Saturday, November 12, 2011

Water handling, land marking

Rolling Ridge. Sunny, blue skies, 58 degrees, light wind.

Lumi is visiting my daughter Cookie for the next week,  so today it was just Laddie and me.

With overnight temps near or below freezing, and daytime highs of 40-70 degrees, I don't think Laddie will be able to train in water much longer this year. But the day seemed warm enough for one series today, anyway.

For the water series, I threw an OB to the left, on a line with a difficult water entry, a shoreline swim, and through a tight keyhole between a metal structure and the shoreline. Next I threw an OB far out to the right. Finally I threw three WBs out into the middle.

First Laddie picked up one of the WBs as a freebie. Next I sent him toward another WB, but when he got close, I blew WS and cast him to the OB on the right. Next another freebie WB. Next we ran the OB on the left as a blind, since the bumper has drifted out of sight from the SL. Laddie did not carry his casts well, wanting to pick up the last WB, but he didn't vocalize. Finally, I sent him to the last WB, by now drifted nearly across the pond.

Agree those give water retrieves, we ran only land. First, I threw three poorman triples, all lines featuring steep hillsides and most featuring strips of heavy cover.  Those were all thrown from near the SL, so at HT distances.

Finally, I went out, planted a blind, and threw a long triple while Laddie watched from the SL. I then ran him on the triple, and lastly, ran the blind.

Laddie nailed nearly every mark all day, including all three of the long ones. He was also on the way to lining the blind, but sat when I whistled.

Without being trivial, this was a day well within Laddie's abilities, resulting in a 100% success rate. Good practice, good for endurance, good for confidence.

LL&L

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