Steadiness, Retrieve Shaping, Shore Handling

In the morning, Ray joined the dogs and me for training at Sundown Park (Series A and B). After dropping Ray off at home, the dogs and I then returned to the creek at Brink for continued work on shore handling (Series C). In the late afternoon, Nate joined us for some additional retrieve shaping (Series D) at Oaks, where the fresh thick grass is now thigh high. Summary:

• Series A. Steadiness training with tosser (Laddie)
• Series B. Retrieve shaping with Ray throwing marks (both dogs)
• Series C. Shore training, Tool #2 (Here-LTW-W), Stage 1 (uncued) (both dogs)
  
• Series D. Retrieve shaping with Nate throwing marks (both dogs)

Series A. This was a continuation of last week's practice with a borrowed winger. With Ray operating the winger, Laddie had four retrieves with ducks thrown to the left, four to the right. I was pleased to see that he did not creep on any of them.

However, Laddie's retrieve fell apart in Series A. At the first retrieve, he wouldn't even pick up the bird. On the next 2-3 retrieves, he tried to carry the bird to the shade of a tree near the fall. I ran to him and had him return with all the birds to the SL, and his deliveries were good, no drops. But even by the eigth throw, I could see that Laddie was still feeling temptation not to return to the SL after the pick-up.

Lumi is already steady and doesn't creep, so I had her sit out Series A.

Series B. I've been trying to make it a practice to have a session of retrieve shaping every morning. I usually don't have the luxury of a thrower and need to use poorman marks, but this morning, Ray was there to help.

LUMI

Ray threw three marks (ducks) for Lumi:

1. 20 yards
2. 20 yards
3. 140 yards
   

Lumi had a slow pick-up on the first mark, so I ran out and took the bird away. She had excellent pick-ups on the next two marks. Everything else about all three marks was also excellent.

Instead of putting Laddie in the van, I had him lie on the grass in the shade of a tree. He made no effort to get up while Lumi was working, an unprecedented behavior from Laddie. I think it partially reflects improved understanding of how to honor, partially reflects that he was uncomfortable in the warm sunlight.

LADDIE

Ray threw five marks (ducks) for Laddie:

1. 20 yards
2. 20 yards
3. 40 yards
4. 90 yards
5. 140 yards

Laddie's marks, pick-ups, and deliveries were all excellent. He repeatedly tried to veer during his returns, perhaps seeking shade, but was instantly responsive to "no here".

Series C. Today's training at Brink creek went significantly better tha yesterday's. One reason was that my expectations were lower, so I did a better job of setting appropriate criteria. Another was that I kept one dog in the van while training the other.

I worked on Laddie's water handling first, then Lumi's. We made good progress. However, both dogs still want to cheat over to the shallow crossing. Also, Laddie plays with the dummy if it's not in deep water, possibly a delaying tactic because he doesn't feel comfortable re-entering the water.

I spent much of the time with both dogs thigh deep in the water. Even though the temp was in the 70s, the water was ice cold, which may have had a negative impact on our training.

In the evening, I found that I had a fever and chills all night, was better the next morning. I wonder if working in the cold water made me ill.

Series D. Working with Nate at Oaks, I ran each dog on three marks at 20-90-90 yards, #2 thrown from a mound. I ran Lumi first, Laddie next, watching for any flaws in their retrieves.

Lumi had one slowish pick-up on #2, but had an instant pick-up again on #3.

Laddie got distracted by something (I don't know what) and detoured on return from #3, but responded well to "no here".

It seems that our steadiness training with the tosser has also helped Laddie's creeping for hand throws. He was remained in place for the first of Nate's throws. On #2, Laddie crept a couple of inches and I called "pick it up" to Nate and pulled Laddie back from the SL. Nate then re-threw #2, and then #3. Laddie was steady as a rock on both of them.