I found a new field trainer as my previous one went 100% upland. I didn't see him enough to get to SH, especially since he lives in Montana half the year, so I was just going to drop it and focus on obedience and get back into agility. So, we've been out of the field game since our last JH run I think in September. I decided to give it one more shot at finding a trainer and reached out to some really cool judges I volunteered with over the summer for suggestions. Long story short, I found someone who is willing to work with us. Maybe I mentioned it before? Anyway, I explained my situation and stuff and while she was skeptical that what I was doing could be done, she was open.
First lesson was the T-drill which I have not done before but he was able to do, at least the backs (we did not do overs). I spit food at him and the trainer just about died laughing -- she is not an obedience person. ;) She's also all over us about our really clean bumpers and didn't think he'd retrieve them since we never really trained them. This weekend we went back for our second lesson and he nailed doubles, which we have never done before and we did it in a field he's never been in before with cow poop, no leash or long-line. The dog has a reliable mark, stay, fetch, recall and hold, so there's no reason why he couldn't do it. She just could not believe it and said, "You trained all of that by spitting food at your dog?" Ha! :) Anyway, she said she was seriously impressed and has never seen anything like it in all her years as a trainer. She was especially impressed that he had so much calmness and control, yet so much enthusiasm when going out for and returning with the bumper.
So, now she is all excited that he could get at least a couple SH legs this year and is pushing me to push him and while I appreciate her confidence in us, I'm just not interested in pushing him and skipping all the steps that create a solid foundation. I've learned, through trial and error, that weak foundations show up as holes in your training when you compete or test and when you get that far, it's hard to undo it all. I don't see a big difference in getting his SH when he is three, four or five. So, maybe next year. I hope we can continue on the same path despite our differences. I really like her and think we can learn a lot from each other.