Land Series and Practice with Obstacle and Keyholes

Zion Road

SERIES A. Hip-pocket double with blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

In a hip-pocket double, both birds are thrown the same direction. The go-bird, that is, the short bird that is thrown second, almost reaches the line between the SL and the thrower for the memory-bird.

For today's series, I used RLs, weighted streamers, and ducks for the two marks, and an OD for the blind.

The first mark was thrown left to right at 140 yards. The second mark was thrown left to right at 90 yards, so that the fall was just to the left of the line between the SL and the launcher for the first mark.

After the dog picked up both marks, the dog ran a 250-yard blind thru two keyholes formed by trees.

PRACTICE: Obstacles and Keyholes

I chose a location in which the line from the SL to a poorman mark (duck) included the following factors:

• Thru a narrow keyhole formed by two trees
• Over a small frozen puddle
• Over a dirt mound
• Into high cover

I placed the SL at three different distances from the fall of my throws: 15 yards, 25 yards, and 50 yards. At each distance, I sent the dog repeatedly, calling the dog back if the dog veered around any of the factors. If the dog took a direct route, but then veered coming back, I stopped the dog, walked to the dog, led the dog with the bird in the dog's mouth back to the fall, went back to the SL, and called the dog to me. I also repeated that if the dog veered again.

At each distance, I also used three throwing positions:

1. Almost straight away from the dog, so that I was almost on the line the dog would be running on
2. Left to right
3. Right to left

As a result of those combinations, by the end of the practice, each dog had had nine successful retrieves, maintaining a direct path both going out and returning, thru all of the factors.