Land Blinds

[Note: Now that I've taken on a second consulting assignment, and a 60-hour work week, my time is even more limited than usual. While I hope to continue training Lumi and Laddie, and plan to continue maintaining hand-written notes of our training sessions, I expect to fall behind at times in keeping this blog up-to-date. What has been happening recently, and what will probably continue to happen, is that I'll add the entries for several days at a time when I do get a break in my schedule.]

Zion Road

SERIES A. Triple blind (Lumi, then Laddie)

The first blind was on the right at 80 yards. The second blind was on the left at 120 yards. The third blind was down the center at 230 yards. All blinds were unmarked ODs.

The line to the 80-yard blind on the right converged toward the treeline of the woods adjoining the field on the right, and passing close to a pile of brush on the right at 60 yards. The line to the 120-yard blind on the left ran diagonally thru a keyhole formed by two trees, with the dummy in a section of high cover. The line to the 230-yard blind in the center went thru a section of about a dozen trees, both deciduous and conifer, across a dip on the terrain filled with rough cover, and for the final 70 yards up a hill. Difficulty on the 230-yard blind was increased because the line to that blind was on a narrow 15° angle to the line to the preceding 120-yard blind. Difficulty for all the blinds was increased because of a white pole at 100 yards on a line between the 80-yard blind and the 230-yard blind, which acted as a significant diversion, especially for the closer 80-yard blind.

By running the dogs on the old orchard adjacent to Zion Road, I was able to set up a challenging course that called for several whistles on every retrieve. In addition, as I started doing after our last group training on February 14, I've been keeping the dogs on a tight line to the blind, having them sit and recasting them as soon as they veer off the line. Despite all the additional handling, and despite my mindset of having the WO on a hair trigger, both dogs responded correctly to every WS and every cast, requiring no WOs during today's session.