Laddie Group Training

Group Series: Three singles:

1. 80 yards across ditch and into high cover (dead pigeon)
2. 250+ yards thru standing water and several strips of high cover, across ditch, past trees, with fall against backdrop of dense woods (dead duck)
3. 100 yards (dead pigeon)

Configuration — pyramid:

• #2 thrown 30° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 45° to the right of #2

Marks thrown as in Field Trials

Overcast, wind 3 MPH, 37°F

Location: Rover's Content, Cheltenham, MD

Blind: 230 yard cold blind, orange dummy, 15° left of mark #3, with line thru several strips of high cover. Because the station for #3 included a crate of live pigeons, I felt this blind was too difficult to attempt during the group training, so I returned to the start line with each dog after the group training was over to run this blind.

Private Series: After group training was over, at my request one of the other trainers was kind enough to throw three additional marks for each of my dogs. All three marks were throw to the same area behind a strip of high cover. The dogs and I set up at three start lines, making the marks 40-70-100 yards thru increasing amounts of high cover. Each mark was a dead pigeon, thrown after a gunshot.

Notes: I had planned to have the dogs retrieve dummies at group training until I had more confidence in their ability to train with the group, but the stations didn't have dummies out there and it would have taken too much time to bring dummies out to them, so I took a chance on having both dogs retrieve birds instead. For Lumi, that was a dead pigeon, a dead duck, and a pigeon flyer. For Laddie, the last mark was a dead pigeon instead of a flyer.

On #1, Laddie stalled on his return 30 yards from me and began to chew the bird. Following Alice Woodyard's guidance — and to the annoyance of one of the other trainers who was offering advice from over my shoulder as we ran — I went out to Laddie as soon as he stopped. When he saw me coming, he picked up the bird and started toward me, but I cued "sit" and he did. When I arrived in front of him, I took the bird and slipped a lead around his neck, then walked him back to the start line.

We then ran mark #2, the longest and most difficult mark Laddie has ever run with a training group. He ran straight to it without difficulty, and did not attempt to chew it, but he stood over it looking at me until I called out "give it". Perhaps he remains somewhat confused by the cued/uncued drill we've been practicing this week and in this case thought he was supposed to wait until I cued the pick-up. This was only a minor flaw, and probably not even a problem in the minds of the other trainers, many of whom routinely whistle recall to their dogs when they pick up a retrieval article. Except for not picking up the bird uncued, Laddie ran this difficult mark superbly, racing straight out to the fall and racing back with the bird without stalling on the return.

He also ran mark #3 beautifully, this time not requiring a cue for the pick-up and return.

On the private series, Laddie also ran all three marks perfectly, with the exception that he again waited to be cued when he arrived at the bird on the last, longest mark before he would pick it up. I'm not sure why he is only confused about this on certain marks, but hopefully the problem will be resolved by continuing pile work as we've been doing.

The first time I sent Laddie out on the blind, he handled correctly 2-3 times but then suddenly took off running. He ran straight to the edge of the woods about 300 yards from the start line, circled around to the left along the tree line until he got to the dirt road, then turned back in and ran straight back to me. When he arrived, I sent him back out and this time he handled to the blind reasonably well.

Laddie was not steady on the marks in the group series, when he was on a slip cord, but he was steady in the private series, when he was not on a slip cord. It might appear that the slip cord was responsible for his not being steady, but I think it's more likely that it was the excitement of the group training. I felt confident that he would be steady when we were training with a single thrower, and he was.

The other trainer was annoyed with how I handled the stall on mark #1 during the group series because he felt the procedure I used would train the dog that that's the correct way to run a mark. My view, based on explanations from Alice, is that being walked back from a retrieve on leash and without the bird is an undesirable outcome to a motivated retriever, negatively punishing the stall. Of course, what matters is how the training procedure affects the dog's behavior: Does the stalling increase or decline? In this case, as in every other instance where I've used this procedure, Laddie ran the following marks without stalling, so it would appear that for Laddie, the procedure punishes the stall rather than reinforcing it. Hopefully a time will come where Laddie will stop stalling entirely.

Despite Laddie's problems today, he has improved dramatically since we resumed group training two weeks ago.

Lumi Group Training

Group Series: Three singles:

1. 80 yards across ditch and into high cover (dead pigeon)
2. 250+ yards thru standing water and several strips of high cover, across ditch, past trees, with fall against backdrop of dense woods (dead duck)
3. 100 yards (pigeon flyer)

Configuration — pyramid:

• #2 thrown 30° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 45° to the right of #2

Marks thrown as in Field Trials

Overcast, wind 3 MPH, 37°F

Location: Rover's Content, Cheltenham, MD

Blind: 230 yard cold blind, orange dummy, 15° left of mark #3, with line thru several strips of high cover. Because the station for #3 included a crate of live pigeons, I felt this blind was too difficult to attempt during the group training, so I returned to the start line with each dog after the group training was over to run this blind.

Private Series: After group training was over, at my request one of the other trainers was kind enough to throw three additional marks for each of my dogs. All three marks were throw to the same area behind a strip of high cover. The dogs and I set up at three start lines, making the marks 40-70-100 yards thru increasing amounts of high cover. Each mark was a dead pigeon, thrown after a gunshot.

Notes: I had planned to have the dogs retrieve dummies at group training until I had more confidence in their ability to train with the group, but the stations didn't have dummies out there and it would have taken too much time to bring dummies out to them, so I took a chance on having both dogs retrieve birds instead. For Lumi, that was a dead pigeon, a dead duck, and a pigeon flyer. For Laddie, the last mark was a dead pigeon instead of a flyer.

First, the good news. Lumi was steady on all marks of both series and pinned every one of them. She also picked up every dead bird and headed back toward me uncued and without hesitation. Best of all, she ran with great enthusiasm on every mark in both series as well as the return from the blind, and also showed good motivation while being handled to the blind. It's possible that retrieving birds instead of dummies increased her motivation.

Lumi's negatives today were as follows: she tried to eat the flyer pigeon on mark #3 until one of the gunners interrupted her; then she stopped about 20 feet from me and again tried to eat the pigeon until I started to walk toward her and called out "stop that"; and finally, she required too many casts on the blind, and got too far off the line, for it to be considered a good run, though she was eventually able to get to the blind.

The problem with eating the pigeon needs to be solved, but for the immediate future, we can address it by not having Lumi retrieve more flyers until she's ready.

Despite the problem with the flyer, Lumi has improved dramatically since we resumed group training two weeks ago.

Lumi and Laddie Test 2.7

Test: Triple:

1. 140 yards (dummy)
2. 240 yards (dead duck)
3. 80 yards (dummy)

Configuration — pyramid:

• #2 thrown 30° to the left of #1
  
• #3 thrown 30° to the left of #2

Poor man marks, gunshots for all three marks

Retrieval order: #3-#2-#1

Low, clumpy grass, hilly, pools of rain water, several strips of high cover between start line and all marks; a shallow water crossing to #2

Overcast, wind 5 MPH, 45°F

Location: Rover's Content, Cheltenham, MD

Pass: No (neither dog)

Blind: 200 yard cold blind, orange dummy, 30° left of #1

Notes: Both dogs performed similarly. In each case, they ran #3 and #2 without needing to hunt and picked up both articles without hesitation. Both dogs stalled on their returns at the water crossing on #2, but neither dog attempted to chew the duck, both responded to a single recall cue when they stalled, and neither dog slowed in the final 200 yards after they crossed the steam.

