Double-T, Marks, Marks and Blinds

Today's schedule was the same as yesterday, both in terms of locations (Fair Hill in the morning, Oaks in the afternoon) and in terms of the sequence of activities:

• Series A. Both dogs, double-T drill
• Series B. Laddie, marks (60-80-100)
• Series C. Lumi, marks and blinds (100-120-140-160)
• Series D. Laddie, marks (100-120-140)

Series A. Based on a suggestion from Alice, I brought along some birds for use as reinforcers for the whistle-stop-on-return (WSOR) maneuver (known as disciplined casting transition, or DCT, in previous journal entries). I had originally planned only 2-3 WSORs, but when I saw their effect on Laddie and later Lumi, I changed the sequence on the fly to incorporate more of them.

The WSORs were run as follows:

1. Dog is returning toward SL with a dummy.
2. I blow WS. This could be at P, at Q, or as close as 20 feet from SL.
3. I throw a bird toward one side or the other of the SL.
4. I whistle recall.
5. As the dog approaches, I turn to face the thrown bird.
6. The dog delivers at heel.
7. I send the dog to the bird.

I also ran two variations of the WSOR. The first was WSOR-throw-WSOR-no-throw, in which I blew WS twice during the dog's return, and threw a bird while the dog was in the first sit. The second was double-WSOR, in which I blew WS twice and threw a bird to a different location each time the dog was in the sit. When the dog delivered the original dummy, the dog was then sent to each of the birds.

We did not run a third variation, WSOR-no-throw-WSOR-throw. I realized later that Alice had said that variation would be easier than the other two, but it turns out neither dog has had a problem with any WSOR (or, previously, DCT) variation that we have tried.

The double-WSOR was so exciting that both dogs took at least two WILs on the following send-out before getting the line right. The bird scent on the ground may also have been a factor, though blown minds seemed to be the main issue. While double-WSOR wasn't great for their accuracy, it seemed to crank up their motivation level higher than ever on the double-T drill.

Overall, the WSORs with birds and their variations seemed to improve nearly every phase of the dogs' performance: focus at the SL (especially on the later send-outs), speed on send-out (more noticeable with Lumi, since Laddie had showed only microscopic slowdown anyway), and speed of pick-up (more noticeable with Laddie, who likes to shop but did almost none of it today, whereas Lumi stopped shopping some weeks ago). It almost seemed that the dogs were disappointed when I did not cue a WSOR on a few of the returns.

The sequence both dogs ran today was as follows:

1. Thru to P2, WSOR
2. Thru to P2, WSOR
3. Thru to P2
4. WS at Q, over to Q3, WSOR
5. WS at Q, over to Q1
6. Thru to P2, WSOR
   
7. Thru to P2, WSOR-throw-WSOR-no-throw
8. Thru to P2
9. WS at P, over to P1, WSOR
10. WS at P, over to P3
11. Thru to P2, double-WSOR
12. Thru to P2, WSOR
13. Thru to P2
14. WS at P, right back to P2, WSOR
15. WS at P, left back to P2

Series B. Like yesterday, Series B was a sequence of six marks for Laddie, alternating birds and dummies thrown from three stations so that each throw had a different fall. Today's stations were 20 yards longer than yesterday's: 60-80-100 yards. Today's configuration was a pyramid. The stations were marked with a chair and two stickmen. Throws were angled back requiring Laddie to run past the thrower on the way out and on the way back.

After seeing the effect on WSORs on the dogs' double-T performance, I decided to try it on each of Laddie's marks this afternoon. After two retrieves — one bird and one dummy, each interrupted on the return with a WS, a throw of a bird, a recall for delivering the original mark, and a send-out to the thrown bird — Laddie was like a new dog. The remainder of the day, every return was a laser.

Series C. Like yesterday, Series C was a combination of three marks and four blinds for Lumi. The marks were all birds, the blinds were all orange dummies positioned at orange lining poles. I used WSORs with some of Lumi's returns, and may have seen some improvement in picking up birds, but it's hard to tell because Lumi was already getting pretty good.

The distances of the four blinds were 100-120-140-160 yards, in a fairly tight overall angle (less than 90°) in random order. The marks were thrown as various combinations of TTL, TAL, and TOL with respect to the lines to the blinds from positions marked with a chair and two stickmen. The sequence was:

1. Mark
2. Blind
3. Mark
4. Blind
5. Mark
6. Blind
7. Blind

Lumi was a bit confused on some of the send-outs on blinds, and in one case scalloped rather than holding the line she had been cast on, requiring a series of several casts to the same side to get her moving that direction. But those seemed like minor and normal problems given Lumi's inexperience with mixed marks and blinds, and I'd expect both of them to improve as Lumi gains confidence in our communication with one another.

Series D. Like yesterday, I ran one last series for Laddie with three marks thrown from the shortest of the four blind poles from Series C. A chair and two stickmen were placed where those three blind poles had been. The distances were 100-120-140 yards, with the shortest to the right and the longest to the left. The articles were bird-dummy-bird, and the throws were angled back.

The WSORs from Series B had seemed to work a miracle. Every return in Series D was a laser run at full gallop, never stopping to play, yet screeching to a halt when I would blow a WS. I did so on #1 and #2. On #3, I let Laddie come all the way to me, then threw a bird I had waiting as soon as he completed his delivery. I think throwing a bird with the WSOR is more reinforcing for Laddie — I'm not sure why that would be — but I also think it's important that he not be able to predict what specific reinforcer I have in store for him, since we won't be able to use a WSOR with a thrown bird in competition.

Double-T, Marks and Blinds, Marks

Today seemed an especially productive day of training, each dog getting exactly what that dog needed at this moment in the dog's development. The morning session (Series A) was at Fair Hill construction site, our permanent site for the double-T drill. The afternoon session (Series B, C, and D) was at the field next to Oaks Landfill, a field apparently rich in distracting scents and so useful for distraction-proofing.

The series were as follows:

• Series A. Both dogs, double-T drill on the 110-yard backline
• Series B. Laddie, short marks for distraction-proofing (40-60-80 yards)
  
• Series C. Lumi, marks combined with blinds (80-100-120-140 yards)
  
• Series D. Laddie, more short marks (80-100-120 yards)

Series A. This was our second session on the double-T drill. In an attempt to improve motivation, and also to give Lumi more practice lining straight to P2, I used a sequence of 14 retrieves with only two overs (we didn't pick up P1 or P3) and two backs.

In rereading Alice's suggestions for the double-T, I noticed that I had not been doing one thing she had suggested, occasionally calling the dogs back from a WS without casting them to a dummy. Today I included a couple of those in the sequence as well.

This was what I came up with:

1. Thru
2. Thru
3. Q1
4. Thru, then disciplined casting transition (DCT) on return
5. Thru
6. Q3
7. WS at P, then recall
8. Thru
9. Right back
10. Thru, then DCT on return
11. Thru
12. Left back
13. WS at P, then recall
14. Thru
    

As usual lately, I ran Laddie first with Lumi honoring, then put Laddie in the van to run Lumi.

LADDIE

Laddie didn't do too badly, but not as well as last time. He diverted to P1 on three of the intended "Thru's". He seemed confused and demotivated by the two recalls without a dummy. Since it seemed to be punishing, I think I'll save it in the future for things I want to discourage such as slipped whistles rather than when they're doing everything correctly. Today, he had no slipped whistles, as well as no WILs nor refused casts.

LUMI

Lumi also had no WILs for the first time at 110 yards, no slipped whistles, no refused casts. However, Lumi's send-outs continuously slowed down. The DCTs do not seem to be a problem for either dog, and may even be reinforcing, but recall without a dummy is a killer.

On #14, I decided to send Lumi, then as soon as she took a couple of steps, break into a run beside her as though racing her to P2. She perked right up and galloped the rest of the way, leaving me behind. I think I'll try doing this intermittently in the future with both dogs, any time I see one of them slowing down on send-outs.

Series B. I set up three stations at 40-60-80 yards (indent configuration, the 40-yard mark in the center) for Nate to throw from at the Oaks field to work on distraction-proofing his returns on marks. We placed a chair at the 40-yard station, stickmen at the other two. I then had Nate stand well in front of each station and throw on a sharp angle back so that the articles fell at the same level as the chair and stickmen. He threw three birds and three dummies in the following sequence:

1. A bird left to right at 40 yards
2. A dummy right to left at 60 yards
3. A bird left to right at 80 yards
4. A dummy right to left at 80 yards
5. A bird left to right at 60 yards
6. A dummy right to left at 40 yards

Laddie showed slight RG as he got close to me with the birds. Everything else was great. In particular, he never veered toward Nate or anywhere else offline on any of the returns.

Series C. This was Lumi's first drill combining marks and blinds, following a diagram suggested by Alice. While I put Laddie in the van, I asked Nate to make up a course with four blinds at 80-100-120-140 yards in random sequence and at various angles of his choice. Next I placed the two stickmen and chair for Nate to throw from, positioned so that Lumi would have at least one TAL, one TTL, and one TOL. We then ran the sequence:

1. Mark
2. Blind
3. Mark
4. Blind
5. Mark
6. Blind
7. Blind

Lumi did great. On the marks, she pinned every mark with no sign of RG. On the blinds, she had no slipped whistles, no refused casts.

Series D. Laddie did so well on Series C that I decided to capitalize on our success and run a similar drill at longer distances. I used the three shorter blind posts from Series C (80-100-120 yards), replacing the posts with the chair and stickmen. I had Nate throw bird, then dummy, then bird.

