I worked the dogs Monday then it’s rained 3 days in a row. Tuesday and Wednesday the rain was too much to get out but today I got out for a little while between the rains. The dogs need the exercise nearly as much as I do. When the ground is wet it’s hard to not make ruts with the 4-wheeler but if I don’t ride I can’t keep up with the dogs and they go off my property. That wouldn’t be all that bad except in just a few minutes they can be over a mile off my property. Then it becomes a problem.
Mann on point.
Boss pointing a pigeon.
Sally on point.
I worked Sally on retrieving this morning. She will retrieve as long as I will throw the dummy, as long as I give her a treat when she returns. But she knows she has to do it correctly or she doesn’t get a treat. That keeps her honest. She really wants the treat. After 5 or 6 retrieves I let her run while I follow along on the 4-wheeler. When we got back to the kennel I sat on the stump and petted her and fed a few more treats. In just a few minutes she’s was ready to go in her kennel.
Mann was next. The guy that force broke him put a lot of pressure on him. So I’ve tried not to stress him out, on retrieving. Because he was force broke he will retrieve but he doesn’t like it. Although he’s getting better. He was having a hard time knowing where to come to me when he retrieved. He, sometimes, came in sideways to me instead of to my front. And he often stopped a few feet away from me, without dropping the dummy.
This morning when I worked him the first retrieve he came in sideways and stopped a few feet away. I pulled him to me and petted him. Then I decided that I needed to get him to coming directly in to me. I threw the dummy about as far as I could throw and he went after it. I squatted down and when he got close I held my hands apart with my arms spread out. He came straight in to me.
I was surprised. I threw the dummy 4 or 5 more times and spread my arms each time as he came toward me. He delivered the dummy straight in to me each time. Maybe I was the problem instead of him. I will keep on with this until he get’s it ingrained into his routine. I let him run for a bit then sat on the stump and petted him. The temperature was in the upper 60’s with heavy humidity. It wasn’t long before he was ready to go in the kennel.
I heeled Boss to the retrieving bench. After a lot of petting and trying to get him to eat a treat I started the retrieving. I’ve been holding the button on the transmitter down as I pull on the string with a half hitch around his toes for over a week. Today I decided to try with just the e-collar. I held the button down and said, “fetch” as I held a dowel in front of him. He took it just fine. He held the dowel until I said, “give”.
Abby pointing a pigeon.
We went through all 6 dummies. On the last one which was another dowel I said, “heel” and walked down the table. He followed along holding the dummy. I turned and went back to the start and he followed. He dropped it into my hand when I said, “give”. We went through all 6 dummies with him walking on the bench before I took it from him. It wasn’t flawless but for the first time without the string and walking with each one, it was great.
I set him on the ground and heeled him back near the 4-wheeler. I made a couple of passes around the yard with him running all out. After the second pass we quit at the kennels. I sat on the stump and petted him. Boss makes the petting easy. He crawls into my lap as if he’s a little boy. All he wants is petting. After a couple of minutes he was ready to go into his kennel.
I heeled Abby close to the retrieving bench. About 15 yards short of the bench I whoaed her, took the Wonder lead off, stroked her sides and tapped her head as I said, “okay”. She ran and jumped onto the retrieving bench. Abby loves the treats so I usually give her several as I walk her up and down the bench.
Abby really concentrating on this honor.
Since I didn’t need the string around the toes for Boss I tried just the e-collar on Abby. She took the dowel, when I held the button down on the transmitter, but did it really slow. I use the Garmin Sport Pro e-collar for the force breaking. I have been using the level 3 for both dogs. I decided because she’s tougher than Boss I would go to level 4 on her. I pushed the button on the transmitter, on level 4, and Abby just stood gritting her teeth.
I went back to level 3 and told her to fetch and she took the dummy. We ran through all 6 dummies. She was slow but she picked them up. Boss will walk with the dummies in his mouth and it doesn’t bother him. I have to pull Abby but if she is at the other end she is easier to bring back to the start. So I led her to the other end and said, “fetch”. She picked up the dummy but she didn’t want to walk across the other dummies lying on the bench, but she did.
Each time I walked her to the far end of the bench and let her carry the dummy back to the start. She too wasn’t flawless but we got through it. A few days of this and maybe I will be able to have them carry a dummy on the ground.
John, Vince and Abby.
As I’ve said before, I’m going really slow because I can. There is no time constraints on my training. If we don’t get it done next week maybe we will the next week. That’s the neat part about force breaking dogs this time of year. Quail season is 5 months away. That gives me plenty of time to get the job done.