Although I would have passed them despite requiring a cue to return thru the water, neither dog passed because of #1, which they ran last. Both of them forgot where the fall was, and since we didn't have a thrower to help them, I had to handle them to the fall. Both have had success with triples in the past, but that was on low cover where the falls were all visible from the start line. Having all the falls behind high cover in hilly terrain apparently made remembering them more difficult.

I was pleased neither dog had difficulty getting to #2, which was the duck thrown as the first memory mark retrieved, at 240 yards the longest mark of today's series, and arguably the most difficult mark in our Test Series so far, with hills, several cover changes, and a shallow water crossing.

On the blind, both dogs were drawn to the left of the blind, that is, not toward old falls from today's marks but apparently toward some other target. Although their handling was not crisp — that is, they both ignored whistle sits once they were about 150 yards out — both were successful with the blind. Though not the longest they've ever run, it may have been the most difficult because of the terrain and cover changes.

After the test series and blind, each dog also did two more retrieves: a 140-yard poor man mark with the duck, starting at the top of a mulch mound, crossing several strips of high cover, and with the fall in high cover; and a 30-yard cold blind to an orange dummy diagonally through a wide strip of high cover to finish the day. Both dogs performed well on both of those retrieves, with the exception that Lumi trotted rather than cantered on her return from the mark back to the mound.

Today, I continued my practice of cueing a sit when Lumi's gait drops to a trot, then calling an enthusiastic recall to get her back into a canter or gallop. But thinking about it on the way home, I've decided not to do that any more. In the first place, I think I've inadvertently risked punishing her return rather than just the slow gait by cueing the sit, which might have the disastrous effectt of leading to more reluctant returns in the future, and in the second place, what I've been doing doesn't seem to have trained her to maintain the fast gait any more consistently than before I began doing it

Instead, I think I'll try to find something for Lumi to really look forward to when she gets back to the start line. For Laddie, that something is the chance for another retrieve, but that doesn't seem to be enough for Lumi, so we'll experiment with some other rewards.

Although neither dog passed today's test, our work today was rewarding to me because of both dogs' pick-ups of all the articles. The primary problem that the Test Series was designed to address — both dogs at times stalling to spend some alone time with retrieved ducks — didn't show up at all.

Lumi Test 2.6 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 80 yards (dead duck)
2. 110 yards (dummy)
3. 210 yards (dummy)

Configuration — pyramid:

• #2 thrown 30° to the left of #1
  
• #3 thrown 30° to the right of #2

I handled and threw #1 as a poor man mark; Katie threw #2; Eric threw #3

Gunshots for all three marks

Rough terrain for walking or running: low, clumpy grass, hilly, pools of rain water, several strips of high cover between start line from all marks; a road crossing to #2

Rain, wind 5 MPH, 35°F

Location: Rover's Content, Cheltenham, MD

Pass: Yes

Blind: In a different location: 210 yard Pinball Drill (four poles separated by 70-70-70 yards), orange dummies at poles 3 and 4

Notes: Lumi's marking was not as straight as it has been in the past, but she ran every mark with enthusiasm, showed fine perseverance in her hunting, picked up every mark uncued and without hesitation, and ran all the way back with every mark without requiring any additional cueing. Given the difficult terrain and weather conditions, I felt Lumi's marks were satisfactory despite requiring some hunting, and passed her on this test.

Both dogs had no trouble retrieving the two dummies on the blind, but they were not always responsive on whistle sits, and when I cast them into high cover, they tended to skirt it rather than diving in. Considering how difficult the terrain at this location is compared to where we've practiced in the past, both dogs did impressively well. But now we need to come out to locations like this more often to continue both dogs' development.

Laddie Test 2.6 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 80 yards (dead duck)
2. 110 yards (dummy)
3. 210 yards (dummy)

Configuration — pyramid:

• #2 thrown 30° to the left of #1
  
• #3 thrown 30° to the right of #2

I handled and threw #1 as a poor man mark; Katie threw #2; Eric threw #3

Gunshots for all three marks

Rough terrain for walking or running: low, clumpy grass, hilly, pools of rain water, several strips of high cover between start line from all marks; a road crossing to #2

Rain, wind 5 MPH, 35°F

Location: Rover's Content, Cheltenham, MD

Pass: Yes

Blind: In a different location: 210 yard Pinball Drill (four poles separated by 70-70-70 yards), orange dummies at poles 3 and 4

Notes: The first time Laddie ran #1, he stopped about 30 yards from startline with the duck, but came as soon as I called him. We then ran #1 again, and as soon as I saw him start to slow, I called him and he immediately speeded back up and delivered nicely. Since he picked up the duck at the fall uncued and without hesitation both times, and responded to the recall instantly, I decided to continue the test. He pinned every mark and ran with all his heart despite the difficult terrain and weather, his only mistake being that he slowed down on #1 until I called him. I decided to pass him.

Both dogs had no trouble retrieving the two dummies on the blind, but they were not always responsive on whistle sits, and when I cast them into high cover, they tended to skirt it rather than diving in. Considering how difficult the terrain at this location is compared to where we've practiced in the past, both dogs did impressively well. But now we need to come out to locations like this more often to continue both dogs' development.

Lumi and Laddie Group Training

Group Training: The advanced dogs ran this as a complex series of three marks and three blinds. Lumi and Laddie ran it as a blind, a double, and a single. Later, when the group training was over, they also ran the other two blinds.

The series that Lumi and Laddie ran with the group:

• Blind #1: 100 yards (orange dummy)
  
• Mark #1 (go-mark on the double): 70 yards (dummy)
  
• Mark #2 (memory-mark on the double): 150 yards
  
• Mark #3: 70 yards (dummy)

The additional blinds that they ran later:

• Blind #2: 120 yards (orange dummy)
• Blind #3: 120 yards (orange dummy)

Additional single that they also ran later:

• Mark #4: 30 yards (dummy)
• Mark #5: 60 yards (dummy)
• Mark #6: 120 yards (dummy)
  

Configuration of marks run with group — pyramid:

• #2 thrown 30° to the left of #1
  
• #3 thrown 30° to the right of #1

Configuration of blinds:

• #1 90° to the left of mark #1
• #2 15° to the left of mark #2
• #3 15° to the right of mark #3

Configuration of marks run later:

• All three marks #4-#6 were thrown onto the same patch of low cover for maximum visibility.
• The dog and I moved back thru more and more strips of high cover as we increased the length of each mark.
  

Clumpy low cover, with multiple strips of high grass between startline and all marks, all blinds

Marks thrown as in Field Trials (throwers in white jackets, gunshot, then hand thrown)

Misty, wind 10 MPH, 45°F

Location: Rover's Content, Cheltenham, MD

Notes: On the group marks, neither dog remembered the memory-mark of the double, and both dogs seemed unsure what to do once they picked up the dummies. It is difficult to believe that both dogs' performance could have deteriorated so far from where they were just a few weeks ago.

On the private marks thrown for us after group training was over, both dogs did excellent work, running thru all the strips of high cover without cheating to get to the falls, picking up every dummy uncued and without hesitation, and returning to me without stalling or needing to be called verbally or with a whistle.

I'm not clear why they did so much better on the private marks than in the group training. It's possible that having them run the marks in increasing distances, starting with a short one, was the key difference.

An observer might question if the dogs were ready for a double, but both have run many successful doubles and even triples in private training in the past, and Lumi has also run doubles and triples in group training. I've actually thought that their motivation for multiples was often stronger than for singles, which was why I decided to have them run a double today. But based on today's results, we'll run singles in group training from now on until they're both running those well.

Both dogs were successful on all three blinds, but were incconsistent on whistle sits, some excellent, others ignored. I guess we need to run some Pinball Drills with no dummies at Cheltenham to work on that.