Laddie did even better in Series D than in Series B, with virtually no RG. As before, he did not run toward Nate nor any other diversion on any of his marks.

Holodeck Training

Holodeck Program
based on guidance from Alice Woodyard and Jody Baker

BEFORE OTHER TRAINERS ARRIVE

• Bring birds for solo training.
  
• Bring high-value treats.
  
• Both dogs:
• Two birds and two dummies on a long line for both dogs.
  
• Short poorman marks to two birds and two dummies over bird scent.
• White jacket.
• Put collars on both dogs.
  
• Load pockets: pistol, ammo, slip cord.

RUNNING LUMI

• No triples until Lumi is solid on a few doubles at group training.
  
• No running Lumi on a blind until we've progressed thru diversion drills in private training.
  
• Run long gun last.
  
• Use slip cord for flyers and honoring.
  
• Cue "sit, mark" before first throw of each series.
• Auto-whistle recall on the first two marks of each training day. Based on how Lumi does, consider switching to contingent whistle for the remaining marks of the day.

RUNNING LADDIE

• Evaluate whether Laddie can run some version of the set-up without going OOC. If not confident, don't run him.
• If I decide to run him, run him with dummies for a couple of weeks.
  
• No multiples, no blinds.
• Run shortest to longest as singles.
  
• Use slip cord for all marks.
  
• Cue "sit, mark" before first throw of each series.
• Auto-whistle recall on the first two marks of each training day. Based on how Laddie does, consider switching to contingent whistle for the remaining marks of the day.

RECORD KEEPING PER MARK

• Attempted break?
• Head swinging, before or after throws? Which throws?
• Did dog return uncued? Auto-whistle? Contingent whistle? Voice? Walk out?
• If the dog did not come straight back, why (for example, RG, parading, Super D, zoomies, diversion)?

AFTER GROUP TRAINING

• Pay for flyer if used.

Before Group Training

Each dog:

1. One poorman mark across elbow-high water. Laddie cheated thru narrows both directions (I made no effort to handle), Lumi went straight both directions without handling.
2. One poorman mark across shallow pond and into a clump of reeds.
3. One poorman mark thru high cover.

Great pickups, enthusiastic send-outs and returns by both dogs on all marks. Only exception was some hesitancy on both dogs' part to re-enter water on return from #2. Not severe, both dogs responded to "here".

Series A

This was run as a triple by some dogs, in other ways by others. The marks were as follows:

1. 70 yards thru high cover
   
2. 120 yards thru high cover
3. 210 yards across a channel, then thru a point of water with thick cover of reeds on the left

The configuration — pyramid:

• #1 was 30° to the right of #3
• #2 was 75° to the left of #3

LADDIE

Laddie, running as the first dog, ran #1, then #2 as singles with dummies. His ran straight to each dummy and picked it up immediately, then ran toward the thrower in each case. After I whistled and called repeatedly, he turned and then came straight back on the run. No parading, no visiting other stations.

LUMI

Lumi ran the outer marks as a double. The throws were #2 (the memory-bird), then #1 (the go-bird). Then she ran #3 as a single.

#1 was a pigeon flyer, #2 and #3 were ducks.

#1 fell on the far side of a channel, Lumi being one of only two or three dogs this happened to. She hunted around on the near shore, apparently hoping to find something to retrieve there even though she knew where the flyer had landed. Not finding anything, she swam across and retrieved the flyer.

She ran #2 beautifully.

#3 was one of the most difficult marks Lumi has ever run. I thought she did wonderfully, though it wasn't perfect. At the SL, she had trouble finding the thrower, but unlike previous training days, once the thrower waved and called hey-heys, Lumi was able to spot him and keep her focus on him. Once released, she ran straight toward the fall, entered the water into the channel as soon as she reached it, and swam across. She then cheated around the point, wading thru the shallows and the reeds on the left. Nearly all other dogs tried to do the same thing, and in some cases the handlers whistled them to sit and then cast them into the water. I didn't try that. Cheating got her off line and required a hunt for the bird, but she needed no help finding the bird. She came back the same way she came, again entering the channel without hesitation, this time carrying the duck. She dropped the bird to shake when she came out of the water, then picked it up and came running.

Lumi was on a slip cord only for the double, because of the flyer. She did not attempt to break on any of the marks, and showed no hint of RG with any of the birds.

Between Series A and B

During the lunch break, I discussed Laddie's behavior after picking up dummies with one of the other trainers. He grabbed three bumpers and a pistol, and we walked to a nearby field to try an experiment. As I handled Laddie, Charlie threw walking singles:

• At 50 yards, right to left, straight across rather than angling in or back
• At 75 yards, left to right, angling slightly back
• At 100 yards, right to left, with a sharp angle back

On the first throw, Laddie came straight back to me. On the second, Laddie took one step toward Charlie, then came running back. On the third, Laddie ran all the way to Charlie before turning to me and running back.

Charlie's observation: "Laddie's running toward the first white coat he sees."

Series B

This was another triple in a different part of the property. The marks were as follows:

1. 150 yards, at higher elevation than the SL and thrown into high cover, with woods 50 yards to the left
   
2. 170 yards, crossing a diagonal strip of high cover
3. 310 yards, thru standing water, thrown from a mound obscued by trees into open but sunken ground not visible until the dog cleared a small ridge 290 yards from the SL

The SL was also on a mound, and the configuration was another pyramid:

• #1 was 75° to the left of #3
• #2 was 45° to the right of #3

The sight line between #1 and #3 was a barn 200 yards from the SL, with several carpenters at work on the siding.

LADDIE

Laddie again ran as the first dog, and ran all the marks as singles with bumpers: #1, then #2, then #3.

On #1, he ran straight to the fall, picked up the bumper, then ran past the thrower toward the woods. I ran out to him, and even though he had turned and come running toward me, I slipped on his lead, took the bumper, and walked him back to the SL.

On #2, after a laser mark, Laddie ran away from the SL at first, circled around the cover, and then raced back to me with the dummy. I don't know if he was freelancing or cheating around the cover.

On #3, Laddie ran straight out, picked the dummy up immediately, and ran straight back. During his return, I maintained a near continuous series of recall whistles and voice cues. I believe #3 is the longest mark Laddie has ever run. I have no idea why only on this last mark of the day, Laddie came straight back with the dummy.

LUMI

Despite the distances, this was one of the easier triples we've seen with this group, and it seemed like a good opportunity for Lumi to try it as a triple. I had the marks, which were all ducks, thrown longest to shortest, then tried to have Lumi retrieve them in the reverse order.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out, but I don't think it was because Lumi had trouble memorizing all three falls. Instead, I think the problem was that she took her eyes off the long Gun after the gunshot (possibly because of echoes) and did not see the throw.

This did not happen with the other marks. Lumi kept her eyes on #2 until I turned to fact #1. Then she kept her eyes there until I sent her. She made the retrieves on #1 and #2 look easy.

When it was time to retrieve #3, she wouldn't look toward that Gun at first. I called for waves and noise, and then she began to stare out at the Gun, but when I tried to send her, she looked up at me. "Why are you sending me, Daddy? The guy hasn't thrown a bird yet." Then I asked for a silent re-throw, and Lumi did great on that last retrieve.

Though most people in our training group run the long bird first when they run it as a single, when Lumi was running singles, it made sense for her to run the long bird last.

But now that Lumi seems ready to run triples, but blew this one because she looked away from the long gun without watching the throw, it seems to me that it would make sense to have her begin running long guns first as singles. Once she begins to expect the long bird as a single and consistently keeps her eyes on the station until sent, we could then start combining the long bird with a second mark in the series as a double, or even with both other birds as a triple.

Double-T, Marks

Today both dogs ran their first Double-T drill, using our permanent course at Fair Hill in the morning. Then in the afternoon, we returned to the field next to Oaks Landfill with Nate and Bryan for a series of singles thrown by Nate for both dogs, a second series of singles thrown by Nate for Laddie, and a series of poorman marks thrown by me.

The day's series were as follows:

• Series A. Both dogs: Double-T
• Series B. Both dogs: Single marks at 60-80-100 yards
• Series C. Laddie: Single marks at 40-60-80 yards
• Series D. Both dogs: Poorman marks

Series A. After running both dogs in the T-drill with a 110-yard backline yesterday — Lumi requiring some shortening of the distance because of wrong initial lines (WILs) — today I felt it was time for both dogs to progress to the double-T.

The double-T is run on the same permanent course as the T-drill, to remove lining as a primary concern. Here's a diagram of the double-T layout with proportions recommended by Alice:



The colors came from Alice's diagram, but the labels are mine. I numbered P1-P3 like the bases of a baseball diamond, and used no Q2.

The distances are as follows:

SL (the start line) to P2: 110 yards (the backline)

P to P1, P2, and P3: 20 yards

Q to Q1, P, and Q3: 30 yards

I tried to come up with an easy sequence for the dogs' first experience with the double-T. This is the sequence I decided on:

1. WS at Q, over to Q3
2. Thru to P2
3. WS at P, over to P3
4. Thru to P2
5. WS at P, left back to P2
6. Thru to P2
7. WS at Q, over to Q1
8. Thru to P2
9. WS at P, over to P1
10. Thru to P2
11. WS at P, right back to P2
12. Thru to P2

LADDIE

I thought Laddie did well for his first experience with the double-T: no WILs, no slipped whistles, only one cast refusal.

