Handling Drill

Summary. The time demands of my new consulting position are limiting my opportunity to train with Lumi and Laddie. Yesterday, we had no opportunity to train, and today, we only had time for local training, using our new Multiple Target Drill (MTD) described below:

• Series A. In the morning, at the neighborhood lacrosse field, MTD at 50 yards (both dogs)
• Series B. In the afternoon, at Oaks Area 1, MTD at 70 yards (both dogs)

Multiple Target Drill. Both dogs, especially Lumi, can use some tune-up of their responsiveness to whistle sits and casts. In the past, I've addressed that a number of ways: with traditional drills such as the Double-T, and with cold blinds. Based on advice from Alice Woodyard, I understand that we should not return to the Double-T given the level the dogs are now training. As for cold blinds, I've found it difficult to establish a useful set-up. Either it's too short, and the dogs simply line the blinds, or it's too long, and one or both dogs is not responsive at those distances.

Today I invented a drill intended to practice and strengthen the WS and casting in a context where we can work at shorter distances as long as necessary, then gradually increase the distances. I've called it the Multiple Target Drill (MTD). Though similar to the Double-T, hopefully the design of the MTD overcomes the objections of using the Double-T with a more advanced dog.

The general concept of the MTD is as follows:

• We'll use a different location and/or direction alignment each session.
• For each session, we'll establish a start line (SL), where I send the dog from, and a backline (BL), the direction the dog is sent with the Back cue. In today's morning session, the BL was 50 yards toward a lining pole. In the afternoon, the BL was 70 yards, and I also included white dummies at the lining pole. In future sessions, the BL will gradually grow to 200 yards and more, and the lining pole will be eliminated as the dogs become comfortable lining in the direction sent.
• After placing the dog in a sit at the SL, I'll place two retrieval articles at the end of the BL, one to the left, one to the right, at various distances. Today, the articles were orange dummies and were 20 yards apart. In future sessions, I may use birds or other retrieval articles, and I'll use a wider separation.
  
• We'll use multiple diversions. Today , I used white dummies thrown left and right outward from the SL with the dog at heel. In future sessions, I'll add additional challenges such as:
• I may place the diversion articles further from the SL in the direction of the send out, and not necessarily symmetrically placed.
• I may use more diversion articles.
• I may use birds instead of or in addition to dummies.
• I may place stickmen in the course.
• I may introduce other factors, such as cover, mounds and other obstacles, hills, wind, scent lines crossing the BL, and water.
• In the morning session, I handled the dog to each of the orange dummies, then lined the dog to the two nearby diversion dummies. In the afternoon, I interspersed non-handling retrieves down the BL to the white dummies at the end of the BL with handling retrieves to the orange dummies, which I believe improved motivation for the handling retrieves. In the future, I'll follow the afternoon's practice, perhaps using a total of three white dummies at the end of the BL, so that the sequence will be non-handling, handling, non-handling, handling, non-handling. I'll still end the session with lining retrieves to the diversion articles, which the dogs seemed to especially enjoy.

Notes on Series A and B. Both dogs were more responsive and accurate with their handling in Series A than B. That may have been partially because of the ground surface — Series A was on lawn, Series B on calf-high thick, clumpy cover — and partially because of the extra distance. We'll continue to train in conditions similar to Series B until both dogs are fluent at that level before further increasing criteria.