Drills, Blinds

AM: Oaks Area 2

SERIES A. Remote casting drill (Lumi only)

See previous entries for description. For Series A, Lumi started 50 yards from SL, and a duck was pre-positioned 50 yards from SL. WDs were thrown at 45° angles to the line to the duck.

Lumi needed two Back cues to get on line to the duck.

SERIES B. Remote casting drill (Lumi only)

Same SL and dimensions as Series A, but in a different direction.

For Series B, Lumi needed several Back cues to get on line to he duck.

Analysis: Unlike Laddie with this drill, Lumi does not appear to be making fast progress in her learning. Presumably retrieving the unseen duck is not sufficiently reinforcing for responding correctly to the Back cue to cause those responses to improve, or the test's construction doesn't enable her to learn how to obtain that reinforcement.

In addition, based on Lumi's body language, she does not find the remote casting drill enjoyable. Perhaps as Alice Woodyard suggested with the offline drill, the RCD's high level of conflict — having to ignore the WDs and take a Back cast to an unseen article — has a cumulative demotivating effect.

This afternoon, I introduced a new drill intended to address these concerns (see below).

SERIES C. Triple blind (Laddie only)

The first blind was to the left, a duck at 170 yards placed midway between two widely spaced trees. The second blind was to the right, a duck at 180 yards placed in front of the back tree of a small stand of trees. The third blind was down the center, a duck at 210 yards placed in the open to the left of a small stand of trees.

Laddie's performance was excellent in most respects, but he slipped a whistle on each of the first two blinds, resulting in being called back to the line each time.

Analysis: Unlike Lumi, Laddie is continuing to slip whistles despite extensive practice on blinds. Presumably, retrieving the blind without first being called back to the line is not sufficiently reinforcing to extinguish the slipped whistles, or Laddie has not learned that he can avoid being called back by sitting when whistled.

Although Laddie handles better than many of the dogs I've seen qualify in Senior tests, his inconsistency on WSs would prevent him from succeeding at higher levels of competition.

Hopefully, the new drill I introduced this afternoon will help Laddie improve his consistency on WSs.

PM: Neighborhood Lacrosse Field

Both dogs, perhaps like all field dogs, tend to break down in their handling reliability when they have reason to think they know where the target is, despite the fact that much of Lumi and Laddie's recent training enables them to practice not making that mistake. In addition, because of the conflicting forces operating on the dog, the cumulative effect of these exercises may be demotivating, especially for Lumi.

To address those concerns, I invented the following drill for this afternoon's work with both dogs.

No-Target Drill

The no-target drill simply involves handling the dog in an open field with no retrieval objects.

In today's version of the no-target drill, I was primarily interested in introducing the game:

• Send the dog out from heel with Back.
• Dog can veer but not pop. If dog pops, call the dog back to the line, put the dog on the nearby tie-out, and switch dogs.
• After the dog goes out a variable, unpredictable distance (today in the range of 50-80 yards), blow WS, and when the dog sits, blow come-in whistle. As dog races back, throw 2" WD, and when dog retrieves that, play a short game of tug.
• If dog continues to perform correctly, give the dog three to five send-outs before switching dogs.

Analysis: When the dog responds correctly, the primary reinforcers are a race back to the SL, a happy throw with a 2" WD, and a short game of tug. The come-in whistle is strengthened by the primary reinforcers and becomes a conditioned reinforcer, and that in turn reinforces the WS and turns it into a conditioned reinforcer for the outrun. I believe that, given both dogs' personalities, the outrun is also self-reinforcing, so that the opportunity to continue playing the game is also reinforcing.

Notes on performance: Both dogs went thru a stage where they popped rather than continuing out. This is presumably because, even though both dogs have long known to go out on a blind until stopped, the no-target drill causes them to anticipate the reinforcers, beginning with WS, and they attempt to short circuit the outrun. But putting the dog on the tie-out without reinforcement when the dog pops enabled both dogs to learn quickly that only the outrun enables them to obtain what they desire — the runback, the happy throw, and the game of tug — and soon neither dog was popping any more. For what it's worth, Lumi figured that out a little sooner than Laddie.

I was pleased to see that both dogs seemed to adore this game. Once the popping stopped, both dogs were making their outruns at a full gallop, and Lumi was faster on both her outruns and her returns than I've seen her in weeks. Her speed and bounciness were full of joy. I'm glad to see her acting like that, because I have been starting to worry that Lumi's soundness was failing, as her performance seemed to be gradually slowing down the last few weeks. Her behavior on the no-target drill suggests that the problem hasn't been soundness, it's been motivation. This is consistent with Alice's analysis on several occasions in the past, though it's taken me awhile to figure out a drill that Lumi could learn from and still enjoy.

Over the next few days, I'll try increasing the range of distances, including outruns to 200 yards or more, and also gradually and unpredictably adding one or two casts before calling the dog back for reinforcement.