On #9, he interpreted the right "over" as a right "back". I stopped him with a WS, recast "over", and he took a right angle in toward Q1. I stopped him as he neared Q1 with another WS and used a left "back", which took him to P1.

LUMI

Because Lumi is still learning to line to P2 on her send-outs, she continues to have several WILs per session, which lead to my using "no here" to call her back, then resending from several yards closer. While her lining is improving, she often is slow and halting on her send-outs, taking her time until she's certain that she's going the correct direction. Hopefully this problem will disappear once her lining skill improves to the point that she's no longer having WILs and therefore no longer getting called back.

Aside from the WILs, Lumi's performance was excellent: no slipped whistles, no refused casts.

After several WILs, I experimented twice with what initially looked like WILs to Q3 or P3 by not calling her back. As I suspected might happen, she self-corrected her line and headed toward P2 after 30 yards. Apparently she wanted to arc to the left, or possibly was using some visual cues to set her line, like a bowler using the marks painted on the alley.

To build motivation and give more practice lining to P2, I changed #9 to "Thru to P2". When Lumi arrived at P2 on #12, she looked around confused, and I suddenly realized there were no dummies there. I cued a come-in, WS at P, and right "over" to P1.

Series B. When we arrived at the field next to Oaks Landfill this afternoon, I set up a series of short singles for Laddie and then Lumi.

The series was intended to continue distraction-proofing Laddie by slowly increasing his distance for running in this field, filled with the scent of deer and other wildlife, after yesterday's runs of 30-50-70 yards here. I decided to have Lumi run the same course to give her an easy, low-mileage series.

Today's marks, thrown by Nate and videotaped by Bryan, were as follows

1. 60 yards, marked with a chair (a fairly fresh pigeon)
2. 80 yards, marked with a stickman (a recently defrosted duck)
3. 100 yards, marked with a stickman (another recently defrosted duck)
   

The marks increased in distance left to right:

• #2 was 30° to the right of #1
• #3 was 30° to the right of #2

All marks were thrown left to right.

LADDIE

Laddie's resource guarding behaviors increased today in comparison with yesterday's series. He stopped to roll on the bird during his return on #2, so I had Nate come in 30 yards closer on #3. After additional problems on #3, I threw the bird for him several times as soon as he returned as reinforcement for the return, intended to make completing the return more valuable to him in the future.

Here's a video of Laddie on Series B, videographed by Bryan:



LUMI

I took my time sending the dogs today after each bird was down, and Lumi started the series by taking off on #1 before I released her. She returned in good spirits on "here" and then ran the rest of the day without another break.

She pinned every mark despite the fact that the birds were not easily visible in the clumpy cover. Her returns were OK, but she took longer picking up the birds than I wanted. It did not look like resource guarding to me, rather being overly fussy about how to get a good grip on the birds. She acts the same way picking up other articles she has difficulty with, such as keys or a ladle. Perhaps we could improve her pickup speed by practicing little retrieves of difficult articles at home in the evenings, or with some short pile work with birds on a long line.

Bryan took a video of Lumi running Series B while also holding Laddie's lead. You can hear Laddie vocalizing and see the effect of his occasionally pulling Bryan's arm while he was trying to aim the videocamera:



Series C. Because of Laddie's poor performance on Series B, I shortened each of the marks by twenty yards, creating a series of 40-60-80 yards, and ran him again. In addition to shortening the marks, I was quick to whistle recall or call "here" for any change in speed or direction on the returns. I also reinforced the returns with food.

Laddie's performance was better than in Series B, possibly more owing to his earlier practice than the shorter marks. As Alice has mentioned, an important measure of long term progress will be whether Laddie performs well on first series in this field in future sessions, within increasing distances.

Based on today's experience, increasing from 30-50-70 one day to 60-80-100 the next was too big a jump. Given Laddie's performance today, I think we should continue running series at 40-60-80 again until he returns well on every mark without being cued, and then increase to 50-70-90 the next session.

Here's Laddie running Series C:



Series D. I had planned to discard one of our older ducks in the thick cover to the side of the field this afternoon, but I thought I'd run a few poorman marks for both dogs with the bird first. Lumi's speed of pickup improved during this series, and Laddie had good returns on these short distances. I was also pleased with both dogs' steadiness when honoring one another, neither dog breaking at any time.

Here's a video of Series D, the last training for today:

T-Drill with DCT, DD Combo-Picture, and Marks

Today, Laddie and Lumi ran their T-drills at Fair Hill in the morning. The we went out to the field next Oaks Landfill with Nate in the afternoon, so that Lumi could run her second combination-picture diversion drill (DD) and Laddie could run some marks:

• Series A. Laddie and Lumi T-drills
• Series B. Lumi combo-picture DD
• Series C. Laddie marks in the distracting Oaks terrain

Series A. We finally lengthened the T-drill backline to the full 110-yard distance recommended by Alice in her description of the drill. Laddie ran the drill at that length. Lumi, who has much less experience on our Fair Hill T-drill course than Laddie, ran at lengths in the range of 90-100 yards.

Today we added three more retrieves to the T-drill, for a total of 15. The purpose was twofold:

1. To increase the ratio of send-thru retrieves, without stopping the dogs at P, in order to improve motivation and speed up the send-outs
2. To introduce a new element suggested by Alice

The new element is a disciplined casting transition (DCT) maneuver as follows:

1. As the dog is on his/her way out on one of the non-stop send-thrus, pick up a spare dummy.
2. As the dog is returning with a retrieved dummy, blow a WS with the dog about 20 yards from the SL.
3. When the dog sits with the dummy in his/her mouth, turn and throw the spare dummy at 90° to the backline.
4. Call the dog to heel, take the dummy he/she is carrying, and send him/her to the spare dummy.

The DCT was appealing to me for several reasons:

• It adds a new challenge to the drill, which my dogs seem to enjoy.
• It increases the amount of WS practice the dogs get during the drill.
• It promotes generalization of the WS by introducing a new location and a radically different context.
• It adds extra non-stop retrieves to the drill, namely to the spare dummy, increasing motivation.
• It ramps the dogs toward future training in disciplined casting, in which the dog is handled while carrying an article.

The sequence both dogs ran was as follows:

1. WS at P, then right back to p2
   
2. Thru to p2
   
3. WS at P, then over to p3
4. Thru to p2, then DCT
5. Thru to p2
   
6. WS at P, then left back to p2
7. Thru to p2
8. WS at P, then left back to p2
9. Thru to p2, then DCT
10. Thru to p2
11. WS at P, then over to p1
12. Thru to p2
13. WS at P, then right back to p2
14. Thru to p2, then DCT
15. Thru to p2

I also sent the dogs pseudo-randomly from right versus left heel, using the following pattern:

RRLLLRRLLLRRLLL

LADDIE

No wrong initial lines (WILs), no slipped whistles, no cast refusals, executed the DCT correctly every time.

LUMI

Several WILs on longer backlines, corrected by "no here", sitting Lumi, walking toward P, calling her to heel at the closer point, and then sending her from there.

No slipped whistles, no cast refusals, executed the DCT correctly every time.

Series B. Lumi combination picture drill with piles and marks.

The course consisted of three poles eighty yards from the SL, with two white dummies at each pole. The poles were positioned as follows:

1. 30° to the left of #3
2. 30° to the right of #3
3. The center pole
   

Nate was positioned 40 yards from the SL to the left of the line to #3. Three times, he fired and threw birds right to left, over the line to #3.

The sequence was as follows:

1. Send Lumi to #2, #3, and #1 (right to left) so she will know where the piles were.
   
2. Nate throws mark, Lumi retrieves.
3. Send Lumi to #1.
4. Nate throws mark, Lumi retrieves.
5. Send Lumi to #2.
6. Nate throws mark, Lumi retrieves.
7. Send Lumi to #3.

For step #1, I decided not use "no here" when Lumi would take a WIL, and instead handled her to each pole, using 2-4 WSs and casts per pole. No slipped whistles, no refused casts, just wrong lines or scalloping.

Lumi lined every mark and every send-out to a pole after that, with the exception of step #7. On that send to pole #3, she veered to the fall from all Nate's marks. I blew a WS, cast her on an angle back, and she lined the pole from there.

Lumi showed an upbeat attitude and good speed thruout this series.

Series C. This series was intended as three marks, plus as many additional do-overs as might be needed if Laddie had any problems. The purpose of the drill was to continue reducing Laddies resource guarding (RG) when retreiving in the highly distracting terrain at Oaks.

The set-up consisted of three positions for Nate as thrower:

1. A chair 30 yards from the SL
2. A stickman 50 yards from the SL
3. A stickman 70 yards from the SL

Nate threw birds from each position in turn, all throws left to right.

To see how Laddie would do without a prompt, I used no whistle on any of the throws. Laddie grabbed each bird on the run and raced back to me. The only RG was head tossing that became wilder when he got close to me with each bird. He remained responsive to cues and maintained his enthusiasm. Yesterday, which was an improvement on the first time we trained on this field earlier tis week, we had to shorten the first mark and run each mark at least one additional time. Today, we didn't have to rerun any of the marks.

