OMG... talk about water work

[TuMicks]

We were out on the Feather River today. There are three long, horrible, awful, big dog blinds that they had set up a week ago and all the dogs either failed and got picked up (because the water isn't that warm) or hacked to the bumpers. RD and I had not been able to go out there last week, so this was our first exposure to them. The other dogs were doing better, but still having difficulty.

Good golly miss molly. She flat hammered them. Two long channel blinds, one with a really long entry. One kinda out-to-sea blind where the dog had to fight their way through maybe 10-15 yards of weeds then jump in the water, angle away from shore and swim till they were little black dots. She made all 3 look simple.

I handled her, of course... but not that much. Only one time did I correct her. There was a section of one channel that really narrowed. She curled into one side, I gave her a back, she curled to the other, I gave her a back and she started back to the other shore. I lost sight of her at the end of one channel blind, but that was how they set it up. She wasn't responding to my come-in whistles because she was sitting in the cover with a bumper in her mouth (obviously confused about all the fuss.) So I told her "here" and that clarified things. That was it. Otherwise, she was a marvel.

I guess she surprises me because for almost her whole life, with the brutal doughts we've endured, we've had no water to speak of to train in. So where did this remarkably honest get-in-the-water-and-stay-in-the-water dog come from?

[Anna Scott]

Some dogs just love the water work and take to long entries with little difficulty. Sounds like RD is one of them. She must have had a good swim by teacher. I am working with Huggie on her swim by right now. She is just learning the exit points at both ends of the pond. After M's last trip to Don he gave me a whole whack of homework. Part of it is swimming parallel to shore, swimming passed points, ins and outs and cheating singles. We are working on cheating singles with long entries this week. Both Huggie and M cheated at the last FT so it is time for a refresher. Today we did one with an angle entry that had to catch a corner of an inlet and then cross a peninsula go through a narrow channel between a point and an island. We only went through the channel today but tomorrow we will extend the mark to the far end of the pond so that they have to make the decision not to follow the curve of the island but stay out in the center of the wide open water. This was a concept that got a lot of the young dogs on the weekend.
How are you doing in all the heat down your way? It is supposed to be 30 degrees (90 ) here on Sunday and I am feeling I don't want to be out in the heat. I would never survive the heat wave that you are having across the southwest.

[TuMicks]

We are hot. But not quite as crazy hot as some places just a little bit south of us, or a little lower in altitude. Still... we were out in unrelenting sun without a scrap of shade today and it was 90 degrees. A little bit of breeze helped. And umbrellas. You probably have more humidity than we do which would be just bloody awful.

The thing about RD is that her swim-by was interrupted by winter. We barely got through water force. By the time the next warm weather came along, we'd lost access to our technical pond (the fellow sold his property) and then the drought dried up all our other water. We were scraping the bottom of the barrel last summer. So this is her third summer of life and though she isn't as solid as she ought to be... she's better than I have a right to expect her to be.

The water situation is better this year... but most of our local spots are used for irrigation and are getting low since the authorities are not giving farmers 100% of their needs in spite of our one gang-busters winter. We were in running water today. She had to angle across a (stagnant) stream sort of thing. Her sits were sloppy and the pro gave me what for about that. So it's one step forward, two steps back.
You win a few, you lose a few. Basics, basics, basics.

It is physically grueling to train dogs almost daily. This being the first year post-retirement where I've really been at it hard has been a revelation. I have dropped 9 pounds. Some of it is because we're in a group and we'll work 20 dogs. And we're driving 1-2 hours to a training spot and the same distance back. It's so hot, I have no appetite. I jagged my leg on some sage brush and got a staph infection. Today I was in long pants and was dying of the heat. I have to get some dressing material and wrap it because I'm going to wear shorts at our picnic trial tomorrow... dang-it all.

Then again, I got staph infections from working in a hospital and teaching nursing students and dogs are a lot smarter and don't whine near as much. So it's all good.

[POPTOP]

TuMicks: I have not be posting on your posts because you are way out my league in understanding. Please don't think I don't read you posts and am trying to envision what you are talking about and understand what you are explaining. The most important part is your relationship and having fun together.

[Scoutpout]

Then again, I got staph infections from working in a hospital and teaching nursing students and dogs are a lot smarter and don't whine near as much. So it's all good.