Comments from Other Trainers: One of the other trainers made two comments:

1. When he saw me playing tug with Lumi, he said adamantly, "Don't do that. One day she'll try to do that with a bird."
2. After throwing marks for both Lumi and Laddie after the group training, he said that it was too bad that Lumi doesn't have Laddie's desire to retrieve. I asked why he thought that was the case. He said that when Laddie picked up a bumper, he was in a hurry to get back to me so that he could get another one thrown for him. When Lumi picked up a bumper, she was in no hurry to get back.

My thoughts on those comments:

I've heard the argument against letting retrievers play tug before. It might be correct, but I know that some other trainers do play tug with their retrievers, and I've tried to train both Lumi and Laddie that we only play tug with hard dummies, not canvas dummies and not birds. Tug is a high-value reinforcer for both dogs, and seems to mean a lot them in our private training. I think that, for now, I'll continue to play tug with them in private work, but not in group training.

Laddie certainly has more drive than Lumi in almost all things — the possible exception being that Lumi has always seemed to love swimming more than Laddie does so far — but I believe that Lumi may be having some discomfort from her arthritis the last few weeks, exaggerating the difference in the two dogs' levels of motivation for the game. Although I have cut way back on Lumi's activities, it may be awhile before she is completely comfortable doing field work again.

Laddie Test 2.5 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 80 yards (dummy)
2. 160 yards (dummy)
3. 240 yards (dead duck)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 90° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 40° to the right of #2
• Thrower visible, but #3 fall not visible from startline because of a rise in the terrain
  

Training partner Barbara Wood called "hey-hey", then threw each dummy

Lawn

Mostly cloudy, wind 5 MPH, 35°F

Location: Needwood Lake Park

Pass: Yes

Blind: 250 yard cold blind with orange pole and orange dummy, on a line midway between #2 and #3

Notes: This was the second time Laddie passed Test 2.5. Once again, he ran the test and the blind with his trademark all-stops-out exuberance.

When running the blind after #3, both dogs first ran to a surveyor's marker — a wooden stake with a ribbon attached — about 30 yards to the right and somewhat closer than the blind pole, but neither had any difficulty being cast back from it to the dummy.

In a separate round about an hour later, Laddie also ran a 330 yard mark.

Lumi Test 2.5 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 80 yards (dummy)
2. 160 yards (dummy)
3. 240 yards (dead duck)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 90° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 40° to the right of #2
• Thrower visible, but #3 fall not visible from startline because of a rise in the terrain
  

Training partner Barbara Wood called "hey-hey", then threw each dummy

Lawn

Mostly cloudy, wind 5 MPH, 35°F

Location: Needwood Lake Park

Pass: Yes

Blind: 250 yard cold blind with orange pole and orange dummy, on a line midway between #2 and #3

Notes: The first time Lumi ran #1, she picked up the dummy, then ran to Barbara, who was holding another dummy and the duck for a later mark, before running back to me. We restarted the test with Barbara not holding the duck and Lumi did fine.

When running the blind after #3, both dogs first ran to a surveyor's marker — a wooden stake with a ribbon attached — about 30 yards to the right and somewhat closer than the blind pole, but neither had any difficulty being cast back from it to the dummy.

Laddie and Lumi Test 2.5

[Posted to the DogTrek list]

Of course it's obvious that different dogs have different personalities and that with differences in ages and backgrounds, have different training needs.

The last few days have also brought something else home to me: They also have different, possibly opposite, needs for establishing operations (EOs).

EOs, as I understand it, are preconditions in the dog's state that in effect become part of the context for discriminating stimuli. For example, a dog may respond differently to a cue when hungry than when not hungry, especially (but perhaps not necessarily) if the dog's experience is that the probably outcome for a correct response is food.

Last Sunday, Lumi, Laddie, and I did our field training with a group for the first time in several weeks (for a complete description, see the two recent "Group Training" entries in our "Field Training Test Series" blog: ). Though the dogs were aired for several minutes and we did some warm-up drills before the group training began, the dogs had no opportunity to run around in a wide open area.

I ran Lumi first that day and she did reasonably well, the mistakes she made having little or nothing to do with EOs, in my estimation. But when Laddie ran, he showed a behavior I've seen him do before when he hasn't gotten to run around before starting. He ran to the first dummy (the only one yet thrown), picked it up, and then raced off in a long circuit of all the other throwing stations. He never dropped the dummy, and when he'd reached the other end of his long arc, he turned and ran straight back to me. He didn't repeat that behavior on either of the other marks. I attributed it to pent-up energy and made a point on subsequent sessions to give Laddie more time to run around before bringing him into a training series.

Laddie is not unique in performing better if he's had some time to run around first. Bob, the Pro we trained with, once spoke of 2-3 dogs he's trained over the years who only performed well in competition if they'd first been run hard on a back field the day of the event. I've read other trainers describing a similar procedure with their dogs.

Well, today I got to see the other side of the coin in clear relief. Today's planned "test" was fairly long -- 160 yards from the start line to mark #1, and 240 yards from the start line to mark #3 -- much longer than any hunt test. It took me about half an hour to measure the course and put out flags, and during that time, Lumi and Laddie crisscrossed the field over and over again, playing their maniacal game of "it", racing, crashing into one another, biting, tumbling, and generally putting on a show of Golden-style playfulness. Soon, our training partner Barbara showed up with Deuce, her yellow Lab, and he joined the fray.

Now it was time to begin training, and with me thinking Lumi might need a breather, we trained Laddie first, Deuce second, and Lumi last in each round of training. The first round was a retriever drill called "pile work", which we did at short range, and all the dogs did nicely, making visible progress in their particular objectives and seeming well prepared for the retrieving series planned for the second round. For Lumi and Laddie, this was Test 2.5 in our "test series".

It was Laddie's turn again, and his test was picture perfect. Next came Deuce for a variety of mid-range retrieves, and he also had a good series. Finally it was Lumi's turn. If she performed well, Laddie and she would be ready to go onto Test 2.6 in the next day or two.

Well, Lumi didn't limp or show any visible signs of distress, but her performance on every mark was bizarre. On the first mark, she ran to the fall, picked up the dummy, and then ran over to Barbara (the thrower) instead of bringing the dummy back to me. That's a puppy mistake. Thinking it was a fluke, I walked out to her, slipped on her leash, handed the dummy back to Barbara, and walked Lumi back to the start line so we could start the test over.

Lumi did exactly the same thing again. "OK," I thought, "maybe there's something strange about that mark. The next mark is half the length and in a different direction. Hopefully it won't happen again." But it did.

By now, I knew I couldn't pass Lumi on the test, but I wasn't certain whether to continue the series or not. Then I thought of a reason it might be happening. Barbara had gone out to throw carrying two dummies and a duck. The first two marks were dummies. Maybe Lumi was picking up the dummy while scenting the duck and thinking, "This can't be right, I'll see if I can get that duck to bring to Daddy." Not satisfactory performance, not Lumi's usual performance, but a theory. So I decided to have Lumi go ahead and run mark #3, the long 240-yarder with the duck as the retrieval article.

The bizarreness only worsened. This time, Lumi ran to the empty-handed Barbara and pestered her until Barbara used an underhanded throwing motion to draw Lumi's attention toward the duck. At last, Lumi ran to the duck, picked it up, and started galloping toward me. I don't know if I've ever seen Lumi run a mark so strangely, even as a puppy.

