Tur Bo
Dolly
Luke
It rained every day last week and all of my training grounds are saturated with water standing every where. I have worked the dogs on the force fetch several times but it’s too wet to run them on pigeons. Today, I mixed some frozen quail in with the retrieving dummies. I used 2 wooden dummies, 2 frozen quail, a Dokken quail, a Dokken chuckar and 2 canvas dummies.
I put e-collars on Blaze’s neck and flanks then heeled her out of the kennel. When we got close to the first wooden dummy I said, “fetch”. Blaze took her time but she picked up the dummy and I said, “whoa”. I walked in front of her and called her to me. I petted her for a few seconds before saying, “give”. I petted her then heeled her to the next retrieving dummy. I had the 2 wooden dummies first then the canvas dummies. After the canvas I had the Dokken quail and the Dokken chuckar then 2 frozen quail. After she picked up the dummy and took a couple of steps I said, “whoa”. I walked a few yards from her and called her to me. Usually, when she got to me I would tell her to hold. After petting her I would say, “give” then pet her some more.
After we made the first round I had her fetch the 2 Dokken dummies and the 2 frozen quail again. The dogs really like the Dokken dummies but they like the frozen quail even better. I put her back in the kennel.
I put the e-collars on Tur Bo and heeled him to the first retrieving dummy. He loves doing this exercise and as soon as he sees the dummy he is moving to it. He grabs the retrieving dummy. I say, “whoa” but he usually takes an extra step. I walk out in front of him a couple of yards and say, “here”. He runs to me. Sometimes he almost knocks me over. I pet him while he holds the dummy. I say, “give” and he drops it in my hand.
We made our round and when he got to the Dokken dummies he could smell the frozen quail. I heeled him to the first frozen quail and told him to fetch. He scooped up the first one and headed toward the second like he was going to retrieve them both. I whoaed him. He stopped short of the second frozen quail and I moved away from the second quail. I knelt down and called him to me. He brought the frozen quail to me but turned to look at the second one. I took the bird from him then heeled him to the second. He retrieved it. I had him retrieve the 2 Dokken dummies and the 2 frozen quail again before putting him back in the kennel.
Luke may be the best of the 3 young dogs I’ve been working. He does exactly what I tell him to do. When I say “fetch” he grabs whatever is in front of him. He whoas when I tell him and comes when I say, “here”. He drops the dummy in my hand when I ask him to. I worked him around the circle then had him retrieve the 2 Dokken dummies and the 2 frozen quail again. I put him back in the kennel.
I brought Lucky out next. Lucky was born 5/31/04. Tomorrow he will be 12 years old. I started around the circle and he didn’t act like he wanted to play the game. I put him in the kennel. He has enough seniority to make that decision. At his age he can do whatever he wants.
Dolly loves the attention. She will play any game I want to play. When she was six weeks old she started climbing the chain link pen to get on top of her dog house because she got more attention than her litter mates. I put the e-collars on her and heeled her to the retrieving dummy. She grabbed it when I said, “fetch”. I said, “whoa” and walked out in front of her. As soon as I knelt down she wanted to come to me but I whoaed her again. I had her wait a few seconds before calling her to me. She sat in front of me holding the dummy until I said, “give”. I worked her around the circle then retrieved the 2 Dokken dummies and the the 2 frozen quail again. I put her back in the kennel.
I enjoy doing the force fetch with the dogs and they enjoy it too, I think. Any time I get a chance to pet my dogs for doing the right thing, I enjoy it. In this exercise I get to work my dogs on heel, fetch, hold, whoa, give and here. The only other commands they know are kennel and up. I do sometimes tell them, “up” to get them to jump on their house to put the e-collars on so they hear most of the commands they know each time.
Lucky with a quail.
Blaze with the chuckar.
Blaze