The best laid plans...

So much for planning ahead. We should be at a hunt test this weekend, but Page decided to come in season for the first time last week. Really, she's waited this long (she's nearly 16 months old), you think she could have looked at the calendar and seen our trial/test schedule and waited until July. We only had training in July!

Oh well! I'm sure if she really knew she was missing hunt tests and the opportunity to get nice fluffy ducks, she would be disappointed. So finishing that JH will have to wait for a while, and we'll push off her WC until a fall test. If all goes as planned/hoped, she should be out just before her agility debut the end of the month. Let's hope this first cycle sticks to the plan!

The good news is that after initially trying to rub the panties off by writhing across the living room floor, Page gave up and is quite content to look silly. She's better than Devon about wearing panties, because she can even be crated in her panties and not shred them (if you take your eyes off Devon for a minute, she's shredded everything). Once again I'm so very amazed at how different Devon and Page are. Devon, Ms. Perfect, is the shredder and Page, Ms. Bizzy, is the contented one. [On a similar note, Devon, the momma's girl, sleeps on the day beds or off somewhere in the room, and Page, all confidence and can do it on her own, is always as close to my chair as possible or even curled up on my feet.]

Page is even fine running in agility with her panties on, not missing any speed or accuracy in weaves or with her contacts. I've worked to be very consistent on reinforcing startlines and contacts. Her startlines look much better, and she's much quicker to sit and stay steady. Contacts are probably 90%, with her dogwalk contact looking the best. She's starting to creep down the A frame, stopping at the top or halfway down. I'm not making eye contact, but simply waiting her out. I'll probably have to go back to clicking when she hits the board, since I don't want this to become a habit.

Other than those little issues, I'm very pleased with the rest of her agility work. After going through a week of popping out of pole 12, Page seems to have worked through that and does all 12 at great speed. What I'm particularly pleased about in her Tuesday night sequencing class is that she's starting to realize I'm lining up obstacles in her path with my handling and she's starting to take them.

Like any green dog, Page had been curving into me when obstacles were a little farther out in front of her and she had to seek them out. Now she gets to look for what's next. If there's a slight push, she's now responding to it and taking the obstacle. Unlike most fast, green baby dogs, Page isn't overly obstacle focused but does want to play the game with me and look to me for instructions. She's also responding to rear crosses on the flat and forward moving front crosses, too. By far her best handling skill is wrapping a jump. She reads deceleration quite well in those situations.

And the biggest thing I can say about Page's agility training is she is months ahead of where I would expect any dog her age to be. She really is an amazing partner.

Observing a VST test

Since one of my goals this year is to get Devon and Page test-ready for VST, I thought I should go watch a VST test to see what I was getting myself into. In mid-April, I went to Chicago to watch the Moraine Tracking Club's VST test at Lincolnshire. I even got to see one dog pass!

This is a wonderful tracking club, full of great and helpful people. The grounds at Lincolnshire are perfect; what a lovely office park they have to test in. Judges Ted Hoesel and Beth Walker plotted interesting tracks, and I was able to walk behind all 8 participants that day.

I think my greatest observation from the test is that thanks to training with Steve Ripley, we are on the right track (no pun intended) with our training. We're working on the things the dogs will be tested on, specifically transitions and "moment of truth" or MOT turns. I will always be grateful for the opportunity to learn from Steve and from all the tracking teams he's followed in his years of judging.

I got to see some great handling and some really bad handling at this test. It reinforced to me how important it is to trust your dog and how to be patient while the dog is working out scenting problems. Handler Allison Bently who passed that day with her GSD Meghan was the perfect example of patience and trust. After working out a MOT turn, Meghan cut the corner of the next turn when she spotted her plastic article in a parking lot. Meghan came up on the article from the south, but the leg ran east-west with the track going east to Allison's right.

After picking up the article, watering and rescenting, Meghan continued north in the direction she traveled to find the article; it was also the direction Allison was facing. However, after 15 ft. Meghan's head lifted, she circled, and she correctly identified the track to Allison's right and tracked off in that direction, 90 degrees from where Allison was facing and from the path they had taken to the article. The gallery knew this was correct, but Allison was running a blind track. When Meghan showed Allison tracking posture, Allison immediate turned and followed her dog across the parking lot and eventually through two more turns to the final article.

Following your dog in a different direction after picking up an article has got to be a hard decision. And in this case, Allison correctly chose to trust her dog and their team was rewarded with the coveted "Champion Tracker" title. Those decisions are easier to make when you know how to read your dog and you have had lots of tracking "mileage" under your belt.

Equally as educational but monumentally frustrating was following another team where the handler failed mightily in his job to read his dog. It was the team's first VST test, and this amazing Golden Retriever made the first leg of this track look easy. I learned from club members and seasoned trackers, that the leg full of transitions in front of a large building with the wind coming off the pond was extremely difficult. After turning at the side of the building, the dog didn't hesitate to track straight into the middle of a parking lot.

Even to me, it was clear when the dog indicated loss of scent and wanted to make a right MOT turn. The dog indicated this turn several times and the gallery became hopeful we'd see another pass that day. However, our hopes were dashed as the handler forced the dog forward ignoring more than a dozen indications of a right hard surface turn.

The ever patient judges allowed this team to work left and eventually the dog brought the handler back to the very same spot and again indicated the right MOT turn. This time the handler took it and our hopes soared. However, when dog and handler reached a grassy island and the dog indicated a left turn on the island, the handler again ignored his dog. Eventually the confused handler circled back around to the right and ended up on the previous leg (even walking right past the judges going in the wrong direction) and again pushed his dog past the MOT turn the dog had worked so hard to accomplish. That is when they heard the whistle.

As a member of the gallery, I got to witness first hand how frustrating it must be to be a VST judge. After seeing more than a dozen indications of that turn from the dog, I lost count how many times that dog told his handler where the track went, only to have the handler think he knew better. No matter how much you think you know, you must over-ride your brain and follow your dog. The dog has the nose and knows where the track is. Your job is to recognize when the dog is on the track and when he/she isn't.

Finally, I got to see several MOT turns on actual test tracks. I now have a better understanding of these turns and how they can be used. According to the AKC's Tracking Regulations, a MOT is defined as:

At least one (1) moment of truth 90-degree turn will be in an area devoid of

vegetation and will be plotted to allow at least thirty (30) yards before crossing

or returning to a vegetated surface.

I had always envisioned MOTs as turns in the middle of a parking lot or non-vegetated area and no vegetation within 30 yards in any direction. While that is an example of an MOT, I also got to see other examples which were turns that were devoid of vegetation, at least 30 yards from vegetation in many directions and could not be successfully accomplished by fringing the scent on vegetation.

Here is an example of two MOTs. Turn 2 is what I would typically think of as an MOT. However, Turn 1 is also an MOT. There is an island close to one leg before the turn; but the turn could not be successfully done with the dog working any vegetation and the track did not cross vegetation for more than 30 yards. Seeing turns like this gives me even more ideas for working MOT as we train.

Our trip to Lincolnshire was educational and worth the time we took. It encouraged me that our training is going in the right direction. And it gave me real life examples of how important it is to read your dog and trust your dog while tracking.

Page's training update

EEeeekkkk! Where does time go to these days? I cannot believe it's been three weeks since my last post. Now to update Page's training.

Page -- agility

Page continues to shock and amaze me in agility. She learns incrementally from one lesson to the next. Weaves are a great example. I started training weave using the 2x2 method (I'll never use another method to train weaves). Page learned very quickly moving to 4 straight up poles. Then we trained at the kennel club one day, and I walked by the weave poles and Page dove in them and did 10 continuous poles on her own. Shocked, I asked her for the poles and she weaved all 12.

A week later at our lesson with Jenn at Incredipaws, she worked easily on two sets of 6 poles being rewarded in between the sets. Within a couple of days she was weaving all 12 poles. Here is a video of her last set of 6 poles before working 12:

I love her form in this video, and she looks even better today.

Our lesson with Jenn was great. Jenn started us with one jump to check on our foundation from the ground up, and we progressed to sequence 10 obstacles. I had already identified a few things to work on before the lesson, and I was very pleased that Jenn didn't find anything else I missed.

In addition to weave poles, I needed to work on Page's A frame contact. Over the winter I wasn't able to work that on a low A frame like I had her dogwalk and teeter contact performance. Once my equipment was outside, I was always forgetting to ask someone to help me lower the A frame. So I'd just work Page on the bottom of the A frame, wrapping her into her 2o2o performance.

