Training with a Friend, a Group, and Alone

Summary

Today was a group training day at Cheltenham. Lumi, Laddie and I arrived early and ran Series A ourselves, and Gaby joined us and also had Buster run Series A. Then we all ran Series B and C with the group. When group training was over, Gaby and I took our dogs over to the big pond and ran some more retrieves designed for specific dogs. For Lumi and Laddie, that was Series D and E. On our way home, I stopped at the Oaks fields near home and ran Laddie on Series F in Oaks Area 2.

Cheltenham

SERIES A. Land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

This was a 150-yard blind, on a line similar to one Lumi and Laddie have run at least once before. The line to the blind was across a marshy area, then uphill and thru a keyhole formed by a tree and a mound. The blind was planted near the top of a rise.

Photo from Series A


Series A 150-yard blind

SERIES B. Land double and blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The memory-bird (duck) of the converging double was on the left, thrown with a winger left to right at 90 yards. The go-bird (duck) was 90° to the right, thrown with a winger right to left at 50 yards. Duck calls and gunshots were used for both marks.

The blind (OD) was at 40 yards, on a line 15° to the right of the right throwing station and placed just inside the edge of a wooded area.

The following photos are in the order the retrieves were run.

Photos from Series B


Series B 50-yard go-bird


Series B 90-yard memory-bird


Series B 40-yard blind

SERIES C. Water double and blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The memory-bird (duck) of the converging double was on the left, thrown with a winger left to right at 70 yards. The go-bird (duck) was 135° to the right, thrown with a winger from behind the SL, right to left across a narrow channel at 20 yards. Duck calls and gunshots were used for both marks. The go-bird was intended as a "breaking bird", meaning that the dog would have a strong tendency to break rather than waiting until sent. As a precaution, I held my dogs' tabs when the marks were being thrown, but neither attempted to break.

For Laddie, the go-bird duck splashed into the channel. For Lumi, it landed in the marsh on the far shore and immediately sank out of sight. Lumi swam across, climbed on shore, and stuck her face down into the water and grass to get the bird. She then dropped it on solid ground, shook off, picked it back up, and completed the retrieve. It didn't look easy finding and retrieving that bird, so I was pleased with her work on that mark.

The surprisingly difficult blind (OD) was at 40 yards, placed just inside an area of high cover a few feet to the left of the left throwing station. Intending to avoid unnecessary difficulty this close to a test (Lumi and Laddie are entered in a Senior text next Sunday), I ran them from a point along the shore closer to the blind, rather than from the original SL.

It turned out, however, that the primary difficulty for the blind seemed to be the placement of the dummy so close to the throwing station and just inside the area of high cover. Laddie ran right over the dummy and sat when I whistled, but since he was by then well into the high grass, he would not take a come-in cast, either because of poor visibility or because he did not believe that my cast would bring him closer to the blind. As he continued to refuse casts and got further and further from the blind, he was out of sight most of the time, and slipped whistles or refused casts repeatedly when he did become visible. He eventually swam across an inlet on the far side of the peninsula and began to hunt in the large area of high cover on the other side.

Interestingly, one of the other trainers had her Master dog, who is trained by a local pro, run almost the identical behavior sequence a short time later. It was helpful for me to see that even a dog known to be accomplished and well-trained could behave exactly as Laddie had in that situation.

One difference was that during her turn, the other trainer walked out, eventually getting right in front of the blind, and painstakingly handled her dog until he finally picked up the dummy. I was getting flack from one of the other trainers when Laddie went OOC, and the guy actually called another dog to the line while I was still walking out toward Laddie, so I didn't have the opportunity to have Laddie complete the retrieve.

When Lumi's turn came up, the guy told me I couldn't have Lumi run the blind until the other dogs had finished their turns. I insisted that we were preparing for a test and that she was going to run the blind after the double, and with the staunch support of one of the other trainers, I prevailed. When it was time for Lumi to run the blind, I was extra cautious. After she crossed the water, I stopped her at water's edge, cast her back, and then used the whistle again to stop her as soon as she got near the blind. Though she was even closer to the blind when she stopped than Laddie or the other dog had been when they stopped, Lumi, too, had difficulty spotting the dummy nestled in high cover only a yard or two in front of her.

The following photos are in the order the retrieves were run.

Photos from Series C


Series C 20-yard go-bird


Series C 70-yard memory-bird


Series C 40-yard blind

SERIES D. Water blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

This was a 130-yard LWL blind (OD). After Laddie and Lumi ran it, Gaby also ran Buster on this one. The line to the blind was from a few yards back from an angle entry, across a 30-yard channel, up an embankment, diagonally across a dirt road, diagonally thru several strips of high cover and past a large tree on the left, to the blind planted just inside a wedge of high cover. We did not use an LP but we did have a length of orange ribbon tied to grass at the location of the blind.