It wasn't the last strange thing I'd see. With the dogs back in the van, next I set up our day's blind, a course that required the dog to retrieve one dummy at 140 yards, then go back out a total of 270 yards, with a whistle sit and cast at the scene of the first pick-up.

Again, I ran Laddie first, and he ran the drill perfectly, requiring only the single planned cast and racing at top speed the entire time. Although this was Laddie's longest blind ever by 40 yards, his performance told me that it was actually a pretty easy set-up.

Not, however, for Lumi. When her turn came, she ran out 20 yards on the first send-out, turned to face me, and sat down, as though I had whistled her to a sit. We stared at each other for about 30 seconds, neither of us moving, me hoping that she'd realize she hadn't been cued to sit and would resume her send-out. When I finally accepted that wasn't going to happen, I called her back to me and we set up again. This time, I sent her and then ran beside her for about 10 yards, allowing her to pull away after that. She glanced back, seemed to understand what was happening, and completed the first retrieve. She did better on the second leg, though she needed an extra cast. She ran well the entire way and frolicked as usual as we returned to the van.

What was going on? Why was Lumi's performance so off-base all day? Later it struck me. Thirty minutes of hard running may not have been the best preparation for a series of long land marks followed by a pair of long blinds.

So there it was. Just as Sunday's EO had been right for Lumi and wrong for Laddie, today's EO, which was apparently exactly right for Laddie and resulted in a spectacular day of performance, was exactly wrong for Lumi.

Of course, it might have nothing to do with EO in Lumi's case. Maybe her mind or body is going through something right now. I plan to rest her tomorrow, and then try Test 2.5 again on Friday, using a different start line and different lines of sight but the same distances. I'll give Laddie plenty of time to run around in advance, like today, but Lumi will get a brief warm up and then wait in the van for the training to start.

Different dogs, different EOs. We'll see what happens.

LL&L

Lumi Test 2.4 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 60 yards (dummy)
2. 180 yards (dead duck)
3. 120 yards (dummy)

Configuration – pyramid:

• #2 thrown 45° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 45° to the right of #2

Poor man marks; Lumi honored off-lead while Laddie ran; Laddie honored on-lead while Lumi ran

Dry 12" clumpy grass intermixed with some thorny foliage; #2 thrown about 20 yards into unmaintained woodsy undergrowth, mostly 5' grass

Sunny, wind calm, 28°F

Location: Sundown Park

Pass: Yes

Blind: 240 yard cold blind to orange pole and orange bumper over lawn, 45° to the left of mark #1; a few trees and sports field posts on either side of dog's line to the blind, one bank and elevation rise on way out. After both dogs ran the three marks, I put them in the van, set up the blind, and then ran the dogs one at a time, Laddie first, then Lumi.

Notes: Lumi ran all marks and the blind well, picking up every dummy as well as the bird uncued and without hesitation. My core concern in this test was whether the dogs would pick up a dead duck 180 yards out and 20 yards deep into thick cover, and bring it back uncued and without stalling. Both dogs did so nicely.

On the blind, Lumi started slowly and required two angle back casts in the first 100 yards, first to the right, then to the left, but in both cases responded well to both the whistle sit and the cast. After the second cast, she apparently spotted the pole and/or the dummy and took off toward them, galloping the last 150 yards.

Lumi is not consistently running at full speed lately, and while the clumpy grass for the test seemed to especially bother her, she also returned more slowly from the blind than she had gone out. I don't know whether this is a physical problem or an attitude issue. We will be seeing Carol Lundquist, our holistic vet, this afternoon, for regular monthly treatment and to try to evaluate Lumi's current discomfort level from her arthritic hips and wrist.

Laddie Test 2.4 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 60 yards (dummy)
2. 180 yards (dead duck)
3. 120 yards (dummy)

Configuration – pyramid:

• #2 thrown 45° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 45° to the right of #2

Poor man marks; Lumi honored off-lead while Laddie ran; Laddie honored on-lead while Lumi ran

Dry 12" clumpy grass intermixed with some thorny foliage; #2 thrown about 20 yards into unmaintained woodsy undergrowth, mostly 5' grass

Sunny, wind calm, 28°F

Location: Sundown Park

Pass: Yes

Blind: 240 yard cold blind to orange pole and orange bumper over lawn, 45° to the left of mark #1; a few trees and sports field posts on either side of dog's line to the blind, one bank and elevation rise on way out. After both dogs ran the three marks, I put them in the van, set up the blind, and then ran the dogs one at a time, Laddie first, then Lumi.

Notes: Laddie ran all marks and the blind enthusiastically, and picked up every dummy as well as the duck uncued and without hesitation. A spectator with two Labs stood along Laddie's path to #1, and after picking up the dummy, Laddie began to edge toward them. He responded quickly to a recall whistle so I decided not to count the need to call him enroute against passing the test.

My core concern in this test was whether the dogs would pick up a dead duck 180 yards out and 20 yards deep into thick cover, and bring it back uncued and without stalling. Both dogs did so nicely.

This was not only Laddie's longest blind ever, but also the first one he's run without intermediate poles. He started on a good line but edged to the right after the rise in elevation, responded instantly to a whistle sit, and took the cast to the blind, another 150 yards behind him, beautifully.

Laddie Test 2.3 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 120 yards (dummy)
2. 60 yards (dummy with two pheasant wings attached)
3. 180 yards (dummy)

Configuration – indent:

• #2 thrown 45° to the left of #1
  
• #3 thrown 45° to the left of #2

Training partner Barbara Wood called "hey-hey", then threw each dummy

Lawn

Partly cloudy, wind 17-25 MPH, temperature 33°F

Location: Needwood Lake Park

Pass: Yes

Blind: 230 yard pinball drill with 4 poles (70-80-80 yards) on a zigzag line 30° to left of mark #3, pole 4 on downhill sloping away from start line, orange dummy at pole 4 not visible until dog was near pole 3

Notes: Laddie's performance on all three marks was excellent. On the blind, he responded well to whistle sits and casts back from poles 2 and 3. However, he slanted too far to the right from pole 3, running to the fall for mark #3 instead of toward pole 4. From his position at the fall, he then responded nicely to a whistle sit and cast back to the left, taking him straight to the blind. He was out of view for a moment, then, as he cleared the rise, came racing toward me with the orange dummy in his mouth.

This blind showed several good things about Laddie's handling:

1. That he does not need to be at a pole to respond well to a whistle sit and cast
2. That he is now able to respond to whistle sits even though we've resumed using retrieval articles in the blinds
3. That he can be cast away from an old fall
   

Laddie Group Training

One Series: Three singles:

1. 60 yards (dummy)
2. 140 yards (dummy)
3. 190 yards (dummy)

Configuration – pyramid:

• #2 thrown 80° to the left of #1
  
• #3 thrown 40° to the right of #2

Field Trial marks (throwers wore white, fired a pistol before throwing, no duck calls, no launchers)

Description of marks:

• Thrower for #1 stood behind a tree, threw to left into high cover. Line was a simple road crossing and low cover most of the way.
• Thrower for #2 stood on right side of a mulch mound and threw to right onto low cover. Line to #2 included crossing a junction of roads but was otherwise low cover. Line back from #2 included two bright white utility covers a bit to the right of the dog's path to the start line. Lumi and Laddie were both distracted by these and stalled there, but none of the other dogs seemed to notice them.
• Line to #3 was thru several trees on both sides and dipped in middle, so that dog could not see either end of the line from the low point. In addition, the dog had to cross several strips of high cover. Thrower for #3 was in shadows but visible from the start line, standing beyond the trees. He threw the mark back to the left and into another strip of high cover. Every dog had a wide-ranging hunt on #3.
  

