Homecoming!

Yesterday was a very special day…I picked Titan up from my friends. My friend Dave asked if I wanted to do any training first, so I said sure, thinking that would help work off some of Titan’s exuberance…NOT! He was so excited that he fooled around with the bird when he returned so for a reward for his misbehavior he got a bath  I couldn’t really be mad about it he is such a great boy and he knew he was going home, I don’t know how but, he knew.

I wasn’t sure if he would remember how to be a house dog but he has been great, he is soaking up all the lovin’s from everyone and when in the house he will lay next to whoever is seated to get belly rubs and then just chew on his bone.

We’re playing a little musical dogs right now because Maia is in season and they are both so confused why they can’t play together. Last night she stood at the bedroom door pawing at it because she knew he was on the other side, won’t be much longer because she is almost half way through.

I took him for a nice long walk last night for a little bonding time and to help tire him out, he did great on lead and we worked on our “wait”, “sit” and “okay” at every street and railroad crossing…note to self buy better walking shoes! It must have done the trick because he slept like a baby!!

What’s that over there

It’s good to have my boy home!!

Training Update

Just a little update on training, Titan continues to progress and is doing quite nicely, Cheyenne has improved from a few weeks ago and is gung ho for the birds as usual! This past week some of the dogs had to work on doubles and a blind. The doubles were hand thrown birds (dead flyers) and all the dogs did these but the blind was only for the *Senior Hunting (SH) dogs and it was placed behind the gunner, which can be difficult for some dogs. The blind bird is placed in an area in the field without the dog being able to see it or mark it as we call it then the handler has to literally handle the dog; giving directions by hand signals to the dog in the field so they can get to the bird, you can read about handling here 

Okay this is my first attempt at Paint, and it is no where as good as 2 BrownDawgs but it gives you an idea of our set up for the day. The two orange x’s represent the bird throwers, me and my friend Michelle, the red x is the handler and the dog and then the duck is the planted blind. We each threw our birds in the direction of the white dashed line one at a time and the dog had to mark (commit to memory) these birds so they could pick them up when sent by the handler. The few dogs that had to do the blind did this retrieve after picking up the memory birds.

 

So that’s it for now!

 

*Senior Hunting Tests consist of double marked retrieves, and relatively simple blind retrieves on land and water, as well as honoring the retrieve of another competitor.

Three Handed Casts

This last week Dave (Titan’s trainer) showed me what they had been working on the last couple of days; three handed casts. Dave started with three piles of bumpers, one to the left, one to the right and one straight out, sorry I didn’t think to get photos of the set up before they began, I was too excited to see my boy work! I did get this one though so you have an idea…

Casts are simply put “handling” What you are teaching the dog is to run or swim in the direction of your hand signals. I have to say I was so impressed with Dave and Titan I just kept shooting photos! Dave keeps it short and simple and uses repetition so the dog gets the idea and keeps the idea, you know what they say practice makes perfect!

They did a left over cast, sending Titan to the bumper pile to the left, notice Dave is simply signaling with his left hand straight out to his side…

That is a whistle Dave is using, one blast and the dog is supposed to sit and wait for his cast (direction) to be given. This is very effective when your dog is out in the field for long or blind marks so you can stop them and handle your dog to the bird.

Then they did right over casts, sending Titan to the bumper pile on the right I didn’t get a photo of Dave giving the cast but it’s just the opposite of the left over cast…

Then Titan was sent on what is called a cast back, sending your dog straight away from you, these can be a little more difficult to teach but this boy nailed it considering they had only been working on casts for a couple of days.

Watching

Rearing to go

He’s off

That’s it

Here I come

Success!!

All of this took place in approximately 15 minutes, you don’t want to work too long as most dogs will become bored, and you always want to end on a positive note.

I bet you thought by the title I was going to talk about broken bones

 

I love you mom but…..