My intent was that the dogs would require handling on the far shore after they crossed the water, since that's something I want to work on with them, but none of the dogs required much handling.

SERIES E. Water blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

This was a 70-yard blind (OD), with a 50-yard shoreline swim and the blind placed on the hillside on the far side, requiring a diagonal uphill climb. Again, I wanted to focus on far-shore handling, but little handling was required.

Oaks Area 2

SERIES F. Double land blind (Laddie only)

To give Laddie a little more practice handling, I had him run two more blinds at a field near home. Although the blinds required running thru high cover and among trees, they did not present the factors of water and having other trainers around, which I think may be more important challenges for Laddie at this time.

In any case, the first blind (OD) was to the right at 80 yards. The second blind (OD) was 90° to the left at 120 yards.

Photos from Series F


Series F 80-yard blind


Series F 120-yard blind

Water Retrieves at Cheltenham

Cheltenham

Today, Lumi, Laddie and I ran one series at Cheltenham by ourselves, then trained with a friend named Jean for the rest of the session.

SERIES A. Water blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

Series A was a 100-yard blind run from a mound. The line to the blind crossed a road, then a ditch, then a 30-yard swim, then 10 yards to an LP. We ran this retrieve some months ago as a mark, and neither dog had difficulty with it today.

SERIES B. Single mark (Laddie, then Lumi)

Series B was a 150-yard mark, thrown right to left by Jean. The line to the fall crossed a channel and then a water-filled ditch.

Though not as long as many marks the dogs have run in the past, it was a fairly difficult line. Laddie did an excellent job. Lumi veered far left at about mid-point, then darted back to the right after she swam the ditch. She was unable to find the bird, however, and when her hunt seemed to be getting too far afield, I called for Jean to help. For some reason, when Lumi picked up the bird, she returned by the same out-of-the-way route that she had taken to the fall instead of coming straight back to me.

SERIES C. Water double (Laddie, then Lumi)

For Series C, Jean threw the 60-yard memory-bird on the right, then fired the 50-yard go-bird on the left,, left-to-right from a Bumper Boy. My intent for Jean's throw was for it to go across the channel and deep onto the far shore, but her first throw (for Laddie) landed in the channel, while her second throw (for Lumi) landed on the far shore near water's edge. The line to the 50-yard go-bird on the left included a 20-yard swim.

Both dogs took an excellent line to the go-bird on the left, and Lumi had a good return, while Laddie decided to roll in the high grass after he had come halfway back from the fall to the water.

My intent was that both dogs would run the memory-bird on the right as a channel swim, but Jean's throw for Laddie created a land-route most of the way to the bird. Lumi did run her memory-bird as a channel swim.

SERIES D. Channel mark (Laddie only)

Since Laddie had not had a channel swim today, I asked Jean to throw one last 80-yard mark for him in the property's stick pond. The retrieve also included a sharp angle entry. Laddie performed well on this mark.

SATELLITE VIEW OF TODAY'S SESSION

In this satellite view:

• Series A, the 100-yard water blind, is at the bottom left
• Series B, the 150-yard single mark with two channel crossings, is at the top
  
• Series C, the double, is in the center
• Series D, Laddie's 80-yard channel mark, is at the bottom right
  

View 20090904 Four water series in a larger map

SOME PHOTOS FROM TODAY'S SESSION


Series A, the 100-yard water blind


Series B, the 150-yard mark with two channel crossings

Land Double and Blind

Sundown Road Park

SERIES A. Land double and blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

Because the dogs had difficulty remembering the memory-bird on yesterday's convergent double at Cheltenham, I thought I'd use RLs, weighted streamers, and ducks to run another convergent double today while training alone at a park close to home where we've trained often in the past. In addition to the double, I set up a long blind that Laddie handled well on but that turned out to be too difficult for Lumi.

The first mark of the double was on the left, thrown left to right at 100 yards. The second mark was on the right, thrown right to left at 70 yards. The remote launchers, which are barely visible in the photo below, were even less visible in reality, and both falls were on lower ground on an embankment on the far side of the basketball court and were not visible until the dog reached the far side of the tennis court. Both throws were preceded by a gunshot at the SL.

After the dog picked up both birds of the double, I ran the dog on a 200-yard blind 45° to the right of the double's go-bird. Laddie ran the blind with little difficulty, handling well. I tried Lumi on it twice, and each time she ended up in the woods to the right and no longer responding to casts. Finally, I moved closer and into a more open starting position, and Lumi ran it as 140-yard blind without difficulty.

