Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Handling Drills, Marks and Blinds

AM: Oaks Area 1

SERIES A. Remote casting drill (both dogs)

For Series A, the distance from SL to where the dog was cast from was 60 yards, and the distance from the dog to the pre-positioned duck was 80 yards. The two WDs were thrown at 45° angles.

SERIES B. Remote casting drill (both dogs)

Series B was identical to Series A, except that it was run in a different location and in a different orientation, and the distance from the dog to the pre-positioned duck was 60 yards.

SERIES C. Offline drill (Laddie only)

Series C used 80-yard segments, and again Laddie required only the minimum of a single WSC for each of the offline blinds. Laddie may no longer be learning more with additional work on this drill.

SERIES D. Two land singles and a double blind (both dogs)

Series D may have been the longest overall series of retrieves either dog has run.

The singles were "thrown" with RLs, streamers, and pre-positioned ducks. The blinds were pre-positioned ODs. A chilly 7 MPH breeze blew diagonally across the course, outward from the SL and right to left.

The first single was the left mark at 70 yards, thrown right to left. The second single was the right mark at 240 yards, also thrown right to left.

After the singles, both blinds were run. The first blind was 190 yards, and was to the left of the left mark. The second blind was 240 yards, and was between the first and second marks.

The first blind was intended to practice the concept of a blind in the center of a stand of trees. The first blind was planted in front of a tree, and the line to the first blind passed midway between two other trees in the same small stand.

The second blind was intended to practice the concept of a keyhole, and also to practice with increased suction on one side of the line to the blind. The keyhole was a pair of trees 200 yards from the SL. The course was intended to have extra suction to the left, in the following ways:
  • The RL and streamer from the first mark were only a few yards to the left of the line to the blind.
  • The left tree of the keyhole had added salience because it was an extension of the line to the throw origin of the first mark.
  • The left tree of the keyhole was surrounded by underbrush and had another tree a few yards to the left, creating a potential wrap.
In fact, when running the second blind, both dogs did veer to the RL at 70 yards from the first single, and when handled thru the keyhole, again veered left after passing the wrap.

Despite the requirement for the dogs to be handled at distances beyond 200 yards, both dogs remained responsive on all WSs and were accurate enough on their casts to require little handling on either blind.

Note on Training Schedule

During the morning session at Oaks Area 1, the total time for both dogs performing all retrieves was probably less than 15 minutes, but the overall session took more than three hours from the time we got out of the van to the time we were ready to leave. It involved a good deal of hauling gear around and setting up the courses for me, and it also involved a good deal of running around, wrestling, and exploring for the dogs. Hopefully a session like that is good for the dogs' conditioning as well as their learning of concepts and skills.

PM: Sundown Road Park

SERIES E. Remote casting drill (both dogs)

For Series E, the dog was cast from a position 80 yards from the SL, straight back to a pre-positioned OD 130 yards from the SL, while the two diversion WDs were thrown at 45° angles to the line to the OD. I prefer training with birds, because I believe the surprise of finding a bird provides a higher level of +R for taking the Back cast and ignoring the WDs than finding an OD, but I used an OD for this series because we didn't have any birds with us.

Based on today's drills, Laddie has pulled a little ahead of Lumi on the RCDs, requiring only a single Back cast on each of the drills. By comparison, in each case, Lumi interpreted the first Back cast as an angle back to one of the WDs, and required a quick WS and a second Back cast to the duck or OD.

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