A week after our lesson with Jenn, we were working at the kennel club when Page kept "asking" to do the A frame. She'd look at it and take a couple of steps to it, and then she'd look up at me like, "can I please??" Finally I said, "OK go do it." She ran to the A frame and I expected her to fly off the middle of the downside like she'd done before. Instead, she ran all the way down the A frame and straight off. I was so surprised she didn't fly off, but she still didn't do what I wanted so I just stood there and didn't react. Page looked at me and it was as if you could literally see the light bulb go off over her head and she said, "OH! Wait a minute!" She turned and wrapped herself back up on the A frame and gave me a perfect 2o2o with a chin touch and then looked back over her shoulder at me with a big smile on her face as if to say, "THAT'S what I was supposed to do, wasn't it!" Wow, talk about problem solving! From that time on, she has been sticking her A frame contact regularly.

The final thing we needed to work on was the rear cross on the flat. This is a tricky one for Page, and it continues to be a work in progress. The other thing that makes the rear cross on the flat tough for Page is how much she prefers her right lead. It makes turning right easier for her and turning left more difficult.

So with all her foundation under her belt, Page was ready to being sequencing. She started classing 8-weeks earlier than I expected. She's easily handling the challenges presented in her first two weeks of class, and I'm learning more things we need to work on as we go.

Page's latest list of homework includes reinforcing startline stays and contact performances. Page loves agility and she's quite fast. She's getting pushy on startlines and contacts. I haven't had a dog like this since Reece, but over the years I've sat on the sidelines and watched many good handlers let their contact and startline performances go for the sake of the almighty Q. Now that I'm the handler with the pushy dog, I can see how easy it is to let that criteria go when your dog is so fast. It's going to take a lot of willpower to make Page honest and hold her positions through proofing, but it's something I need to do for long-term success (versus the short-term rewards of early Qs).

Our other area of homework is becoming a team, which will be an ongoing process. I'm already pleased that Page does read my body language and motion. She is beginning to understand to take the obstacle in front of her, but she's not solely obstacle focused. Getting forward motion out of her isn't hard, but I can tell reading lateral motion will be a work in progress for some time.

In all, I'm very pleased with Page's agility training. She's easily 3 months ahead of my earliest predictions for her. Now it's up to me to keep working on handling drills and consistent criteria for startlines and contacts.

Page -- field

Page's field training has been intense during the spring. She has done lots and lots of pile work to build her worth ethic and deliver to hand. It's paid off! She now enjoys pile work, thinking it's fun. When she ran into trouble with large bumpers, she only worked large bumpers. She did pile work through heavy cover and changes of cover. She did pile work through lots of decoys. And she did pile work with ducks.

After a visit to Mitch's in late April, we did pile work on water. Page handled this very easily. In training she still wants to drop the bumper or duck at the edge of the water to shake off and then she'll come in to heel and deliver to hand. I've been working on this with a "hold" command and meeting her at the water's edge, but attrition hasn't totally fixed this. It's something we'll continue to work on.

Page is ready for transition, and I have sent her to more than one bucket once. Her lining is fantastic. However, with hunt tests coming up, I'm going to hold her where she is and not throw anything new at her. Page's water set ups looked great this month, and she lines her marks regardless of what is in her way. I'm pleased with her courage and marking ability.

Bearded Collie Club Agility Trial

On Saturday, we drove to Lewisburg, Ohio, and Circle G Arena for the Bearded Collie Club's Agility Trial. I only entered Saturday, because Page was entered in a TDX test in Chicago. Of course, with her pass last weekend, we allowed someone else to take her spot, and we didn't have the pressure to get home to rest.

Because of the running order and not entering FAST, I got to sleep in and didn't rush to get to the trial. It's been almost a year since I've trialed in Ohio, and it was wonderful to see all my old friends.

Devon's teeter fears have returned in the last 3-4 weeks (more on that in a future post), so I pulled her from Standard and just ran JWW. We have not trialed in 5 months with hunt tests and tracking tests. Devon has become a very confident agility dog in that time, running Excellent/Master level courses with ease. I was excited to trial this weekend to see if her confidence in class transfered to the ring.

Our Open JWW course by Lisa Rieves was a course I liked. When compared to Excellent JWW, it had the same opening (1-6), the same entrance into the weaves (8-11) and the same close (11-18). The Excellent dogs ran the course well, and several big dog handlers came out smiling and said it ran well.

I saw two options for handling the opening. Option A had dog on right from the start with a landing side front cross after 3. Option B had the dog starting on right and doing a take-off side rear cross on 5. Either option had me doing a landing side front cross after 6.

For the close, I again saw two options. Option A was a landing side front cross on 14 with a pull to the finish. Option B had a rear cross on the flat after 15.

Based on the Excellent dogs, the start was demotivating for most dogs, with an opening pinwheel and the dog headed right into the ring gate off 1 and 2. A landing side front cross on 3 worked well for a solid, seasoned dog who trusted their handlers and for fast drivey dogs. However, that bar on jump 2 came down a lot or dogs pulled off jump 2 as handlers moved in the opposite direction to get into position on jump 3.

The Excellent dogs handled the close very well, so either a front cross on 14 or a rear after 15 worked. Hummmm, what to do? Based on her history, Devon has preferred me to get out of her way and rear cross at trials. It's not my comfort level, but I need to support my dog. So after walking it several times, I decided to rear cross on the take-off side of 5, front cross on the landing side of 6 and rear cross on the flat between 15-16.

Now that my handling was decided, I reviewed my only goal for the run: to stay positive and see a very fast drivey run like I've seen in class. This is why I'm trialing Devon in JWW even when I'm not running in Standard. I want her to learn trials are fun and she needs to run fast. I don't want her to feel pressure and slow down to a crawl.

Analysis of our run: Devon was in fine form going to the line. Although she stopped tugging the minute we walked in the building, she was really pumped. She loved the high value treats (steak and ham) and was foaming at the mouth for more. Jostling outside the ring when I set our stuff near where they posted the results only to find my way blocked three times didn't faze her. And we went in a dog early when the dog in front of us who had checked in wasn't at the gate. Again, Devon wasn't bothered.

Devon sat quickly at the line with none of her past startline stress. She was ready to go. She was slower off the start line than I expected, which was probably caused by the demotivating start I had already identified. I was glad I decided to continue to support her through jumps 1-3 and not pull off for the landing side front cross.

However, I think I showed a little too much motion and acceleration through 3, 4 and 5 because there was no stopping Devon! She was flying and didn't pay any attention to my lateral motion to cue the take off side rear cross and took 14 as an off course. Oh well, the qualifying score was gone with that off course, but I still needed to reach my goal of staying positive and having a fast drivey run.

Devon came back to me with a good attitude at jump 7 and did a lovely job into the weave poles. The off side entry wasn't easy. On the video you hear Kim complimenting Devon's weaves, and they did look fantastic. All the work we did this spring and the confidence she's gain in classes over the summer has really paid off.

In the close I probably should have done the landing side front cross after 14. First, I was standing still to get the rear cross, which always means you would have had time for the front cross. More importantly, with me behind her, Devon was able to focus outside the ring and get distracted, causing her to miss jump 17. Kim's comment of "devil" was pretty accurate!

Overall, I think I met my goal of staying positive and getting a drivey run from Devon. She was happy out there, and her tail was wagging clear to the end. While I saw a lack of focus a couple of times (not surprising because she is so environmentally aware), I didn't see stress of slowing. Even better, she was more than 9 seconds under SCT even with the off course. That's a great improvement in her speed!

I wonder if our past experience with rear crosses working so well in trials had more to do with me staying out of Devon's way (i.e. not micromanaging her) and trusting her to do her job than the rear cross itself. I think I should trust her in trials and push for more seasoned dog handling, which includes landing side front crosses. We perform them well in class when I push and trust her, so it's time for me to relax and work them in the ring. We'll have lots more practice, because we have three weekends of agility coming up!

Devon SH!!

Devon earned her AKC Senior Hunter title this weekend by passing both tests. I am just so proud of this dog for putting it together and passing four of six tests in a row. This title once again marks a first for me; Devon has the privilege (or the burden) of being my first certified and titled tracking dog and field dog. Oh the things we've learned together!

Saturday

We finally got a decent Senior test. This one was straight forward and challenging, but it wasn't a killer test that was near Master level. Both birds came from truly hidden gunning stations behind trees. The memory bird (60 yards) landed in a nice mowed path with lots of cover strips in between for the dog to break through. The live flier (80 yards) landed in cover behind a large circular area of light colored grass.

