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  1. #1
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    More in the "driver's seat"

    Having sent Rocket Dog to the pro to deal with line manners (bodacious outrageous creeping, noise, etc...) I have been a spectator, pretty much, just watching the pro run her. But now it's time for us to work together with the pro supervising us. We did 3 singles (she is doing doubles with the pro, but I'm not ready for that yet) and the name of the game was

    1. RD's toes cannot be in front of mine
    2. After the bird is thrown, I wait about 3 seconds or more, THEN put my hand down, THEN count a SLOOOOOWWW 3 again, then say her name.

    All of that went pretty darn well. I think the message about line behavior (and holding blind behavior) has gotten through.

    Now, when we went to do two blinds, it became clear that I need to learn to handle her better. She is so NOT Bridget. Holy Smoke. I am about 5 counties too late on the whistle. She is so unbelievably fast. You expect a retriever to be amped and blister out to get marks. You expect them to be more circumspect when it comes to blinds. Not so much with RD. She only has one speed... balls-to-the-wall at all times.

    But gosh darnit... it's the dog that will lay it all on the table, go to the mat, do whatever it takes, holding nothing back... THAT dog is a thrill to run.

  2. #2
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    M and RD must be cut from the same cloth. We are doing the same things as you with the marks. Keeping her rear planted on the ground has been a challenge. I couldn't even breath because when she heard me inhale she was gone. At times I think she doesn't know what the word "sit" means.
    Blinds also are a challenge as she thinks the word "line" is the same as the word "back". We cue with "dead bird, line" then once she is focused, send on "back". It is torture for her to stay put when there is a bird out there. It is her speed and intensity that make her what she is and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I can't wait for the day when we put it all together and I can run her at her potential.
    Our pro is coming to stay for 4 days next month and I am really looking forward to what he will be doing.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    Very interesting.

    I've heard of people using the cue "line", but I don't think I've seen it in our HT circles. Either it is a FT thing, or a regional thing, I'm not sure. We are hardly to the "fine lining" stage with RD (although we did touch on that today.) Like with Bridget, it's "dead bird", (use of body if needed, stepping up or back a bit... although, I should have my body aligned properly before she is sitting down for the dead bird). If her eyes are not on the line I want, I may say a quiet "No. Here" and use my hand. But mostly, when she's on it, I say a quick "good" then put my hand down and tell her "back".

    Typically, Bridget's deal is the more I try to line her up, the more she will bug (if she's in one of her "moods") and the more she bugs, the more I try to line her up, and around and around we go and before you know it, she' no-go's. Happily, that hasn't happened for months and I hope we're getting beyond that. We'll know when we finally get back to water. If it's going to show up, it will show up there.

    What are you doing with M if she moves on line or gets her butt off the ground prematurely? My pro is totally in the hard-knocks school of dog training for a dog like RD. Obviously, different deal with a dog like Bridget. What are you doing that works? It sounds like you'd have a hard time giving M a case of poor self-esteem.

  4. #4
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    I try never to go to the line without a heeling stick. The processes is 'sit, tap, sit ' If she breaks on a mark then it is a "sit, nick, sit " on low intensity. She doesn't like this and one nick solves the problem. We are working in the yard on a remote sit while I walk out and throw then walk back to her. She has to wait until I get back into position for the release. If the problem persists we will go back to the school of hard knocks drills. The tether and one Bill called the CC drill after a friends dog that had a real creeping problem. Casey used to get to the line at least twenty paces ahead of Bob and by the time the third bird was down he had jumped out at least10 ft. The drill involves the use of the collar AND the hand. Casey was not allowed to move until he heard his name with the hand down. If it was just his name then he was not allowed to move. This was true for all three or four marks. The release was the hand with his name.
    M usually lines up quickly but I really have to be aware of how straight her spine is. That old adage "the spine's the line" really applies to her. She is going to go where her spine is aligned. With Chant the same applies because she always seems to have her nose off center of the line to the blind. It is her back that determines the line. With M I am doing a lot of fussing in our yardwork so that she becomes accustom to my movements and wheezing and coughing, throat clearing, saying other dogs names etc.
    As an aside I have company this weekend. Dennis Voigt is staying here while he is running the LOC trial. Tomorrow night the group is having a get together to congratulate Howard Simson and Deuce on their National win.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    Oh, girl... how I envy you and would love to be a fly on the wall. I'm sure Dennis doesn't actually need to hear it. But he has played a huge role in the success of retrievers and handlers he will ever meet. Make sure he knows he has fans in NV.

  6. #6
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    Your story about Casey reminded me about "All World Earl" (You have to imagine this being related with a broad Southern Georgia drawl.) True story, a pro I used to know had a dog much like Casey. Earl would always beat the handler to the line. First gun goes off, he's a body length out. Second gun, another body length, and so on. So the joke was that the dog should be named "First and Ten Earl". Well, it got worse (as these things tend to do.) So they started calling him All-American Earl. AND things got worse (naturally) until the dog was half way to the first mark by the time the go-bird was shot. So they named him All World Earl.

    I got to know Earl because I had a dog on this pro's truck. He semi-seriously asked me prior to running the Open if I could give the dog a Valium and asked if it would work. I asked... "what's the dog's number?" "What number are they running now?" "How much does the dog weigh?" and so on, trying to explain to the pro about bioavailability and volume of distribution and other pharmacokinetic principles. Finally we all decided that what Earl really needed was a heeling stick and not a valium.

    True story.

    Have you ever heard what they did back in the day to teach Itchin-to-Go not to break? If there was ever a case of a dog cursed by his name it was Itch. A notorious breaker.

 



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