Page's two orange ribbon weekend

We headed to western Pennsylvania this past weekend for the Greater Pittsburgh Golden Retriever Club's spring hunt test. This is my third trip to these grounds and a test put on by this group. They are a fun group of folks, and their tests are very nice. I want to thank Steve Ripley for taking some really lovely photos of Page both days.

This was actually not Page's first Junior Hunter test. I put her in one test last fall when she was in the middle of her force fetch and she was 7 months old. She was too young and she decided she wanted to keep that nice fluffy pillow of a duck they threw for her. Now that she's 15 months old and through her basics, it was time to try again.

Saturday's test was challenging, with land marks in corn stubble with high cover. The first mark was short (approx. 50 yards) with the dogs running perpendicular to the corn rows, but there was a small rise near the line so the dogs didn't see the bird hit the ground. There were decoys on the hill just out from the line, too. The mark was hand thrown, so later dogs had a smaller arch which was hard to see with the cover.

The second land mark was longer (approx. 75 yards) with the dogs running at an angle across the corn rows and through more decoys. The dogs saw the mark land, but it was in knee-high cover. In addition to the factors making the marks challenging, the Senior Hunter test was just a few hundred yards away from us across the road. Their start time was the same as ours, and their guns were loud.

Page was catalog #8, but she ran third due to conflicts. The first two dogs had a lot of problems with the second mark, and the first dog got distracted by the senior tests' guns and left the test area. Page was definitely ready to go, and she was difficult to keep calm in the blinds. The first two dogs were black Labs. When the judge came over to ask my number, he peered over the blind to see what type of dog was coming up next. He said I'd get 15 points since I had a Golden. I told him she was the prettiest thing they had seen so far and pointed out her pink camo collar. Both judges laughed and one turned to the other and said, "This ain't her first time at the rodeo!" Page stepped on the first mark, and she only had a brief hunt for the second mark when she came up just to the left of it. Both judges were very complimentary of her land series and she got called back to water.

Page again ran third for water. She was even more excited to get out of the blinds for her second series. The water marks were straight forward. Each landed in the water right against the shore which had lots of cover. There were decoys at the water's edge, but clear paths to the birds. The edge of the pond dropped off sharply, and we were allowed to walk down to the water's edge. While it was an advantage to be close to the water to get the bird, I made the decision to stay on the top of the bank. It was the right decision for me because the grass was wet and I didn't feel like a swim that day.

Page handled the marks well, swimming in a straight line out to both of them. However, she dropped both birds at the water's edge a couple of times to shake. Then the climb up the steep bank with a heavy wet duck caused another drop on each duck. Page was quick to fetch them back up and deliver to hand, but the test environment really brings out what you have to work on!

The judges had nice things to say about Page. One said it was like she had radar for those birds, and he loved her drive. I had several exhibitors compliment her, too; it was nice that they were Lab guys. One guy stopped me and said he loved her and had never seen a Golden run like she did. He said, "She runs like a Lab!"

There were 23 dogs that started the test, 17 went to water and 16 passed. Devon got to be pick up dog for the last dog who didn't go in the water. I had the gunner assist her water blind by standing in line with the bird. She went in nicely and I whistled her once to give her an angle back when she got distracted by the gunning station. She took it nicely, and she was THRILLED to get a bird since she had sat in the van all day long.

Sunday's test was straight forward. The first land mark was about 55 yards in short cover with a hidden gunner and lots of decoys to get through. The second mark was longer through short cover and just into heavy cover, again with a hidden gunner. There were decoys but there was a nice gap through them. We had to change our line between the two marks, so it was nice practice to receive the dog at a different place. We also had to call with a duck call for our own marks. I thought these were nice junior marks sticking to the saying, "hard to get to easy to find; easy to get to hard to find."

Page lined these marks, and I was incredibly pleased with her precision marking. However, her performance in the blinds was worse (she won't relax, tries to bolt out and barks a little), and she dropped each bird once at the line before delivering to hand. The judges were complimentary, both saying she had the potential to be much more than a junior hunter.

The water marks were very nice. They were short swims (no more than 50 yards) and both splashed in open water. Page again lined her marks, but the duck was dropped a couple of times at the water's edge and on the line. As she was returning from the second mark, she had visions of swimming off into the sunset with her new best friend the duck. She paralleled the shore and I had to give her a firm "here" to get her in.