The blind (50 yards) was angled to the left of both marks off to the side and was 50 yards to a bush. The dogs had to drive between two trees then push straight over a mowed path in front of the blind.

We had to walk up to the line and sit the dog when the duck call started behind us. Several of the dogs were confused by the duck call from the line and turned almost missing the first mark down. We've practiced this so Devon only gave a head flick before turning to her mark.

She marked both birds down very well, but as soon as the second mark (the "go bird") hit the ground she immediately turned her head back to the fall of the memory bird. Hummm, now what to do?

You can pick the birds up in any order, and I knew that. However, I waited after the judges called my number (which releases me to work) to send Devon. The pause was enough to get her to swing her head back to the go bird. I gave her another split second to make sure she wouldn't swing back and sent her. Later the poor guy sitting on the honor said to me, "I thought you were never going to send your dog!" I gave him a heart attack and I felt really bad and apologized.

Devon picked up her marks beautifully. She lined up nicely for her blind. I wasn't sure how she'd handle going between the two trees. That's a lot of suction for her and I wondered if she'd power past them or get sucked to one of them. I was very pleased when she powered right between the trees. I could tell she caught the drag-back from the previous dogs and she was on a direct line.

I wondered for a split second if she was going to line the blind, but then she hit the mowed path in front of the blind and pulled right. I whistled and she sat and took one beautiful cast to the bird. Boy she made that look easy!

It was a good thing her land was picture perfect, because water was a little tense. We were in a mucky pond, which Devon hates. The water marks both splashed and were nice distances. Devon went out for the go bird, but once she got into the pond she reverted to being a princess and hating the mud.

The memory bird was near the bank in the shade so it was hard to see. She knew where the memory bird was, but she flared and stayed on the bank when I sent her. I had to whistle her to get into the water, which meant I had to "handle her to the bird." Once she was in the water, she remembered the mark, but I still had to whistle her and cast her to it. She looked quite confused, but I think our discipline casting got us through it.

Now we only had the water blind to get. It was tight to the bank, which is a struggle for Devon. She didn't want to sit on the bank with all the mud, so I had a hard time lining her up. Once sent she stayed on the bank as I expected. I had to put her over into the water, then she locked on the far shore where the "go bird" had landed. I let her swim, but then whistled her back left to the line of the blind.

Once Devon was back on the line I whistled her and had a difficult decision to make. A left back would have spun her toward the shore which I knew would make her shore up. A right back would likely have sent her back out toward where the water mark had been and where she had just come from. I didn't like either option.

I chose a left back, and she did just what I expected and got back on the shore. Three casts later and she still was on the shore but now one over gave her the blind. It was very, very ugly. All positive comments from the judges stopped when she was working the blind. I knew we were on the bubble as far as passing, but I also knew her land work had been very solid and we had the wiggle room.

The other dogs that had run late also struggled with the shore on the blind. Mitch was the last to run and he came down with two Flat-Coated Retrievers. On the way down he asked how I did and I said I wasn't sure but we'd talk later. His first dog Vince did exactly what Devon did, so I got to see the pro work and I "went to school."

Mitch kept Vince out to the right of the blind in more open water. He wasn't on the line of the blind, but it kept Vince out of trouble on the bank until he winded the bird and was cast back left for it. He did the same with his next dog, a younger and less experienced Flat Coat named Louie (who I love). Louie had more cast refusals but still got the bird. I figured his performance was on par with Devon's.

The judges told Mitch Louie did about what most of the last four dogs did. I thought that comment was interesting, because they indicated the last four dogs ran the blind differently and not as well as the first four dogs (only 10 dogs went to water). Obviously they saw a trend as they judged and took it into consideration.

In talking with Mitch later, he said the mud and muck in that pond held a lot of scent which is why the later dogs were pulling to it. This explained why Devon did what she did because she's a tracking dog and follows scent. It was a really good lesson for me to learn, and I was really glad I got to watch Mitch run his two dogs.

That night at the banquet, I was rewarded with our 3rd orange ribbon (Devon already had her reward of six ducks for the day). I'm not sure it was the prettiest pass we had, but it was a pass! In the end 10 of 15 dogs passed, with all the dogs going to water passing.

Sunday

This was another very nice Senior test. The straight forward land test was double with a memory bird of 50 yards and a go bird of 70 yards. The blind was off to the right and about 45 yards. We had a silent walk up and an honor.

I ended up helping as bird boy collecting birds behind the judges for all but four dogs when I ran Devon. It is one of the best ways to watch and learn during a test, and it really helped the time pass. The dogs were wired Sunday morning, and the honor was very tough. We lost about 5-6 dogs when they broke the honor. The way the test mechanics worked, the honor dog had to wait for one gunning station to reset after the blind was run. The dogs who were high got even higher waiting and watching that gunner reset and knowing more birds were coming down.

Devon was wired Sunday morning. She came out of the truck bouncing straight up and down. In the blinds she's usually quiet and leans against me for pets. In the last blind when I took of her leash she was really sassy (see the next post for more details). I knew we were in for a ride, but I wasn't sure if I'd be driving or she would be!

Devon was controlled walking to the line. She marked both birds well and only flicked her head back to the memory bird for an instant before locking on the go bird. Luckily our honor dog held. Devon took a beautiful line to the go bird, and an equally great line to the memory bird. Because she was so wired, I had her hold the bird while they planted the blind and this kept her sane.

Devon three whistled the blind and did a lovely job. She held her honor and made the land test look easy. I knew we once again had very solid marks on land, and once again we needed them for water.

Ok, I'll admit it. I was pretty tense for land. I wasn't nervous, but I really, really wanted that title so tense would be a good way to describe me. Water was tough. It was a deep pond with dead trees and stumps. There was some debris under the water, but not much. I knew Devon wouldn't like this pond any better than the one the day before.

The water double was tight, maybe 45 degrees. The go bird was longer than the memory bird, which was tucked back into a cove on the right; that meant the dogs had to swim past the memory bird for the go bird. If the dogs got the memory bird first, it was a very difficult handle to the go bird in the middle of stumps and dead trees. I knew if Devon didn't get that go bird first on her own, we were sunk.

I lined Devon up differently than every other dog. I lined her up to the far right on the only remaining grass. I had her lined squarely up on the go bird, knowing it was the most important; I could handle to the memory bird. I also knew if she was sitting on grass she wouldn't be worried about her precious princess cream colored butt sitting in the mud.

The birds went down and I sent her on the go bird. My total concentration was having my body indicate the far bird; I even took two steps to the left behind her to make sure she swam that direction when she flicked her head right to the memory bird. Devon was an awesome dog and swam right to the bird. The first step was accomplished.

As I suspected, she once again didn't want to go back into the water for the memory bird and I had to handle her. UGH! She got to the memory bird, so we had two birds down and one more to go. Devon also made me crazy by sneaking up the bank on the way back with the memory bird and coming down the roadway through the gallery and down the path to the line behind us with the bird. I was so proud. At least she didn't set it down to shake on her wayward journey!

As I was lining her up for the blind, the little princess didn't want to sit her butt in the mud again. UGH! My stress level was going up by the second. I finally got her sent, and she flared on the bank needing two overs before I got her into the water. Once in the water she took a line to the left of the blind. I worked to push her right, but it was only slightly successful. She shored up 20 yards to the left of the blind, ignored my last sit whistle and took right directly to the blind along the shore. She knew where it was, the stinker!

Once again, the judges were quiet after the blind. Goodness she made me crazy this weekend. Talk about sweating it out! She has the judges raving about her land work and her marking, and then she does ugly water blinds and makes them start calculating cast refusals! I knew we had done a better job than Saturday and I knew we had lots of room on the water blind, so fingers and toes were crossed for the orange ribbon. And once again Devon had her reward of six ducks for the day. She was thrilled!

Well, the end of the story was at the beginning of the post. Devon passed, and the judges said we earned it. One judge said she was a great little dog (pretty good compliment since he's a Lab guy); and the other said we had to clean up some little things (gee, flaring on the bank and being a princess about mud) but we should definitely go onto Master. Of the 21 dogs who started on Saturday, 12 went to water and eight passed.

As I have said throughout this journey, I have a great dog. She works her guts out for me and we're a good team. This weekend I think she was rewarding herself a little more than listening to me, but we got the passes and we now have another first, a Senior Hunter. Now it's time to get this girl a bath -- she kind of smells!

