I am still working Abby and Boss on the retrieving bench. They are progressing but at a really slow pace. They both move down the bench real slow, when sent to fetch, but Boss is slower than most turtles. So far I’m not doing anything as long as he makes an effort. If there is no effort the e-collar comes on at a low level. I only use level 2 or at most level 3 then right back to level 2. I have 4 dummies made with dowel rods, 2 dummies that are round plastic and 1 Dokken dove dummy. I have quail, chukar and dove dummies by Dokken and I use the dove because it’s the smallest of the Dokken dummies.
The set up on the retrieving bench.
Boss with a plastic dummy.
Abby with a plastic dummy.
Both of these dogs will reach past the Dokken dove dummy to grab a dowel dummy. For me, as long as they are grabbing something when I say, “fetch”, I’m okay with it. Sometimes, not always, they grab the dowel dummies and they have 2 plastic dummies and a dove dummy to do last. They are resigned to the fact that they have to retrieve them but they are really slow.
After they retrieve each of the 7 dummies on the bench I spread the 4 dowel dummies, over about 30 yards, on the ground. I lift them off the bench and say, “whoa”, just as I put them on the ground. I hold a plastic dummy in front of them and say, “fetch”. When they take the plastic dummy I walk them in a large circle and they must hold the dummy until I say, “give”.
Abby is pretty good about holding the dummy, most of the time but Boss dropped his the last time we worked on this. I usually hold the transmitter in my hand so the instant they drop the dummy the stimulation comes on. They act like they can just barely feel level 2 and that’s what we start with. If they drop it more than once I go to level 3. That’s as high as I usually go. Only a couple of times have I had to go to level 4.
After we make our circle and are back to the start of the retrieving bench I have them hold for a few seconds then say, “give”. Most of the time they are ready to turn loose of the dummy. Then I heel them to the dowel dummies that are spread out on the ground. This exercise is kind of like a job for them. They seem to understand that we need to get the dummies put back. As I heel them toward the dummy I say, “fetch” just before we get to it. Boss is really slow but Abby picks it right up most of the time.
Boss just closes his mouth on the dummy without raising it very far but once I say, “heel” he raises it and comes along. His head is still down. When we get to the retrieving bench I have him stand in front of me. I wait for him to raise his head before I say, “give”. It varies on how long this takes but I will accept any upward movement. If he just raises his head an inch or so I lift his head and pet him then say “give”.
Sally racing back with a retrieve. She gets a treat when she does it correctly.
Abby usually raises her head to carry the dummy as well as to give it to me. But both of these dogs will do everything right one day then act like they have never seen a dummy before. But anyway we are slowly gaining ground and I think by bird season they will be retrieving fine.
In a past blog I talked about a guy having a dog that would just run. The dog covered a lot of ground but really didn’t care whether he was with his trainer or not. He really just needed the trainer to take him to some place to hunt. Now this guy, I wish I could remember who it was so I could give him the credit for this, decided to just follow the dog. He was on horse back so he would turn him loose in a large field and just follow the dog.
For several weeks every time he turned the dog loose, he followed. After several weeks the dog got used to the horse and rider being behind him, so he worked to stay in front of the horse.
Sally retrieving the Dokken quail.
After I work my dogs on retrieving, Mann and Sally on 4 or 5 retrieves and Abby and Boss on the bench, I let them run. Abby and Sally would run toward the back, and they knew there were no birds out, so they would stop and eat grass or roll in something. I quit just riding on to the back and would wait on them. If they were eating grass I would tone their e-collar and tell them to come on.
Mann and Boss get plenty of exercise each time but Sally and Abby didn’t. After a couple of weeks of me waiting on them, both of these dogs are running much better and mostly staying to the front. Neither of these dogs are a problem in a hunting situation but I really wanted them to run more than they were here. Now both of these dogs are getting much more exercise than before.
Boss pointing a pigeon.
I have to be really careful with the male dogs. When I turn them loose they really run. When we get to the back they will circle the very back then it’s a race to the front of the house. Both of these dogs, usually, are running way ahead of me when I slow to cross the wet weather creek that crosses my place. Getting them to quit when I want them to is the problem. During these really hot days I can’t let them run very long.
These “dog” days of summer is making it tough to work dogs at all. When it’s 80 at 6 am I hate to even get the dogs out. A couple of mornings I heeled Abby and Boss to the retrieving bench and then back to their kennel. I didn’t even take Sally and Mann out. I was afraid to let them have their happy timing. Oh, well. Fall always follows summer. It just seems like summer will never end.