I told the judges it was clear what our homework was, and they agreed. One judge said he's seen junior dogs fail on returning that last mark because they don't want the series to end, and he was right. I knew I had to stick with her on that last duck.

On Sunday, 22 dogs started, 16 got called back to water and 15 dogs passed the test.

So Page is halfway to her Junior Hunter title, but we have some work to do. We'll be working on delivery to hand on water and steadiness in the holding blinds. Page also needs a lot more experience on ducks. She's not as comfortable carrying them as Devon always has been. Page also wants to do things at top speed, and she has to think a little more when she's carrying a duck!

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.

Devon's final hunt test of the season

Devon was entered in a one-day Senior test on Sunday. I was very worried she would not be a good dog on Saturday when Page was running. One of Devon's very few bad habits is being destructive when I take another dog out to train or trial. Devon's specialty is pulling whatever is in a 12-inch radius of her crate into the crate and shredding it. I've done a good job of creating a dead zone around her crate, but she still manages to snag a poop bag every once in a while and I find it in pieces in the crate. It's amazing how many little pieces a 1-gallon bag can be shredded into.

However, Devon did a good job on Saturday maintaining control. I think the bark collar I put on her first thing Saturday morning had something to do with her positive attitude.

We woke up to more rain on Sunday, after it rained all day Saturday. UGH, I was sick of being wet. Even worse, there wasn't enough workers for the Senior test. Our judges had to set the test up by themselves. The test was supposed to start at 8 a.m., but by 8:30 a.m. we only had 10 handlers. I grabbed a catalog and started checking people in as Marshall, and the judges asked if anyone could run a gunning station since we needed one more worker.

We adjusted the running order to work around handlers working and suddenly no one wanted to go first. I decided what the heck and I wrote myself in first. It's a good test of the dog and handler to go first, and since we'd titled the week before, I had nothing on the line.

Our judges gave us a lovely doable Senior test. As the judges proved last week, you don't have to kill Senior dogs and handlers with near-master level tests to weed out the dogs who should pass and the ones who shouldn't. This was the same husband-wife judging team who had seen Page and I on Saturday, and I was determined to make sure they saw I could train a Golden since they also worked Goldens!

Devon was solid on the walk up. She lined her go bird and locked easily on her memory bird. The memory bird was in the same spot as one of the Junior marks the day before. Devon pulled up early and turned toward the gunning station. When she reached it, she did a 180 (not before giving them a tail wag) and went directly to her mark. She hadn't done that in ages, and I think she was just getting some ya-yas out being first on the line and being cooped up the day before.

We walked over to the blind. She locked pretty quickly and took a nice initial line. It was too bad she wasn't later in the running order, or she might have lined it. She went a little right of the line, I let her carry it, but then stopped her. She obeyed and took a nice left over. However, I stopped her a little late for the back. I had an epiphany here, realizing I have been waiting to whistle when she's on the line. I need to whistle earlier and stop her short of the line to prevent her overshooting to the opposite side.

She started working back, but now was a little to the left of the line. I gave her a whistle, but she ignored it. She was getting farther left and ignored a second whistle. The third whistle she obeyed, but by this time she had smelled the bird. She never looked at me but her head was turned in the correct direction and I knew she was going to go, so I gave her the over and she hunted up the bird.

It wasn't the prettiest land blind she's ever done, but it was good enough. We moved back for the honor. Devon is solid on honors, but she pounced her front feet like she was going to go when the memory bird hit. My heart stopped, but I didn't react (I think I was numb) and she was solid until we were released. Not a bad land series for the first dog!

I went back to work behind the judges bagging birds for the rest of the land series. I love doing this job, since you can see so much of the handling and the way the test runs. That being said, I was pretty tired after another 28 dogs! At least I got lunch!

They called 20 dogs back to water. Fortunately, the day had cleared, but the wind was continuing to swirl from all directions as it had on land. The judges worked to reset the water test, telling us we'd like it better than what they had originally planned.

I did like it. It was a straight-forward double with the go bird up on the opposite side of the bank and the memory bird visible in water. The blind was almost straight across the pond, where I had "suggested" the judge put it when he was setting up (I didn't think he'd listen!).

It was not a pond I expected Devon to like. It had stumps and lilies in it. It was dark; but it did have grass along the bank. She prefers grass to set her precious blond feathers on than mud. This time we ran "in order" which put me near the end.