Lessons learned at our first hunt test (part 2)

Here's some of the random things I learned this weekend. I feel like I had "book" knowledge until this weekend, and now I have the practical experience to go along with it!

• Scalloping isn't a cast refusal. If they take the cast for a few steps then get sucked back on their bad line, you just need to tell them again. A cast refusal is literally turning the wrong way or refusing to sit.
• You can receive a mark back into the holding blind so the bird boy can plant a bird.
• If you've received the bird in the holding blind and they're planting a bird AND you have a very wired dog, leave the bird in her mouth. She's not going to be thinking about going out and getting another duck when she has one in her mouth.
• You cannot repeat verbal casts; you can only give a verbal cast once. In training, learn to break this habit.
• The judges don't judge the return from the mark.
• Don't point out mistakes with your dog. Devon took a huge looping return on a mark and did a fly by of the blind planter. I didn't expect this and still don't know why she did it. I whistled her several times, then gave her big voice "HERE!" commands. Someone in the gallery who is a judge said I was pointing out a weakness where the judges could mark me down in trainability. I should have just continued to whistle her and not call so much attention to it.
• You can only send the dog once on a blind. If the dog no-gos, you can step back and handle the dog from there.

And the biggest lesson: hunt test folks are generally really great people. I didn't travel with anyone this weekend and only knew a few folks at the test mostly in other stakes. I had a great time chatting with the other handlers during the test and made some really good friends. We were all rooting for each other, and it was really nice to get smiles and cheers from the gallery.

Our first Senior Hunt Test weekend was a success (part 1)

Wow, if I could have scripted this weekend, I wouldn't have done much better than how it turned out. Ok, a "perfect" weekend would have been two Senior Hunter passes, but I was way more realistic than that!

The short version is we came out with one orange qualifying ribbon on Sunday. I couldn't be more proud of us for that! But, this blog is about the journey, so this post is about the long version of the story!

I had several goals for this weekend. The biggest and #1 goal was for us to look like we belonged in Senior. I've been around the dog training world long enough to know when a team isn't ready for whatever level they're competing in. It's ugly, and you hear comments like, "Nice dog ... too bad about the handler." I didn't want us to be THAT team.

My next goal was to make it to water on the first day. In Junior and Senior tests, you usually have a land "series" and a water "series." You have to pass the first series, usually land, to get invited to continue to play the game. I didn't really expect to pass our first test, but I wanted to play the game as long as we could. I didn't want to go out early.

From there, my goal was to pass. I really wanted to finish the weekend with one pass, but I would not have been disappointed if we didn't have a pass if the other two goals were met.

In addition to those three big picture goals, I also had some training goals I wanted to meet during these tests. First was a goal for me: I wanted to handle slowly and deliberately. I wanted to be confident at the line, give Devon lots of time to lock into her blinds, and take my time handling.

The second training goal was much harder. I didn't think going into this weekend that Devon truly understood the concept of blinds. I know she understood handling, and I think she was getting to understand there were sometimes birds at blinds. But I didn't really think she "got" the whole picture. I think she thought blinds were just more drills and not about finding birds.

My goal was that Devon come out of the weekend better understanding that there were two ways to get birds. First there are marks where she sees them fall from the sky. Then there are blinds where I show her how to get to a bird she doesn't know is there.

I think you can kind of call this goal "understanding the test." I know last year during her first day of her first Junior test, she learned about waiting in holding blinds and walking up to the lines and watching the marks fall. The next day and in all future tests she was calm and quiet in the holding blinds until we got to the last blind, and then she was ready to go. She learned how tests worked, and understanding the concepts of blinds was part of understanding the test.

So, with those goals in mind, I'll tell you how we met all of them successfully! First and absolutely most importantly, I kept my head in the right place this weekend. I viewed the whole thing as one big training session. I "worked the test" from the time I took Devon out to potty before going to the hold blinds to walking off the line. I relaxed my shoulders, took deep breaths and just focused on working my dog.

The result was only a few nerves on land on Saturday, which went away the minute I released her for her first mark. I didn't have a single set of nerves the rest of the weekend. It's amazing how you can really think better without being nervous. As a trainer, this is a fantastic place to be. I'm that way with agility and all my other sports, so it's nice to get to this place so quickly in field work.

When I lined Devon up for a very tough blind, I took all the time I needed to get her to lock. Once sent, when I had to handle her, I acted like I was in slow motion which helped my handling be smooth. Devon got the blind in three whistles, allowing us to pass land and go onto water (another goal met for our first test!).

My first test taught me that there are advantages anywhere in the running order. Lots of trialing in other dog sports has taught me that's the way competing works. Sometimes you get a bad break, and that's the way it is. On land on Saturday, the advantage was for the later running dogs. On water, the advantage was for the earlier dogs.

The gunner on the memory bird on water was getting tired and his throws weren't going in the right place. Instead of landing in open water, the birds were dropping deep in the lily pads. Devon couldn't find her memory bird, and I waited a bit too long to handle her and she got into trouble. (This was ultimately another lesson learned for me. When you have a handle on a mark left and the last mark is bad, pull that handle out early and use it!)

Even though we had too many cast refusals on that handle, Devon eventually got the bird. She did fight me on the handles, because marking has always been "her job" to figure out. By eventually getting the "prize" of the now wet by still very fluffy duck, I hoped Devon had a light bulb moment that maybe Mom knew where those ducks were hiding. This was exactly the kind of "teachable moment" I figured only a test could give us and I hoped she learned from it to get my training goal. When she came back with the bird, I told her she was brilliant and never let her guess we had just failed the test.

As we were waiting to run water, I mentioned to the marshal that this was our first Senior test and Devon was my first field dog. The marshal was shocked. She said she actually thought I did the best job of any handler on land lining my dog up for the blind. She complimented me on my patience in lining and waiting until Devon was really sure before sending her. Hummm, sounds like I met another goal! We didn't have "NEWBIE" written on our foreheads!

I thought Sunday's land test was harder than Saturday's test. This put me in a good frame of mind to continue in my "work the test" attitude. I admit, I wanted to walk away with a pass on Sunday. But the goal of working the test and coming out a better team overshadowed my desire for an orange ribbon -- really, I must be maturing!

Devon was more wired than the day before. She loves this game! She tried to come out of the holding blind three times after she heard the diversion shot that signaled the bird boy to plant the blind. I'll get to a solution to that in my next post, because I learned one. However, at the time, it really frazzled me.

On route to the land blind, the dogs had to go through suction in both directions from drag back scent from the marks and the line where we received the birds. I thought Devon was locked, but when I sent her she went 6 ft. then stopped. I had a clear enough mind to whistle her and give her a back.

That cast drove her into the scent area, and she pulled left. I gave her three right overs, which she took for a couple of steps then sucked back left. I now know this is "scalloping" and not a true cast refusal because she did take my cast initially. However, this is usually where I get frustrated with her and we start to spiral out of control and down the drain. I was NOT going to allow us to spiral out of control on this one. I was going to handle her to the bird.

At that point I whistled her for a sit, and I let her sit there and we stared at each other for about three seconds. I wanted to break the pattern. I thought, "I don't care if we fail this test right here right now. We ARE getting this bird!" Then I gave Devon an over with a big voice "over!" It worked. I broke her out of the suction to the left and she worked back to the line.

When she got close, I gave her another whistle to sit. I again let her sit there and look at me for 2-3 seconds before giving her a big right "BACK!" She hesitated for only a split second, long enough to tell me with her eye contact and body language, "GOT it, Mom!" She drove straight back and got the blind!

It was right there that I knew Devon learned the lessons she needed to from the handling the day before. She figured out the test and learned that once I blow that whistle, I know more about where the bird is than she does. We were also rewarded by going to the next series!

On water, Devon did a lovely job on her marks (although she did cheat the bank coming back from the memory bird). All we had to do was get that water blind, and our orange ribbon was in sight. However, just when I think these things, everything goes down hill.

Devon had a hard time locking on the blind. She finally locked and I sent her, only to have her "lie" to me. The stinker bolted to my right in front of me staying on land going down the path. Sorry girl, you have to get in the water! So she got two immediate whistles pushing her into the water. She did go and picked the hardest route in over a tree branch.

Once in the water, I gave her another over and she finally locked on a decoy on the opposite bank and started swimming. She was swimming a line to the right of the blind (pesky decoys), but she was swimming. I let her get momentum, then once again stopped her, waited for a 3 count, then gave her a big "over!" It worked again! The look on her face told me she had it, and she swam right to the blind and the bird.