T-drill, Reverse Hip Pocket, Marks

Today we had two sessions, Series A in the morning, Series B and C in the afternoon:

• Series A. Both dogs: T-drills at Fair Hill with a 90-yard backline
  
• Series B. Lumi: Reverse hip pocket drill next to Oaks Landfill for Lumi
• Series C. Laddie: A double and four singles on the same course as Lumi's reverse hip pocket drill

Series A. The sequence for this morning's T-drills was as follows:

1. WS, left back to p2
2. Thru to p2
3. WS, over to p3
4. Thru to p2
5. WS, right back to p2
6. Thru to p2
7. WS, right back to p2
8. Thru to p2
9. WS, over to p1
10. Thru to p2
11. WS, left back
12. Thru to p2

LADDIE

No wrong initial lines (WILs), no slipped whistles, only one refused cast: Tried left back instead of right back on #7. I responded with a quick whistle, repositioned myself, cued right back again, and Laddie did fine.

Lumi honored while Laddie worked.

LUMI

WILs when I tried for too long a backline (BL) a couple of times. I'd shorten them up and then Lumi would do fine. Progression of ability to line correctly from various distances was:

• #1 — 70-yard BL
• #2-5 — 80-yard BL (which Lumi could not do yesterday)
• #6-10 — 85-yard BL
• #11-12 — 90-yard BL

No slipped whistles, only one refused cast: Tried "over" to p3 instead of left back on #11. I responded with a quick whistle, repositioned myself, cued left back again, and Lumi did fine.

Knowing that Laddie would break if I tried to have him honor, but wanting him to learn to honor both as good training and to save time, I put him on a tie-out. He sat or lay down most of the time, and received intermittent treats for doing so, but he also tried various strategies to get away from the tie-out. When he tried digging the stake up, I walked over to him and said "stop that" and he didn't do it again. Eventually, he tried barking. As soon as he barked, I put him on his slip lead and walked him to the van for the remainder of Lumi's session.

Series B. This afternoon we ran Lumi's first reverse hip pocket drill, which meant three doubles thrown by the same throwers to the same falls, but with three separate SLs.

The distances were as follows:

1. Nate at 120 yards, throwing left to right (memory bird)
   
2. Bryan at 80 yards, also throwing left to right (go bird)
   

The three SLs repositioned left to right, resulting in gradually tighter angles:

1. Bryan 30° to Nate's right, with Nate's fall well to the left of the line to Bryan, throwing birds
   
2. Bryan 20° to Nate's right, with Nate's fall still to the left of the line to Bryan but closer than #1, throwing dummies over bird scent
   
3. Bryan 10° to Nate's right, with Nate's fall just to the left of the line to Bryan, throwing birds
   

The first two SLs were preparatory doubles. The third SL was the actual reverse hip pocket.

We also had a stickman 60° to the left of Nate and 40 yards from the first SL, with slightly decreasing angles and increasing distance for SLs 2 and 3.

Lumi had no difficulty with any of these doubles. She did swerve around to the left of the short Gun on each of her send-outs and returns to the long mark, resulting in a fairly wide arc for the last mark.

Her pick-ups of the birds were also slower than they have been lately, which I interpret as mild resource guarding (RG) behavior. I attribute this to the fact that these birds have been in use for some time and may seem more edible than fresh birds, and also to the fact that we were working on dry, clumpy cover in a location that is heavily populated by deer and probably a great deal of other wildlife. Lumi may have found the location far more distracting than the locations we usually train in. It's also possible that the distracting influence of the stickman was responsible to some extent.

Series C. Without moving Nate and Bryan, Series C was a double and four singles for Laddie from the first SL of Lumi's reverse hip pocket drill. The sequence was:

1. A double like the one Lumi ran from the first SL with birds
   
2. Two singles, long gun first (my mistake), with dummies over bird scent
   
3. Two singles, long gun first (again, an unintended error), with birds

Laddie's marks were sensational lasers, and it was unnecessary for me to walk out to get him on any of them. But his pick-ups and returns showed a higher degree of RG than lately. I believe the same influences mentioned above for Lumi may have also been responsible for Laddie's increased RG.

I think we should plan on more training sessions at Oaks Landfill over the next few weeks. I'm not certain whether continued practice at Oaks will result in overall declining performance, as the dogs rehearse incorrect responses, or overall improving performance, as the dogs become habituated to the distractions. Hopefully their work will improve, and will help the dogs to deal with the even more distracting and exciting competition venues in the future.

Blinds with Stickman, T-drills, DD TOL, and Marks with Stickmen

Today we tried out some ideas I had for our new stickmen, that is, retired gun racks dressed in white coveralls. The goal was to try to help each of the dogs with specific issues:

• Lumi has a tendency to fixate on and be drawn toward distractions during blinds.
• Laddie has, or had, a tendency to visit other stations after picking up marks.

We ended up running a total of four series during the day:

• Series A. Both dogs: Triple blind with one stickman at Rolling Ridge (a new home development where Lumi ran triple blinds once before)
• Series B. Both dogs: T-drills with an 80-yard backline at Fair Hill (the new home construction site that's our permanent site for T-drills)
  
• Series C. Lumi: Diversion drill (DD), throws over the line to the pile (TOL) thrown left to right at Sundown Park
  
• Series D. Both dogs: Marks at 160 yards

Series A. I set up a triple blind for Lumi and thought I'd let Laddie try it, too:

1. 70 yards between two trees
   
2. 120 yards 30° to the right of #1, between two trees and across a small creek
3. 170 yards 45° to the right of #2, between two trees

The stickman was out 40 yards, 45° to the right of #3. The terrain was hilly, with low, dry, thick, clumpy cover.

LUMI

From watching more advanced dogs in group training, I thought she did well. She lined #1, took two left angle backs and a right back for #2, and three left angle backs for #3. She didn't slip any whistles, and seemed to be greatly enjoying the game.

LADDIE

On #1, he slipped a whistle, then quickly found the dummy. The same thing happened on #2. On #3, he responded to a whistle, took a left angle back, and raced the last hundred yards to the dummy.

Based on whistle sits, Laddie is clearly not ready for blinds despite his breathtaking performance.

Here's what I mean by breathtaking. I've watched dogs running blinds at group training many times, and today, Lumi looked like a good dog running a blind. Laddie looked like a wild race horse running a blind.

Series B. Based on Laddie's performance in our last T-drill with a 60-yard backline, I felt he was ready for an 80-yard backline this time. Lumi had had difficulty with her initial lines at 60 yards, so I figured I'd set up the course for 80 yards and then move up as much as necessary for Lumi.

I used the same sequence for both dogs, again emphasizing the left back:

1. WS, then left back to p2
2. Thru to p2
3. WS, then over to p1
4. Thru to p2
5. WS, then over to p3
6. Thru to p2
7. WS, then left back to p2
8. Thru to p2
9. WS, then right back to p2
10. Thru to p2
11. WS, then left back to p2
12. Thru to p2

LUMI

Lumi was unable to line to p2 from 80 yards, but interestingly, she was able to line to p2 from 70 yards, which was 10 yards longer than the 60 yard backline she was unable to line from in our previous session.

Lumi's only error in this sequence was that she interpreted #9 as an "over" to p1, possibly flash casting or possibly just not getting it correctly. I responded with quick WS, "over" back the other way, WS at P, and right back again. This time she took the cast correctly.

LADDIE

Laddie lined correctly from 80 yards on every send out. It was interesting to watch his eyebrows as sometimes, without turning his head, he checked left (I'd say "uh uh"), then right (again "uh uh"), and finally centered on the correct line ("good, that's it").

Laddie's only error in this sequence was that he tried to perform #9 as left back. I responded with "NO here", WS at P, and another right back. This time he took the cast correctly.

NOTES

• I've established a pattern for practicing send-outs from both heels that, combined with variations in what happens during the send-out, hopefully seems random to the dogs, yet is fairly easy for me to remember, so that I don't accidentally train a bias for one side. The pattern I'm using is two sends from right heel, then two sends from left heel.
• I'm continuing to use extrinsic +R on every retrieve, one or more of "crash" (leap up and kiss me), one or two happy throws, a short but rowdy game of tug, and/or a bite of food.
  
• Both dogs now seem fine with left back and need a bit more work with right back to get them balanced.

Series C. With Laddie in van, Nate and I ran Lumi in her first throw-over-line diversion drill (DD), with Nate throwing left to right at 30 yards, 45 yards, and 60 yards from the SL.

No WS or recast was needed in today's DD. The only problem was that on the last send-out, which was a send-out to the pile after Nate's throw at 60 yards, Lumi had a no-go and then a pop about 10 yards out. When I didn't give her any more information, she started prancing and backing up, as though she expected me to throw a tennis ball or something.

Apparently, this one time she forgot about the pile and/or thought that "back" meant to retrieve a thrown bird, and she knew there wasn't one out there at the moment. I called her to me, moved around a few feet in various directions, came back to the SL, and sent her again. This time, no problem.

Series D. With Nate set up with chair and pistol at 160 yards, I ran both dogs on various marks:

1. Laddie, double, birds (Lumi honoring)
2. Lumi, double, birds (Laddie broke when set up to honor, so brought back to van so Lumi could run)
3. Lumi, two singles, dummies
4. Laddie, two singles, dummies (Lumi honoring the remainder of the time)
5. Laddie, two singles, birds
6. Laddie, one single, dummy

For the first time, we used stickmen with these marks. One was 70 yards from the SL, 45° to the left of the line to Nate. The other was 100 yards from the SL, 45° to the right of the line to Nate.

LUMI

Lumi had no difficulty with any of these marks nor with honoring in this context.

