Thursday, January 1, 2009

Land Series

[Note: I haven't been updating the training journal every day, but we've continued to train as usual. Today is typical of how our recent sessions have gone. As noted in a recent post, I've begun taking each dog out separately, since Lumi seems happier when I take her out alone.]

Riggs Road


When examining the satellite maps from my previous entry a couple of days ago, I noticed several large fields in the vicinity of Oaks and decided to explore. Yesterday, I came across a 60-acre field off Riggs Road, about ten minutes from home, that I'd never noticed before. The field is about 400x700 yards. The terrain is clumpy grass, not as smooth as a lawn but not high. The field is ringed with woods on three sides, and has what appears to be a private tractor graveyard at one end, where a residence is visible beyond the edge of the field. A "For Sale" sign hangs near the road, with an "Under Contract" notice attached. The size of the field lends itself to any number of training set-ups, but it's nearly flat and almost entirely devoid of features, with just an occasional clump of taller grass or a line of tire indentations to break up the monotony.

Click here for a satellite view of the Riggs Road field.

SERIES A. Land triple (Laddie)

My intent for this setup was to get a more precise handle on Laddie's reliability with whistle sits. I set up three blinds (ODs with SFs) within a 30° angle, at 100-150-200 yards. He lined the first one, and took one WSC each for the other two. I didn't feel it was a productive setup for our purposes.

SERIES B. Fan drill (Laddie)

Taking a suggestion from my mentors some time ago, I set up what I'll call a fan drill. I placed three LPs within a 90° angle, all at 180 yards. I placed three dummies (WDs and CCDs) at each LP. I then ran Laddie toward any of the piles, stopped him at a random distance out, and cast him to some other pile.

Laddie handled well during the entire drill, with one exception: He began popping on the last few send-outs, anticipating the WS.

I'm not sure this is a productive drill for our purposes. Laddie does not seem to have a problem responding to a WS when he knows where the blind is, and after the first two send-outs in the fan drill, he knows where all the piles are. It may be that he's still building reinforcement history for the WS and a reflex-like habit, and if so, that's worthwhile. But today, for example, he had a slipped whistle on Series C even though he'd had none on Series B.

I doubt the fan drill is harmful, so I guess we'll continue alternating it with land/blind series and see whether Laddie's WS becomes more reliable over all. Next time, I think I'll only place two dummies in each pile.

SERIES C. Reverse hip-pocket double with blind (Laddie)

For Series C, I used RLs, weighted streamers, and ducks for the two marks and an OD marked with an LP for the blind.

I planted the blind and set up the double while Laddie was in the van, then brought him to the line. The right mark of the double, the memory-bird, was thrown first, right to left at 200 yards. The left mark, the go-bird, was thrown second, right to left at 150 yards. The line to the memory-bird was just to the right of the shorter RL, that is, the line to the longer mark was in back of the shorter gun. As I understand it, that configuration for a double is called a "reverse hip-pocket". I think it's also known as "off the heels".

The blind was at 270 yards, on a line to the left of the shorter mark on the left.

I ran Laddie on the double first. He nailed the go-bird, and seemed to know where the memory-bird was when he came to heel on his first delivery. But as he ran to the memory-bird, he diverted to the shorter RL. He sniffed it for a moment, then completed the retrieve. I think that with more practice on reverse hip-pockets, Laddie will become less likely to divert to the short gun while running the memory-bird.

In retrospect, I think this would have been better practice for the reverse hip-pocket if I'd put out stickmen near the RLs, giving Laddie a better picture of the set-up.

As mentioned above, Laddie slipped a whistle the first time I sent him to the blind. It was his second WS, at 220 yards. I walked out, then resent him. He had good responses on the two WSCs of his second send-out.

Oaks Area 3

SERIES D. Triple land blind (Lumi)

The first blind was to the right at 80 yards, over a hump and a ditch and thru a keyhole formed by two trees. The second blind was to the left at 140 yards, over two humps, a narrow ditch, and a wide ditch. The third blind was at 120 yards in the center, over a hump and a ditch and past a small cluster of trees on the right.

Oaks Area 2

SERIES E. Reverse hip-pocket double with blind (Lumi)

Series E for Lumi was similar to Series C for Laddie, with these differences:
  • The memory-bird was at 90 yards rather than at 200 yards
  • The go-bird was at 60 yards rather than at 150 yards
  • The blind was at 140 yards rather than at 270 yards
  • The blind was to the right of the right RL rather than to the left of the left mark
Unlike Laddie, Lumi did not seem distracted by the shorter RL when running the longer mark, possibly because she's had a little more practice with the reverse hip-pocket picture.

SERIES F. Hike (Lumi)

This wasn't really a series, just something for Lumi's enjoyment. I gave her a duck to carry and we hiked around together in the field at Oaks Area 2 before getting back in the van and returning home.

No comments:

[Note that entries are displayed from newest to oldest.]