So all my training goals were accomplished. We ran in both the land and the water series both days. We got our first Senior pass. We didn't look like newbies but hung with the big dogs (ok, the medium dogs). I worked the test and stayed calm and relaxed. And best of all, Devon learned the concept behind handling to get the birds. Oh yeah, and we got our first pass!

Today we worked some discipline casting, and Devon has never casted so well. I'm working on silent casting, so I can use my voice only when I really need it for impact. She just did everything perfectly. We've really come to a new level in our teamwork and training, and I'm so glad I kept my head and worked us to that level. We need three more passes, and we have six more tests this fall. Here's hoping I can add some more letters after Devon's name this year!

People, dogs and discipline casting!

Well, when you train at a new place, you must be ready for new things. At first glance this new park was a great place to train. It was quiet and big with open flat spaces to lay out a nice double T. In fact, there was a mound for a driving range where I could handle from and Devon could see me easily. It's so cool to look down on a perfect double T drill ... ok, I'm a field nerd.

Devon did a good job with this double T, except for her overs. After two days of blinds, she started coming in on her overs again. This is going to be life-long maintenance. I see double T drills every Monday after tests in Devon's future.

At one point I had sent Devon to the back pile set at 100 yards. Sat her on the back over intersection which was 70 yards out and looked to the right over bucket only to see a man and woman walking hand in hand directly for that over bucket. Huh, guess she was getting a left over instead! I sent her to her left, and she easily took it. The couple realized they were about to walk through my training drill and changed course.

In the meantime, Devon got her bumper and came running back into me, clueless about the two walkers. At least she's focused on me! When I asked her to mark her back pile, Devon sat straight up when she watched these two walk right behind her back pile! She went straight back and never missed a beat.

Next we worked discipline casting. We had to work through some no sits on whistles. This was frustrating, but I learned if I walked out to her and told her she must sit, it fixed the problem.

The next thing she did was refuse to go back with a bumper in her mouth. This was quickly fixed with a collar correction when I sent her back. This correction worked because it's one she understands. After one correction, Devon repeatedly drove straight back without turning around until I whistled.

Finally, the coming in on overs came out again with the discipline casting. I had to walk out and tap on the over buckets to get her to go straight. It was during this time that we had or second distraction session.

I looked up and a woman who had parked near my vehicle rolled out of her car with three dogs and no leashes. She had two medium sized dogs and a small dog. She saw me and I stood near Devon (who had a bumper in her mouth) and watched as the woman did her best to call the dogs in another direction. Once I thought she had them out of range, I left Devon and walked toward the over bucket.

Unfortunately, this is when the youngest of the group saw me and started running to me. I know he wanted to say hello, but I didn't know what he'd do when he saw Devon. I told the woman to call her dog and get him under control. She tried, but he wasn't coming. I headed back to Devon, who was still sitting perfectly with the bumper in her mouth. The dog kept coming and was coming fast. I ran the last few feet to get to Devon first. Thankfully 10 ft. short of Devon, the dog broke off and returned to his owner.

Whew! I was relived. And for some reason I took the bumper out of Devon's mouth. This was a mistake. Devon thought she was released from work, and she took off after the retreating dog. I yelled and she came right back. That bumper went back in her mouth so fast! Lesson learned: when Devon has a bumper in her mouth she's working and she's under command. No bumper, not working!

That little break in action must have given Devon time to think about her overs, because she did them well. I sent her to the back pile one more time, and she did three perfect casts and she was done!

I think the session was a great one for Devon. I learned how to correct her with a couple of different methods, and she respected the corrections and stepped up to the task. I don't use corrections unless I believe she knows her job. On this day she improved her performance, leading me to believe they were the right choices.

I doubt I'll use this park again during the summer. It has too much doggie activity for me even before I set up the drill. I can tell it's a place people let their dogs run, and I'm not comfortable with that. The three off leash dogs invaded the playground area on the other side of the park as I was cleaning up our drill. As much as this woman probably believes she has control of her dogs, she proved to me she really didn't. I'm going to seek out other places to train for a while!

Devon and blinds

After the break throughs from last week, I was anxious to get to more blinds this week. On Sunday, I gave Devon her first truly cold blinds. We were at a fellow Golden Retriever club member's home, and there was a lovely tree standing alone 80+ yards out in a field. A perfect target! We put orange bumpers under it and a bird house about 60 yards away on another line.

Devon was incredible! She lined both of these cold blinds the first try! I was jumping up and down I was so excited and proud of Devon!

Of course, I couldn't just let the training session go with a perfect blind. I asked Steve to take a white bumper and throw a "wipe out" mark across the line of the blind. He did and Devon retrieved it. They aren't called "wipe out" marks for nothing! Sure enough, the mark completely wiped out Devon's memory of the line of the blind and caused suction when I sent her.

On both blinds, the second time I had to handle Devon to the blinds. Once she handled, she lined them the third time out without the wipe out mark. I was really pleased with this session.

On Monday, I went to another location where I could set out blinds at a distance. I set one at 125 yards, one at 140 yards and a third at 130 yards. I marked all three with a black post with bright pink streamers. I know from experience I can see these posts and Devon cannot until she's right up on them. However, they gave me a good target to send to.

Before I got Devon out, I got my "fairway" to each blind, so I knew how far to let her drift. I lined her up for the 125 yard blind, sent her, and she went out in a straight direct line just as she had the night before. I was thrilled! She definitely has learned what she's to do on blinds!

She ran straight for 90 yards before she broke down and drifted left and I had to whistle sit her. She turned and sat like a dream. Awesome, one over and one back and she'd have it. I carefully put my over cast out and yelled "over" and walked to my right. Devon sat like a beautiful statue and watched me walk. Nothing. No movement at all. HUH? I've never seen that!

So I repeated my over command and again nothing. Three times and I knew I'd have to do something different. I'm not sure if she had never handled that far away from me, or what. I walked up closer, about 30 yards, and said, "Devon! Over!" Well, on her name, Devon came it. Darn it!

So I had to resend her to the blind because she wouldn't sit on her way in. This time it wasn't quite as pretty, but she handled to it. The next time she lined it. Good girl!

The other two blinds were much harder because of the suction from the previous blind. The middle blind she got on several handles the first time, two handles the second time and lined it the third time. We had quite the battle on the first send because of the suction from the first blind.

The third blind was a repeat of the middle one with extreme suction from the previous blind. On the third send, I got her to two whistle the third blind and I knew that was the best I would get.

Overall, I was pleased with Devon's blind work this week. She's really getting her job and we're starting to handle pretty well as a team. I think I'm going to stop marking the blinds with sticks and just do cold blinds the next time we train. I do think the blind markers made the suction worse because once she knew they were there, she looked for them.

Update on Devon's field training

This week I've given Devon a variety of field drills and blinds. Not only am I really pleased with how she's doing, I am seeing lots of break throughs for both of us. I am starting to see this goal of running Senior tests take shape!

We started the week with a double T in a large field. It went really well, so I threw in some discipline casting only on a back. Unfortunately the stress of something new and the distraction of kids screaming on the nearby playground frazzled Devon a little. She started pulling up short on her back pile, leading me to give her a couple of corrections.

It was also getting very warm, and ultimately I let Devon end with a successful (but not entirely "clean") run to the back pile. I realized she was getting truly hot and there was nothing to be accomplished by beating this issue into the ground. I again go back to the fact that Devon is an honest dog who gives me everything she has each time we train. I just pushed things a little too far on Monday, so I learned and we ended avoiding a no-win battle.

On Wednesday, I changed things up and gave Devon a wagon wheel. I kept the piles tight at only 8 yards apart. Devon did a very good job on the piles she could see. However, there was one pile she couldn't see; because of the cover I could only see the top half of the orange cone which identified it.

Devon sucked right to the pile next to it. However, she stopped when I gave her a whistle. I tried an "angle back" because this situation set up the "split cast" drill Mitch showed us at his seminar. Although I had never done this with Devon, she read it beautifully and turned right to the hidden pile. I tempted fate and sent Devon there a second time. She did the same thing, and she took the same cast correctly. Although it worked, I'm not going to test that one again until I talk with Mitch!

Thursday we had a really great session. I decided to break down the discipline casting on a back pile only. Devon learns best when you break things down for her, and I didn't want her double T and all handling to fall apart because of the discipline casting. I set out a 60 yard back pile and just worked discipline casting back to it. This worked like a charm and she handled it confidently. I threw in a couple of over casts even though there were no buckets, and she also did those well.