Running Order: Laddie ran 3rd of 15 dogs. All other dogs besides Lumi and Laddie ran the same marks, also with dummies, but as a triple.

Steadiness: With check cord, Laddie tried to break on #1, was steady on #2 and #3. We did not try honoring.

Conditions: Steady rain, wind 9 MPH, temperature 39°F

Location: Rover's Content, Cheltenham

Blind: 150 yard cold blind, the line over a fallen tree, on left side of same mound used for station of mark #2. The other dogs ran this blind after the triple. Lumi and Laddie ran this at the end of secondary training (see below).

Notes: In addition to running with the group, we did a little training ourselves both before and after the group work.

Before the group work:

We did pile work with six canvas dummies, distance 20 yards, both dogs off lead, steady, and sitting on either side of me, being sent alternately to the pile. We did this four times in different locations, the first two with no cover changes, the second two through strips of high cover.

Like Lumi, Laddie seemed distracted or confused at first during the pile work, apparently uncertain whether to pick-up a dummy and return uncued, possibly because of the speed drill we were doing last night, where the dog was only to pick up the dummy if cued to do so. Laddie also seemed interested in eating the grass around the dummies instead of picking them up and returning with them. This happened several times during the pile work, though most of the runs were performed with Laddie's trademark exuberance. When Laddie did stall, I walked out to him, threw the dummy back with the others, walked him back on lead, and then had him sit while Lumi took her turn. Then I sent Laddie again, and this time he picked the dummy right back and ran all the way back with it.

During the group work:

• On #1, Laddie ran straight to the dummy and picked it up uncued and without hesitation. But he then raced off toward the middle thrower, and from there to the rightmost thrower, refusing both whistle and verbal recalls. After completing his arc past the other two throwers, he turned back toward the start line and ran enthusiastically to me.
  
• On #2, he ran to the mark well and picked the dummy up uncued and without hesitation, but on return he swerved to the white utility caps and stalled there, like Lumi not coming when called. I walked out to him, slipped his check cord under his collar as a lead, took the dummy, and walked him back to the start line without saying anything. He did not seem stressed and seemed happy to run another mark.
• Although Laddie required a big hunt to find the dummy for #3, it was no worse than any of the other dogs, and better than some. Once he found the dummy, he picked it up uncued and without hesitation and raced home with it.

I received two suggestions about Laddie:

1. Use a bark collar because of his barking in the van. I don't plan to use a bark collar, but I covered Laddie's crate with a sheet and he stopped barking.
2. Have him sit on the mat at the start line to start. I appreciated that advice and took it.
   

After the group work:

We ran a poor man mark and then the same cold blind that the other dogs had run during the group work. The poor man mark was 100 yards, 45° to the right of the blind, thru a strip of high cover and the dummy thrown into more high cover.

Laddie ran both the poor man mark well and without cueing, hesitation, or stalling. He lined the cold blind easily.

Lumi Group Training

One Series: Three singles:

1. 60 yards (dummy)
2. 140 yards (dummy)
3. 190 yards (dummy)

Configuration – pyramid:

• #2 thrown 80° to the left of #1
  
• #3 thrown 40° to the right of #2

Field Trial marks (throwers wore white, fired a pistol before throwing, no duck calls, no launchers)

Description of marks:

• Thrower for #1 stood behind a tree, threw to left into high cover. Line was a simple road crossing and low cover most of the way.
• Thrower for #2 stood on right side of a mulch mound and threw to right onto low cover. Line to #2 included crossing a junction of roads but was otherwise low cover. Line back from #2 included two bright white utility covers a bit to the right of the dog's path to the start line. Lumi and Laddie were both distracted by these and stalled there, but none of the other dogs seemed to notice them.
• Line to #3 was thru several trees on both sides and dipped in middle, so that dog could not see either end of the line from the low point. In addition, the dog had to cross several strips of high cover. Thrower for #3 was in shadows but visible from the start line, standing beyond the trees. He threw the mark back to the left and into another strip of high cover. Every dog had a wide-ranging hunt on #3.
  

Running Order: Lumi ran 1st of 15 dogs. All other dogs besides Lumi and Laddie ran the same marks, also with dummies, but as a triple.

Steadiness: With check cord, Lumi was steady on all marks. We did not try honoring.

Conditions: Steady rain, wind 9 MPH, temperature 39°F

Location: Rover's Content, Cheltenham

Blind: 150 yard cold blind, the line over a fallen tree, on left side of same mound used for station of mark #2. The other dogs ran this blind after the triple. Lumi and Laddie ran this at the end of secondary training (see below).

Notes: In addition to running with the group, we did a little training ourselves both before and after the group work.

Before the group work:

We did pile work with six canvas dummies, distance 20 yards, both dogs off lead, steady, and sitting on either side of me, being sent alternately to the pile. We did this four times in different locations, the first two with no cover changes, the second two through strips of high cover.

Lumi seemed distracted or confused at first during the pile work, apparently uncertain whether to pick-up a dummy and return uncued, possibly because of the speed drill we were doing last night, where Lumi was only to pick up the dummy if cued to do so. She also stalled the first time she was to return thru high cover. In both cases, I walked out to her, threw the dummy back with the others, walked her back on lead, and then had her sit while Laddie took his turn. Then I sent Lumi again, and this time she picked the dummy right back and ran all the way back with it.

During the group work:

• On #1, she ran toward thrower rather than to fall, found the dummy, picked it up, but ran toward thrower with it rather than toward me at first. I called her and she immediately turned and ran to me.
• On #2, she ran to the mark well and picked the dummy up uncued and without hesitation, but on return she swerved to the white utility caps and stalled there, not coming when called. I walked out to her, slipped her check cord under her collar as a lead, took the dummy, and walked her back to the start line without saying anything. She did not seem stressed and seemed happy to run another mark.
• The first time #3 was thrown, she did not see it. We never practice with the marks being thrown thru a tunnel of trees. When she heard the gunshot, she looked in the correct direction, but apparently not quickly enough because when I sent her, she took a step and then stopped. I brought her back to the start line and asked that #3 be thrown again.
• The second time #3 was thrown, she was well focused and ran straight toward the mark, but after running thru the cover changes and down into the dip and up the hill again, she had lost her line. After considerable hunting, she found the dummy, picked up uncued and unhesitatingly, and ran straight back to me without slowing. I wasn't happy with the big hunt at the time, but when I saw that every other dog ran the mark the same way, I realized that Lumi had run #3 quite well.

After the group work:

We ran a poor man mark and then the same cold blind that the other dogs had run during the group work. The poor man mark was 100 yards, 45° to the right of the blind, thru a strip of high cover and the dummy thrown into more high cover.

Lumi ran the poor man mark well, having no trouble running the correct line to the fall, picking up the dummy uncued and without hesitation, and returning on the run without slowing as she re-crossed the strip of high cover. On the blind, she stopped and began hunting when she got to the fallen tree. When I whistled, she did not sit, but she took up the line she had been on, jumped over the tree, and completed the retrieve. Although it was a serious mistake for her not to sit when whistled, her work on both the extra mark and the blind was fast, confident, and enthusiastic.