LADDIE

Laddie showed low-grade resource guarding with all birds, though very little on some of them. On one of the #4 marks and also on #6, Laddie ran toward Nate after picking up the dummy, then turned toward me when I called "NO". For some reason he did not do this with the other dummy or any of the thrown birds.

Although Laddie did not go out of control, I'd rather he not continue rehearsing these incorrect returns, so I think we need to run him on shorter marks where he comes straight back every time, and then build distance from there.

Holodeck Training

Holodeck Program
based on guidance from Alice Woodyard and Jody Baker

BEFORE OTHER TRAINERS ARRIVE

• Bring birds.
  
• Bring high-value treats for Lumi during group work.
  
• Both dogs:
• 32-yard pile work to two birds and two dummies on long line.
• Bird-foot dril: orange dummies prepositioned lengthwise at 30 yards, a bird thrown to 15 yards on either side, retrieve a dummy, then the birds.
  
• White jacket.
• Lumi's collar.
  
• Load pockets: pistol, ammo, slip cord.

RUNNING LUMI

• No triples.
• No running Lumi on a blind.
  
• Run long gun last.
  
• Use slip cord for flyers and honoring.
  
• Cue "sit, mark" before first throw of each series.
• Auto-whistle recall on the first two marks of each training day. Based on how Lumi does, consider switching to contingent whistle for the remaining marks of the day.

RECORD KEEPING PER MARK

• Attempted break?
• Head swinging, before or after throws? Which throws?
• Did dog return uncued? Auto-whistle? Contingent whistle? Voice? Walk out?
• If the dog did not come straight back, why (for example, RG, parading, Super D, zoomies, diversion)?

AFTER GROUP TRAINING

• Pay for flyer if used.
• Borrow a thrower to run Laddie on an alternation drill.
• Run Laddie, and possibly Lumi, on T-drill at permanent site.

Before Group Training. To start the morning, we did three drills:

• Both dogs ran short poorman marks with five birds each (two pigeons, two ducks, and a pheasant).
• Laddie ran three additional poorman marks at 50-70-50 yards, dummies thrown to either side of a stickman.
• A little later, one of the other trainers threw two walking singles (dummies) for Laddie with gunshots, and carrying a bag of birds with her. The distances were 35 and 110 yards.
  

Lumi's did fine, with no dawdling on pick-ups nor any other sign of RG.

Laddie showed low-grade RG with the birds on the initial poorman marks, some snaking with the dummies on the second group of poorman marks.

But on the thrown marks, Laddie was a laser on both marks in both directions, fabulous pick-ups and deliveries with no snaking nor any other sign of RG.

Series A. Because some of the group was going to be competing in a Hunt Test the following weekend, this series was different from those we usually run with the group:

• All throwers retired behind holding blinds after throwing.
• The throwers did not wear white.
• The marks were shorter than we usually run.

Hunt Test marks usually include the throwers sounding a duck call, but we didn't use duck calls for this series. Also, no birds were available so we used white dummies.

Dogs ran the course in different ways depending on their level. Lumi ran it as follows:

1. 70 yards, the memory-bird of a double, thrown as a long throw into an unusually large patch of high grass
   
2. 50 yards, the go-bird of a double
3. 100 yards, a single run after the double

The configuration was a pyramid:

• #1 was 30° to the left of #3.
• #2 was 30° to the right of #3.

Lumi had no problem on the double or the single, except that on the memory bird, she ran thru the patch of high grass and needed help from the thrower getting back. It turns out that every other dog who ran that mark as a memory bird made the identical mistake, and many of them, including some advanced dogs, needed help.

Lumi did not attempt any breaks on the marks, nor while honoring the 50 yard mark as a single for the next dog while on a slip cord.

Series B. Laddie, who has been out of group training for several weeks, ran the same three marks as Lumi did in Series A, but as singles, shortest first, longest last. Notes:

• Laddie had no trouble finding any of the dummies.
• On every mark, he picked up the dummy immediately but then looped toward the thrower to run a few steps before turning toward me. On #3, I blew a WS. He did not sit, but turned immediately toward me.
  
• I ran Laddie, who was highly excited, on a slip cord for all marks, and he tried to break on #1 and #2. It's possible that the slip cord acted as a cue to attempt a break and that he would not have done so without the slip cord.
  
• In contrast to the last times Laddie trained with a group, today he did not attempt to run to any other station besides the one that was throwing, and did not stall, roll, or otherwise freelance on any return.

I had been advised not to run Laddie in group training because of the risk that he would go out of control and discover once again that doing so was rewarding. However, this was an easier series than those I usually set up with Nate and Bryan, which generally include birds, doubles, an longer distances. With today's set-up including no birds, short marks, and all throwers retired, this seemed like the ideal opportunity to begin to re-introduce Laddie to the high excitement of a group training event.

Series C. Lumi and Laddie both ran this series, in which dummies were again used, as singles:

1. 120 yards, thrown right to left in a keyhole formed by groups of trees on either side of the line to the fall
2. 140 yards, 45° to the right of #1, thrown left to right by a thrower obscured by the woods into an open area
3. 170 yards, 90° to the right of #2, thrown right to left by a thrower appearing to stand between two trees onto the other side of a road

For this series, the throwers wore white jackets and threw after gunshots, as is usual with this group.

LUMI

#1 was thrown too far to the left and behind the trees on that side, resulting in a big hunt. But Lumi persevered and needed no help. She ran #2 and #3 without difficulty.

Lumi, running with no slip cord, was highly excited for this series and released herself on all three marks when the "judge" called a number, rather than waiting for me to place my hand over her forehead and release her. Legal in competition, but not desirable.

LADDIE

Laddie had small hunts on #1 and #3 and came straight back with the dummy on both marks. On #2, the thrower, buried in the trees, used a long, flat throw, and Laddie had a big hunt. He persevered, and when he finally found the dummy, he picked it up and ran toward the thrower at first. I called a couple of times and suddenly he turned toward me and raced back, his body language seeming to say not, "OK, I'll let you pull me away from what I really want to do," but rather, "Oh, there you are, Daddy!"

Laddie, running on a slip cord, tried to break on all three marks, but again that may have been triggered by the fact that he was on a slip cord.

T-drill

With rainy weather since yesterday and group training tomorrow, I decided on a light training day today: the same T-drill for both dogs at Fair Hill.

For the T-drill, we used a 60-yard backline with one dummy at pole 1, one at pole 3, and ten at pole 2. As in our previous T-drills at Fair Hill, position P (the "pitchers mound) and all three poles were in the same positions we've used every time. The only thing that moves, to create different lengths of backline (BL), is the startline (SL). Thus the dog's line of sight on the send-out is always the same, toward a large, white, dead tree in the woods a couple of hundred yards beyond pole 2.

The benefits of this an be seen in the difference between Lumi and Laddie in running this drill at this location. Laddie, who has run this drill here a dozen or so times, rarely takes a wrong initial line (WIL) any more, at least not with a 60-yard BL. Lumi, who has only started running this drill in the last day or two, continues to take occasional WILs. Since this is not a lining drill, reducing and eventually eliminating the WILs enables us to concentrate on our handling objectives without having to correct for the WILs.

As Alice suggested a few days ago, we continue to use a retrieve sequence that includes send-thrus every other retrieve, with no whistle sit (WS). In addition, we're currently using no patternizing challenges (that is, repeating the same handling cue several times in a row and then switching to something similar but different). These changes from our previous sequences have improved Laddie's morale, and have also improved Lumi's morale over T-drills that we ran when Lumi was younger. It's unfortunate that I didn't know how valuable the send-thrus are in keeping up a dog's attitude about the drill. On the other hand, I wouldn't have invented the pinball drill if I hadn't been looking for a solution to Lumi's low motivation in performing T-drill, and I still feel that the pinball drill has been a valuable training tool for both dogs.

The sequence both dogs ran today was:

1. WS, over to P3
2. Back to P2
3. WS, over to P1
4. Back to P2
5. WS, left back to P2
6. Back to P2
7. WS, left back to P2
8. Back to P2
9. WS, right back to P2
10. Back to P2
11. WS, left back to P2
12. Back to P2

A description of how each dog did with this sequence follows.

LADDIE

Laddie slipped the first sit whistle of the day, reaching pole 2 and picking up a dummy. I walked out to meet him as he returned, slipped on his lead, and took the dummy. Then we walked together back to pole 2, and then all the way back to the SL, where I removed the lead and brought him to heel.

Thereafter, Laddie was letter perfect, not slipping another whistle not refusing another cast (that is, he responded correctly to every handling cue). I was especially pleased to see that he spun the correct direction on the three left backs and the one right back.

Laddie started with great focus and enthusiasm, which I felt declined slightly as the drill progressed, but it was not a great amount of decline and it did not cause his responses to decline in accuracy.

LUMI

Interpreted first left back as "over" to pole 3, first right back as "over" to pole 1. I used WS, then "over" to P, then walked closer and a bit to the side and re-cued "back". Lumi then responded correctly both times.

She also had three WILs, to which I responded with "no here", and in each case, she took the correct line on the next send out.

Lumi started the day with the best focus and motivation I've ever seen from her on a T-drill, which I attribute to here recent T-drills with send-thrus every other rep. Later in today's drill, she began to slow on her send-outs, then speed up after 20 yards. I don't think this was because of the WSs, since she was speeding up too early if that was it. I think it was the WILs, and once she saw I wasn't going to say "no here", she speeded up. I think that's good news, because as she learns the line of sight to pole 2 at our permanent training site for the T-drill, she'll stop having WILs and perhaps we won't see the slow-downs any more soon after that.