I also set up three blinds for Devon in the fields. The first blind was to a large round hay bale that we had used as a blind for marks the previous week. It was set at 60 yards, and Devon lined this blind on the first attempt.

The second blind was at a tree 80 yards away. When I walked up and asked her where her dead bird was, Devon's head flicked right and left but never straight out. Immediately I realized what I did . I set this blind between and behind two large round hay bales. The previous blind and two blinds we ran last week were to large round hay bales. She would have to push in between these two pieces of suction to get the blind. Wow, did I ever set up a challenge!

I knew she was pulling right, but I sent her anyway when she gave me something that wasn't a dead lock on the hay bales. She indeed sucked right immediately. I let her have some momentum, and then blew my sit whistle. She sat. I gave her an over cast, and while she looked confused, she took it.

Once on the correct line, I sat her and gave her a left back ... she turned left, but then sucked right again. We repeated what I just did and I walked up. Once back on the line I gave her a left back ... and she went left over - must be at the other hay bale!

I kept working this, walking closer to her until I was right in front of her for the left back. Finally, even though she didn't really believe it, she took the left back and held the line! Oh happy day! When she found that blind, she was surprised and I was excited!

I tried this blind again, and this time she really fought me to the hay bale. I let her get closer before I gave her the sit whistle, and she blew it off to hunt the hay bale. That earned her a correct of me walking out and firmly insisting using the tab on her collar that she get her butt back to where I told her to sit the first time. She also decided she didn't want to sit after my left over, again earning me walking back out and putting her where she needed to be. This was all the correction she needed, and she pushed back to the blind.

On the third time, we had several whistles, but she did eventually push back to the blind. At this point, I gave her a break, got her some water and worked Page. I then reloaded the blind with 6 bumpers. I wanted to get this one better. We had such success with her learning to push back, but she was still fighting the factors a lot.

After a water break, Devon came out strong. She nailed the blind in two whistles: she pulled right, but sat and took the over cast; then she nailed the left back to the pile. She got great praise and a fun bumper for that one. She repeated it on the next time, and I ended that blind with a success. I wasn't going to get her to line this blind with all the suction to the right, so two whistles and her obeying my casts was good enough!

The third blind proved challenging because of suction again to the right with trees and on the left with a house. I walked up during my handling and we worked through it. Then she lined it the next two times.

Even though these blinds weren't "perfect," I think we both learned a lot. Devon learned to trust me, that I knew where the blind was and she'd get her bumper if she followed my casts. I learned how it felt to give her momentum off the line, but how and when to whistle her and cast her. I also learned how to read the "fairway" and how she really would get the blind if I let her go on it versus trying to make her perfect right now.

This morning, we again revisited the double T. I didn't want her overs to get sloppy with the handling we'd done on the blinds. I think the double T will be a staple in our maintenance plan throughout her career to keep those over casts strong. The cover in the field was getting pretty tall, and I realized as I set the drill the farther left over pile was hard to see and the nearer left over pile would be impossible for her to see until she was almost on it. Devon did an absolutely fantastic job with this double T. She ran it to perfection! She didn't miss a cast or a whistle. It was amazing! And even when she couldn't see the over piles, she took the cast correctly until she saw the piles.

Because Devon did so well, I decided to throw in more discipline casting. I walked up on her to do it, using only the back over pile so it was really a "T" drill. She acted really confused, but she did a great job of obeying my casts. I had to give her a couple of back casts when she wanted to pull up early a few times. She reverted back to her old habit of coming in on the overs, so I had to correct that and identify the over pile for her once. However, all in all I'd say it was a really good job for only her second try at discipline casting. Mitch warned me it would be rough, and it was. But she generally did a really good job.

As I said at the beginning of the post, I'm really pleased with our work this week. I think Devon and I have reached a new level of teamwork. I know I learned so much this week about how factors work on Devon on blinds and how to overcome them. Devon learned that I really do know where those bumpers (or birdies) are, and if she does what I say, she'll get them. Seeing her finally push thru that wall of suction on her left back will be sight I don't think I'll ever forget. It was the picture of success for us this week!

Double T

Even though Devon's ready for it, Double T is hard and a big jump. Devon's handling weakness is coming in on "over," so when you add two over piles she wants to come in to the nearest one.

Steve cut a Double T into some cover in the back of his yard, so we gave it a try on Wednesday. A lot of trainers teach the T drill and Double T with mowed paths so the dogs can easily see alleyways to the buckets and piles. I think this is a great way to teach if you can, because it gives the dog a defined path to run and probably prevents some of the coming in and "banana" shaped overs I get.

Devon has been taught T drills on short cut grass at schools and soccer fields, so her first time on this mowed Double T was interesting! She was determined to come in on her first overs, even if it meant jumping the cover to do it. As in the past, her right over is more difficult than left over.

We hacked through it and were successful, but it wasn't pretty! At one point I looked at Janet, who is just starting down the transition road with Zoe, and said, "Isn't transition fun?" She didn't think it looked like fun at all! Transition may be a test of patience, but at least it isn't as dull as pile work!

On Wednesday, I gave Devon a break from handling drills to do some sight blinds. I was pleased she worked through the shorter, 60-yard blind. After seemingly indicating and lining the longer blind when sent from 130 yards, Devon broke off her line for some cover that was close by. I'm getting better at anticipating suction, because I knew this would be enticing. I gave Devon a whistle and she sat. When I gave her an over out of the cover, she didn't take it. When I resat her she did sit, but when I called her in she blew me off again and earned a correction for it. She was diving into an unknown woods line, and I'd seen evidence of coyotes in the area. That correction was for her safety, and she obeyed it.

I set Devon up closer to the blind at 100 yards and taught it to her in two, 50-yard pieces. Once taught, Devon lined it twice. I thought we got out of that training session on a positive note!

On Friday, we ended up with an impromptu field training group, complete with carry out Chinese lunch! How many people can boast that during field training? We got together with the Ripleys for drill sessions in a new location at my parents' old home. At the last minute, Beth joined us with Reba and Denver. Lysiane from the Westie Report decided to hang out and watch the retrievers, too, after a tracking session. It was fun to have an outside perspective on what we were doing and explain how we train the retrievers to reliably do their work so far away from us.

Drills may not be fun, but when they're done well they are worth it and take your training to a higher level. Archie was very successful on his proximity pile with ducks. Zoe did a lovely walking fetch, as did Reba. Zoe did a fantastic job with only her second session on pile work! We were all excited for Janet! Denver, who is in the middle of force fetch, did some progressive marks.

Devon got to do a small Double T in short grass. At first I worked just the back part of the T, getting her confident there first. As I expected, we had problems on the first right over because she wanted to come in to the nearer over pile. I identified the over pile on two different times for her before she was running it well.

When I backed up and added in the second set of over piles, things went really well. I did have to stop Devon on her first right over, identify the correct over pile and resend her. But she got it clean the next time, and she got both left piles clean on the first try.

The other good thing about this drill was Devon's focus. She had four people watching her and talking off to the side, but she worked through that. And as she started her full Double T, two guys brought in a hay trailer for unloading into the barn in the other field. This was a lot of distraction for her to work through, and I was really proud of her for doing so well with it.

My mom was a great "host" and offered to run into town and get carryout Chinese food. How many training groups get food delivered into the field? What a great Mom I have!

After a lunch break, we did a "Mom and Pop" double mark concept. We used a big round bale of hay as our blind. Zoe just nailed the marks, and Archie and Reba ran them as singles and did a very nice job. Devon struggled on her memory bird and wanted to search the first fall location. I reran the memory bird as a single, and she lined it the next time as a double.

Later Zoe and Devon ran it again as a walk-up. Zoe again did a fantastic job. Devon again struggled with her memory bird. This time I tried to handle her to the mark, but it was a disaster. I finally called her in because she was so confused and she wasn't handling.

The only good thing was she came in knowing there was a duck out there. I've been worried if I have to pick her up at a test I couldn't call her in from the field when she knows there's a mark down. I don't want to have to do that, but I want to have the tool if I do have to.

After re-running the memory bird as a single, Devon nailed it on the double again, and I ended the session with that success. I think Devon's struggle was how close the Mom and Pop double marks were, so that's a concept we'll be running a couple of more times in the future!

This week's field sessions have gone very well. I'm really proud of the hard work Devon gives me, and I'm looking forward to seeing how we progress in the next two months!

