This last week has been unseasonably hot. It’s hard to do any dog training when it’s hot. The cover is tall and that makes it even hotter on the dogs. Usually, I have been prairie chicken hunting, in Kansas, several times but not this year. I have been one time for about an hour and never saw a thing other than Luke pointed a rabbit. Next week the weather forecast is for cooler weather. I will get the dogs out.
Betsy watching a pigeon fly away.
Sally pointing a pigeon.
Dolly She doesn’t seem to be 11 1/2 years old.
Rather than just leave the dogs in the kennel I have been getting them out for a few minutes most days. Early on Monday, Wednesday and Friday I roaded the dogs for about 20 minutes each. Well, I roaded Luke, Tur Bo, Betsy and Sally. Lucky and Dolly I just turned out for a few minutes. Lucky is, probably, totally retired and Dolly will be on short hunts, only.
Lucky is a little over 13 years old. I had him checked by my vet, Dr. Becker, and he said he was in good shape for his age. He can’t see very far and doesn’t hear very well but his heart sounds good and he’s not in pain. (Sounds like me.)
Dolly is 11 1/2 years old. She is in good shape and will still hunt but it will just be for short periods. If they are left at home when I take the other dogs they bark all day long. They are hurt, they just know the other dogs are finding more birds than they have seen in years.
I haven’t roaded dogs very much and I’m learning a few things. This week I roaded Luke and Tur Bo together. It didn’t matter which side of the roading bar I hooked them to, Tur Bo pulled. He would make a good sled dog. No matter how fast I drove the 4-wheeler he pulled. Luke ran with some slack in the tether but not Tur Bo.
I roaded the girls, Sally and Betsy, together. When I hooked Betsy to the left side she thought she should be heeling. She dropped back and ran right beside me whether I was going fast or slow. The next time I hooked her to the right side and she ran mostly out front. She didn’t pull like a sled dog but she wasn’t right beside me. Sally pulled most of the time but tired some near the end. When she tired she ran with a loose tether.
I feed, change water and clean pens of the evening. The past week I have been doing the walking retrieve with the dogs. I drop 6 or 7 retrieving dummies in a circle several feet apart. I walk the dogs at heel with the piggin’ string and when we get close to a dummy I say, “fetch.” When the dog picks the dummy up I have them walk a short distance then I kneel and have the dog hold the dummy until I say, “give.”
Lucky, Dolly, Luke and Tur Bo have been force broke to retrieve. Lucky and Dolly, in their semi-retirement don’t have to play this game but the other two do. I sometime just turn Lucky and Dolly out for a few minutes. I pet them for a while then put them back up so they don’t feel left out.
Luke has never cared for retrieving but he does this because he’s been force broke. Tur Bo likes to retrieve but he wants to do it his way. He would like to go get the dummy, race back and toss it to me. I have to keep the piggin’ string on him so he knows I’m in charge. As I work with him he’s getting better about bringing the dummy to me, sitting while I pet him then giving when I say, “give.”
Sally and Betsy have been worked on hold and give. They haven’t been force broke. I, also, lead them around the circle of dummies but I just stop them, open their mouth, put the dummy behind their canines and tell them to hold. I have them carry the dummy for a few feet then kneel in front of them. I have them walk to me and I pet them. I say, “give” and Sally drops the dummy right away. Betsy holds on for several seconds before she drops the dummy. I only say give one time, hold one end of the dummy and then wait on her to drop the dummy. I pet her when she drops it.
Betsy and Sally are ready to be force fetch trained but I hate the process. Most of my dog training is without pressure. To force fetch you must put pressure on the dogs. There are so many positives come out of force fetch that I usually do it but I don’t like the process.
Lucky and Dolly in the shade.I made one round with them so they wouldn’t feel left out.
Tur Bo always pulls.
Sally pointing a pigeon.