Laddie Test 2.3

Test: Three singles:

1. 60 yards (dead pigeon)
2. 180 yards (dead pigeon)
3. 120 yards (dummy)

Configuration – pyramid:

• #2 thrown 45° to the left of #1
  
• #3 thrown 45° to the left of #2

Poor man marks, with duck call and "hey-hey", all marks thrown downwind

Pigeon was 1 on a scale of 1-10 for usable birds

Lawn

Overcast, wind 8 MPH, temperature 51°F

Location: Sundown Park

Pass: No

Blind: 230 yard pinball drill with 4 poles (70-70-90 yards) on a zigzag line 90° to left of mark #3, no dummies

Notes: I was very pleased with several things: Laddie raced with all his heart both ways on every mark as well as the blind, and he picked up the two pigeons on the fly, actually rolling over as he fishtailed into a U-turn on #1. He chewed pigeons only slightly as he ran, held them at heel without chewing until I reached for them, and gave them up instantly.

Since he met the primary criteria for this test series — enthusiasm in both directions and unhesitating, un-cued pick-ups — I would like to have passed Laddie. He also did wonderfully on the target blind, once again the longest blind he's ever run. In addition to his exuberance, he took every cue correctly and did not need to be recast once.

However, Laddie's performance on the test had three flaws any one of which prevented him from passing:

1. He overran #2 and ended up running into some high cover behind the fall. The good news is that he responded instantly when I called him, spinning around, racing straight to the bird, picking it up on the fly and charging all the way back to me.
2. He ran the wrong line on #3, heading for where I had stood when I threw the dummy rather than toward the fall. He then needed considerable time to find the fall. The good news is that he persevered.
3. Although he picked the dummy up on #3 unhesitatingly and without being cued, he did not head straight back to me with it. Instead, he headed off to the left. The good news is that he did come straight back to me as soon as I called him, and went on to run the target blind perfectly.
   

Lumi Test 2.3 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 60 yards (dead pigeon)
2. 180 yards (dead pigeon)
3. 120 yards (dummy)

Configuration – pyramid:

• #2 thrown 45° to the left of #1
  
• #3 thrown 45° to the left of #2

Poor man marks, with duck call and "hey-hey", all marks thrown downwind

Pigeon was 1 on a scale of 1-10 for usable birds

Lawn

Overcast, wind 8 MPH, temperature 51°F

Location: Sundown Park

Pass: Yes

Blind: 230 yard pinball drill with 4 poles (70-70-90 yards) on a zigzag line 90° to left of mark #3, no dummies

Notes: The first time Lumi ran #1, she started to chew on the pigeon instead of picking it up. I immediately began walking toward her, calling "STOP IT . . . sit", and she responded correctly. When I arrived, I picked the pigeon up from the ground, put Lumi's slip lead around her neck, and together we walked back to the start line. I maintained a quiet, gentle, but neutral attitude.

We then ran #1 again, and to my great pleasure, Lumi raced to the bird, picked it up on the run, and raced back, not even chewing on it as she ran, or at least not very much. :0)

Then I went out to use the same pigeon for #2, which was three times as far as #1, then walked back to send Lumi. To my even greater pleasure, she also picked that mark up on the run and raced back, again with negligible chewing.

Finally, Lumi had no difficulty with #3, so despite the shaky start, it was an easy pass.

Lumi also did well on the 230-yard target blind. Because she didn't alway angle back on the correct line, she needed more than the minimum casts for the blind, but responded quickly and enthusiatically to each whistle sit and cast.

Lumi Test 2.2 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 40 yards (dead duck)
2. 120 yards (dead duck)
3. 80 yards (dummy)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 90° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 45° to the left of #2

Poor man marks, with duck call and "hey-hey"

Duck was 1 on a scale of 1-10 for usable ducks

Wet lawn; #2 thrown into wooded area beyond lawn, with underbrush as cover change

Overcast, wind calm, temperature 46°F

Location: Field behind nearby school

Pass: Yes

Blind: 220 yard pinball drill with 4 poles (80-70-70 yards) on a zigzag line 45° to right of mark #2; orange dummies at poles 2 and 3; dog was sent to pole 2 to retrieve dummy, then back out to poles 2 and 3 to retrieve dummy, then back out to 2 and 3 for whistle sits and angle back casts, pole 4 for whistle sit and recall

Notes: Lumi was not as enthusiastic on her marks or blinds as Laddie had been. She really does not like carrying a slimy duck, and it slowed down her returns on #1 and #2, after racing out to both marks. I don't know why she slowed carrying that duck, but I've seen Laddie do it, too, though not today. Since Lumi raced both ways for #3 with the dummy, and because everything else about her marks was done correctly and with style, I decided that she probably had her own good reason for trotting instead of cantering or galloping back with the duck, and passed her on this test.

Lumi's performance on the blinds was not as good as Laddie's, requiring extra handling several times. But she did retrieve both dummies and traversed the long target blind, and all her recalls were a joy to behold.

Laddie Test 2.2 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 40 yards (dead duck)
2. 120 yards (dead duck)
3. 80 yards (dummy)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 90° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 45° to the left of #2

Poor man marks, with duck call and "hey-hey"

Duck was 1 on a scale of 1-10 for usable ducks

Wet lawn; #2 thrown into wooded area beyond lawn, with underbrush as cover change

Overcast, wind calm, temperature 46°F

Location: Field behind nearby school

Pass: Yes

Blind: 220 yard pinball drill with 4 poles (80-70-70 yards) on a zigzag line 45° to right of mark #2; orange dummies at poles 2 and 3; dog was sent to pole 2 to retrieve dummy, then back out to poles 2 and 3 to retrieve dummy, then back out to 2 and 3 for whistle sits and angle back casts, pole 4 for whistle sit and recall

Notes: Laddie ran the marks with speed and exuberance, then the blinds. The 220 yard target blind was another new distance milestone for Laddie's blinds. He ran all three beautifully, enthusiastically and with no extraneous handling needed. What a joy he is to work with.

Lumi Test 2.1 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 40 yards (dead duck)
2. 120 yards (dummy)
3. 80 yards (dead duck)
   

Configuration – indent:

• #1 thrown 10 yards to the right, and 10 yards short, of blind pole 2, where an orange dummy was planted and visible
  
• #2 thrown 30° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 100° to the left of #2

Poor man marks, with duck call and "hey-hey"

Duck was 3 on a scale of 1-10 for usable ducks

Wet lawn

Drizzle, light wind, temperature 42°F

Location: Layhill Park

Pass: Yes

Blind: 170 yard pinball drill with 4 poles (50-50-70 yards) on a zigzag line midway between the outermost marks; orange dummy at pole 2; dog was sent to pole 2 to retrieve dummy, then back out to poles 2 and 3 for whistle sits and angle back casts, pole 4 for whistle sit and recall

Notes: Excellent work. The duck did not seem to present any problem for Lumi.

Laddie Test 2.1 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 40 yards (dead duck)
2. 120 yards (dummy)
3. 80 yards (dead duck)
   

Configuration – indent:

• #1 thrown 10 yards to the right, and 10 yards short, of blind pole 2, where an orange dummy was planted and visible
  
• #2 thrown 30° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 100° to the left of #2

Poor man marks, with duck call and "hey-hey"

Duck was 3 on a scale of 1-10 for usable ducks

Wet lawn

Drizzle, light wind, temperature 42°F

Location: Layhill Park

Pass: Yes

Blind: 170 yard pinball drill with 4 poles (50-50-70 yards) on a zigzag line midway between the outermost marks; orange dummy at pole 2; dog was sent to pole 2 to retrieve dummy, then back out to poles 2 and 3 for whistle sits and angle back casts, pole 4 for whistle sit and recall

Notes: Excellent work. The duck did not seem to present any problem for Laddie.