SATELLITE VIEW OF SERIES A

Here's a satellite view of Series A. The SL for the double and Laddie's 200-yard blind is at the top. Lumi's 140-yard blind is planted in the same place but her SL is in the open area.

The double was "thrown" with RLs and weighted streamers. The first throw, the 100-yard memory-bird, was thrown left to right. The second throw, the 70-yard go-bird, was thrown right to left. The result of the convergent throws was that the lines to the birds formed a tight angle, tending to erase the dog's memory of the longer memory-bird.


View 20090903 Land double and blind in a larger map

PHOTOS OF SERIES A


Series A's land double, showing lines to the 100-yard memory-bird on the left and the 70-yard go-bird to the right


Series A's 200-yard blind as run by Laddie

Land Blinds

Oaks Area 3

After a hard work-out yesterday, today the dogs just had a short session.

SERIES A. Triple land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind (duck) was to the right at 100 yards. The line to the first blind slanted across a downhill slope and went thru a diagonal keyhole formed by trees.

The second blind (duck) was in the center at 210 yards. The line to the second blind slanted across a downhill slope and then traversed several rises and drops in the terrain.

The third blind (chukar) was to the left at 50 yards. The line to the third blind passed close to a stand of trees on the left that had the potential of acting as a wrap, drawing the dogs around behind it, and also went thru higher cover than today's other blinds.

Both dogs are showing excellent responsiveness on whistle sits these days, and are becoming increasingly accurate on their casts. Laddie still tends to have too much latency on his sits, and Lumi still tends to scallop rather than carrying some of her casts. Those are things we have to keep working on.

A NOTE ON TODAY'S UNUSUAL SEQUENCE

In the past, I've tended to have the dogs run blinds in the order shortest to longest. The intent of running the 50-yard blind last today was to counter that usual practice. I had several reasons for that:

• To introduce an element of surprise, making the session more entertaining for the dogs.
• To help the dogs learn not to assume they could predict where the bird is, making them less confident they can guess, and making them more responsive to the whistle as the most reliable way to get to the bird as quickly as possible.
• To move in the direction that running a long, difficult blind predicts running a shorter, easier blind, rather than the dogs always finding that after any blind, a longer, harder one is coming up next.

However, I inadvertently worked against that third goal in today's setup by using a week-old chukar as the blind. The chukars were less pleasant than the ducks used for the other blinds, so in today's session, my goal of having the most pleasant blind come last was defeated by that mistake.


Series A Blind #1 — 100-yard blind slanting downhill and thru diagonal keyhole


Series A Blind #2 — 210-yard blind slanting downhill and across rises and drops in terrain


Series A Blind #3 — 50-yard blind past wrap and into high cover

Water Blinds, a Land Double, and Two Water Singles

Cheltenham

Today, Lumi, Laddie and I trained alone for Series A and B. Then a fellow I've met at several events, named Byron, arrived with his wife, Kathy, and their black Lab, and we trained together for Series C and D.

This post describes the series the way Lumi and Laddie ran them. Byron's dog, who's training for Junior Hunt Tests, ran different series.

This post includes photos of each retrieve taken from the start line, edited to show the retrieval lines. At the end of the post is a satellite view showing the approximate lines for all four series.

SERIES A. Triple water blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind (OD) was to the left at 30 yards, and exercised the dogs' ability to swim diagonally across a channel rather than squaring to the shorelines. The blind was several yards inland from water's edge.

The second blind (chukar) was to the right at 50 yards. This blind also involved angle water entries and exits, and also required handling on the far shore.

The third blind (duck) was in the center at 60 yards. This blind required the dog to swim between points on both sides. The blind was a few yards inland from water's edge.


Series A Blind #1 — 30-yard water blind


Series A Blind #2 — 50-yard water blind to mound


Series A Blind #3 — 60-yard water blind past points on both sides

SERIES B. Double water blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind (duck) was to the right at 140 yards. This was an LWLWL retrieve, with the dog out of sight when swimming across the further channel in both directions.

The second blind (chukar) was to the left at 140 yards. The line to this blind passed the point of a peninsula on the right.

Both blinds were planted well back from water's edge. I used LPs for both blinds, so no handling on the far shore was required.


Series B Blind #1 — 140-yard water blind over peninsula


Series B Blind #2 — 140-yard water blind past point on right

SERIES C. Land double (Laddie, then Lumi)

Byron and Kathy threw this double for my dogs. The first throw (duck) was on the left, thrown left to right at 80 yards. The second throw (duck) was 45° to the right, thrown right to left at 40 yards. Both birds were thrown with duck call and gunshot.