T-drill, Diversion Drill, and Singles

Today I ran both Laddie and Lumi on our permanent T-drill site at Fair Hill in the morning, Series A and B. We then returned to Fair Hill in the afternoon with Nate for Series C and D. Finally, for Laddie's last T-drill, we drove to a nearby power-line right-of-way for Series E. The day's series were as follows:

• Series A. Laddie T-drill, 90-yard backline
• Series B. Lumi T-drill, 90-yard backline
• Series C. Lumi diversion drill (DD), with Nate on the right side of the backline and throws away from the line (TAL)
• Series D. Laddie six 170-yard singles, birds and dummies
• Series E. Laddie T-drill, 70-yard backline

Series A. I had planned this as a T-drill for Laddie on a 90-yard backline with only three retrieves, but when Laddie spun the wrong way on left back, we spent some time using short retrieves to shape his left back.

Series B. I had planned this as a T-drill for Lumi on a 90-yard backline with only three retrieves, but when Lumi repeatedly took the wrong initial line, toward either pole 1 or 3, we spent some time shortening the backline to work on lining.

Series C. After Monday's DD TAL with Nate on the left side of the line to the pile, this was a DD TAL with Nate on the right side. Nate threw from 30, 45, and 60 yards from the SL. Lumi was flawless on every mark and every retrieve from the pile.

Series D. To help restore Laddie's motivation after a steady diet of T-drills, I had Nate throw six 170-yard marks for Laddie, with Nate standing in the same place and using a gunshot for all six:

1. Bird thrown left to right
2. Bird thrown right to left
3. Dummy thrown left to right (dummy over bird scent)
4. Dummy thrown right to left (dummy over bird scent)
5. Bird thrown left to right
6. Bird thrown right to left

Laddie was exuberant throughout this series, and his work was satisfactory but not perfect:

• Three times during the series, Laddie crept forward a few inches after the gunshot. Each time, used what I call a "time-in", that is, a mild time-out: I put Laddie on leash, walked him gently away from the SL, and stood quietly with him for 30 seconds. I then removed the leash and we returned to the SL, and I had Nate throw the mark again. Laddie did not creep after any of the time-ins.
• Laddie returned flawlessly with each of the dummies, showing no apparent confusion at the fact that they were dummies over bird scent.
• Laddie showed mild resource guarding (snaking, head throwing) with some of the birds. While it was unnecessary for me to leave the SL and would have passed a Junior Hunter or WC test, I suspect that in the added excitement of group training or competition, the RG would get worse and Laddie would not necessarily complete the return. Laddie has shown RG when retrieving birds from distance his whole life, and at times it has been much worse than today. I can't tell whether the overall trend right now is getting better or staying at a consistent level under particular conditions.

Series E. This afternoon I received an email from Alice suggesting that instead of reducing Laddie's number of retrieves in the T-drill, we should continue to do 12 retrieves but half of them should be straight thru to pole 2 without a whistle sit (WS), and we should avoid difficult, patternizing sequences for now. Alice predicted that those changes would restore Laddie's morale and I wanted to try it out, but we didn't have time before sunset to get back to our permanent T-drill course. So instead, we drove to a nearby power-line right-of-way, where the grass is maintained in low, thick clumps, and I set up a course with a 70-yard backline. We ran 12 retrieves, starting on a shorter backline to give Laddie a chance to learn where pole 2 was, then gradually moving back to the 70-yard SL by the fifth retrieve. The sequence was as follows:

1. WS, over to P3
2. Thru
3. WS, over to P1
4. Thru
5. WS, right back
6. Thru
7. WS, over to P1
8. Thru
9. WS, over to P3
10. Thru
11. WS, left back
12. Thru

On #11, Laddie took a right back instead of a left back. I stopped him with a WS, moved way to my left, again cued left back, and this time he did it correctly.

Laddie has been showing avoidance behaviors such as distraction at the line, slowed send-outs (by Laddie standards), and eating grass during the T-drill lately. These have been increasing as we have been increasing the number of retrieves per drill. Today, with the changes Alice suggested, I saw no avoidance behaviors until the #10, and they remained milder than on previous days.

Private Training: Blinds, T-drill, Marks, and Hip Pocket

Today we ran five series, two for Lumi and three for Laddie, all at Fair Hill construction site over a period of several hours, Series A and B solo, Series C, D, and E with Nate and Bryan:

• Series A. Lumi triple blind, open field concept
  
• Series B. Laddie T-drill, 80-yard backline, 12 dummies, patternizing on back spins
• Series C. Laddie on six marks, a double and four singles
• Series D. Lumi hip pocket drill
• Series E. Laddie T-drill, 80-yard backline, 7 dummies, patternizing on back spins

Series A. Lumi's triple blind today:

1. 90 yards, 30° to the left of #3
2. 130 yards, 30° to the right of #3
3. 200 yards
   

The course was a flat, featureless field where the orange dummies could be seen from the SL, and I used no lining poles. Since the orange dummies are difficult for a dog to see until the dog is close to them, the goal was to remove any visual targets, so that Lumi would continue to develop reinforcement history for depending entirely on my handling.

Lumi's performance seemed good, considering that various false targets were visible beyond each of the blinds:

• #1: two angle backs
• #2: three angle backs
• #3: an angle back, two overs, and two more angle backs

Lumi seems to enjoy her blinds and came running back enthusiastically on each retrieve.

Series B. Laddie's first T-drill today, an 80-yard backline as in previous sessions.

I decided to try the course with no poles at "first and third base" (positions 1 and 3) to see whether that would reduce the number of wrong initial lines from our previous session.

Wanting to increase Laddie's endurance, I added two more dummies from our previous session for a total of twelve, and set up some patternizing challenges:

1. Thru to pos 2
2. Thru to pos 2
3. WS at P, right back to pos 2
4. WS at P, right back to pos 2
5. WS at P, left back to pos 2
6. WS at P, over to pos 1
7. Thru to pos 2
8. Thru to pos 2
9. WS at P, left back to pos 2
10. WS at P, left back to pos 2
11. WS at P, right back to pos 2
12. WS at P, over to pos 3

Results:

• Fewer "no here" needed on wrong initial line than in previous session, whether because the lining poles had been removed from pos 1 and 3 or because Laddie would have trended toward more accurate initial lines anyway.
  
• #5: After the WS, Laddie tried for pos 3 instead of taking the left back to pos 2. I stopped him with a second WS, cued "over" to P, then left back. He spun the wrong way but ran to pos 2 so I didn't stop him again.
• #9: Laddie again spun wrong way on left back.
• #10: Laddie spun wrong way on left back for third consecutive time. At that point, we went to the side of the course near the SL and ran three short left back casts with Laddie pre-positioned in a sit 10 yards in front of me.
• #11: I again cued left back and this time Laddie spun correctly. Yay!

Although Laddie was responsive on all his WSs, after seven retrieves he began to be distracted at the SL. I decided to run only seven retrieves the next session.

Series C. Laddie on six marks, more than an hour after Series B. The same two stations were used for all the marks:

• Bryan at 80 yards from the SL
• Nate at 120 yards from the SL

Bryan was 45° to the right of Nate.

Each thrower threw a bird, then a dummy, then another bird. The sequence was as follows:

1. A double with birds, Nate as #1, Bryan as #2 (the go-bird)
2. Singles with dummies, first to Bryan, then to Nate; the dummies were thrown to land over the bird scent from #1
3. Singles with birds, first to Bryan, then to Nate

Laddie turned on the afterburners for these marks. He showed minimal RG for the birds, ran good marks, and delivered well.

Series D. Lumi's first hip pocket drill, run with the same two stations as Series C. The drill, suggested by Alice, consisted of three doubles, in each case first to the short mark, then to the long one. The SL moved to the right as we progressed thru the three doubles:

1. Same SL as Series C, with a 45° between the lines to the marks
2. SL moved to the right, tightening the angle to about 20°
3. SL moved to the right again, so that the following three points were in a straight line, forming a "hip pocket" double:

• The SL
• Bryan's fall
• Nate

Lumi had no difficulty with double #1, which was run with birds.

On double #2, which was run with dummies, Lumi began by running straight to Bryan's dummy, did not pick it up, and started to run toward Nate. I called for help from Bryan, and with seeming reluctance, Lumi returned to Bryan's fall. I called "give it" and Lumi finally picked up the dummy and delivered it. She had no problem retrieving Nate's dummy.

On double #3, which was run with birds again, Lumi had no difficulty. In particular, she ran both lines on a laser, showing no suggestion that she was confused by the hip pocket picture.

As usual recently, Lumi exhibited no sign of resource guarding with any of the birds.

Series E. Laddie second T-drill today, same 80-yard backline. Because Laddie seemed to be losing motivation with so many T-drill retrieves, I reduced the number of retrieves to seven. This was the plan:

1. WS at P, "over" to pole 1
2. WS at P, "over" to pole 3
3. Thru to pole 2
4. Thru to pole 2
5. WS at P, left back to pole 2
6. WS at P, right back to pole 2
7. Thru to 2

The intent was to get in some good quality T-drill work while reducing de-motivating factors:

• We would get the dummies at poles 1 and 3 out of the picture immediately, perhaps reducing stress by not having them as diversions during the rest of the drill.
• #1 and #2 would also give us a patternizing challenge to see if Laddie stopped at P even when I didn't cue it.
  
