- Series A. Solo, multiple target drill
- Series B. With Field Trial group, land series
- Series C. Solo, three easy water and LWL doubles
Laddie's grade: A.
Lumi's grade: A for apparent comprehension, but C for enthusiasm, and B for performance.
Lumi refused two casts to P1 when she was sitting in a clump of cover, just sitting there when I cued Over. Perhaps the terrain was uncomfortable on her feet, which often seem to unusually sensitive, causing her to avoid walking across terrain she apparently deems too prickly. In this case, I called her forward out of the cover, and then she took the cast.
Laddie's Recall. At one point, several of the trainers were running marks with their Lab puppies, while the thrower was throwing live pigeons for them one after another. While this was going on, Laddie escaped from the van thru the trunk at one point, and when he saw a pigeon thrown and a puppy going after it, he took off toward the pigeon. I realized it when he was halfway to the pigeon and called Here. He turned on a dime and came right back to me. I was pleased with his recall.
Series B. This was the only series run by the FT group today. One of the trainers had a range finder and gave me the exact distances. Left to right within a 90° angle:
- #2: 165-yard mark (duck), thrown from in front of a tree into concealing cover. The line to the fall was across a narrow channel, and a mound on the near side of the channel blocked the fall from view.
- #1: 172-yard mark (duck), thrown from under the branches of a tree into concealing cover on an uphill slope. The line to the fall was across a 40-yard marshy swath of swim-depth water and thick, high cover.
- #3: 184-yard blind (orange dummy), marked by a lining pole. The line to the fall was across the same marshy swath as #1, was also on an uphill slope, and ran between a mound and then the tree line for some woods on the right, and a small stand of trees on the left.
On the negative side, both dogs returned somewhat off-line on both marks, either to avoid uncomfortable terrain (Lumi) or perhaps out of a sense of curiosity and adventure (Laddie). I'm not sure whether such returns are a reason to stop training with the FT group again, and also whether I should expect the problem to get better on its own. My plan for now is to continue to train with the group, try to trigger such returns and use handling to address them in our private training, and see whether the problem gets worse on training days. If it continues to deteriorate, I guess we should stop participating again until we get it fixed.
I shortened #3 to 100 yards by leaving the dog at the SL on the mound, walking 80 yards toward the blind, and then calling the dog to heel. Laddie then handled relatively well to the blind, but Lumi did not, slipping whistles and refusing casts. The distance and uncomfortable terrain were too difficult for Lumi's current level of responsiveness. I received some excellent advice from a couple of the other trainers, advice I plan to take, but the bottom line is that Lumi wasn't ready for that difficult a blind.
Despite the negatives, over all I felt good about both dog's return to training with the FT group. I don't think it's practical to expect perfection from them, only to be careful that no bad habits get a foothold.
The Voice of Experience. One of the more Experienced Trainers (whom I'll call ET) ran the line for the first half of Series B, and had some interesting comments, as well as advice for various trainers. He was especially critical of my handling on Lumi's blind, but it was all constructive and highly useful. Some notes on the series:
- ET ran the line with a firm hand, simulating an event more than we usually do. He decided on running order, called dogs to the line, signaled throwers when to throw, called numbers, released honor dogs, and so forth. I appreciated it, because sometimes in training groups a lot of time is wasted between dogs, and ET didn't let that happen. I also appreciated the additional attention paid to event formalities: When he called Laddie and me to the line and Laddie rushed up onto the mound ahead of me, he said, "Get control of your dog," as I take it a judge would say. I'd rather hear it from ET and work on it than to hear it for the first time at an event.
- On #2, some of the dogs ran toward the thrower, then veered back out after they were around the mound and across the channel. Others stayed wide, then came in toward the thrower after they were past the mound and across the channel, which is what both of my dogs did. I hung around near the SL most of the time ET was there, and heard him say that the latter approach was preferable. I've forgotten his explanation of why, but it made sense when he was saying it.
- ET was helpful in pointing out alignment, footwork, and hand movement problems with several of the handlers, including me.
- One of my favorite suggestions from ET was telling several of those who ran before my dogs how to position themselves as the dog returned from one retrieve to be sent to the next one: "Back up, take the bird, step forward." When it was my turn to run first Laddie, later Lumi, I tried the idea out and liked it. It gives the dog a few steps of walking in the direction of the next retrieve and simplifies lining the dog up.
- ET jumped on anyone he saw move after blowing a WS prior to the actual cast. In some cases, a handler would shift one way, then cast the other.
- ET said that my whistles for the WS were too short and faint, given the high cover and distances. He suggested a stronger, more sustained whistle, which I'll try to begin using.
- Another trainer noted that I was using two verbals for the same visual angle-back signal, sometimes Over, sometimes Back. I'll try to fix that immediately, and use only Back, or no voice, when I cue an angle-back.
- ET said that I step back and swing my arms too far back when I cue, with the result that the dogs can't see my arms well and are primarily relying on how I move my body. He suggested turning thumbs down to limit range of motion and stepping slightly forward rather than back.
- ET felt I was making excuses for Lumi. "It's not about the terrain, she doesn't line straight far enough and she doesn't sit when you whistle." He recommended more lining drills, and then, when Lumi is lining well to 100 yards, a drill similar to the MTD I've been describing in this blog the last couple of weeks. He added a wrinkle I haven't used: Sometimes send the dog left or right, then handle to a different blind, rather than always sending the dog down the middle initially. He also didn't mention training with diversions (Q1 and Q3 in the MTD). I valued ET's suggestions: I think we should work more on both dogs' lining, and I think we should eliminate Q1 and Q3 until both dogs are solid on the MTD without them.
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