Went out to visit with Titan last Thursday; he is doing wonderful and is always so excited to see me and this time my brother was able to go with me. Titan is supposed to be his dog but I had to rub it in when he ran to me to get his lovins first; but you know what they say about pay backs…as soon as the ducks came out I was history! This was actually his first day on ducks and I was so impressed with my boy, yes MY BOY!! I forgot my camera so I took pictures with my phone and they turned out horribly blurry but here are a few that will have to do.

Getting his lovins from Uncle Dave for a job well done

 

Got a little training in with Cheyenne and I do mean little! She was acting like a big silly girl, you would have thought she had never done this before. So hopefully this week will be better.

I also visited the new momma Chemmy and her babies…oh the puppy breath I will try to remember the camera this week so I can get pictures, they are adorable.

Walking Fetch

This past Saturday we went to see Titan and do a little swimming, the dogs not me Dave demonstrated what Titan learned the week before which is the walking fetch; the walking fetch is done after the force fetch has been successful. To do Walking Fetch several dummies are laid on the ground about ten feet apart, approach each dummy with your dog at heel and say “Fetch” as he is looking at the first dummy. As he fetch’s each dummy you tell him “leave” and he releases it in your hand and you toss it behind you so they are ready for another round. Titan is doing pretty good, he still has a ways to go but I know he can do it with Dave as his trainer. Dave keeps an online training journal of the dogs you can see here

Good Sit

Good Fetch

Are you watching mom

Did you see that, good Fetch

Good Boy!!

Follow Up

I wanted to do a follow up on my post Titan Update; I may not have been quite clear on the where Titan is on his training. He is past the hold training which includes walking hold. He has completed these two elements and has moved on to the Trained Retrieve; he is almost to Walking Fetch. He is using small and large bumpers for retrieving now. This is what Michelle said in a comment “Titan is progressing very nicely. It was nice to let him swim and see he held the bumper even while he shook    and he delivered the bumper nicely. Titan does love to work and does like his uncle Dave.”

I do a newsletter for my dog club (although I have really fallen behind on that) but anyway, my friend Michelle reminded me of the article Dave wrote on teaching hold so I wanted to share that with you. You can view the article here then go to page 4, but feel free to browse through the whole newsletter Oh and that is Cheyenne in the picture demonstrating hold, she didn’t like bumpers so I used a paint roller to teach her hold.

I will have more on the Trained Retrieve and Walking Fetch for you in the next week or so and hopefully more pictures.

Titan Update

I have been looking forward to Friday all week because this is the day I get to see my boy after two weeks. I wondered as I was driving to Dave and Michelle’s house if Titan would be as excited to see me as I am to see him…he was!    

After loving on him for a bit we all went back to the pond to get him in for a swim and have him retrieve the bumper.

 

We did this for a little bit as it was just to hot to work for very long so I got in some more loving time while he rested a bit then Dave showed me what they have been working on.

This is an obedience dumbbell that he is using to teach Titan to hold. The dogs must learn to be very consistent with their hold so they do not drop or leave their birds in the field or water and they do not release it until you tell them too; as you can see he is progressing nicely with this.

They are also working on picking the bumper off the ground to hold and will be moving onto walking hold over the next week.

Titan really seems to enjoy working, he was happy to see me but was thrilled to retrieve the bumper! I may be a little jealous

And now for his Elvis impersonation

Titan’s First Week at Training

Okay I was going to use this photo for my Wordless Wednesday post but I just can’t wait to share.

This is Dave our good friend and trainer from Dusty Rose K-9 Trainer’s He is starting off with obedience work with Titan because that is the foundation to any sport you wish to pursue with your dog even if it is to be a couch potato I received a report from Michelle (that’s my good friend and wife of Dave, also a trainer) that Titan did very well especially with his sits. She laughed when she told me about his downs, said they are more of a plop and roll to the side so they will work on that; oh yes this is hereditary, he gets it from dad LOL. He must do a good down because my plans for him are to get his CD in obedience as well as at least a JH in hunting tests. I hope to be able to go farther but we will see after Dave does an evaluation on Titan and his training progresses. I am looking forward to working with this boy he has a strong will to please and catches on quickly, I may even be able to enter him in an upcoming Working Dog Stake in August…but I won’t get my hopes up just yet he has a way to go for that.