• We would make three of the seven retrieves non-stop, perhaps reducing stress by not having to WS and not having to take casts (and possibly getting them wrong) so many times.
• #3 and #4 would also give us a patternizing challenge to see if Laddie would then have any difficulty stopping on #5.
• We would ask for one left back and one right back to confirm Laddie's accuracy with both of them.
• We would end with a non-stop retrieve to make that Laddie's freshest memory of the T-drill, on the assumption that Laddie has more pleasant associations of non-stop send-outs then of those that require WSs and casts.
  

As it turned out, Laddie was completely responsive on all WSs, as he has been for some days, and he also went to the correct pole on all his casts. But as in the previous session, he spun the wrong direction on the first left back. Therefore, we took a remedial break of three short left backs between #5 and #6, then again cued a left back on #6, which Laddie took correctly.

Although Laddie seemed in good spirits, and his performance on #6 and #7 were accurate, by that time he began to show some loss of interest in the game. He began looking around when at heel, and he began chewing grass on his WSs.

I could try another 7-retrieve session, or reduce it to a 5-retrieve session next time. But instead, I think I'll reduce it to a single retrieve for the next two or three sessions, then really take our time increasing the number. The goal would be to quit before Laddie's ready to quit, when he's still having fun and looking forward to more, instead of after he's starting to lose interest.

Private Training: T-Drill, Diversion Drill, Marks, and Blinds

This afternoon the dogs ran four series, two for Laddie, two for Lumi. Because I was concerned with a possible drop in Laddie's motivation for training that might have resulted from a steady diet of T-drills, I had him retrieve marks with no handling for one series instead of two series of T-drills. The day's series were as follows:

• Series A. Laddie T-drill at our Fair Hill site
• Series B. Lumi diversion drill, for the first time with throws-away-from-line (TAL), also at the Fair Hill site
• Series C. Four 80-yard marks for Laddie, also at the Fair Hill site
• Series D. Lumi triple blind at Sundown Park

Conditions. Sunny, temps in the mid-60s.

Series A. Building on yesterday's success, for today's T-drill we lengthened the backline once again while staying with 10 retrieves. Today's T-drill was 60 yards from SL to P, 20 yards longer than yesterday. With six dummies at pole 2 and two each at poles 1 and 3, the patternizing challenge was as follows:

1. Thru to pole 2
2. WS at P, "over" to pole 1
3. WS at P, "over" to pole 1
4. WS at P, right back to pole 2
5. Thru to pole 2
6. Thru to pole 2
7. WS at P, "over" to pole 3
8. WS at P, "over" to pole 3
9. WS at P, left back to pole 2
10. Thru to pole 2

Laddie was responsive on every WS, which for us, is the primary criteria for success with these drills.

Laddie flash cast on #4 and #9, responding as if I were cueing "over" instead of "back". I have gotten into the habit of using all silent casts, and perhaps it's time I began adding verbal cues to the visual ones. On the other hand, maybe it would be better if I did not do that, so that Laddie would learn to be wait to make sure he's seen the whole arm movement before taking off.

When he refused (went the wrong way) on #4, I called him and resent him, and he took the cast correctly the second time. When he refused on #9, I did the same thing, but the second time, he made the same mistake. This time, I used a quick WS and tried to cast him back to P, but he took the "over" as an angle back and ran directly to pole 2, which was the correct target although I had planned to have stop at P first. I decided that OK for this situation.

Laddie headed for pole 1 or 3 instead of pole 2 on about six of the send-outs. Each time that happened, I called "no here" and he came cheerfully back. With an 80-yard backline and P 60 yards from the SL, the angles between the lines to poles 1, 2 and 3 were narrower than in previous versions of the T-drill, and I think that might be the reason for Laddie taking the wrong initial line more times than in previous versions.

Although Laddie was not perfect at this level, he may be ready for a longer backline again. But instead, I think we'll try increasing the number of retrieves to 12 for the next session, and if he does well again, then lengthen the backline of the session after that.

Series B. Lumi's first throw-away-from-line (TAL) diversion drill (DD). This drill was run, as in Lumi's previous DDs, with an 80-yard backline to a pole with a pile of white dummies and alternating between send-outs to the pile, and Lumi running marks of birds thrown by Nate on the left side of the backline. We used a total of four runs to the pile and three marks of various kinds of birds, at distances of 30 (pheasant), 45 (duck), and 60 (pigeon) yards from the SL.

Lumi apparently found this first experience with the TAL picture confusing, as shown by the following:

• After Nate's first and second throws and Lumi's retrieves of those marks, Lumi ran back to the old falls of those marks rather than toward the pile when sent to the pile. In each case, a single WS and cast were enough to redirect her to the pile.
• Lumi had about several no-gos, where I would say "dead bird" and she'd look toward the pile, but when I then put my hand over her forehead and said "back", she just stood there. In the past, Lumi has rarely had a no-go, so I'm not sure how to analyze it. But my assumption is that she was fixated on waiting for a throw from Nate and was confused by the send-out when she knew that Nate had not thrown a bird.
  

The good news was that Lumi was completely responsive to WSs when needed. The really good news, remembering the difficulty she had in the past of chewing birds instead of retrieving them, is that once again in this drill, she showed no sign of resource guarding the birds. She immediately picked each one up and delivered it.

Series C. Instead of another T-drill, Laddie got to run four 80-yard marks thrown by Nate:

1. Pheasant to the left
2. White dummy to the left, same fall as #1
3. Duck to the right
4. White dummy to the right, same fall as #3

Laddie showed some low-grade resource guarding on #1, Laddie's first experience with a pheasant, but no resource guarding of the duck. He also had no problem with the dummies over bird scent, and picked each one up on the run, returning with it immediately.

Best of all, Laddie was filled with enthusiasm and speed for this drill.

Series D. This was a triple blind intended to practice the concept of keyholes:

1. 100 yards with a large white pole from some sport on the left and a tree on the right
2. 120 yards between two trees
3. 160 yards at a diagonal between two trees; the trees were widely separated but the angle resulted in a narrow keyhole

The blinds were run left to right, with 30° angles from one to the next.

Lumi line the #1.

On #2, Lumi needed angle back casts first to the left, then to the right, to get thru the keyhole. Once thru, she ran straight to the blind.

Lumi started #3 on line until she was past both trees. She then veered left toward #2. She stopped on a WS and took an angle back cast to the right, but she caught sight of something white at 190 yards from the SL and ran toward that. When I stopped her on a WS, she was behind the #3 blind, so I called her toward me. It took three calls to convince her to come forward and away from what she was apparently certain was the blind. Once she came forward, I stopped her at 150 yards and cast her "over" to the blind. As soon as she took the cast, she saw the orange dummy and retrieved it.

Lumi's performance on our triple blinds remains enthusiastic and fast.

Private Training: T-drill

After returning from a long training day at Cheltenham, in which Laddie spent most of the time in his crate in the van not able to participate in the group activity, I brought him to our permanent T-drill training site for a T-drill session befoe returning home.

We again used a 40-yard leg from SL to P, and 20-yard legs from P to poles 1, 2, and 3.

The retrieval sequence was a repetition of yesterday's challenge as follows:

1. Whistle sit (WS) at P, "over" to pole 3
2. Straight to pole 2
3. Straight to pole 2
4. Straight to pole 2
5. WS at P, right back to pole 2
   
6. WS at P, over to pole 1
7. Straight to pole 2
8. Straight to pole 2
9. Straight to pole 2
10. WS at P, left back to pole 2

This time, Laddie not only performed perfectly on every WS, but also on every cast, compared to the previous day's flash cast on #5 that led to Laddie incorrectly picking up the dummy at pole 1 and a busted pattern on the remaining retrieves that day.

The only problem Laddie had with today's drill was that once on #5, and twice on #10, he took off toward pole 1 when sent toward P and pole 2. Each time, I responded immediately with "no here" and he quickly and cheerfully came back to heel.

A Matter of Concern. Normally, Laddie only has one speed: maximum. It may be my imagination, but when I was playing this session back in my mind, he did not seem to be running as fast and excitedly as he normally does. Possible explanations I have thought of:

• 9-1/2 hours in his crate in the van.
• An after-effect of the previous session's "leave it" sequence and the large number of WSs that followed.
• General malaise from the fact that he is running so few long marks lately.

I intend to keep taking Laddie with me when I take Lumi to group training, but in the future, I will make a point of taking him out for some kind of training activity every few 3-4 hours if the session stretches on as long as today's did.

I can't change the fact that I trained "leave it" to mean drop a retrieval article in the previous session, but perhaps I should not do it again. I don't know whether it would be best to use "leave it", or to go out and take it away from him (which would also be de-motivating against his sincere desire to retrieve), or to let him bring it to me even though it wasn't the article I had sent him to. I need guidance on this. Unless I hear otherwise, I think I will follow the practice of encouraging a completion of the retrieve once Laddie (or Lumi) has picked up an article, regardless of whether it was the one he was sent to, and even if I had previously cued "leave it" before he picked it up.

I do think it is time for Laddie to start getting more marks, arranging them so that they are long enough for him to stretch himself out in his exuberant way without a WS, but avoiding any factors that might lead to incorrect behaviors until the WS is reliable enough to depend on in those situations.

Holodeck Training

Holodeck Program
based on guidance from Alice Woodyard and Jody Baker

BEFORE OTHER TRAINERS ARRIVE

• Bring high-value treats for Lumi during group work.
  
• Both dogs:
• 32-yard pile work to two birds and two dummies on long line.
• Bird-foot dril: orange dummies prepositioned lengthwise at 30 yards, a bird thrown to 15 yards on either side, retrieve a dummy, then the birds.
  
• White jacket.
• Lumi's collar.
  
• Load pockets: pistol, ammo, slip cord.

WHEN THE OTHER TRAINERS ARRIVE

• Pay for last week's flyer.
  

RUNNING LUMI

• No triples.
• No running Lumi on a blind.
  
• Consider running long gun first, possibly with short guns retired, then short guns as a double (to be reviewed with Alice and Jody).
• Use slip cord for flyers and honoring.
  
• Cue "sit, mark" before first throw of each series.
• Auto-whistle recall on the first two marks of each training day. Based on how Lumi does, consider switching to contingent whistle for the remaining marks of the day.

RECORD KEEPING PER MARK

• Attempted break?
• Head swinging, before or after throws? Which throws?
• Did dog return uncued? Auto-whistle? Contingent whistle? Voice? Walk out?
• If the dog did not come straight back, why (for example, RG, parading, Super D, zoomies, diversion)?

AFTER GROUP TRAINING

• Pay for flyer if used.
• Borrow a thrower to run Laddie on an alternation drill.
  
• Run Lumi on a triple blind.
• Run Laddie on T-drill at permanent site.

Before Group Training. Both dogs ran three drills before the other trainers arrived:

1. 33-yard pile work on a long line, with two birds and two white dummies in the pile.
2. Bird-foot drill: 40' to three orange dummies prepositioned end-to-end, plus two white dummies thrown to 20' on either side of the line to the orange dummies with a 30° angle between the white dummies. Dog was sent to retrieve one orange, then both white dummies.
3. Bird-foot drill: Same as #2 and in the same location, except that two birds were thrown instead of two white dummies. Dog was sent to retrieve one orange dummy, then both birds.

On #1, both dogs picked up the articles and returned so immediately that I never used the long line.

On #2, both dogs lined and retrieved without help.

On #3, Lumi needed two "no here", Laddie needed one "no here", when they veered to the side instead of straight thru to the orange dummies. Both dogs were instantly responsive in returning to heel when called.

Series A. Lumi ran the same three marks as the other dogs in the group, but from a modified position intended to help her enter the water without having to be cast into it from distance. She ran three marks, the first as a single, the next two as a double.

The single was 130 yards thru a belly-deep standing pool of water. When first sent, Lumi veered sharply right to skirt the water. I called "no here" and she came back to heel. I then sent her again and she entered the water. While in the water, she veered right again but didn't get far off line. She had no other trouble with the mark.

The double was 180 yards with a short water crossing, and 160 yards with a wide, very shallow water crossing. Lumi had no trouble with the double, other than staying to the right side of the water on the 180-yard memory bird and then taking a sharp left across the water to get to the fall.

The retrieval articles were two pheasants and a duck. Though Lumi has little experience with pheasants, she showed no sign of resource guarding on any of the retrieves.

Lumi honored the next dog on a slip cord, and did not attempt to break.

Series B. Lumi ran the same double as the other dogs in the group, with the start line on a mound:

1. 160 yards (duck)
2. 110 yards (pheasant)

Lumi had no trouble on #2 (the go-bird), but when returning to the line, one of the other trainers teasingly spoke to her, talking about potato chips. I laughed and called Lumi to me, and she completed the delivery. But when sent on #1 (the memory-bird), Lumi took the line toward the old fall again. When I saw that she wasn't just avoiding water or some other factor in the terrain and was not going to turn on her own, I called for help and the #1 thrower called "hey hey". Immediately, Lumi seemed to remember the memory-bird fall and ran directly to it with no hunting. Lumi picked up both articles without hesitation and showed no sign of resource guarding.

Lumi honored the next dog on a slip cord, and did not attempt to break.

Private Training: Marks, Blinds, T-Drill

Today began with a session at the field training property in Cheltenham for Series A and B with Nate and Brian as throwers. The dogs and I then went out locally for Series C and D. The series were as follows:

• Series A. Two single marks for Laddie.
• Series B. A double mark for Lumi.
• Series C. A triple blind for Lumi.
• Series D. T-drill for Laddie with 60-yard backline and 10 dummies.
  

I laid out the course in Cheltenham as I did because I wanted to see how both dogs would do with pools of standing water in line with each mark. Since the dogs had been running thru those pools when rough-housing while being aired, I wondered if they'd also run thru them when running marks.

Conditions. Cloudy, low 40s, W wind 25-31 MPH, wind chill 32°.

Series A. Two single marks to Laddie:

1. 180 yards, thrown into high cover by Brian
   
2. 280 yards, thrown onto open ground by Nate
   

#2 was 30° to the left of #1.

Both throwers wore white sweaters, threw white dummies with streamers, fired a gunshot before throwing, and threw with the wind. Several pools of standing water started around 80 yards from the start line on the way to both falls.

Laddie skirted the water both times, hunted a little both times, and picked up both dummies immediately upon finding them. On #1, he turned turned and ran straight back. On #2, he ignored auto-whistle recall but when I called "here here here" he turned and came running back.

Series B. Same course as Series A, but run as a double. Nate at 280 yards threw a pigeon as the memory-bird, then Brian at 180 yards threw a duck as the go-bird.

On #1, Lumi skirted the water but went right to the bird. On #2, Lumi ran far wide of the water, then turned toward Nate but hunted initially on the side she was approaching from. Nate knew not to help unless I called for it, which I did not. After a short time, Lumi started hunting on the correct side of Nate, quickly found the bird, and came running back with it.

No sign of resource guarding on either retrieve.

Series C. Outside nearby Oaks Landfill, a triple blind:

1. 80 yards
2. 100 yards
3. 160 yards

Indent configuration:

• #2 was 45° to the right of #1
• #3 was 45° to the left of #1

Each blind required Lumi to go down into an arcing grassy trench and then up and out of it again, on different angle for each blind. As a result, each blind took several casts to keep Lumi on line.

On #2, Lumi veered right and took a left angle back into the trench.

On #3, she went into the trench on line but then veered left out of it and when I cast "over" to the right, she took a right back and stayed on the higher ground instead. After three tries, I called her to me, which brought her back into the trench. Then I cast her on a right angle back, which kept her in the trench but got her a little of line to the right. Finally, I cast her on a left angle back to get her out of the trench and to the dummy.

Series D. Laddie's T-drill, advanced slightly from previous session. Center "pitchers mound" P was in the same place as previously, as were poles 1, 2, and 3 at 20 yards from P. But the start line (SL) was pulled back 20 yards from previous session, so that it was 40 yards to P.

Today's patternizing challenge was as follows:

1. Whistle sit (WS) at P, "over" to pole 3
2. Straight to pole 2
3. Straight to pole 2
4. Straight to pole 2
5. WS at P, right back to pole 2
   
6. WS at P, over to pole 1
7. Straight to pole 2
8. Straight to pole 2
9. Straight to pole 2
10. WS at P, left back to pole 2

Laddie did fine on #1-4. He stopped fine on #5, and in fact on every WS all day, but on #5, he interpreted my right back cast as an "over" to pole 1. Surprised, I didn't sit him soon enough and he picked up the dummy at pole 1, then sat facing me.

I said "leave it" several times, he sat there watching me, then lay down, then came running toward me without dropping the dummy. I whistled him to another stop, again repeated "leave it" several times.

I saw the dummy seem to fall a little loose in his mouth and called "Good! Good! Leave it. Leave it." At last, he dropped the dummy, I said "Yay! Here!"

Laddie started to me on reflex, then started to turn back to reach for the dummy. I again said "leave it", and he came runnin to me without it. Big party when he arrived.

I saw no down effect on Laddie's motivation. However, the dummy was now out of place.

Instead of running #6 as planned, I decided to leave the dummy where it was and have Laddie pick it up last.

For the remaining send-outs, Laddie was reluctant to look at pole 2, and even if he was looking at it when I send him, he would invariably run to pole 1 or 3. I suspect that the headwind had picked up and become a factor, but possibly the out of place dummy was confusing him. Once or twice I called him back to me when he veered off, but the other times I used 1-2 WSs and cast him to the correct destination.

While this did not not allow us to practice the intended drill of patternizing on send-thrus, since Laddie stopped lining to pole 2, we did get in lost of high quality WSs, no slipped or even slow whistle responses, and no refused casts.

Today's drill was an increase in number of dummies to 10, and also an increase in number of WSs to about 15. It did not seem to be a problem. I saw no avoidance behavior, unless you count Laddie's avoiding the headwind.

Analysis. Thinking about this later, I decided that I made two incorrect decisions.

First, I should not have trained "leave it" to mean "drop what you are now holding", because while that might be a useful skill for most dogs, it is much more important that my particular dogs bring me the articles they are sent to retrieve than that they be able to perform the trick of dropping an article on cue. The risk is that I ended up with a "smarter" dog who is now slightly less driven to retrieve.

Secondly, once the diversion was on the field, I should have either sent Laddie to pick it up immediately, perhaps with a straight send-out and an "over", or picked it up myself if I didn't want him to profit from having picked it up when I didn't cue him to. Leaving it out there may have skewed the rest of the drill given Laddie's current training level. Even if I didn't do it immediately, once I had seen him having trouble looking at pole 2, I should have realized that something had changed and fixed it.

I hope no permanent harm came of this training error.