Yesterday was the first day of Spring.  For us that is the unofficial start of our hunt test training season.  Of course how much we can get out to train depends on the weather.

This year we had a mild winter and all of our snow is long gone.  Freighter and Storm were able to get out to stretch their legs in a field near the cabin.  It was a cold but sunny morning.  The field is long and narrow so we set up a little marking drill which was a series of three singles.

Freighter was up first:

For this series of three singles the first bumper was thrown about 50 or so yards away from where the dog was sitting and watching.  After the dog retrieved the first bumper, the second was thrown about 20 paces farther down the field.  Once that bumper was retrieved, the third was thrown roughly 20 paces farther still.

Here is a diagram of the drill we set up.

Storm’s turn:

This drill is a good way to get the dogs back into the habit of marking different distances in the field.  The bumpers are thrown at different distances from the dog but in the same line.  It can be a little tricky for the dog sitting and watching because the distance is moving away each time.  The dog must account for the change in distance and run over the spot where it just picked up a bumper ignoring any scent left behind by that bumper.

Freighter and Storm did a nice job on this and got a little exercise on the First Day of Spring.

How did you spend the First Day Of Spring?