Every day, except Sunday, I try to work Boss and Abby on the retrieving bench. Maybe I should work them every day but I like a day off occasionally and I think they probably do too. Mann and Sally have been force broke so I just throw a Dokken quail for them each day before I work Boss and Abby. Sally really likes the treats I give her when she brings the quail but Mann doesn’t want treats but he enjoys a lot of petting.
Sally waiting for me to take the dummy and give her a treat.
Boss, not happy, but holding the dowel.
Abby, also not happy, but holding the dowel.
Even the dogs that have been force broke try to make me think they don’t see the dummy or can’t find the dummy. This morning on the first throw for Mann he ran out, touched the dummy with his nose and came back. But he didn’t come back to me he stopped about 15 feet away. He knew he was wrong but, maybe, it would work this time. The e-collar was set on 1 and I hit him with a medium 1 and he went straight to the dummy, grabbed it and came back to my side.
He can barely feel a medium 1 but it was enough to get him to do the next 6 or 7 retrieves in a row perfectly. After the retrieves I let him run for a while but it was pretty warm, low 80’s, so he didn’t run long. I sat on a tree trunk near the kennel and petted him for a couple of minutes then put him in his kennel.
Sally was the next one. I heeled her near the 4-wheeler, whoaed her and had to walk about 25 yards to get the Dokken quail where I had left it after using it on Mann. She didn’t move while I walked after the dummy and came back. I threw it for Sally 6 or 7 times and she retrieved it perfectly each time. Sally really likes the treats and she knows she doesn’t get one if she drops the dummy, before I reach for it. She will stand, holding the dummy, for several seconds.
Sally, when there are no birds out for her, is a little lazy. When I release her to run she makes a good break away but when she gets where the grass is pretty tall, she slows down then starts eating grass. I have to stay after her to get her to run. Once I pass her she will come on if I insist. When we get back close to the kennel I sit on the stump and feed her treats as I pet her. She likes the petting but she really likes the treats. After a couple of minutes I put her in her kennel.
I took Boss to the retrieving table first this morning. I have started having Boss and Abby take 6 different dummies each time on the bench. I start with a dowel then I have 4 different dummies then I end with another dowel. I have them fetch and hold each one twice. Today Boss dropped one, two different times. When they drop the dummy, I pull on the string around their toes, until I pick the dummy up from the ground. As soon as they get the dummy back in their mouth I let off the string.
The string around the toes of Boss.
Boss won’t take a treat so I do a lot of petting with him. After he did the fetch and hold with the 6 dummies twice I heeled him back to the 4-wheeler. I whoaed him while I got on the 4-wheeler, started it and put it in gear. I said, “okay” and he was off.
I hate to tell this but yesterday when I let him run he wasn’t going very fast. It looked like he was getting shocked. He was running but real slow and a couple of times I heard him yelp. I slowed the 4-wheeler and he came toward me. I stopped and he got into my lap, on the 4-wheeler. I petted him, checked the e-collar and the transmitter. Everything looked like they were working fine. I set him on the ground and we took off again.
Abby, also not happy, but holding the dowel.
We didn’t go far before I could see there was still something wrong. I rode beside him and saw something flapping. I had forgot to take the string off his foot after the retrieving session. When he ran he would step on the string occasionally and get a strong pinch. I took the string off and he ran really well. This morning he ran really fast as he usually does. It was warm enough that I just put him back in his kennel after a short petting session on the stump.
I heeled Abby to the bench and petted her along with feeding her some treats. I’m getting these two so they will take anything I tell them to fetch. When I first introduced the different bumpers I went back to holding them right in front of their mouth. Now I’m having them reach for them each time. Abby, just like Boss, dropped a couple of dummies and I pulled on the string until I bent over, picked up the dummy and held it in front of her. As soon as she took it I let off the string.
Boss, not happy, but holding the dowel.
After she completed her retrieving drills I fed her a couple of treats and set her on the ground. I heeled her back close to the 4-wheeler and whoaed her. After I started the 4-wheeler and put it in gear she took off. I whoaed her and when she got stopped I said, “okay”. She took off.
Abby has a pet rabbit or something that she likes to mess with. She run straight to the same place and sneaks around. Sometimes she will point but most times she’s trying to sneak up on something. She was running in front of the 4-wheeler real well but the last few mornings not so much. I got her with me and we went back to the kennel.
Boss honoring.
I think we are going to work the rest of this week on fetching and holding these dummies really well then next week I will change from the toe pinch to the e-collar. As many different commands as they have learned with the e-collar it shouldn’t take much but time will tell. Once they have changed to the e-collar I can have them carry a dummy at heel, I hope.