Laddie Test 1.7 (pass)

Test: A triple:

1. 75 yards (dummy)
2. 240 yards (dummy)
3. 135 yards (dummy)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 45° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 60° to the right of #2

Poor man marks, long wait for dog at the line

Lawn, except that #1 was thrown into unmaintained high cover and underbrush

Retrieve order: #3-#1-#2

Overcast, wind calm, temperature 35°F

Location: Soccer fields off Homecrest Road

Pass: Yes

Blind: N/A

Notes: This was our second attempt at Test 1.7. Earlier in the day, we tried it at another location, but marks #1 and #2 of that test were only 20° apart and both dogs were confused by that.

Both dogs ran nice 185 yard target blinds at that time, though. No retrieval article, good whistle sits.

For this test, Laddie did great. This triple was unusual for us in that the "go" mark was not the shortest, which we ran second instead.

Lumi Test 1.7 (pass)

Test: A triple:

1. 75 yards (dummy)
2. 240 yards (dummy)
3. 135 yards (dummy)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 45° to the right of #1
  
• #3 thrown 60° to the right of #2

Poor man marks, long wait for dog at the line

Lawn, except that #1 was thrown into unmaintained high cover and underbrush

Retrieve order: #3-#1-#2

Overcast, wind calm, temperature 35°F

Location: Soccer fields off Homecrest Road

Pass: Yes

Blind: N/A

Notes: This was our second attempt at Test 1.7. Earlier in the day, we tried it at another location, but marks #1 and #2 of that test were only 20° apart and both dogs were confused by that.

Both dogs ran nice 185 yard target blinds at that time, though. No retrieval article, good whistle sits.

For this test, Lumi did fine. This triple was unusual for us in that the "go" mark was not the shortest, which we ran second instead.

Laddie Test 1.6 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 80 yards (dummy)
2. 240 yards (dummy)
3. 160 yards (dummy)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 80° to the left of #1
  
• #3 thrown on a line between the lines for #1 and #2
  

Poor man marks

Clumpy 12" grass on rough but mostly level terrain

#2 thrown onto a mound covered in underbrush and unmowed grass

Bright sun, negligible wind, temperature 45°F

Location: Power line right-of-way off East Village Avenue

Pass: Yes

Blind: 80 yard cold blind with orange dummies that were out of sight until dog was close to pole; line to blind was 30° to the right of mark #1

Notes: Laddie picked up all the marks unhesitatingly and uncued, and ran with great enthusiasm and speed on all marks as well as the blind. He seems to be having no difficulty with the longer marks he's now seeeing.

Laddie easily lined the blind, so no handling was necessary. I hope that letting him find a dummy to retrieve on the blind won't damage his responsiveness on whistle sits in our on-going training.

Lumi Test 1.6 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 80 yards (dummy)
2. 240 yards (dummy)
3. 160 yards (dummy)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 80° to the left of #1
  
• #3 thrown on a line between the lines for #1 and #2
  

Poor man marks

Clumpy 12" grass on rough but mostly level terrain

#2 thrown into high cover atop a mound covered in underbrush and unmowed grass

Bright sun, negligible wind, temperature 45°F

Location: Power line right-of-way off East Village Avenue

Pass: Yes

Blind: 80 yard cold blind with orange dummies that were out of sight until dog was close to pole; line to blind was 30° to the right of mark #1

Notes: Lumi picked up all the marks unhesitatingly and uncued, and ran with enthusiasm on speed on marks #1 and #3 as well as the blind. She was less enthusiastic about #2 for some reason — perhaps the length, perhaps the lighting or terrain? — but still completed it satisfactorily.

Lumi easily lined the blind, so no handling was necessary. I hope that letting her find a dummy to retrieve on the blind won't damage her responsiveness on whistle sits in our on-going training.

Laddie Test 1.6

Test: Three singles:

1. 80 yards (dummy)
2. 160 yards (dummy)
3. 240 yards (dummy)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 30° to the right of #1
  
• #1 and #3 thrown as an in-line

Marks thrown by training partner Barbara Wood, who used a duck call and also called "hey-hey" while throwing

Lawn covered with snow

Overcast, negligible wind, temperature 30°F

Location: Lake Needwood Park

Pass: No

Blind: 210 yard pinball drill, no retrieval article, with poles set up in advance between the line for #1/#3 and the line for #2

Notes: Laddie ran #1 nicely, but he fell apart running back on #2 when he was running past one of the blind poles. I realize now it was a mistake to place the blind poles in the middle of the course.

He was even worse on #3. The line for #3 was along a treeline, which had not presented a problem for Lumi. I set it up that way so that the mark for #3 could be thrown into the high cover along the edge of the field, satisfying the requirement for a cover change on #3. But as Laddie ran toward the fall, he ran straight and then scalloped into the cover three times to look for the dummy, of course not finding it until the third time. To his credit, he didn't waste time looking too long when he made the wrong entries, and came out again to run the correct direction each time.

When he made the correct entry into the cover, he picked up the dummy with great enthusiasm and raced back toward the start line, but as he ran, he became distracted by the woods and ran in and out of them repeatedly.

It's difficult finding a nearby location to run Test 1.6, but I can see now that trying to use a woodsy area next to a field, so that the dog runs along the treeline and then enters the woods at the end of the run, is nothing like a real mark and is clearly not the way to run this test.

This was Laddie's longest target blind ever, and he ran it reasonably well. His whistle sits at each pole were excellent, but instead of sitting on the whistle when he got offline between poles 3 and 4, he spotted pole 4 and veered back on course. Both he and Lumi do not yet always respond with a sit on the whistle, and in some situations will ignore the whistle or will seem to use it as information that they are off course. That needs to be repaired.

Lumi and Laddie have both been showing since the snowfall that they have difficulty picking articles up promptly when the articles are lying in snow. This would seem to be a good thing for us to work on in a separate drill. If they can develop high reliability for pick-ups that are currently difficult, that may enhance their pick-ups of ducks later.

Lumi Test 1.6

Test: Three singles:

1. 80 yards (dummy)
2. 160 yards (dummy)
3. 240 yards (dummy)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 30° to the right of #1
  
• #1 and #3 thrown as an in-line

Marks thrown by training partner Barbara Wood, who used a duck call and also called "hey-hey" while throwing

Lawn covered with snow

Overcast, negligible wind, temperature 30°F

Location: Lake Needwood Park

Pass: No

Blind: 210 yard pinball drill, no retrieval article, with poles set up in advance between the line for #1/#3 and the line for #2

Notes: Lumi ran #1 and #3 nicely, and also ran the target blind nicely. Although I used a tight angle between the lines of the marks, she ran each mark straight and did not seem drawn to old falls. Similarly, when she ran the blind, she did not seem drawn to previous falls on either side.

However, she played with #2 before picking it up, and also became confused by one of the blind poles while returning on #2. I realize now it was a mistake to place blind poles in the middle of the field.

Lumi and Laddie have both been showing since the snowfall that they have difficulty picking articles up promptly when the articles are lying in snow. This would seem to be a good thing for us to work on in a separate drill. If they can develop high reliability for pick-ups that are currently difficult, that may enhance their pick-ups of ducks later.

Lumi Test 1.5 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 80 yards (dummy)
2. 160 yards (dummy)
3. 240 yards (dummy)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 60° to the left of #1
  
• #2 and #3 thrown as an in-line

Poor man marks with dog in sit/stay at start line

No duck calls nor pistol, just "hey-hey" as each mark was thrown

Low, clumpy grass covered with patchy snow

Bright sunlight, negligible wind, temperature 27°F

Location: Power line right-of-way off Snouffer School Road

Pass: Yes

Blind: 180 yard pinball drill, no retrieval article, 120° to the right of #1

Notes: Although this test was supposed to be relatively easy except for longer distance than previous tests, it ended up having a number of challenges:

• Rather than running on lawn, the dogs were running on clumps of grass covered by 3" of melting snow from yesterday.
  
