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Thread: Today's drills

  1. #1
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    Today's drills

    Today I started teaching M an "easy" check down drill. I wasn't sure how she would do as the drill starts by using a mannequin on the long gun station and retired gun on the short station. The stations are in line. To her credit and my shame she checked down the first time through and her dough headed handler had forgotten her whistles in the truck. She did really well on this drill which told me she was marking the short retired and not being sucked to the long gun. Once this concept of checking up is solidified we will start throwing the long in line double.

    We then reviewed the "no no" drill on the 4 corner drill. What a brat she became. If she didn't cheat on the way out she cheated on the way back. Both of us were pretty tired by the time some modicum of success was achieved. Obviously we will be doing this one a few more times before moving on to the homework that the trainer assigned to get ready for the swim-by.
    The other thing she waned to do was bring two bumpers in at a time. Next time we will use 3" bumper so she can't get two of them in her mouth.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    Anna...

    1. Do you use wingers or did you have a person acting as gunner?
    2. Can you describe the 4 corner drill? (I think I know what you're doing, but maybe not.)

  3. #3
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    We use wingers as little as possible. Right now I need to take them in for their overhaul. We have 4 and they never seem to all be working at the same time. I am going to ask Rob if leaving them sit for long periods is the reason that the servos seem to wear out so fast.
    The 4 corner drill is one that our trainer's father devised. It is set up as a rectangle and you teach short, long, diagonal or outside, outside, middle. Once the dog is familiar running from each of the corners, you start casting and adding diversions and other elements. After we have mastered all of this on land we set it up on the square pond and teach up the shore and out to sea. We also use it for long entries and angle entries on water.
    Right now I have M going all four corners and have added the no no pipes. Once she has the idea of running straight no matter what is in front of you I will add and obstacle with a gap and brush boxes. We throw diversion and poison birds on it and I usually have decoys out especially the white snow geese. You can put what ever you want into it.

  4. #4
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    Sounds very robust!

    My sense is that there is a school of thought that driving out and lining is of prime importance, and our (my training group's view) is that it's all about control... stopping, and casting. I don't think it's a binary sort of thing, rather a matter of emphasis. Both factors are vital.

    I can see that the control end of the spectrum has not always been the friend of one of my dogs. We have had to sweeten her up and get her running with more confidence. But for Rocket Dog... I WISH we could over-do control. OMG... she wants to drive hard and fast. She is convinced she is actually self-employed and I'm only there to provide the ducks. She really amazes me... so different from the older dog. Today, she drove past two marks at warp speed on her way to her blind. I was very pleased. We are still working on line manners. She pulled off a nice mark driving up-hill for (guesstimate... 150 yards?) and pinned it. Pretty good for a pup that has very little marking experience. But when we squared off for the next mark... she completely lost her composure. But it wasn't a bad day for her.

    We use wingers, but in all honesty, the pro we train with has become quite the expert on their care and maintenance. The electronics (Dog Sports Equipment) seem to be bullet proof, but all the moving parts... not so much. Even so, sometimes the primers fail... we have to always have a starter pistol handy, in case.... If it's not one thing, it's another.

    I think the problem with not using wingers is you end up with old ladies like me who can't hurl a 5 pound duck carcass more than 5-6 feet and can't get much altitude on the things.

    I would like to utilize more drill work with my dogs, but it would have to be the type I can do on my own. When the group is together, it's usually a double-double or triple with double blind set up. Our terrain and vegetation is such that we just naturally have key-holes and gaps and obstacles and hillsides and ditches... everything you can imagine, except water (sigh!)

    Rocket Dog will be going in for her bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and hysterectomy (spaying) and will be off line for a few weeks. (That's OK. Frankly, I need the rest!)

  5. #5
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    I guess with field trials it is the driving out in as straight a line as possible that is emphasised. We are trying to strike a balance between drill work, blind work and marks. Yesterday we didn't get out at all, spent 10 hours on the road to pick up my brother's dogs. He will be laid up for awhile and his one rescue lab is too neurotic to put in a boarding kennel. Today it was just my sister and I so I did the chinc drill with M. She needs more practice looking out between two short stations. I gave her a nick for not sitting on the whistle and boy does she not like that. Had a bit of a pout but then went right back to work. I threw walking birdboy marks for my sister's pup and then went back and simplified the no no drill. M did much better on it. She may now have it and we can try some disciplined casting.
    Believe me I am a an old lady and I find loading the wingers more demanding than throwing a bird. In fact after cancer surgery it was chucking those ducks that got my range of motion back in my shoulder. We will use the wingers when doing strictly hunt test stuff. Our group is a mixture of field trials and hunt test people .None of us young. We have one member with water spaniels that does most of her testing in the US. They certainly work differently from the labs.
    Our property is 120 acres of different fields. The Front is flat and open. The center one has a road through it and pine trees, the next two provide a down hill run and the back two are a valley with some very steep hills. We have 3 pond areas a well. The dogs were in and out of the water all afternoon so I guess we will be able to start training in them next week. I know that Spring is officially here because the geese were honking and the ducks quacking yesterday morning. Guess they were each staking out their territory. The frogs have been singing for the last few nights. Everything is coming back to life.

 



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