Because this was a convergent double, the line to the shorter throw, the go-bird, was only a few degrees to the right of the line to the longer throw, the memory-bird. As a result, the go-bird tended to erase the dog's memory of the memory-bird. Both of my dogs ran excellent lines to the go-bird (although Lumi overran it and had to hunt back for it), while running poor lines to the memory-bird, unusual for both of them in most doubles situations.

Photos of Series C, showing first the 40-yard line to the go-bird, then the 80-yard line to the memory-bird.


Series C Mark #2 of Double — 40-yard go-bird


Series C Mark #1 of Double — 80-yard memory bird, "erased" by go-bird

SERIES D. Two water singles (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first mark (duck) was to the right, thrown right to left at 80 yards. The second mark (duck) was to the left, thrown right to left at 80 yards. The lines to both marks involved angle water entries and exits, and both falls were set well inland from water's edge. Both dogs required handling on the second mark to the left.

Photos of Series D:


Series D Mark #1 — 80-yard water single on right


Series D Mark #2 — 80-yard water single on left

Satellite View

Here's a satellite view showing all four series. Clockwise from the top, the view shows Series C (land double), Series A (triple water blind), Series B (double water blind), and Series D (two water singles):


View Four Series 20090901 in a larger map

Easy Land Blinds

West of Zion Park

SERIES A. Double land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind (OD) was to the left at 110 yards:



The second blind (OD) was 90° to the right at 130 yards.:

Land Blinds

Rolling Ridge

On our first day back from Maine, with limited time for training, we still managed to get in a couple of retrieves:

SERIES A. Double land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind (OD) was to the right at 50 yards. The line to the first blind was thru a keyhole formed by shrubs.

The second blind (chukar) was 45° to the left at 100 yards. The line to the second blind passed close to a tree on the right at 70 yards.

Hilly Blinds

Greenville Junction

For today's session, we drove first to one location, then another. At each location, I left the dogs in the car while I set up the series. I took both dogs out, kept Lumi on a lead attached to my belt while I ran Laddie, then kept Laddie on lead while I ran Lumi.

All retrieves were with ODs, and the lines to all retrieves were thru high cover and uneven footing.

SERIES A. Double land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind was to the left at 40 yards. The line to the first blind was a downward slant across a steep, 45° slope and thru a keyhole formed by shrubs.

The second blind was to the right at 70 yards. The line to the second blind was on an old dirt road for 20 yards. The dirt road then curved around to the right, while of course the dog needed to continue straight rather than following the road. As the dog got closer to the blind, the treeline for a wooded area on the left converged with the line to the blind, which ended at the edge of the woods.

SERIES B. Double land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind was to the left at 60 yards. The line to the first blind was an upward slant across a steep, 45° slope and thru a keyhole formed by shrubs.

The second blind was to the right at 100 yards. As the dog approached the blind, a road on the left became a factor, converging with the dog's line to the blind and drawing the dog offline to the left.

NOTES. All four of today's blinds were too difficult for either dog to line without handling. Both dogs were responsive on all WSs and reasonably accurate on all casts.

Easy Land Blinds

Greenville Consolidated School (Maine)

SERIES A. Triple land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind was to the left at 80 yards. The second blind was to the right at 110 yards. The third blind was between the other two at 140 yards. The course was the center area of a running track, an easy surface of flat ground and low cover. The lines to the first and third blinds ended at the edge of a wooded section. The line to the second blind ran thru a 10-yard wide keyhole formed by a large tree and a sports field structure, ending on a slight up-slope in the open field. All blinds were ODs.

Both dogs showed excellent responsiveness on all WSs and good accuracy on all casts.

Standing and Running "Over" Practice

Depot Street (Greenville Junction, Maine)

SERIES A. Standing "Over" Practice (Laddie, then Lumi)

With dog in a sit/stay at 60 yards from the SL, I walked ten yards to the side and down a slope, and dropped an OD there, where the dog would not be able to see it until she was near the crest. I then walked ten yards back and dropped another OD there, where the dog could see it the whole time. Finally, I returned to the SL, leaving the dog in her sit/stay, and cued "Over".

I repeated this from both sides, so that each dog did one "Over" left to right and one "Over" right to left, both at 60 yards.

