Ah the green grass of Spring and Summer. This time of year we think about getting back to training for hunt tests. Unfortunately we also have to think about finding appropriate training grounds.
In Michigan training grounds are getting scarce. Grounds we used when Thunder was young are no longer available. At one time we were able to use state land but the DNR has closed all of it except designated dog training areas. The problem is that these areas are not maintained. Often the grass is thigh high and there may be saplings growing throughout the fields. It is not ideal for training unless you are working on the dog digging out marks in heavy cover.
There are a few local parks where we can train the dogs off lead. In fact, police driving through the park often stop to watch the dogs work and so far they have not chased us out. We try to find times when the parks are empty but that gets harder as the weather turns nice.
The problem with our local parks is that we cannot use birds, shoot a gun or use popper shells. It is not just the thought of a duck that makes our dogs excited, but also the sound of a gun so we like to incorporate the sound into our training.
Luckily we have access to a rural park where popper guns are allowed and we can use training ducks. It is a nice open field. It has no water and limited cover but we are thankful for it.
In fact Freighter was out there a couple weeks ago before the weather turned frigid. He ran some triple marks and some blind retrieves. After the winter layoff his triple was not pretty, but he got through it. Hubby has been able to get out to work on some handling with him over the winter so that was good. There is always a remembering curve for the dogs after a training layoff.
There are also a few open areas around the cabin where we can train but they are narrow which limits what we can do.
Last year we were able to buy a membership to train at farm that has ponds, land and cover. We are hopeful to be able to train there again, but it is not set yet. It depends if they can sell enough memberships. Thunder and Storm are retired from hunt testing, but Freighter needs decent training grounds because he is now at the Master level and he needs more space so he can train complex set-ups.
We should know by April and all we can do is hope and get back to training.
Have a nice weekend!
I hope you find sufficient places to train this year. So frustrating when a dog’s progress is hampered due to lack of suitable training grounds.
I guess that would be hard to find the suitable ground to train the dogs.Too bad there isn’t some sort of club or group that needs to train their dogs. We sure hope you find a place.
It’s that time of year again to think about getting out and training, we still have a ton of snow here and cold.
We feel your pain. Finding fields to track in is a tough job as well. We have a few good spots, but then people let their dogs run loose and sometime they steal the articles, move them, or eat the treats if some articles have treats for training purposes. It’s not easy!
We have our paws crossed that you’ll be able to find a good training ground!
I hope the farm works out for you again this year!
We hope things work out with the farm too. We see that so much around here…what used to be open land getting developed and losing nice areas for activities. That’s one of the reasons we’re moving. It’s grown up so much in our neighborhood…we lost many wonderful places we used to walk, so now we’ll have to buy our own land for recreation!
They really start getting cabin fever this time of year and can’t wait to get out and stretch their legs. It kinda makes you want to get out there and run with them!
Hi Y’all,
Missed seein’ y’all. Hope your training areas work out.
I love it when we are home here at the shore this time of year ’cause I get to play in the water whenever I want!
It’s not so much fun for my Humans. It’s a busy busy time.
I think of y’all everything I see the wood ducks.
Y’all come on by!
Hawk aka BrownDog
It is unfortunate that so many of the good places are gone. Almost need to have your own grounds anymore.
Good Luck on finding places you can train and hopefully you will get a membership to train at the farm.
Love the long-lead! We may not have a line longer than 25′ on our side of the rover. But, we can take the dogs to other side or out to Fulton Pond and there are no restrictions It is easier to work on water than land. Have fun pups!
I bet Freighter was happy to be out there working again.
Have any of the hunt clubs thought about purchasing land they could lease for training? I wonder if there would be enough interest?
Land is very expensive and we are just hobbyists. Our club is actually trying to negotiate a lease of the farm, however, we are not sure it will work out. The lease is very expensive because the land can make more money being farmed. There are a couple other places, but the distance for us is too far.