Gamekeepers Retrievers Field Seminar

Last weekend we spent four days in Ohio doing field training. Friday through Sunday was the Gamekeepers Retrievers Field Seminar. I am a private lesson student of Mitch White, and I offered to help Mitch as his field slave/bird boy for the weekend. I was lucky that he accepted my help; I felt I got more out of the weekend than I helped!

This seminar had more of the basics in it than the last two I've attended, likely due to the mix of participants. Because Page will be starting on the Gamekeepers' Program as soon as her teeth are set, this was perfect for me. I was able to see the basics at all stages and be reminded what I was looking for before the dogs moved on.

On Monday, I had my lesson with Mitch. After 3 years of working with him, I know what to expect. I tell Mitch where I think we are, and he puts Devon and I to the test! The longer I train and the more I learn, I'm getting much closer to accurately knowing where I think we are. This time I was rewarded because we were exactly where I told Mitch we were!

I told Mitch of our good double T session, followed by Devon's "overs" completely falling apart. I told him that I took a step back and for the last 2 weeks I'd been concentrating on "overs" with her. So he put us to the test with a T drill in his field with factors like hills and breaking through cover.

After Devon got her silliness out, she did great on this drill. Devon had been in a crate in the SUV for 3 days, so in her first freedom in the big field working wasn't high on her priority list! But she got down to work and had some BEAUTIFUL over casts! I was so pumped I was cheering and super excited! Two weeks of hard work paid off in that field! Mitch agreed and said she was ready for double T, and she was getting bored with just the T work.

Next up, we did a wagon wheel drill. The piles were pretty close together, so it was tough. However, once again Devon was ready for the challenge and did a great job. She only failed once and she fought hard to stay on her line two other times.

Next, we did five concept mark/blind combinations. Mitch set a white bucket (sight blind) about 60 yards out, identified the pile for Devon and I sent her. Then he sat on a stool about halfway along the blind line and 15 yards to the right. From here, Mitch threw a mark about 50 yards down a hill to the right of the blind. Devon picked up the mark and lined the blind. Her next mark was thrown right on the line of the blind. She again got her mark and lined her blind. The third mark was 25 yards to the left of the blind line, so after she retrieved the mark she had to run the blind under the arc of the mark. Mitch was pleased she lined each of the blinds without sucking into the influence of him as the gunner or the marks. He said these were all Senior level concepts.

Then, he gave me two Master level concepts. The first was a "poison bird" mark thrown to the right of the blind. A poison bird mark is a thrown mark that the dog is lined up for and sees fall; however, you have to pull them off that mark, leaving it out there, and send them to a blind instead. Devon just nailed this without any influence, and she pulled off the mark to the blind and lined the blind easily.

The last concept was a diversion mark thrown short and to the right as I sent Devon to the blind. I whistle sat her on the throw, which she did and she only pulled 2 ft. off the line with the throw before I got the whistle out and she sat. An easy left back gave her the blind and then she got to pick up the diversion throw. I was so proud of her, and I could tell Mitch was, too. He was all smiles and thumbs up!

We ended Devon's lesson with some double marks, which she marked beautifully. I was a little worried, because the one time this season we've done marks, Devon was all over the place in her hunt.

After running two doubles, Mitch set Devon up so I'd have to handle to a mark. This was the toughest thing for us in the lesson. She didn't want to sit on the whistle and stop the hunt, but once I got her sat, she handled with only two overs (yippee!!) to the mark. I could have done it in one over, but Mitch wanted me to sit her again, and she was much better the second time she was asked for a sit.

Our homework is 3 weeks of double T and discipline casting plus lining drills and double marks, then I get to go back to Ohio and start swim by and my water work. Mitch seems confident Devon will be ready for Senior the first of September as long as we keep progressing as we are. We have 2 months of hard work ahead of us, but I'm really motivated to do it!

Page's weekend

Page didn't have quite as much fun as Devon did, but she made the most of her limited time (which is just her style)! Mitch and Maria had a litter of pups a day younger than Page. They kept Purdey, a cute and bold little girl, and they were puppy sitting her brother Drake. Both pups had been in the expen all day Friday and Saturday morning when Maria told me I could put Page in with them so they could play. Great idea since she woke me up barking at 2:30 a.m.!

Purdey and Page were BFFs upon first meeting, complimenting each other's coats and the way their fur curled. However, Drake was a different story! This little boy had been getting away with murder at his home, and Purdey had been on him all weekend. Drake thought he could push this little gold dog around since he had a good 10 pounds on her, but he had another thing coming!

Page is a bold, confident girl, and she's no pushover! When Drake started pushing her around, she showed him all her teeth and took him down! Maria said, "Deb, I hope you're watching this!" and Mitch said, "I like this girl!"

Drake was a slow learner. He tried to put his chin over Page's shoulders and then got more pushy with a paw across her shoulders, and out came Page's teeth and she again took him across the expen and down. I'm sure Page was thinking black dogs are really dumb when he tried to hump her a few minutes later. She dashed his hopes and his bad manners by sinking in her teeth and making him squeal before she again put him down.

Finally, after telling him three times, he got the message and was respectful. After that, Page had no problems playing with him. It looked to me like Page was going to uphold the honor and reputation of those Gaylan's girls!

On Sunday, Page got to swim in the Happy Heeling pond and got introduced to decoys. I didn't think Page would be worried about decoys, and I was right. After sniffing a couple on land, she was too busy retrieving to worry about them in water. When she finally did approach them, she did the traditional butt or "tail" sniff of one, then she went "nose to bill" with another smaller duck before deciding they weren't worth her time. Did I mention Page is quite bold?

As soon as Page's adult teeth are set, she'll start on the Gamekeepers' Program just like her big sister Devon did. However, this time I know what I'm doing, so like the tracking it should go much smoother! And Page is a very different dog from Devon, so I'm sure I'll face new challenges along the way!

The ups and downs of training

This week has been a great example that there are good days in training and bad days in training. Yes, I'd love every session to be perfect, for everything to go right. I'd walk away always thinking I was a great dog trainer of my brilliant dogs. But, we're human and our dogs aren't perfect, and that's how my week has gone.

The bad...

Let's start with the bad so we can end on a good note. After a brilliant double T on Sunday, I thought I'd take Devon to the same field to do it again on Monday to reinforce her success. It was a good idea, but we didn't have success. They were mowing at the school yard, and I wasn't sure when they would need the field I wanted. I set up anyway, but I felt rushed.

Devon struggled to find her back pile, but we worked through it. Then she started coming straight in on her overs. Overs have been a struggle for us, and I do not know why. To me, it's a simple concept, but for Devon it must be hard. In the past, Devon will be successful to the over pile once or twice, and then in the same training session fail at the over pile on the third try. Why she fails when she's already been there is beyond my understanding.

I tried to work through the over problem, but then they needed to mow the field we were in so I stopped. I took Devon to the pond for fun bumpers and tried to figure out what went wrong.

One bad session for Devon on Monday was followed by a tough track for Page on Tuesday. I laid a TDX track for Page on Tuesday morning. It was about 500 yards long and had a lot of interesting woods work; we ran it at 1 hour and 45 minutes. Now, before you say or think it: yes, I know Page is only 4 months old. However, this pup is tracking advanced work with ease. She is all puppy until you put her to work and then she's all business. What I gave her she's seen before and handled well.

Page didn't start this track very strong. On our first leg, it started raining. Oh well, you have to track in rain, too! We worked through the first woods obstacle, and Page worked hard to find the track. This was surprising as she'd handled woods fine in the past. She tracked through a clearing to a turn, which she really struggled on. Turns in moderate cover are easy for Page, but this one took several minutes to work out. Then it was back into the woods where she really struggled. It was damp and I saw lots of deer tracks. Page wrapped the line around trees all over the place and sometimes twice. All this untangling didn't help her tracking at all.

After we worked through this section of woods, I thought things were on the upswing. She tracked strong on short grass, got a turn before a road crossing and dove into high cover. She tracked great into another set of woods and found the turn pretty easily. Then we hit the wall again.

Page struggled to find the new leg. To make matters worse, I had run low on trail markers and I couldn't find the leg either. I tell people all the time that even if you think the area you are in looks unique, you must mark the track. When you come back things will all look the same. Well, it happened to me.