AKC Definitions:

CD

Companion Dog:
The letters CD may be added after a dog’s name when it has been certified by 2 different judges to have received qualifying scores in Novice classes at 3 licensed or member obedience trials. You can read more on AKC obedience here

JH

Junior Hunter:
For a title, dog must receive qualifying scores at 4 licensed or member tests. Below is an excerpt from the Regulations and Guidelines for AKC Hunting Tests for Retrievers that explains in detail junior hunting requirements:

8. CHAPTER 5, SECTION 5.  Junior Hunting Tests.
Dogs shall be tested on a minimum of four single marks,
two on land and two on water. No more than two marks
may be thrown in a series. 
Judges in keeping with simulation of realistic and natural
hunting conditions must remember the use of numerous
decoys, islands, points of land, rolling terrain, cover,
ditch lines, wind direction, etc. are important factors
to consider when designing test scenarios to evaluate
Junior dogs as capable hunting companions.
    (1)  …
    (2)  Dogs shall be steady but may be brought to the
line on leash with a flat buckle collar. The dog is under
judgment when it leaves the holding blind. A Junior
dog that is not under control when brought to the line
(jumping, strongly tugging, etc) even though it is on a
leash shall risk receiving a lower score in trainability
including zero in extreme cases. Dogs may be restrained
gently with a slipcord looped through the flat buckle collar,
or held gently by the flat buckle collar until sent to
retrieve.Notable changes/clarifications made to the description of
the Junior Hunting Test include:  (1) Judges may, at their
discretion, require more than four marks.  (2) No more than
two marks may be thrown in a series. (3) While a Junior
dog is being brought to the line on leash, it is expected that it
be reasonably under control.  If it is not, the dog risks being
scored lower in trainability in accordance to the degree of
its misbehavior.  

So keep watching for updates as the training continues

One Flies the Nest…

if only for a short while! This Sunday Titan is going to the trainer’s, our good friends the Keehn’s over at Dusty Rose K-9 Trainer’s Dave & Michelle worked with me and Cheyenne a couple of years ago when I decided to start doing some field work with her and they really helped me get Cheyenne out of her shell and become the dog I knew she had in her.

Titan will be very different because I am starting him much younger and he has a very out going personality. Dave said he thinks he will catch on very quickly so I am anxious to see how he does but……I am going to miss him terribly so he has been getting lots of extra smooches this week. He has become my “Boy” he’s loving and affectionate, pretty obedient and a big goof ball! I think Maia will miss him too but enjoy the break

I will get to see him every week when I go out to work with Cheyenne and socialize with Maia, it will still be hard to leave him, but I know he will be all the better for it and so will Maia. They have not been separated since birth and Maia has grown dependent on Titan, so while he is away I will be working on  conformation and obedience with her so I can help build her confidence. We are going to have a busy and exciting summer around here!

The Big Goose

We had an awesome training day! From a previous post Too Short!, I had mentioned Cheyenne was not bringing the bird in all the way, making her sit and watch everyone else get to retrieve for the past couple of weeks did the trick; she brought the birds back at least within two feet of me instead of fifteen or twenty feet away. We were able to try a new bird tonight, a goose, I wasn’t sure she would do anything with it but this girl never ceases to amaze me. All the dogs did a great job this evening and we even had the opportunity to play with some puppies.

Cheyenne

Millet has 2 passes for her Junior Hunter (JH)

Violet

Radar, he will be running the Working Dog (WD) at the Chessie National Specialty this month

Notice the little girl in the back