Love this ^^^^

and wow.... maybe 4 dogs from now i could maybe hope to aspire to the kinds of training you folks work on...for now, very happy to deal with the basics!

it was sooo hot last weekend that training got cancelled - we were going to do water work, but 2 of the folks' vehicles broke down, and no one wanted to do land in that heat. It was also a big test weekend, i hoped everyone would be ok, no overheating incidents, i went out and watched a bit of the senior water blind, but then had to head into work. It was even hotter on the sunday, but from what i heard, no incidents other than a vehicle or 2 not wanting to run.

We went out yesterday, did a few simple back to backs in tall grass, then went to the water. Well, that went sooooo much better than 2 weeks ago. still working simple back to backs or doubles, but all the dogs were doing much better, nice straight lines, only 1 dog cheating the bank. And the keep pup of my golden breeder friend was out- she did her 1st bumper retrieve from the water, and wound up swimming for a bit as well. I believe she's 12 weeks now, such a sweetie. her littermate wasn't out this time, its the husband's dog to replace his boy who died in February. His wife my good friend got some terrible news Tues when she had her girl in for xrays to see about suspected arthritis. This dog was #1 rally 2 yrs ago, and has been in the top 5 for the last 5 or so years, she is a real sweetie, xrays showed not arthritis, but a large mass on spleen. turns out hemangiosarcoma, and other spots throughout. so Thursday she left us. Friend is understandably heartbroken, they lost the husband's dog 2 months after cancer diagnosis back in Feb, and now her girl is suddenly gone....so understandable they weren;t out at training yesterday, but it would have been fun to see the 2 littermates chasing bumpers!

[Anna Scott]

Condolences to your friend. I just read where another acquaintance lost his 4 yr old golden to cancer. There have been some really good golden lost to this disease.
I know how you feel TuMick's with training everyday. I told the group last week that after the field trial I was taking some time to work on the stuff that Don had outlined and I would not be out to throw marks and do setups. We really need to get these things done and it showed trial weekend. This week I have worked on cheating singles on land and water and drills with Huggie. Today was just too hot to do work with a big group so Eden and I went out for about an hour and a half. I worked Huggie on her swim by which is coming along great. I then did 5 technical water blinds with M. These stressed swimming parallel to shore, through a narrow channel and one was an over a point. I was really pleased with her efforts. I will run a couple of them from a revers angle next and then the biggy. It starts through open water then through the narrows, past a point and then over the next point and then parallel to shore for the last stretch to the blind. We will also extend the length of the entries next. Some of this may have to wait as my best friend of 57 years husband past away suddenly yesterday morning. We will be spending time together just taking life one day at a time and getting through the next weeks as best we can.

[Scoutpout]

Thanks Anna. It sucks. I spent a lot of time with this girl the last several years trialing. I saw my friend tonight, she's holding it together, but its really hit her hard. They did so much together. Her husband's dog (and still she did conformation with him, and did his original obedience training and trialing, but husband did all the field work and tracking/nose work with him) was not quite 6 when he died from a different cancer (although it had also invaded his gut, they removed one tumor so he'd have a bit more quality time) in Feb, now Cassie. And our one trainer was telling me she just got an email from one of her former students, she's lost both her goldens to cancer in the last 4 months - one youngish at around 5, and the other at around 9. Horrible.

Not that labs don't get cancer, but its kind of made me even more glad that i didn't get a golden pup this last year, and am holding out for a lab.

Next week her husband is planning on bringing his canoe, so we can do a set up where they have to swim across the open water, and up onto the bank for the bird. nothing fancy, a nice straight line, and a clear bank on the far side. none of them (except the trainer's one dog who actually does hunt) have seen anything like that yet... The water has a nice "point" that should discourage anyone from doing anything other than getting back in the water the way they got there. i hope...

in the meantime, 2 of the others as well as Scout are working on honouring, and off-leash to and from the line. the one girl is wonderfully steady on land, but all bets are off on the water... shes fine in the holding blind, fine going to line, sits and takes a line at the line, but as soon as the whistles go and the bird goes, she launches. she's got 2 legs of her JH, and this is what's blown the other attempt.

and of course the puppies! so fun to watch them start to get used to everything, and go get the bumpers, including in shallow water. they should both be out next week, and once the big dogs are finished, it'll be puppy time.