• Because of the rolling terrain, none of the falls were visible from the start line. The dog had to pick up the dummy and run back over a rise before being able to see me waiting at the start line.
  
• Instead of the pyramid configuration I used for previous tests, #2 and #3 were in the same line for this test.
• Also breaking the pattern of previous tests, the dogs ran the longest mark last, which required them to run through the fall for #2 to get to #3.
• At 240 yards, #3 was one of Lumi's longest marks ever.
  
• Because these were poor man marks, the dogs had to wait in a sit/stay while I threw the marks. For #3, that was a five minute wait.
• The dummy had no scent and poor visibility against the patchy snow, so the dogs needed to rely entirely on sighting the lines to the falls to find each mark.
• When I would go out to throw, a large hawk would begin flushing and resettling in the trees about 30 yards behind the start line where the dog waited. Both dogs handled the distraction well.

Despite the challenges, both dogs performed the test and the blind with great enthusiasm and elegant simplicity.

Laddie Test 1.5 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 80 yards (dummy)
2. 160 yards (dummy)
3. 240 yards (dummy)

Configuration:

• #2 thrown 60° to the left of #1
  
• #2 and #3 thrown as an in-line

Poor man marks with dog in sit/stay at start line

No duck calls nor pistol, just "hey-hey" as each mark was thrown

Low, clumpy grass covered with patchy snow

Bright sunlight, negligible wind, temperature 27°F

Location: Power line right-of-way off Snouffer School Road

Pass: Yes

Blind: 180 yard pinball drill, no retrieval article, 120° to the right of #1

Notes: Although this test was supposed to be relatively easy except for longer distance than previous tests, it ended up having a number of challenges:

• Rather than running on lawn, the dogs were running on clumps of grass covered by 3" of melting snow from yesterday.
  
• Because of the rolling terrain, none of the falls were visible from the start line. The dog had to pick up the dummy and run back over a rise before being able to see me waiting at the start line.
  
• Instead of the pyramid configuration I used for previous tests, #2 and #3 were in the same line for this test.
• Also breaking the pattern of previous tests, the dogs ran the longest mark last, which required them to run through the fall for #2 to get to #3.
• At 240 yards, #3 was Laddie's longest mark ever.
  
• Because these were poor man marks, the dogs had to wait in a sit/stay while I threw the marks. For #3, that was a five minute wait.
• The dummy had no scent and poor visibility against the patchy snow, so the dogs needed to rely entirely on sighting the lines to the falls to find each mark.
• When I would go out to throw, a large hawk would begin flushing and resettling in the trees about 30 yards behind the start line where the dog waited. Both dogs handled the distraction well.
• This was also Laddie's longest target blind so far.

Despite the challenges, both dogs performed the test and the blind with great enthusiasm and elegant simplicity.

Lumi Test 1.4 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 60 yards (dummy)
2. 180 yards (dummy)
3. 120 yards (dummy)

Marks thown by Renee

Low cover (lawn), with long mark falling in a patch of high grass over a rise, so that dog could not see the mark while running to it, and could not see the start line from the fall

Wind 20 MPH (variable direction), temperature 35°F (dogs seemed energized), bright sunlight

Location: Black Hill Regional Park

Pass: Yes

Blind: 90 yards

Notes: Lumi did great on both the test and the target blind. She picked up every dummy and raced back to me, uncued and without hesitation.

Laddie Test 1.4 (pass)

Test: Three singles:

1. 60 yards (dummy)
2. 180 yards (dummy)
3. 120 yards (dummy)

Low cover (lawn), with long mark falling in a patch of high grass over a rise, so that dog could not see the mark while running to it, and could not see the start line from the fall

Wind 20 MPH (variable direction), temperature 35°F (dogs seemed energized), bright sunlight

Location: Black Hill Regional Park

Pass: Yes

Blind: 90 yards

Notes: Laddie ran this series twice, once before Lumi, then again after. Renee threw the marks for the first test, while we ran poor man marks for the second one. The first time, Laddie ran toward me after he picked up dummy #2, but then spun around about halfway back and ran back toward the fall. Renee thought that Laddie was having trouble seeing me in the glare, so I put on a white jacket for Laddie's second test. Laddie may have also been confused by not being able to see me when he first picked up the dummy on #2.

The second time Laddie ran the test, he did great, picking up every mark uncued and without hesitation, then immediately spinning around and running back.

Laddie also ran the target blind in both tests. The first time, instead of having Laddie run the whole course immediately, I had him run first from pole #3 to #4, then from #2 to #3 and then #4, and finally the whole course. The second time, I just had him run the whole course. His casts are not yet accurate: He spins around and starts running generally away from me, then looks for the next pole to run to. But these days he is instantly responsive on his whistle sits, waits in his sit until cued rather than auto-casting, knows the difference between "back" and "here", and is full of energy at all times. He's a joy to watch.

Laddie Test 1.4

Test: Three singles:

1. 60 yards (dummy)
2. 180 yards (dummy)
3. 120 yards (dummy)

Low, spiky cover, with several strips of high grass diagonally across every mark; we ran from a mulch mound to provide visibility of the marks

Wind 35-50 MPH (the marks were downwind from the start line), temperature 35-40° F

Location: Rover's Content

Pass: No

Blind: N/A

Notes: As in Lumi's test, Laddie detoured to the right and behind us on #2, then ran the mark nicely when I called him to heel and sent him a second time. If that had been the only problem, I'd have passed both of them on this test.

Also as in Lumi's test, Laddie overran the dummy on #3, then found it after hunting for a minute or so (see previous article about the distractions there). Although both dogs showed excellent perseverence and required no cueing to maintain their search until completed, they only pass the test if they run straight to every mark.

Unlike Lumi, Laddie had no trouble on any of his returns, picking up every mark without requiring a cue and running back the entire way for the delivery. Laddie was fast and enthusiastic both directions on every mark.

Lumi Test 1.4

Test: Three singles:

1. 60 yards (dummy)
2. 180 yards (dummy)
3. 120 yards (dummy)

Low, spiky cover, with several strips of high grass diagonally across every mark; we ran from a mulch mound to provide visibility of the marks

Wind 35-50 MPH (the marks were downwind from the start line), temperature 35-40° F

Location: Rover's Content

Pass: No

Blind: N/A

Notes: On #2, Lumi began by taking a sharp right and into the woods behind us. I called her back to heel, then sent her to the mark and she ran straight out. Since Laddie did exactly the same thing (see next article), I guess something tempting was back there.

On #3, Lumi overran the mark and continued straight to the barn. Again, Laddie did exactly the same thing on that mark when his turn came. It's possible that a training group was throwing birds near the barn yesterday or the day before, while the dummy we were using had no scent. In addition, pigeons are kept in a pen in that barn. I think in the future we'll avoid running marks in that part of the facility until the dogs are ready for that much distraction.

I gave Lumi no guidance on #3, and within about a minute, she found the dummy and ran back most of the way with it. But at 30 yards from the start line, she stopped and sat down with the dummy in her mouth, and had to be called repeatedly before she would come. Some possible explanations: the ground hurt her feet; the mound bothered her; the cold, stiff headwind bothered her.

I couldn't pass Lumi on this series because of the hunting on #3 and the stall on the return of #3. Although she didn't pass, she ran a nice series, picking up every mark uncued and running with enthusiasm and speed. Her performance on the 180 yarder, considering the long wait as I walked out to throw and then walked back to send her, was especially nice.