Congrats on #7!

I want to congratulate Sarah and Esteban on their new Gaylan's puppy, Lexie! You guys are nuts, but you are also awesome dog trainers and I can't wait to see what you do with her potential!

Things said or overheard at a hunt test (part 3)

Here are just some things said during the weekend that I thought would be fun to share.

• Mitch White: "Devon is the perfect dog for you. She's your perfect first field dog. Devon is the perfect dog for you, and Page is the perfect dog ... FOR ME!" My response: "You can't have her!"
• Me to Mitch: "Well boss, how did I do?" said on returning from water on Sunday, the only series Mitch was around to see me run. Mitch: "Sorry, I missed it." Me: "You have GOT to be KIDDING ME!" Mitch laughing: "I'm just messing with you because it's so fun!"
• Me to Mitch: "So, how do I get a Gamekeepers window decal for my car? Do I have to earn my Senior Hunter?" Mitch to me: "Nope, you just have to ask. However, to get the nice black quilted Gamekeepers jacket, you have to earn your Master Hunter." I have the decal now, and I'm documenting this conversation so I get the jacket when I get my first MH!
• Saturday judge to gallery on land during the dog before me: "Geez, you're a tough crowd! The guy gets the blind and you don't even clap!" Me to judge when Devon brings back the blind: "You're right, they are a tough crowd!" Judge to gallery: "Really, calp for this woman and her dog!"
• Marshal to me before land series; I was the last dog to run: "The women are doing a better job on this series than the men are, so go get 'em!" There were only 5 women handlers both days with 22 and 23 entries. We did kill the men when it came to pass rate!
• Saturday judge to me as he's waiting to receive bird from land blind: "She's a nice little dog!"
• Saturday judge to me after long handle on water memory mark: "I'm sorry we can't pass you today." Me to judge: "That's ok, thank you." Judge to me: "What's this dog's breeding? I really like her!"

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!

We're as ready as we'll ever be!

Well, we've come to the last training day before Devon's first Senior Hunt Test. We're ready. There's nothing more I can teach her, but I bet there are still lessons for me to learn!

One thing I learned this week may seem simple, but it's very important to me. Last week when Devon lined the blind on the set up (the second time), I saw her lock. On Tuesday and Wednesday we worked blinds. Tuesday was a bit of a disaster on land blinds, but her water blinds looked good.

I didn't want to overly stress Devon on blinds this week, but I also wanted to end on a more positive note than I thought we did on Tuesday. So Wednesday morning I set up three land blinds with birds, but I also set up a T drill. I put her back on the T and did some discipline casting just to solidify good handling. Then I headed to the blinds.

Generally, these blinds were very, very good. Devon and I got into one problem, and that's when she blew off my whistle to track my path (and duck scent) between the blinds. I walked out there and re-sat her where she should have been and walked back to handle. This was plenty of a correction for her, and we got it worked out quickly.

The big lesson I learned on Wednesday was this: Devon stops panting when she locks on her blind. She closes her mouth and is ready to be sent, almost like a mark. I know this is something new that's come in the last week, since I've not really noticed it before. I'm really glad I noticed it, because I think it will help me know when to send her.

Today our field group got together for set ups. My goal for Devon today was just to have a fun, positive time on set ups with no pressure. We accomplished that. The throws we got on land weren't where they were supposed to be, but that was just fine. Devon did a great job of marking and hunting them up. Those things happen and I sometimes have a bad throw, too! She did a good job with her diversion bird and her honor.

On water, I asked the gunner to pick up a throw in the middle of the cattails. I didn't want Devon to get spooked by something two days before a test. I shouldn't have worried. On the second throw the bumper sank! In searching for her bumper, Devon went right to the old fall with no problems. I couldn't figure out why the gunner walked out to "help" until he said, "Well, if I can't see it and you can't see it, I think it sank! How is she going to find it?" Now there's a point you can't argue with! ;-) I started to call her in, but luckily we thought to just throw her a bumper so she'd get something.

After all that, we still had a memory mark out there. Never fear, Devon still got her mark even though I asked her where her dead bird was. Really, I need to keep my head a little better when things don't go as planned!

I have to make a quick comment about Page here. She did amazing today! We worked progressives on one throw on each set up (land and water). Page is figuring out how to work past an old fall and go to where she marked it. I saw this earlier in the week when we worked progressives on a hill. Page is wicked smart, and she proved it today.

On water, she'd only seen progressives up on the opposite shore once, and her first reaction was to drive up on shore! Good girl! And whether or not they knew it, Sheree and Laurie as gunners taught Page another valuable lesson today: how to get back in the water with something in your mouth.

This is a lesson each dog must learn, and it's a hard one. I saw the confusion on Page's face and she started around the bank. But Sheree stopped her and very gently pointed to the water and said something like take it back to mom. Page again looked confused, like, "Hey lady, I have something in my mouth! I can't get back in the water like this!" But she started back toward the water and with my encouragement and Sheree's, she got back in and swam to me. Once was all she needed because the next mark was way up on the opposite bank, and Page was out, got her mark, and back in the water like a pro!

After we were finished cleaning up, Janet appeared with a card and a little purple wrapped box for me. The group got me a couple of little gifts to carry with me during the test to remind me they were thinking of me. I was really touched and got big tears in my eyes (I'm a really big softy). I got a hand-made (by Steve and Janet) rock that said "Believe." There was a story, but I think it's special it's hand made! And I got a coin with a dragonfly on one side, and on the back it says, "Sometimes you have to jump to know you can fly."

Well, we're jumping and I hope we fly! Devon's mother is from the Flying litter, and these pups are talented field dogs. As Laurie wrote in my card, we've done the work and now it's time to enjoy it. So that's my goal for our first Senior test weekend: to enjoy it.

No matter what happens, I get to walk to the line with the best girl. And isn't that all that really matters?

Some tracking for Page

Page has done the tracking circuit in the last week. She ran a really nice VST track earlier in the week. It had an interesting angle up onto the sidewalk by the building that made her work hard. She does love to check out entrances to buildings. It's funny how some dogs always do things and others don't. Devon absolutely has to check out every drain. Page will ignore drains, but cover every inch of a building entry!

Page also ran a blind TDX track with changes of cover and three obstacles aged about 4 hours. Steve laid it for me and asked if I wanted my turns marked. While I was tempted to say yes, I realized we'll be testing within a month and I should be running some blind tracks.

I'm glad I told him a blind track, because it was good for me to trust her. She did an amazing job on this track, crossing two roads and a creek. I'm glad she's a precision tracker, and this time she indicated all but one of her articles. That's still her only weakness!

Finally mid-week I gave Page a TD track. It was aged 1 hour and 40 minutes, so it was still legal TD range. I'm glad Page is still small enough for me to be able to slow her down as she tracks. If she gets much heavier, she's going to be able to drag me down on a track! Page easily handled this track and indicated the two articles I had on the track. Maybe there's hope for articles yet!

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.