[TuMicks]

I am so sorry to hear about your friend's husband, Anna. It's awful. Visiting mom this weekend, we hosted a recent widow. Her husband was only 72 (just a KID!!! Not many years on me.) He went awfully fast from diagnosis to death. We can never really get our heads around it.

I should have know that after her sterling water work... that we were in for problems. I mean... that's part of the crazy thing about dog training. You. Never. Know. They alternately delight and depress you.

1. She is SOOO honest on the water.
2. She's become steady as a rock. (Seriously! Rocket Dog! Who would have guessed?)
3. She's become quiet on the line.
4. That whole thing about rolling the bird and getting sticky on it... GONE!

But last weekend, we did a triple with a flier. Well, her flier was more of a glider. It didn't die. It sort of just drifted to the ground and ran around in the sage brush. It was an out of order flier. I knew she'd marked her flier to the ground (though I thought it was going to be dead.) She turned with me and marked the go bird. Picked it up... I sent her for the flier and she friggin' lost her mind. It wasn't where she thought it should be, and becoming frantic, she pulled a big switcheroo, heading for the previous fall. I hit the whistle and it just went south from there. It was an absolutely horrible, stinking, terrible 5-10 minutes or however long it took.

The biggest problem with it was that she was slipping whistles and autocasting. She just went nuts in her frenzy to find the bird.

So, the solution is that she will not be getting any more feathers until she has run blinds and handled and earned her right to get feathers again like a grown-up dog. Which is a great plan. But we're signed up to run the Junior at Rose City (Portland) this coming weekend. But if, God willing, she can pass a Junior... we'll have her title and then see if we can get her head together in the next month before running her first Senior at Hills Ferry.

[Anna Scott]

These dogs always seem to have a curve to throw at you just so you stay on your toes. 5 -10 minutes can seem like a life time when you are in a situation like that and the dog just says leave me alone and I'll work it out. However we don't have that luxury at a test or trial. Quick whistle responses are an absolute. With the training you have put into her a day of line drills and handling should put her right back on track. As for the junior I wouldn't worry too much about it as you know the expectations and will have her well in hand.
I am doing a lot of the training on my sister's young dog. Her lines are the same as M's sire and dam but they are two totally different dogs. Huggie is a throwback to my first female. She is short and stocky with a deep chest. She can mark a fly at a hundred yards ( today one mark was 360 yds) but she hates doing drills. M would run drills until she keeled over but not Huggie. After about 8 bumpers she says I'm bored this is enough and gets real piggy. Today we were running some short sight blinds on the water. There were 3 at each blind as we had three young dogs. Huggie ran second and went out to the blind and proceeded to manouver the bumpers so that she could bring in two. One by a string and the other in her mouth. She was not going to have to do it twice. She is a notorious shopper and I am going to start giving her a low nick for shopping the pile on land.

[TuMicks]

We set up a tough triple today and a blind. I ran the blind first and she was very good. Quick, took the casts (or gave it a good old college try.) Her blinds were better than my handling. So we're back to baseline on that. The triple involved a true punch bird double, both of which landed on land, and a shorter go bird requiring crossing a small pond. Good news... the line behavior is getting better every day. I took the marks as singles. That did not matter. The punch bird concept ate her lunch. She finally was like... "bag it! I'm OK if I'm in the water!!!" so she kept peeling off to the pond. We worked our way around it, had the gunners help her out. I think we got something out of it and these were marks that ALL the dogs struggled with. We'll be doing a lot more of them for sure.

But my oh my does this girl like the water. I don't know when we will start running with the big dogs, but I know that the water series is frequently the moment of truth. I believe our success percentage will be pretty good IF we get to the water series. But that's just conjecture.

We're going to run what I HOPE will be our last Junior this coming weekend. I don't want her to get too high, (I swear they KNOW where their headed as soon as you start loading the truck!) but I think she could use some low risk, fairly straight forward, nice fresh ducks. She's worked pretty hard. Keep your fingers crossed. If we fail, it'll probably be something I did wrong.

Anna... Huggie sounds just like my Bridget. Very easily bored. Totally gives off the Oh, MOM! Do I HAVE to do another drill vibe. But as long as you can keep them motivated, they can do very well. I think it's tougher to figure out the right balance for them, though.