No dog came off the barrel today. Tur Bo and I did our normal walk around the edge of my yard. He now wears an e-collar around his flanks and around his neck. He heels for about 30 yards then I hold the button on the e-collar on his flanks, down and about 1/2 second later I say whoa. Most of the time he stops before I say whoa. The instant he stops I let off the button. Day before yesterday I was using level 3 but today I used level 2. The first time I stimulated him, with the collar on level 3, he turned sideways so I turned it down to level 2. I also walked him on and off the whoa board.
When we got close to the retrieving bench I had him jump on it. It was warmer today than the last couple of days and I had left the tennis ball in my coat pocket so we went straight to the hold and give routine. A couple of times his mouth was open for the retrieving buck so I just made sure his lips were out of the way and placed the buck behind his canine teeth. I also moved to the opposite end of the bench and placed the buck in his mouth. Then I had him carry the buck to the other end of the bench. He carried it all the way but he dropped it before I could get my hand on it. He will get better on the hold command. I put him on the ground.
I didn’t have a tennis ball so I threw a canvas retrieving dummy. That was the first time with a retrieving dummy but he brought it back each time. I threw it 8 or 9 times and he brought it back every time and wasn’t ready to quit when I put it up. Today he didn’t roll on the ground every time he brought it back. Most of the time but not every time. I let him run on the way back to the kennel.
I tied 2 pigeons to the strings on my pigeon poles and brought Tur Bo out first. All of the dogs know that I have birds out so without the piggin’ string they would drag me to the whoa barrel. I make them heel and if they start to lead me I turn a 180 degrees. Just a couple of times going away from the birds usually gets their attention. I put Tur Bo on the barrel and it wasn’t necessary to style him up. His head and tail were both up and he was looking for the birds. I had the release traps hid under some grass.
I walked out in front of him, flushed the first bird and he never moved. I went on down to the second bird, flushed it and fired the blank pistol. I haven’t shot around him in training since bird season ended. Before bird season I got him used to the gun by shooting when he was chasing a bird. I started when he was 40 or 50 yards away and gradually shot when he was closer. During the season I killed 4 or 5 birds over his points. He moved on the barrel but didn’t come off. I flushed that bird again and shot. This time he didn’t move. I flushed both birds several times but I didn’t shoot any more. He never came off the barrel.
Tur Bo
Tur Bo
I brought Blaze out next and for some reason her feet were moving on the barrel but she knew how to stay on. With her, I walked in front, flushed the bird then shot the blank pistol and said whoa. I flushed that bird again, shot the blank gun and said whoa. Then I walked down to the second bird, flushed it, shot and said whoa. I flushed birds and shot 6 times in front of her. She was dancing on the barrel but she never came off. In time she will settle down. I took her back to the kennel.
Blaze
Whitey is a litter mate to Blaze but she is more laid back. I put Whitey on the barrel, flushed the birds, shot 6 times and I don’t think she ever moved. One day I think Whitey is the better of the two and the next day I think maybe Blaze. They both have pointed wild quail, retrieved birds and will back as far as they can see a dog on point so they have a home for life.
Whitey
I worked Dolly, Lucky and Luke on the barrel. They have been on the barrel a lot of times and know what to do when birds are being flushed. The only thing different is the shooting of the gun. They were steady for the flush and shot. I think I just need to continue on the barrel for a while then move them to the whoa board. We’ll see.
I took the pictures of the young dogs from the front because I like to see the intensity in their eyes. Tur Bo is really intense in most of his pictures but the one from the front today and the one where he had come off the barrel yesterday were real intense. He likes birds.