Hunt Test Training

Today we trained with Bob Hux and other trainers at Park Heights. Summary:

• Series A. Bob's land series (both dogs)
• Series B. Bob's water series (both dogs)

Series A. Bob set our land series up within a 120° angle, left to right:

• #4: 100-yard blind (black dummies), with a large tree on either side of the line to the blind, the closer tree on the right
  
• #3: 90-yard mark (pheasant), hand-thrown
  
• #2: 50-yard mark (pheasant), hand-thrown
  
• #1: 30-yard mark (pheasant), winger-thrown

LUMI

Lumi ran the series as three singles followed by the blind. She had no difficulty with the marks, but she slipped the first whistle running the blind, so I called her all the way back to heel. She then lined the blind, so I didn't find out whether she would slip another whistle.

LADDIE

Laddie crept on #1 and #2. In each case, instead of sending him, I brought him behind the holding blind, waited 10 seconds, then brought him back out and sent him. I'm not sure it taught him anything.

After noticing yesterday that Laddie tends to look all around him during his returns, even when he is returning on a direct line, today I decided to try to improve his focus on his returns. Whenever Laddie glanced away from me during a return, I whistled sit, then recall. This seemed to be effective, because Laddie's glancing away distinctly declined while running the series.

Laddie had no trouble getting to the blind, but he did not like carrying the soft, black dummy. I borrowed it so that we could practice with it at home.

Series B. Since Bob's water series required shore-handling skills that neither of my dogs has been trained in yet, but Lumi is more experienced with shore handling than Laddie, I modified the set-up separately for both dogs.

One thing I didn't need to change was the retrieval article: All the dogs retrieved white dummies.

For Lumi, #1 was a 30-yard land-water-land retrieve, and #2 was an 80-yard swim to a fall at the far edge of the pond. She performed well on both of them, including not attempting to run the bank on the return from #1.

For Laddie, both marks were open-water retrieves. #1 was 30 yards and #2 was 60 yards.

On #1, Laddie picked up the dummy, swam toward the thrower, and played with the dummy in the water. At my request, the thrower took it and threw it back into open water. Laddie swam to it and delivered it to me.

On #2, Laddie kept trying to square the nearest bank during his return, but each time he looked at it, I called "no here" and he continued to swim toward me.