you may not see it that way though)! 🙂
    Hope Storm’s spaying goes well and she has a quick recovery. That answers my question from one of the previous posts, about whether she’d be having puppies again!

    1. Oops did I miss your question? The last few weeks have been a blur. Sorry if I did. We always planned on having her spayed after her breeding obligation was complete. We decided not to breed her ourselves so there was no reason not to spay her and with two intact males, it will make life easier. 🙂

  13. It’s a big step from Jr. to Sr. hunt tests, that’s for sure. What is the reason for pulling your dog off the line during a hunt test rather than allowing them to continue, even though they have failed the test?

  14. I think Freighter did a great job. My mommy says that the gunshot probably would have made her drop the bird and turn around, and she gets pretty excited about water too, so the can understand the little faults. Hope all goes well with Storm’s “procedure.”

  16. Hi Y’all,

    After Storm’s surgery the “fellows” should have an easier time.

    Freighter, I fully understand your excitement! Just getting to go someplace in the car or golf cart can get me “ramped up”!

    Y’all come by now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

    1. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your link. That was a wonderful tribute to Kelsey. She sounds like a wonderful dog.

  18. Freighter has a lot of potential, doesn’t he? I’m obviously no expert, but it seems like this went really well for a dog who’s new to this level of test. How old is he again? Like you’re always telling me with Silas, he’s still got some growing up to do.

    1. Freighter is 21 months. He has a lot of potential but sometimes acts like a puppy still. You are right, he has to grow up some. We plan to work his obedience over the winter.

  19. Yay! Go Freighter! I know he didnt’ do it perfectly but gosh, it seems like only yesterday when you brought him home as a little puppy and now here he is doign a Senior Test already! 🙂

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