Brooks and I attended a training day sponsored by the First State Retriever Club at one of their members property on the lower Eastern Shore. One of the issues I've had with Brooks is his excitement level and associated distracted behaviors when we are doing field work. There were 8 people and 9 dogs there for training, Brooks was the only Labrador, there was one Golden, and the rest were Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. They set up three land marks and 2 blinds inside the marks, as there were 2 Master dogs, the rest of the dogs were all Junior level, and would not be doing blinds.
I've been working with Brooks on "HOLD" and "FETCH" with dead pheasant we brought back from our visit and training with IRISHWHISTLER. It's been a struggle, but I've keep at it.
Brooks did 4 land marks between 80 and 100 yards, into cover that was 6-12 inches deep. He was the 7th dog to run, so there was a lot of scent from the dead ducks that the other's had been retrieving. I was using Dokkens for Brooks. He did a good job with marking, but dropped the first two before coming to heel. I told him to "fetch" and "hold", which he did and came to heel. I took the Dokkens and immediately had him "Hold" them again. The last two marks he did need a bit of help from the guns to find the marks, but once he did he was straight back and held them until at heel position, and gave them to me when instructed.
We broke for lunch, the land owners cooked burgers and hot dogs for us, which were quite tasty. I asked the ladt running the show if I could take Brooks out and work him with the dead ducks. He fought me a bit when I was trying to have him "Hold" the duck, but he would take it and hold it, but I could tell he wasn't happy. After the 3rd or 4th hold, I teased him with the bird, and he was very interested. I tossed the bird maybe 10-15 feet and Brooks chased it. Initially he sniffed it, and pushed it with his nose. I waited for a few seconds, and told him to "fetch". He promptly picked up the bird and brought it to hand. I repeated this 5 or 6 more times, each time he picked up the bird and brought in back, going to heel position and holding it until I asked for it.
I considered today a complete success. While we still have a lot of work to do, we've made a lot of progress since we made our trip to train with IRISHWHISTLER last month. We've worked very hard on his suggestions, and it's clearly paid off! I can't tell you how much I appreciate his help with Brook's training. He gave us a clear plan, and it's truly paid off.
It would be nice if I had some pics to post, but my dumb a$$ forget to grab the camera when we headed out this morning.