Layla retrieving a bumper.
Rocky retrieving a bumper.
Layla with another bumper.
I wasn’t able to work dogs until late afternoon so I just worked the puppies. I kept them in the shade, most of the time, while they retrieved the bumper. I have been working both Layla and Rocky, most days, on retrieving. When you see them retrieve you can tell they really enjoy it.
After watching George Hickox’s dvd on clicker training I cut a hot dog into about 24 pieces then click each time they retrieve and give them a little bite of hot dog. Today, I took a rope off of one of the larger bumpers and put it on the bumper that the puppies seem to like, so I can throw it farther.
It was about 85 degrees when I turned Rocky loose with the check cord on him. I threw the bumper as far as I was able and he retrieved it about 7 or 8 times, perfectly. The last few times he would run out, pick it up and go lie down in the shade. When he finally came to me I clicked and fed him the last few pieces of hot dog. Most times the dog is smarter than the trainer. I put him on the stake out and turned Layla loose.
She really likes to retrieve but she’s still not bringing the bumper all the way to me. Sometimes, she will drop it about 15 feet from me. I can usually get her to bring it a little closer but she still won’t bring it all the way. When she gets it within 5 or 6 feet of me I click and treat. She, also, retrieved about 7 or 8 times then took the bumper to the shade. I got her to come to me and fed her the rest of her hot dogs. I turned both puppies loose to play for a while.
This morning at 8:00 am it was close to 70 degrees. Warm but much cooler than when I worked the puppies yesterday afternoon. I put both pups on their stakeouts. I worked Rocky on about 6 retrieves then put him back on the stakeout and worked Layla for about 6 retrieves.
On her retrieves Layla still wouldn’t bring the bumper all the way to me. I noticed if I said anything to her as she came to me she would drop the bumper. All I said was here when she got about half way to me. I quit saying anything and she still came to me but she held the bumper until she was closer before dropping it. I worked her on about 6 retrieves then got Rocky back for another 6 retrieves then worked her for another 6 retrieves. This kept them from getting so hot. I put them back in the kennel.
I put a lock wing pigeon in the tall grass on the training grounds and put 3 pigeons in release traps a short distance away. I turned Layla loose with a check cord hooked to her collar. I had hid the lock wing in a strip of grass that I had let grow but it had flopped out in the open. I led Layla on the other side so she couldn’t see the lock wing. She smelled the lock wing pigeon and pointed long enough for me to get a picture but then started toward the pigeon. I flushed one of the pigeons in a release trap. She chased a little way and came back to get the lock wing. I held the check cord and flushed another pigeon. She chased. I led her toward the last pigeon and when she acted like she smelled it I flushed it. She chased a short distance. I took her back to the kennel.
I put the lock wing pigeon to sleep and hid it in the tall grass. I put another pigeon a short distance away in the tall grass. I hid 2 more pigeons farther down on the training grounds then turned Rocky loose. I didn’t have him dragging a check cord. When I walk him to the training grounds I walk in a zigzag fashion. I have read that the normal is for the English cocker spaniel to hunt from side to side in front of you. Rocky seems to do it naturally.
He found the pigeon that I had put to sleep and hid in the tall grass. He pounced on it. The pigeon was in trouble until I restricted Rocky’s movement with my foot long enough for the pigeon to fly away. He chased a short distance then came back.
I walked him toward a pigeon in a release trap. When he acted like he smelled the pigeon I flushed it. Rocky was surprised by the noise from the release trap. He didn’t chase but went to check the release trap out. I let him sniff the trap until he left it.
We went toward the next trap. When he smelled the pigeon I flushed it. The pigeon flew about ten feet and lit on the ground. Rocky was racing toward it when it flew about 20 yards and lit on the ground again. When Rocky got close the pigeon tried to run but didn’t get far before Rocky caught it. I knelt down and called him. I was between him and the kennel. He tried to get by me but I grabbed him and petted him until he turned the pigeon loose. The pigeon wasn’t hurt. When we got back near the pigeon coop and returned it to the coop.
We had one more pigeon hid in a release trap. I walked Rocky toward it. He was hunting into a slight breeze and was quite away from it when he smelled it. I flushed the bird and he chased a short distance. We hunted back to the kennel.
Both of these puppies really enjoy retrieving and they are also crazy about birds. I’m hoping that I can have both of them hunting by the end of the upcoming season. They were both born in June so they will be really young but I think they can do it. We will see.
Layla retrieving.
Rocky retrieving.
Layla on point.