We walked up to the line, and Devon was ready to go. She did a good job going down into the water, swimming across, pulling up on the opposite bank and giving a short hunt for her bird. She lined up a little buggy for her memory bird, and I kept pulling her to my right thinking I was giving her the best line. I figured she would be buggy and was ready for a handle into the water, but Devon surprised me by going straight in and straight to her bird.

Wow! That was an improvement. The judge even laughed and said the reason she was buggy was because she couldn't see the bird the more I pulled her to the right because of a bush. Gee, maybe I should give my dog more credit.

So she aced the marks, and now to the blind. Devon again surprised me by going straight into the water for the blind when she usually cheats the bank. Maybe that water work last week helped! She got halfway out and pulled to a point of land to the left. I whistled for a sit to give and over, and she ignored it. Four whistles later and she finally sat. I waited, then cast her right over and she went left! Devil! That was now five refusals! I gave her two more whistles to sit and she ignored them, getting farther away from her bird in her attempt to hunt it up because she thought she knew best.

That was it - I hated to do it, but it was time. I gave her a come in whistle and called her in. She didn't deserve to get the reward and in my mind we'd already failed with that many refusals. The devil ignored me and took off around the back of the pond. She was hunting! Even worse, she found the bird by cheating the bank and coming in behind it. She finally got wet and swam back to me with the bird.

The one judge came flying out of his chair, saying, "You couldn't get her to sit! You couldn't even get her to sit!" He couldn't believe I was calling my dog in. His wife and co-judge who had been standing behind me turned and answered for me. She said, "nope, there was no way!" He went on to tell me I didn't want to see the scores we had left in the book and that she was one of the best working dogs of the entire test. He couldn't believe I'd called her in and not tried to hack it out.

Now I know what Mitch feels like when he picks up one of his dogs. There are times he's done the same thing because he knew a dog wasn't working with him. He's rather sacrifice the pass than sacrifice the training. Frankly, that's the kind of trainer I want to be. I want to be more worried about my dog's training than a Q or a pass. It's a hard thing to do, but you have better dogs for it.

In the end, I explained we already had the title and we'd been testing four weekends in a row. The judges agreed that's why I saw what I did on the blind. She was getting test wise and needed a break.

So that's what we're doing this week - giving Devon a little break. She'll get set ups on Thursday and a WCX test in a couple of weeks. But now our focus turns to tracking and agility and obedience. We'll work on refining some skills this winter and then hit it again next spring. We're definitely headed to Master, so I still have work ahead of me!

And even though I had two bad girls walking off the line this weekend, I smiled all the way to the car with both. Devon gave me a great hunt test season, and I know she loved getting her ducks. She works her guts out for me, and I can't ask for much more than that!

Page's first hunt test (and last for a while)

Ok, I know. Page is 7 months old. She's a baby! But she was doing really, really well with her training so since Devon was entered in Senior tests, I decided (with Mitch's reluctant blessing) to put her in two weekends of hunt tests.

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!

We're off again!

We're off for another weekend of hunt tests. Devon's had a good week of training. We focused on blinds and lining this week. One thing I'd like to improve is Devon's bad habit of flaring off the line on water blinds. I hate having to give her an over into the water just to get her swimming.

I also re-learned (how long will it take me) that when Devon is spiraling down the drain and ignoring my casts giving her a correction only makes things worse. Instead, I need to calmly walk out to her, re-sit her from her last failure, walk back and recast her. This requires a lot of walking on my part, but it settles her into working with me again and it's plenty of "correction" of her. We have not yet had this problem in a hunt test (I'm knocking on wood right now), but I have had it happen several times in training. I guess I'll have to invest in hip waders for water...

I took this photo of Devon this week at a place we train. I've always thought this rock with the blue sky would give a lovely backdrop. Devon is such a pretty dog.

Page turned 7 months old on Thursday. She's starting to fill out (but has a long way to go), and she's about the same height as Devon. I think she might be entering another fear period. On Wednesday she shied away from a decoy in water that moved with the wind as she approached it. This was completely new for Page, who has always been bold or ignored decoys in the past. She worked through it and retrieved bumpers around this decoy, but she "forgot" how to get back into the water after she retrieved her bumper probably due to the decoy concern.