SERIES B. Running "Over" Practice (Laddie, then Lumi)

At another location, I set up a running version of the same drill:

1. I planted two LPs 60 yards apart, one as the SL, the other as the equivalent of P2 in a double-T drill.
2. I dropped one OD on the downslope of a hill 10 yards from the line between the two LPs, 45 yards from the SL.
3. I dropped a second OD on the upper level, 60 yards from SL but 10 yards to the side of P2 on the same side as the first OD.
4. After making sure that the dog was watching this last step, I tossed a WD in front of the LP at P2.
5. I ran the dog from the SL, lining the dog up on the LP at P2 and cueing "Over".
6. When the dog was almost 45 yards from the SL, I blew WS.
7. When the dog turned and sat, I cued "Over". The dog ignored both the WD and the second OD, and instead did a straight "over" to the crest of the hill, when the first OD came into view. The dog retrieved that OD to enthusiastic cheering.
8. As reinforcement, I sent the dog back out for the other two dummies as non-handling retrieves.

Again, we ran this drill to both sides. In this case, we used the same course but used one of the LPs as the first SL, then went to the other end and used the other LP as the second SL.

"Over" Refresher, Land Blinds, and Water Blind

Depot Street (Greenville Junction, Maine)

SERIES A. "Over" refresher

Series A was the same drill as yesterday, but in different locations in the same general area. Both dogs did better today, making the drill look almost easy, as I think it should be for these dogs.

SERIES B. Land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

This was a 140-yard blind (OD) across a flat meadow, easy for both dogs. We've been doing a lot of challenging work the last few days so I wanted the dogs to have a chance for an easy success.

SERIES C. Land blind (Laddie only)

This was a 190-yard blind (OD) on a different line across the same meadow. I decided to save Lumi from the physical stress and ran only Laddie on this one. Again, this one was easy for him.

SERIES D. Water blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

This was a 35-yard LWL blind with placement of the OD on a hill. Another easy blind for both dogs.

Land Blinds and Refreshing "Over"

Depot Street (Greenville Junction, Maine)

All of today's training was with ODs.

SERIES A. Double land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind of Series A was to the right at 90 yards. The line to the blind was thru a row of boulders placed five yards apart, and across a dirt road. The second blind was 60° to the left at 210 yards.

SERIES B. "Over" refresher drill (both dogs)

Over time, both of my dogs have increasingly begun to interpret "Over" as an angle back. With a hilly location to practice, I thought I'd take the opportunity to run each of the dogs on a drill similar to one once suggested to me by Alice Woodyard.

For each retrieve, I used the following steps:

1. Place the dog in a sit/stay on high ground some distance from the SL, which is also on high ground. For today's drills, the distances from SL to dog were 10-20 yards.
2. With dog able to watch but not necessarily paying attention, walk 10 yards to the left or right of the dog and drop an OD, so that it is on a downward slope on the other side of a crest from the dog. A cast to this dummy would be a left or right "over". The dog will not be able to see the dummy until she is near the crest.
3. Again with the dog able to watch but not necessarily paying attention, walk 10 yards further away from the SL and drop a second OD. A cast to this dummy would be an angle-back, on the same side as the first dummy. This dummy is visible to the dog from where she is sitting and remains visible as she takes the "over" cast.
4. Return to the SL and cast "over".
5. If the dog tries for the second dummy, immediately whistle Sit. When the dog sits, walk to her, slip on her lead, walk her back to the sit/stay position, again cue "sit", and go back to step 4.
6. If the dog takes the "over" cast correctly and picks up the first dummy, blow CIW and reinforce enthusiastically. I used praise and treats, though I believe the opportunity to complete the retrieve was the most important reinforcer.

If the dog repeats step 5 more than three times without taking the "over" cast correctly, I found that re-cueing "over" instead of walking the dog back to the original SL seemed to help the dog understand. But I don't want to encourage the dog to experiment, so most times the dog took the wrong line, I brought her back to the original sit/stay position.

NOTES ON "OVER" REFRESHER DRILL

• Based on previous experience training Lumi to respond correctly to "left" and "right" on send-outs, I decided not to approach the "over" refresher drill as a discrimination drill. I simply want a reflexive correct response to "over". In a few days, we may also practice angle-backs and angle-ins to maintain balance, but we won't mix them with "over" cues until the dog is fluent with "over" even at distances in excess of 100 yards. By fluent, I mean 100% correct responses with no hesitation.
• Both dogs had difficulty with today's drill, and both dogs made progress. In future sessions, we'll hopefully attain fluency at these distances and then gradually increase distance from the SL to the dog.
• Eventually, we'll hopefully get to a more advanced variation on this drill: I'll send the dog to one target straight ahead, then blow WS and cast the dog "over" to a second, hidden target. Meanwhile, a third target will also be visible in the angle-back position. This would almost amount to a double-T, though we would practice it in many locations, whereas the double-T is always practiced in the same location.
  

