What a weekend

M and Elle ran their first field trials of the seasons this past weekend. Elle is running junior (derby) all dogs are less than 2 years old. The first test was a wide open double and then a single. The double consisted of a 330 yd go bird and a memory bird that was about 250 yds. The go bird was thrown left to right into the corner of the field with a holding blind and the gunner standing to the right of it. The lie was up hill with a gully and then up hill again. When the dogs were in the gully you could not see them and they could not see the gunner. So when they started up hill again they got a look at the gunner and most of them hooked the gun or hunted the wrong side of the gun. Elle hooked. The memory bird was thrown right to left again into the corner of the field. This mark did not give Elle a problem. The single was 220 yds and was quite straight forward. Elle got through to the water.

M was running qualifying. They used the same mark as the junior go bird, they used the same mark as the junior memory bird but reversed the direction of the throw and they added an indented mark at about 125 yds. Indents are M's nemesis. She wants to lock onto that short gun stations and then misses the first bird down. I thought she had done this again but she must have caught the first throw out the corner of her eye. it was a pretty loose bird for her but she stepped on the other two so she was called back to the blind. It was placed where the junior single had landed. Most of the dogs were falling off to the right and getting lost at the end of the blind. Not M! She got an eyeful of something off to the left and there was no way I could convince her to cast right. She even cut the corner of the fence row. After 3 cast refusals I picked her up. It was cold, rainy and windy and I didn't feel like standing there blowing more whistles when I knew she wouldn't be carried.

We were off to the junior water. What a test for a cold (40 degrees without the wind chill) rainy day. It was a long angle entry with a mark at 275 yds landing across a bay without a splash. This was the memory bird. The go bird was much short into the water across a point back into the water and then up on land to pick up the bird. This was far too much test for Elle as we have not done any water work because the weather has been so cold. She took the first point but then cheated without getting back into the water but got the mark. on the long memory bird she took a nice line and got into the water but bailed out about half way to the bird (most dogs did this) She was now on the opposite shore to bird and made for the gunner. She set up a hunt because there was scent there from the previous stake. When she couldn't find the bird she started back to the old fall. I stopped her and called her in. It was just lack of training and experience. We now know what she needs to work on over the next two weeks as we run the same grounds at her next trial. I really hope the weather warms as I don't want to sour her on the water.

It's crazy how long the marks are in field trials!! It sounds like this was a good weekend for you to evaluate where you are, and where you need to go. good luck going forward!

Because she missed most of last season recovering from her injury, then the conditioned retrieve and a heat cycle she did not get some of the basics done. She needs the swim-by, the no-no drill and to be decheated which we can get started on this week. However we have another cold rainy day on our plate today. Will go out later in the day.

I feel your pain! I’m in Minnesota and the trial season just started. It has been COLD here and we just got in the water this week. I’m missing out on two “at home” trials as I figured it did us no good to jump into a trial with a bunch of pro trained dogs that wintered down South! We’ll catch up soon hopefully!

Anna,
It sounds as described that both of your dogs were up against difficult runs given their admitted shortfalls in training and those especially pertinent to water (tough to train for during the cold season). I applaud you for recognizing their evident shortcomings and knowing to pick them up rather than allowing them to continue on in a manner that would likely result in more harm than good with regard to productivity for the dogs.

If anything, the experience underlined the expectations with regard to setups and specific skills your dogs need to be worked on to run at those levels presented. Now clearly identified, I wish you and your dogs the best in training for such exacting demands and success in your future aspirations and attempts in retriever field trials 👍.

Cheers,
Mike ☘️🇮🇪🇺🇸

Trained last night with a very experienced group (one has had 3 National champions) and they set up some very challenging marks. I was very pleased with both dogs. Elle even got in her first long retired gun. Today we will work on some concepts that we saw last weekend and get in the start of the swim-by. Sun is shining and the temp did not drop last night (was warmer in the evening than the morning). Maybe Spring has arrived.