Field January 2013 - Golden Retrievers : Golden Retriever Dog Forums

hollyk · #1 (**permalink**) 01-01-2013, 08:31 PM

Cheers!

Should we all do an update of what we will be working on in the New Year???

EvanG · #2 (**permalink**) 01-01-2013, 09:22 PM

Do you keep a training journal? I don't plan very far ahead because you never know what may develop along the way. By reviewing my journal I can plan my training for the specific areas my dogs need most. If there are no special maintenance needs, there's always the Flow Chart!

EvanG

K9-Design · #3 (**permalink**) 01-02-2013, 01:06 AM

Training journal? You're reading it right now

I've gone back to basics with Slater. We are on a steady diet of singles and cold blinds. We have to get on the same page and confidence strong and then I know everything else will fall into place.

Fisher is doing great in training, I run him on about 75% of what we run the younger dogs, he is knocking it out. If I have the extra cash I will enter him in the same master tests as Slater and the Jacksonville qual. It is such a relief to have him be sound after training.

hotel4dogs · #4 (**permalink**) 01-02-2013, 10:53 AM

This is our training journal, too!
We, too are on a steady diet of singles, but no blinds at all. Haven't run any for ages, except for one a couple of weeks ago to be sure he remembers the concept, and he clearly does. We have done a couple of casting drills in the yard just to keep him in balance, but blinds are totally out of our picture until we fix our popping issue on memory birds.
Also working on being steady to flush. That's a lot of fun!
Planning to head to Dan's today, the weather is cold but clear. Normally we go on Thursdays, but today's weather forecast is better than tomorrow's.

EvanG · #5 (**permalink**) 01-02-2013, 11:26 AM

Great! So, based on those journal entries, how will you plan your training to best benefit each dog?

EvanG

K9-Design · #6 (**permalink**) 01-02-2013, 12:29 PM

With both guys I am doing nothing but singles, on mowed grass (hay field that they've baled), 50-150 yds and the gunner is hand throwing a small white bumper so it goes a long way from the gunner. I noticed that Slater was tending to run AT the gunner then hunt off of him rather than going to the mark. I am reinforcing steadiness with a pinch collar & tab, as I realized that Slater was starting to leave as I put my hand down..."tie goes to the runner" -- not a good habit to ignore. I don't want to correct him with the ecollar or by calling back so am letting him correct himself with the pinch collar. We are doing water work too, just looking for interesting marks that we haven't run before. Blinds are actually going quite well, can't complain.
Both of my dogs know how to count to three, run some technical blinds, diversions honor and all that jazz, so sticking to basics is our plan.

EvanG · #7 (**permalink**) 01-02-2013, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K9-Design

...I realized that Slater was starting to leave as I put my hand down..."tie goes to the runner" -- not a good habit to ignore. I don't want to correct him with the e-collar or by calling back so am letting him correct himself with the pinch collar.

Have you considered a heeling stick?

EvanG

K9-Design · #8 (**permalink**) 01-02-2013, 03:21 PM

Haven't used a stick yet as the pinch collar is working quite well. You know now that you mention it though, I have used the stick in the past for exactly this situation except I started with hand thrown bumpers in the yard rather than marks, to keep any poor attitude from creeping into marks. Anyhow thanks for the reminder.

Claudia M · #9 (**permalink**) 01-02-2013, 03:26 PM

The grounds here are still covered in ice so we have not been able to do much outside. It is even worse at the cabin (can't even get there). So we have been practicing with the paint roller (Evan's great DVD). Also we have been doing marks around the house with the bumpers.
Haven't done much this past couple weeks since everyone has been sick with the nasty flu.

**Alaska7133** · #10 (**permalink**) 01-02-2013, 03:40 PM

I worked Lucy yesterday on doubles. She's having trouble remembering there is another item. When I use bumpers she seems to be doing better. When I use treats on top of a bowl, she just comes back to me and doesn't remember the second item. Not sure why with food she has more trouble on memory. I'm trying to do better with my body language so she understands what I want. I think I need to spend time with her every day for a few minutes at a time on short doubles. I'm working on hand signals and learning how to communicate better. My Reilly boy is just fine with doubles and seems to be working better on distance. I'm super happy with his progress. Our hunt trainer is turning our group over to another trainer for obedience work. So she won't have to do both obedience and hunt training. So we'll do an hour of obedience class on Wednesdays and a couple of hour of hunt training on Saturdays. I think spliting it up with make best use of hunt training time. Both trainers specialize in goldens and have trained for both hunt and obedience. We are so fortunate here to have such great golden trainers in town. By the way it's all women in both groups and trainers. Isn't that interesting?

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