Traversing a Bowl and Overloaded Water Blinds

Depot Street

SERIES A. Double land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind was to the left at 50 yards. The second blind was to the right at 60 yards. The SL for both blinds was the end point of a bowl, so that the dog had to slant across a downhill slope and then slant across an uphill slope to stay on a straight line to the blind. The line to the first blind ended in front of one of a line of boulders. The line to the second blind passed close to a mound of construction materials on the right.

SERIES B. Double water blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind was to the right at 150 yards. The line to the first blind was between a point of the far shoreline on the left and an island on the right, then parallel to shore the last 50 yards of swimming. The blind was planted in front of shrubs 10 yards from water's edge.

The second blind was to the left at 160 yards. The line to the second blind was parallel to shore on the left the first 50 yards, then converging with the far shoreline on a sharp angle the last 50 yards. The blind was planted on a steep hill 15 yards from water's edge.

Series B was intended as overloading preparation for the Senior Hunt Tests both dogs will be running in a few weeks. That is, both blinds of the series were significantly more difficult than any Senior water blind I've seen.

Land and Water Blinds

Greenville Airport

SERIES A. Triple land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind (OD) was to the left at 50 yards. The line to the blind was thru high cover the entire way, and slanting uphill across an embankment to the road above us on the right for the second half of the outrun.

The second blind (OD) was at 110 yards, 45° to the left of the first blind. The line to the second blind was mostly thru high cover, and slanted uphill the last 20 yards.

The third blind (OD) was 130 yards, 90° to the left of the second blind. The line to the third blind crossed a paved road at a sharp angle.

Here's a satellite view of Series A:


View Triple land blind 20090819 in a larger map

Pond off Depot Street

SERIES B and C. Two water blinds (Laddie, then Lumi on each blind)

Series B was 140 yards run from the northwest edge of the pond, with a 130-yard swim and the blind (OD) planted on the hill 10 yards from water's edge. The line to the blind was past points on the left and right at 50 yards.

Series C was 70 yards run from the west edge of the pond, with a 50-yard swim and the blind (OD) planted on the hill 20 yards from water's edge.

It was interesting watching Laddie swim Series B. First he veered toward the island on the left, then took my cast toward the right to mean that he should swim to the shore on the right. When I whistled and cast him "Back" as he got halfway across, he seemed a bit incredulous that I was sending him out into that big expanse of water when he had points on both sides of him he could reach so much more easily.

Both dogs required two WSCs once they reached the far shore on Series C, and both dogs responded well to those WSCs. However, Laddie rolled in the sand for a few seconds once he got to the blind. Lumi didn't roll, but she did drop the dummy and stand over it for a few seconds after she had carried it almost to the water re-entry, and needed to be re-cued to pick it back up and complete the retrieve.

Here's a satellite view of Series B and C:


View Two water blinds 20090819 in a larger map

Roadside Land Blinds

Maine Route 15

Today's travels by van left little time for training, so as the sun lowered in the sky, we pulled over at a deserted field and got in a little training, anyway:

SERIES A. Double land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind (OD) was to the left at 80 yards. The 120-yard second blind (OD) was 75° to the right of the first blind. Both blinds made diagonal crossings thru strips of high cover. The line to the first blind was thru a slanted keyhole formed by large shrubs. The line to the second blind passed close to a large shrub on the left that could have caused wrap suction, pulling the dogs out of sight behind it. The line to the second blind ended in 20-yards of high cover, with the blind planted to the left of another large shrub.

Both dogs maintained their lines without noticeable influence by the shrubs, both dogs entered the sections of high cover without hesitation or prompting. Although the distances were not great, the variable terrain seemed to cause some veering off line, but both dogs were responsive to all WSs and casts.

Water Blinds

Depot Street (Greenville, Maine)

I asked the host of the cabins where we're staying for a suggestion on where we might do some water training, and his suggestion for that was as good as his suggestion of the local airport for land retrieves yesterday: a scenic lake about five miles from our cabin, used for a community event in May but apparently rarely visited this time of year.

On another gorgeous day, in as lovely a setting as we've ever trained in, here was today's session:

SERIES A. Double water blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind (OD) was to the right at 60 yards. We ran from water's edge and the blind was at water's edge, so the entire blind was swimming. The second blind (OD) was 135° to the left at 80 yards. We again ran from water's edge, but this time the blind was set several yards back from the water.

For the first blind, the dog swam parallel with the shoreline most of the way, creating suction to the dog's right. For the second blind, the dog swam nearly parallel to the shoreline on the left at first, creating suction in that direction in the early going, then converged on the far shoreline on the right, creating suction in that direction at the end of the outgoing swim.

