About 10 days before the test, Page showed signs of going through a fear period. She got confused running an in and out of water mark and shied at a decoy which isn't like her at all. Then last week, she got totally confused running very simple water marks with a duck. This was enough for me to pull her from the test Oct. 3-4 since Devon was already pulled from that weekend and the test wasn't closed.
On the Thursday before the test, she ran very nice land marks, but on one land mark she stopped 12 ft. from me and didn't want to bring me back the bird. Page doesn't always want to come into heel, but she'd never just decided to keep the bird! We had a little discussion about it, and she saw it my way and gave me back the duck. Problem solved and it didn't come up again.
On water, she again got out of the water on the opposite bank on her water mark. She needed the gunner to help her back into the water. Things were not looking good for her first test!
On Saturday we were the first dog on the line. I wasn't nervous, which was good. Page went out for her first mark fast and straight as an arrow. Then she pulled up short and investigated every spot the test dog stopped to munch on the birds on the way back. After the judge reminded me to breathe, I just stood there and let her work it out. She finally did, and grabbed the bird and brought it back in.
On the way in, she tripped and dropped the bird. She was so shocked, she just stopped, looked at the bird then looked at me like, "Ooops! I didn't mean to do that!" I told her to fetch it up in a positive voice. She grabbed it and came in, but stopped 12 ft. away and didn't want to come it. The devil! After a few more commands from me, she did bring the duck to me and I caught it. Not pretty, but a pass.
The second land mark was better, but this time Page came to me with the bird then looped away and wanted to keep it. I got the bird much more quickly this time, but it still wasn't pretty. Our judges were a husband and wife team, and she said good job. He said nothing. Ooooh, I bet those scores weren't pretty!
On the way back to the car, several people said nice job and I just smiled. One woman, who I figured out was the judge for the next day, asked if I passed. I said yes but it wasn't pretty. She informed me it didn't have to be pretty. I smiled and said, "For me, it does." I decided to run her on water just to see what I had, but I knew then I was scratching her the next day. I wasn't seeing what I wanted to. My goal is more than a JH, so I want a solid dog that I didn't have.
The water test was very nice. Two splashy singles on a pond in the woods. The gunners were very hidden. I thought the bank wouldn't be appealing to run because it had a lot of brush around it. The first mark was 70ish yards and the second shorter.
Page was the second dog to the line for water, and she was beside herself. Waiting and self control are NOT her specialties. Our friend Jan with the girls' cousin Keeper said, "Oh she's so 7 months old!" At that point everyone in the gallery who was standing around said they couldn't believe she was 7 months old. I said, "yep, and I'm never doing this again!"
Then it was Page's turn. I had many visions of what she could do, but I didn't expect what she did do. When I released her, instead of going directly into the water by the path down the 2 ft. drop, she skirted along the bank a few feet and went right through the heavy cover to fling herself into the middle of an arrowhead plant. Instead of freaking her out, she clawed through this thing holding her back from her bird and once in open water, she swam straight as an arrow to her mark. Wow! The perseverance score must have been a 10!
When she reached the duck, she grabbed it, spun in the water and swam straight back to me. Wow! This was the dog I was used to watching! What a girl! Reaching the bank, she came up, dropped the bird to shake, then picked it back up and looking at me standing 4 ft away from her ... that's when she must have thought, "You know, I was the one who swam all the way out there for this bird. If momma wants one, SHE can swim out there and get one!" She took a right turn and walked 6 ft. away from me with her prize.
Nothing was going to get this puppy and her bird back to me. I knew it. The judge suggested I walk backwards, but all that did was give Page the permission to go farther from me. I apologized to the judges, got my dog and retrieved the wet duck. We were done!
There were a lot of good things about that water retrieve. She showed me what she can do and the drive she has to get the birds. I was very happy to see that water confidence. I was also happy she wasn't worried about any of the vegetation in that pond. It was a dark pond, and I can see how some young dogs wouldn't like it. Page didn't give it a second thought.
But in the end she showed me we have a lot more work to do. In talking with Mitch, we agreed she didn't transition smoothly between bumpers and real ducks. I need to get some real ducks and work back through some basics with her. From there, I plan to continue training and teaching drills.
I also want to focus on getting her steady. Just like her momma Bizzy, Page is going to struggle with self control. I saw too many awesome dogs break the honor in Senior the last two weekends not to realize I will have this problem with Page. It will be a new problem for me to work through, since Devon easily understood she was not to go unless sent.
So that's the story of Page's first and last hunt test for a very long while! Someone asked me if I was disappointed in her -- of course not! I was laughing walking off the line on Saturday. I love this little dog, and her only problem was her mother entering her too early. I'm not too proud to admit that, but I'm also smart enough not to repeat it either! We have a lot more work to do, and I'm willing to do it. She's an amazing little girl, and the next time we step to the line we're going to knock it out of the park with all 10s!
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