After some land retrieves, Page easily went in and out of the pond at another location and retrieved in and around lilies and other decoys. A friend told me later her dog didn't like that particular decoy either. She said it was lighter than the other decoys and had a pointy head and tail. Who knew dogs were so particular about decoys?

Page also accomplished retrieving a real duck out of water. It was hand thrown by me, so pretty short retrieves. Next week we'll work someone else throwing a duck in water and up on the opposite shore. I don't think this will be too hard for her. What has been our biggest challenge with real birds is Page taking a victory lap with them and not wanting to retrieve to hand immediately.

Yesterday Page got a nice TD track. After tracking, she and Devon got a massage by good friend Sheree. Both girls thoroughly enjoyed their treatment and thought if they continued to hang out on the massage table they might get more. Sheree said both girls were powerfully build and had incredible muscles. Not surprising with all the field and tracking they do!

After a busy day of training and errands, Devon again spent time as library dog last night. The library was packed last night, and there were kids everywhere! Devon was in her glory being petted and surrounded by kids. But as the evening went by, three times she laid her head next to or on the lap of a reading child and let out a big contented sigh! Life sure is exhausting for a "girl on the go!"

2-day field training trip to Ohio

Last week the girls and I went with two friends, Sheree and Laurie, and their dogs to train at Mitch White's in Ohio. We had a wonderful time learning more about our dogs and watching Mitch and others train.

On the first day, we did one set up in Mitch's big field. Devon is so goofy when she sees Mitch. She's like a school girl with a crush around him. Plus, he has a Thunder Launcher that Devon is equally in love with! She wants to take this thing home with her! Mitch uses this launcher for memory birds, and it almost always makes Devon break -- and Devon never breaks!

So, Devon's double was goofy. She broke because of the Thunder and the short breaky go bird. At least I got to practice what a controlled break would look like. She got a diversion bird, and it was up by a blind. When I sent her for the diversion bird, she charged the hill and got into the blind and wouldn't handle off of it. All this made me an absolute wreck! I need to keep my head during a trial, and this set up was no where near that stressful and I fell apart!

So, Devon got to run a blind through a woods. We've never done THAT before! I thought it was really rocky, and it didn't help to have Mitch and two other Master trainers get up and and sit behind me to watch us run this blind. Geez! In retrospect, I think she did better than I thought, and I got some good tips from those looking over my shoulder.

Page was really good on all three marks run as singles. The only thing I forgot to do was show her the Thunder bumpers, which are different from other bumpers. She got out to the mark, but then didn't know WHAT to do with these weird things. My failure earned me a trip out to the Thunder to "help" Page pick up the bumpers.

On her short mark, Page thought she'd launch herself at it before I released her. All four of her feet came off the ground and she flipped backwards, losing the mark. One of the gals in the gallery couldn't believe this kangaroo leap from my crazy girl. She loves her marks!

Later that afternoon, the three of us and our dogs headed to some water near Coshocton. Laurie and I ran some blinds with Dusty and Devon. Both dogs did an outstanding job, and Devon ran a difficult cold blind on two whistles. We had Ellie and Page run progressives up onto the shore, and both girls did really well. Page swims exact lines, and even though her marks were cheaty, she didn't even think about it!

Day 2 started with drills to see where everyone was. I was really pleased with Devon on Mitch's difficult lining drill. She really nailed it, and she looked lots better than she did the month before. Page did a great job on walking fetch. Mitch gave me some tips on helping with her hold when she wanted to get sloppy.

We ended the day with another set up. This set up was designed as a Senior set up with another mark and a second blind for the Master dogs. Devon did a lovely job on her marks, even getting a very long and challenging memory bird.

The blind was about 70-80 yards up a hill with a cover change. I thought she was locked, so I sent her. She angled right, and I stopped her and gave her a left over. That worked for about 4 steps and she was back to the right again. I won't bore you with details, but envision Devon ping ponging back and forth on the top of the hill halfway between me and the blind and me very frustrated.

Finally, I called her back in. I set her back up and suddenly she locked. I knew it. She sat back like a mark had fallen, and I sent her. She cleared the top of the hill on a straight line and lined the blind. Amazing!

Later in our wrap up session, Mitch told me I needed to relax, breathe and work my dog. When she starts spiraling down the drain, my job is not to go with her but to reach in and pull her out. Yeah, that's easier said than done. We're ready for Senior, but our weakness like all Senior dogs is our blind work.