Page went in a wrong direction, pulling me over some fallen logs then wrapping herself around two trees more than once. After getting her untangled, I was disoriented. I couldn't help her at all, and to make matters worse, we were both soaking wet. I ended up abandoning the track and walking us out back to the van. I never found my end article, so it's somewhere lost in the high cover.

The good...

On Tuesday, I gave Devon a break from handling drills and worked one new sight blind and her permanent blind. Devon lined the permanent blind and was all confidence. On the sight blind, she didn't get it at 85 yards, but when I stepped up to 60 yards she lined it. We did it four more times from different angles and as far as 85 yards. This was a very successful session.

On Wednesday, I went back to a different field and gave Devon a double T that was slightly shorter (100 yards on the back pile and side piles of 20 and 25 yards). I also marked both side piles with buckets. I started the drill as just a T with the more distant over piles, then stepped back to a double T. Unfortunately, Devon's overs got progressively worse.

The "good" about this drill and training session was that we trained through it successfully. When Devon is stressed, she loses her sit on the sit whistle. She'll stop, but she won't sit. An e collar correction for this makes everything worse, so I've decided to use attrition. Unfortunately she was so stressed on Wednesday, that attrition didn't even work. I could have stood there all day and she wasn't going to sit. Instead of collar correcting her, I walked out to where she was and made her sit by touching her collar, then walked back to my position.

This walking out to her was actually what solved a lot of my problems. It made me realize that when she failed on the overs, I was calling her into me - reinforcing her coming in which I didn't want. Once I realized this, if she came into me on the overs, I told her no, stopped her, then walked out and put her back to where she was when she made the mistake. I then identified the over pile for her or later didn't go as far back out. She was successful to the over pile with this "correction" of just replacing her and trying again.

After several successful fixes, I put Devon back in the van to rest and get a drink. I took Page out and for the first time threw some marks for her. I kept her on a line, and after "trieving" (or keeping) the first couple of marks, she began to "retrieve" the marks back to me. Instead of taking the bumper right away, I petted and praised her with the bumper in her mouth. Page could tell she was very brilliant!

Then I reloaded the T drill and brought Devon back out for more work. This was risky; would she be too tired to work? Would she just shut down when asked to do another session? Once Devon had time to cool off and think, she was very successful. On her second session, not only did she nail her over piles, but she was nailing her whistle sits, too! This told me right away things were going much better! I'm so glad I backed up and started "teaching" her again.

On Wednesday Page also had some fun on a motivational track. I gave her a 400 yard track with five turns in high cover. It was aged 35 minutes. High cover is tracking heaven for Page, and she had a great time with this track. Below is the track from just after the start to the 4th turn where she gets the line knotted around some very high cover.

Lessons learned...

For Devon, this has been a very beneficial week of field drills. I've learned to read her extreme stress signs of not sitting; and I've seen that no sit go away when she's learning. I learned Devon coming in on the overs may be something I reinforced when I called her in instead of going out and fixing it in the field. And I learned how to work through these problems to a positive end.

For Page, I learned that there are things that stump her. I learned she needs more work on woods. I also learned I need to support her more and be ready when things are too hard for her. I also need more trail markers so I know where I'm going!!!

For me, I was reminded that a good week of training doesn't always mean each session was good. It does mean that my dogs and I learned something from each session.

Field training successes

Even with one more agility trial coming up next weekend, I've really turned my attention to Devon's field work. I plan to put her in field training and VST practice immersion after next weekend. My goal is to have her ready for her Senior Hunter tests and VST test this fall. It's a huge goal, but with the way she's working, I'm very hopeful.

At the same time I could accept holding one of them until next spring. Maggie and her amazing boy Scorch just got their first SH pass yesterday. Her description of the test and especially the blind really scared me. It was "100 yds, over a point to open water and the blind was on a rock." Her advice was to train long and really teach Devon to mark and do long blinds. Whew, that's a tall order. So, now you see why it may be next year for this Senior.

I've also learned so much about me and my dog through this "transition" field training. The reason I like field is because it has challenged me as a trainer. It's brand new to me, but I'm a dog trainer and I have pushed myself to think through the problems and problem solve.

Devon is a fantastic dog. She works her guts out for me and frankly she deserves a better handler. It's her bad luck to be my "first field dog," the one you know you make your mistakes on.

The biggest thing I've learned in transition is to TEACH my dog the drills. In field because you have that e collar control, it's so tempting to correct when there's a mistake. However, I've resolved that each time Devon makes a mistake it's because I haven't taught her something and she's confused. Devon isn't a pushy dog or a willful dog. She is very biddable and she wants to do the right thing. Therefore if she makes a mistake, she's confused and I need to teach her.

Learning what I wrote above has made me a better field trainer, and it's directly responsible for the successes we've had lately. When Devon has struggled with "overs," we broke it down and just worked overs. When she's struggled with suction on the three in a row drill, I walked up until we got it worked out; then I slowly worked our way back to our starting point.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to work in a nice oval pond. On my way to the pond, I reviewed in my mind what I wanted to work on, and I landed on the "water force fetch" type drill. Devon went through this protocol nearly 2 years ago, but I thought revisiting a bucket and pile on the opposite bank of a pond would be a good reminder for upcoming water blinds.

I started her on a land blind I did on the property 2 weeks ago. I did the blind from several angles. As we worked this blind, it started to rain. Oh well; Devon passed her last JH test in a pouring rain, so we might as well train in it. A second distraction also started: dirt bikes in the neighboring field. This was a real distraction for Devon, especially when she could only hear them and not see them.

When we got to the pond, I tried to throw a mark to identify the pile for Devon. It went nearly 90 degrees to the left of the pile. Just great. She retrieved it, so I tried to send her cold and she didn't get the idea. I called her in and tried a second mark that went to the same place in the wrong direction. I let her retrieve the second mark and lined her up for the pile again.

Again, Devon seemed to mark the bucket but went left in the water to where the mark landed. I wanted to scream. I didn't want her to think she was wrong because of my errors. So I thought of one thing which was incredibly risky. If it worked, we'd be brilliant. If it didn't, I'd have to bag the drill...

I gave Devon a whistle sit in water. I've NEVER asked this of her. I knew there would always have to be a first, but I thought it would be when Mitch was standing over my shoulder telling me what to do. My wonderful little girl turned into me on the whistle - GOOD GIRL! I gave her an over, and she took it. She came in a little, but she took it. I gave her another sit whistle, then a quick right back and she did it! Awesome! I handled her to the bucket. What a fantastic little girl. I cheered ...

but it was short lived when she ran the bank coming back. Are you kidding me? Just when she was brilliant she starts cheating! When she wouldn't sit coming in to me with the bumper, I walked out and neutrally took it and threw it back into the water and called her around. We did this with Mitch when she first started cheating and up until yesterday it solved the problem.

I asked Devon for the blind again, and she needed to be handled again but she did it. She again cheated on the way back, so I stopped her and put her back into the water. I also moved the bucket down to the water's edge, hoping to remind her that she was to get back into the water.

The next time I asked for the blind, she lined it and with an early whistle and several comes from me, she got back in the water and swam back with the bumper. We celebrated with a break and a fun bumper; then I asked for and got two more perfect blinds. What a great way to finish! I really hoped we had some learning, too.

This morning I set up Devon's first double T drill. The back pile was at 135 yards; the nearest over pile was 30 yards out and the side piles were at 30 yards; and the second over pile was at 90 yards with the side piles at 25 yards. I only have three buckets, so I identified the farthest over piles with my blind sticks. This was my first mistake.

Even though I identified the back pile, Devon started angling to the over piles because they were marked with my sight blind sticks. I called her back in twice and decided to go fix my mistake. I put her in the crate and walked out to remove the sight blind sticks. Those piles had white bumpers and they were only 25 yards away, so I knew she could see them on the short grass. They would have to go unmarked.

When Devon came out, she showed me my second mistake (and luckily my only other one). I needed to walk up 30 yards to the first set of over piles and start the drill as a traditional T drill which she knows. Once she ran it successfully as a T drill to all piles, I grabbed my discard bumpers and backed up to the original line as she was going to the back pile.

At this point we started working the double T, and Devon was 100% successful at running it!! I have to tell you the first time she got the second over pile, I had tears in my eyes. This is an incredibly hard drill, and for us to get here because of the teamwork and relationship we have built together is amazing to me. I cannot tell you how rewarding today was for me.

Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to continue our drill work and give discipline casting a try before we had to Mitch's at the end of the month. I'm hoping to start formal water work then. Maybe we can get this Senior this year! And if not, we're going to be really close.