Friday, June 19, 2009

Another successful field session for Devon

After giving Devon Thursday off, I decided to go out this morning and do another T drill and focus on over piles. She had been successful Wednesday with over piles at 20 yards, so today I put them at 25 yards. I used what I learned on Wednesday to focus on being successful.

Devon came in on her first over cast, so I stopped her, replaced her, identified the pile and sent her on an over again. This time she turned and did a beautiful over! Later when I sent her on a left over, she again came in. I again corrected her by walking out to her and replacing her, then I walked to the over bucket and picked up a bumper and dropped it to identify the pile.

What I didn't realize as I was returning to my spot was that Devon broke her stay and was following me. I told her no, and she sat. From there, I used a back cast to send her to the back pile. She came in with her bumper and I praised her.

Now was the true test. I hadn't recast her to the over pile when I identified it. Would she remember it, or would I have to correct her again. I sent her, sat her, and gave her the over cast. Devon took the over line correctly to high praise and a fun bumper when she got in. I continued to work the drill to much success.

After several successful casts, I gave Devon a break in the van and got Page out. I repeated what I did on Wednesday with several hand thrown marks while Page was on a line. The first mark she kept, but every other mark she brought back to me. She got to hold the bumper and get praise and pets from me for being a brilliant girl.

After Page's time out, I reloaded the T drill, but I moved the over piles back another 10 yards so they were 35 yards from the center line. I wondered if I would have to reidentify the piles or if Devon would remember her line. She was an incredibly brilliant dog and remembered both over lines and had perfect over casts!

Not only was this a very successful drill for Devon on her over casts, but she also nailed every one of her sit whistles. This is a true sign to me the stress is minimal and she's handling the pressure of the learning and the drill well.

No comments: