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  1. #1
    Moderator
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    May 2014
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    You don't go to the line with the Lab you want, you.....

    ......go to the line with the Lab you have.


    My retriever club had our spring Hunt Test Friday and Saturday. I had not planned on entering, as Brooks is not ready for Senior tests yet (you'll see one big reason why), but since I'm VP on the club, I figured I should support it by entering, so I entered Brooks in Junior both days. It was petty tough for Brooks as I was working petty much the whole time, and he was stuck in the crate in the car for long hours, so he was pretty jacked up by the time he got his turn at the line. Since I was in charge of running the Senior Stakes, I ended up running last in Junior on both land and water on Friday, and close to last in both on Saturday. A friend of mine videod both runs on Friday, and land on Saturday.

    Land Friday



    Water Friday. There was a malfunction of the gun at the first station, causing some delay before the bird was finally launched, at one point while we were waiting the judge asked me if I was ok with the delay, I told him yes, and just have them launch the bird and yell "BANG". I think the delay, Brooks level of excitement, and the wind blowing him caused him to come out of the water in the wrong spot.



    Land Saturday



    We've been working very hard on line manners, and Brooks has been doing better. It's very hard to replicate the level of excitement you get at an actual Hunt Test, plus the lengthy time that Brooks spent in the truck both days. We've done several tests under one of the judges we had this weekend. We were talking while Brooks was doing his water retrieves on Saturday and she said that Brooks was doing better, and was much quieter on the line than he had been when she had seen him in the past, so I'll take that away as a positive from the weekend.

    Since I worked the Senior Stakes I was able to observe a variety of dogs and their skill levels at an actual test. Based on what I saw I felt that Brooks could have handled all of the set ups presented to the Senior level dogs if he were to see them while training.. Now if I can just get his line manners straightened out...........

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to barry581 For This Useful Post:

    Annette47 (04-21-2019)

  3. #2
    Senior Dog
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Central NJ
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    Good luck! I like the approach (I think it was TuMicks who did it) of not allowing the retrieve unless his manners are what you want. You can't behave? Then back in the truck with you. I actually had to do that with Sass yesterday - not with field work, but I took her outside to work some Obedience stuff and as soon as I took off the leash she started running circles in the yard out of excitement. So once I was finally able to grab her, I scolded her a bit and put her back in the house and worked Cookie instead (where Sass could see). Then, after Sass had watched Cookie earning lots of treats and being rewarded by having a toy thrown multiple times, I put her back in the house and told Sass she could have one more try but that she needed to behave. Brought her out, and even though she was literally about to explode from excitement, she managed to keep it together and do some off-lead heeling before starting on the more fun stuff. The more we worked, the more focused she became. I was honestly surprised it worked, but it did - guess she did understand what she had done wrong the first time.
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

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