I ran both dogs in tight corridors, and Lumi and Laddie showed nice responsiveness the entire session.

Here's a satellite view of Series A. Our SL was on the east shoreline. The first blind crossed the points of the "C" toward the north, and the second blind crossed to near the point of the teardrop toward the south:


View Double water blind 20090817 in a larger map

Land Blinds at a Rural Airport

Greenville Airport

Lumi, Laddie and I haven't been able to do any field work the last two days as we drove from our home in Maryland to Moosehead Hills Cabins in Greenville, Maine, our first vacation to this part of the country.

When we arrived, I asked our host for a suggestion of where we might do some field training. One of his ideas was the local airport. We've never trained at an airport before, but it turned out to be an inspired suggestion.

Weather conditions this morning were dry and mostly sunny, with temps in the low 80s. I was a little edgy driving around the airport for the first time, taking my van across some of the runways to get to a beckoning field, but no one seemed concerned and the property was filled with innumerable possibilities for interesting and challenging blinds.

Here was the series I came up with today:

SERIES A. Triple land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind (OD) was to the left at 60 yards. The line to the first blind was thru variable patches of thick, knee-high cover, crossing a dry ditch and then uphill, over a low crest (dog still visible), and to the edge of a scrubby wooded section.

The second blind (OD) at 100 yards was 45° to the right of the first blind. The line to the second blind was thru variable patches of thick cover, across two dry depressions and to another edge of the same wooded area.

The third blind (OD) at 230 yards was 30° to the right of the second blind. The line to the third blind converged with but did not cross an active runway, which was used by two private planes while we were training. The line to the blind was thru several areas of thin, high cover and ended at a runway marker, a thin pole with a flag.

Both dogs were responsive to all WSs and took casts with reasonable accuracy, Laddie as usual casting more accurately than Lumi. Laddie was his usual exuberant self, while Lumi paced herself in the warm weather but seemed to be having fun.

Hilly Blinds, Water Blinds

Cheltenham

SERIES A. Double land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

For Series A, the first blind (pheasant, no marker) was 60 yards across a slope (downhill to the left), thru a keyhole formed by a tree and a mound. The second blind (OD, no marker) was 180° from the first blind, 70 yards across a slope (downhill to the right).

Both dogs lined both blinds.

SERIES B. Water blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

Series B was a 30-yard LWL blind (OD, no marker), with the blind set back 10 yards from water's edge.

Both dogs had good pickups and returns, making no attempt to roll.

SERIES C. Water blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

Series C was the longest swim the dogs have ever done at Cheltenham, Laddie's longest swim ever, perhaps Lumi's as well. Series C was a 200-yard water blind (OD, marked with LP) as follows:

• 10 yards down a steep embankment
• 170 yards across open water, past a point on the right at 50 yards and converging with a peninsula on the left for the last 30 yards
• 20 yards up a hill to the blind

Laddie had a challenging swim out as a flock of Canada geese crossed his path, but he accepted WSCs and made it across within a reasonably tight corridor. Neither dog attempted to roll at the blind, and Laddie had a good water re-entry and return. Lumi needed several calls to re-enter the water after picking up the dummy, but was fine after that.

SERIES D. Land blind (Laddie, Lumi)

Series D was a 140 yard blind (pheasant marked with LP) across the edge of a bowl, crossing a slope (downhill to the right) and then climbing a slope on the diagonal.

Both dogs had excellent responsiveness on all WSs and casts.

Notes on Training Recall

[Here's a post I wrote on the PositiveGunDogs list in response to a question in which the poster asked whether to reinforce when her Standard Poodle "eventually" came back to her after chasing birds.]

On Aug 10, 2009, at 6:23 PM, Ann Sheltz wrote:

Should I continue to reward him big when he eventually comes back to me.

Hi, Ann. I'm reluctant to jump into this thread, because unlike some others, I don't believe that there is any straightforward way to train a solid field recall without aversives, at least for some dogs including my two Goldens. I have read and followed a great many instructions on how to do so, and my dogs do have exceptionally good and ever improving recall, but perfectly reliable recall still eludes me.

Nonetheless, I'm inspired by the above passage in your email to express some principles that I think apply. Hopefully other people on the list will correct those points that they believe are incorrect, or provide additional information that may also help. Here are my thoughts:

* Try your best never to call a dog when you're not absolutely sure she'll come. Some people speak of being willing to bet a certain amount of money, like "If you're not willing to bet $100 the dog will come, don't call her." I think everyone bets wrong once in awhile, but every mistake digs a hole that will take many correct responses to dig out of, and you can't unring a bell.