Page got special permission to run a couple of Junior tests this fall. She still needs some work on marks, including progressives to learn to drive past old falls and breaking cover. Her retrieving to hand is getting better all the time as she learns the game. For a 6 month old pup, she's really amazing.

So we all headed home with our "to do" list. I'm really proud of my girls. We've worked hard this summer, and it's nice when it comes together and looks good.

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!

Page the amazing water retriever

Again today the girls got to cool off with some fun bumpers in water. Page has such amazing water retrieving skills, I'm just shocked. She's retrieving these hand thrown marks like she's had training. She's even coming all the way up on shore with the bumper, usually sitting with the bumper a few feet away from me.

I remembered to take the video camera this afternoon to capture some of these water retrieves. I hope you enjoy them!

One other thing about Page. Apparently she's concerned about what I'm writing on the blog. The last two times I've tried to post, she has tried to climb into my lap to "help." She's also taking her paws and hitting the keyboard, so if you ever see a strange post, it might be from Page herself! Her favorite You Tube videos are of herself - does that shock anyone?? She'll sit on my lap and watch that very smart puppy on the screen! Her second favorite videos are of her brother Trix, so she votes for more video from him!

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.

An evening swim

There is a lot to love about my two Gaylan's girls, and one of the top things on my list is their work ethic. These girls are always up for another adventure. After leaving the house at 12 noon, working for an hour or more between them at the kennel club, running errands with me, waiting in the van while I laid Page's track, we finally got home ... for 20 minutes. The stop at home was only for dropping off the boys and a potty break for the girls. Plus I had to switch vehicles and get my field stuff for Devon. Then we headed back to run Page's 437 yard track and do a "short" field drill for Devon.

Devon did a nice drill. I set up a 110 yard sight blind for her; I didn't realize it was 110 yards when I set it up, so as usual I set up something harder for Devon than I intended. Unfortunately I forgot my nice sight blind stick, so I tried to use small flags. That didn't work and Devon struggled since it wasn't really a "sight" blind if she couldn't see it. I realized my mistake quickly before I did any harm, put Devon back in the SUV and took a white bucket out to mark the blind.

The look on Devon's face was remarkable when she came back out. She was much happier and worked the drill for me. We still had problems with coming in on overs. I fixed that by throwing some orange bumpers to her right and sending her to them. She also kept turning the wrong way on a right back. I had to tell her to sit 4 times in a row before she got that one right. But we got out of it without any battles and I think it was a positive, learning experience.

So after all that work, I decided to take the girls to the back of the property where I knew there was a small pond. I haven't been back there in a couple of years, but I hoped the water level was better with all the rain we've had recently. We were in luck! The pond looked great.

I took two bumpers with me, but I didn't hold any hope of Page actually retrieving them. After her last swim when she almost went under retrieving a ball, I figured she'd wait a while before doing any more water retrieves. Boy was I wrong! She charged right into the water and swam. And when Devon swam out after a bumper, Page went right after her and stole it.

The next time I threw two bumpers, knowing I could send Devon after a bumper left in the pond on a "back." I didn't have to worry. Page went right out after her bumper. It helped that the pond was very shallow; to the left Devon never swam and Page was touching bottom most of the way. But to the right both girls were swimming.

I had to go back and get the camera to capture the fun these two girls had, especially Page. Here are Page's first bumper retrieves in water!

Make sure you watch closely as Page exits the pond ... she trips and her head goes completely under!

Apparently the head dunking didn't affect her much!

Later, I sat Devon on an honor and just threw for Page. I see the first stages of a flashy water entrance here! And yes, each time she came out of the water, she curled up and dropped her bumpers in her "spot" in the grass. She didn't bring them back to me, but she was close and she never ran away with them! I'll take it!

After more swimming, the girls took a short walk to dry off. We went home and had dinner. After all that work today, it shouldn't surprise you both girls are already fast asleep with Page in "bed."

And Page was really something as I was downloading the clips from the camera to the computer. Page, who never wants to be held, kept asking to come up on my lap at the computer and watch that cute Golden on the screen. She was fascinated first by the clicker that she could hear on the computer, then by hearing me talking to her from the computer and finally watching that very smart Golden who looked like her.

Page sat for more than 15 minutes on my lap watching videos. I guess she had just as much fun as I did today!