Land and Water Training

Cheltenham

Note: Since today was Sunday, I brought the dogs to Cheltenham. I'm not currently running my dogs with the FT group, but I try to take my turn throwing with them while Lumi and Laddie wait in the van. In addition, we arrive early so that we can train before the other trainers arrive, and we stay late to train a little more after group training is over. Today, two of the trainers from the group also threw marks for Lumi and Laddie after the training was over, the first real marks the dogs have had since November.

Compared to the weather we've been having for several weeks, today was unusually warm, with air temps in the high 60s and water temps in the 50s (one of the trainers lent me a water thermometer). As a result, the group took the opportunity to run three LWL marks as their first series, though some of the trainers opted not to run their dogs on that series. In addition, I ran my dogs on two LWL retrieves as well, one before group training and one afterwards, to finish the day's work.

In the following description, Series A, B, C, and D were run before group training, while Series E, F, and G were run afterwards.

SERIES A. Land single and blind (Lumi, then Laddie)

The land single was a poorman mark at 100 yards. Lumi's blind was at 130 yards. Laddie's blind was at 200 yards.

SERIES B. Land double and blind (Lumi, then Laddie)

For this series, I planted a blind for Lumi at 130 yards and a blind for Laddie at 240 yards. Both blinds were unmarked CCDs.

I then placed two RLs (one per dog), loaded with weighted streamers and aimed right to left at pre-positioned ducks, at 70 yards and on a line to the right of the blind. Finally, with the dog waiting at the SL, I walked out 100 yards on a line to the left of the blind thru a stand of trees and threw a WD right to left onto a road that meandered roughly parallel to the line to the mark.

After throwing the poorman mark on the left, I returned to the dog at the SL, brought the dog to heel facing the RL on the right, and fired the streamer. I sent the dog to that mark on the right, then the poorman mark on the left. After running both marks, the dog ran the blind that had been planted for that dog.

SERIES C. Quickstop drill (Laddie only)

As planned, I ran Laddie on three quickstop drills (see yesterday's blog entry for description), at distances of 70, 100, and 120 yards.

His performance on other blinds, particularly the 270-yard blind in Series F later in the day, give me reason to believe that Laddie is already benefitting from the quickstop drills.

SERIES D. LWL (Lumi, then Laddie)

Normally, Lumi loves water and has historically been more dependable on water retrieves than Laddie. Today, the tables were turned.

Series D was the first water work for either dog in several weeks. The water temp was in the 50s, and Lumi has shown an affinity for colder water, even water with floating ice, in past years. I thought it was warm enough for both dogs to be comfortable in it.

To run Series D, I left both dogs at the SL (a lining pole) and walked around an inlet onto a peninsula, fired the pistol, and threw a WD left to right at 50 yards, so that the line to the fall would include a 30-yard swim. Then I walked back and sent the dog.

In Lumi's case, she seemed somewhat edgy about entering the water and squared the far bank. When she got to the WD, she shook off and then, instead of picking up the dummy and returning, she rolled on it. I called Here several times. Finally she picked up the dummy, carried it a few yards toward the water, dropped it, shook off again, and then started to roll on it again. For those familiar with Lumi, that was highly unusual behavior, and I was convinced that it would be a major struggle to draw her back into the water, if it would be possible at all. So I walked around, and when I got to the same side of the water as Lumi, she ran to me with the dummy. I took it, put her on lead, and took her to the van. I didn't sense that she felt punished, but rather relieved that she didn't have to re-enter the water at that time.

At that point I had a decision to make. If Lumi had that much trouble with the water, and Laddie had so much trouble with LWLs this last summer, was it smart to try him out on the same retrieve? On the other hand, isn't it important to know whether he can handle such minor adversity? My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to run him.

Watching Laddie's retrieve, I wondered whether something other than cold water might have been affecting Lumi. Laddie swam to the far shore, climbed out and shook off, ran to the dummy and picked it up, then ran back to the water and waded right in. As he pushed off to begin his swim back across, I fired my pistol, the same conditioned reinforcer I began using so successfully on LWLs a couple of months ago. When Laddie completed his delivery, I greeted him with enthusiasm, threw a couple of happy throws, and played some tug with him.

SERIES E. Two land singles and a blind (Lumi)

I had planned for Lumi to run the shorter mark first, but as it turned out, the first mark, to the right, was at 100 yards, while the second mark, at the left, was at 80 yards. Both marks were thrown left to right, and Lumi pinned both of them. Then she ran a pre-positioned blind at 110 yards down the middle, an OD marked with an SF. All retrieves were thru several strips of cover.

SERIES F. Two land singles and a blind (Laddie)

The first mark was on the left at 80 yards, thrown left to right. The second mark was on the right near the top of a hillside at 200 yards. I had placed a blind, an OD marked with an SF, at 200 yards down the middle, but Laddie spotted it after picking up the second mark and ran to visit the blind before circling around and completing his delivery, so there was no point in running that blind.

I put Laddie in the van and decided to have him run the same blind the FT group had been running in their second series. That blind was at 270 yards, an OD marked with an LP, thru a narrow keyhole formed by two trees at 250 yards.

Laddie remained responsive on all WSCs, including an Over that was nearly level with the blind. I had been concerned that Laddie would use scent to track the blind, since several other dogs had run it earlier in the day, but as it turned out he took a different route than any of the other dogs had taken. I'm glad my dogs are such good liners, and if this had been an event it would have been better for Laddie to take a line thru the keyhole, but in this case, I was glad that Laddie didn't track the other dogs, so that we had an opportunity to exercise his handling at good distance.

SERIES G. LWL (Laddie, then Lumi)

This was a 90-yard LWL including a 30-yard swim. I left the dog at the SL, walked around the water to fire a shot and throw a duck left to right, walked back, and sent the dog.

Laddie went first and ran a good-looking retrieve, showing no hesitation as he re-entered the water on his return with the duck. As I had earlier, I fired a shot as he pushed off and began swimming. After I fired the pistol, I threw a second duck to my side, and as soon as Laddie delivered his duck, I sent him to the second one.

Lumi went second. Again showing an uncharacteristic resistance to re-entering the water on her return with the duck, this time she only dawdled momentarily, then waded in. Since firing the pistol on LWL re-entries had seemed to act as powerful reinforcement for Laddie a few weeks ago, on Series G I did the same thing with Lumi. The effect was subtle, but Lumi seemed to perk right up when I did so, and after emerging from the water, she bounced up to me with her duck. I had thrown a second duck for Lumi when I fired the pistol, and she happily ran to it when I took delivery on her duck and sent her to the second one.

I doubt we'll have many more chances for the dogs to swim before next spring, if any. I was glad to have today's end on such a high note for both dogs. I should also say, a high note for me. Dare I say it, perhaps Laddie's problems with LWL retrieves is finally behind us.