* I agree with Mary Beth's excellent point that the tweeties :0) will train your dogs that chasing them is futile. That doesn't just apply to flying birds. My dogs have pretty much given up swimming around chasing wild ducks and geese for the same reason: After repeated tries, they've gradually become convinced that they'll never catch one. To take advantage of that, you'll have to let your dog try to catch tweeties under safe conditions. In accordance with my previous point, you'll also NOT try to call the dog until you're certain she has given up the chase and is ready to respond to your call.

* I have heard arguments on both sides whether to reward every recall (which is the question I think you're asking in the quoted passage). For example, Bob Bailey promotes continuous reinforcement rather than ratios (intermittent reinforcement), except for certain situations which I don't think apply to the field recall. On the other hand, Karen Pryor, Jean Donaldson, and others write that all cues should be put on a ratio. The argument for using intermittent reinforcement is, I believe, that it makes the cue less likely to be extinguished by an occasional unreinforced incident (extinction proofing). The argument for using continuous reinforcement (no ratios) is that it reduces variability. I personally believe it's best to reinforce every recall.

* Many training plans have been invented to train recall without aversives. As I mentioned, I don't believe any of them will produce perfect recall for every retriever in field conditions, but I think many of them do have great merit. One common element that I think applies to all of them is incrementally proofing the dog's recall at increasing distances, with increasingly difficult distractions, and in many locations, and I would recommend following a program in which you systematically do exactly that. In addition to incremental proofing, I'd also recommend getting in as many successful and reinforced recalls as you can, even very easy ones, every day. The importance of recall for a field retriever cannot be overstated.

* Never let any other priority compete with reinforcing the dog's recall. For example, let's say you've decided you need to negatively punish something or other. Don't call the dog and then crate her. If you're going to crate her, go get her, slip on her lead, and walk her to her crate WITHOUT calling her. If you call her, that's it, consider your opportunity to punish whatever came before to be gone forever.

* A procedure I've mentioned before, which Jody Baker calls "wearing the dog", can benefit your relationship with the dog in many ways, and recall is one of them. Put the dog on a short lead and attach it to your belt, then go about your business as usual. As the dog becomes increasingly tuned into you, good things happen in your relationship, and one of them is improved recall.

I'd like to throw out one other vital principle: With all the +R you have given, and will give, your dogs for recall, your recall cue itself becomes an incredibly strong reinforcer. If the dog does something you don't want her to do, and you call her, you have just reinforced that undesirable behavior. This can have dangerous consequences, and it can also have annoying consequences. An example of a dangerous consequence: calling a dog who has just started to chase a car. That's just like using the world's best clicker to shape chasing cars. An example of an annoying consequence: calling a dog who is coming in from a retrieve too slowly. Again, you are reinforcing that behavior. A common version of that is cheerleading, in which the trainer is trying to encourage a more vigorous response, but is instead reinforcing the less vigorous response in progress.

Best of luck with your training. I hope you'll keep us up to date with your progress.

Lindsay, with Lumi & Laddie (Goldens)
Laytonsville, Maryland

Field training blog: http://lumi-laddie-test-series.blogspot.com (see "Archive of Video Blog Entries" in right margin)

YouTube playlists:
-- Lumi: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=BC338082E0B890DB
-- Laddie: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9A44913FB240932A

To further explore the frontiers of dog training, join our DogTrek list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DogTrek

Hilly Blind, Keyhole Blind (with videos)

Oaks Area 3

With temps in the 90s and no time to get to a training area with technical ponds, I limited today's training to a single series at a nearby field. The three Oaks fields haven't been mowed in several months, but the one I call Area 3 still seemed usable for blinds.

I brought along video camera and tripod and took some videos, which I'll add to this post.

SERIES A. Double land blind (Laddie, then Lumi)

The first blind (OD) was to the right at 70 yards. The line to the first blind was diagonally across a wide, dry ditch, then slanting uphill to the blind, which was planted in high cover. The second blind (pheasant) was 90° to the left at 100 yards. The line to the second blind was thru a series of slanted keyholes formed by trees. The biggest challenge of the second blind turned out to be visibility from the SL: When Laddie overran the blind, he ran up a hill and we became hidden from each other by tree foliage. I moved laterally while he stayed on the move at the crest of the hill until we could see each other, then he responded well to a WS and an angle-in cast.

We train often at this field, always using different set-ups. I guess we're a familiar sight to people who work in the adjacent facility. In Laddie's video, a truck driver honks a greeting as he drives by.

When I've posted videos in the past, readers have sometimes commented that my voice sounds harsh. I don't think my dogs perceive it as harsh. I hope not.

Here's a video of Laddie running Series A:



Here's a video of Lumi running Series A: