It’s rained the last couple of days and I haven’t worked dogs but this afternoon when I cleaned pens I turned Sally Jo loose for a little while. But first, before I cleaned pens I turned some pigeons loose to learn to come back to their house. I bought 17 roller pigeons a little over 2 weeks ago and decided that tonight was a good night to fly some. I turned 5 or 6 loose and then cleaned pens.
Luke on the whoa board.
Sally pointing a pigeon.
Sally stretching into a point.
I put all of the dogs back in their kennel except for Sally. She’s the only dog that I just turn out. I turned her loose to run as I fed and watered the pigeons. I tossed another 3 pigeons out of the coop. The last one I threw out landed right in front of Sally. She pointed and when I moved toward the pigeon it flew off, just above the ground, with Sally right behind it. It started to land on the ground but Sally was real close. It flew to the cover above the dog pens.
Sally and I went toward the back, to my training grounds. I went to the retrieving bench and waited, letting her run for a while. I saw her coming, knelt down and called her to me. I had her jump onto the retrieving bench. I walked her back and forth, petting her every few feet.
I pried her mouth open and placed a dummy behind her canines. After she held it for a few seconds I put my hand under her mouth and said, “give”. She dropped it in my hand. She has “give” down better than “hold”. I placed the dummy in her mouth and had her walk down the bench. After just a few steps she spit the dummy out. I pinched her lip against her teeth. Not super hard, not enough to make her yelp, but enough for it to be uncomfortable. I put the dummy back in her mouth. After she took a couple of steps I held my hand under her head and said, “give”. She dropped it in my hand.
I walked her to the other end of the bench and placed the dummy in her mouth. I walked back to the end and called her. She walked about half way, stopped and after a few seconds spit the dummy out. I pinched her lip against her teeth and put the dummy back. She walked the rest of the way and held the dummy until I said “give”. I walked her to the other end and replaced the dummy in her mouth. I walked to the end and called her. She came all the way, holding the dummy until I said “give”. I was really upbeat as I petted her.
I set her on the ground, whoaed her and released her to play. I walked pretty close to my whoa board and decided I would put her on it for the first time. I called her to me, picked her up and placed her on the 2×6 whoa board. I said, “whoa” and walked around her. I threw my gloves in front of her. She never moved. I have worked her on whoa a lot but this is her first time on the raised board. I picked my gloves up and threw them again. I walked about 25 yards away and she never even tried to move. I set her on the ground, whoaed her, tapped her head and let her run.
When I got to my shed I got another retrieving dummy and a check cord. I sat in the door and when she came to me I petted her for a while as I hooked the check cord to her collar. I threw the dummy just a few feet and she ran to it and picked it up. I started reeling her in with the check cord. She dropped the dummy and I quit pulling her in. When she picked the dummy up I pulled her to me. I didn’t even try to take the dummy. I just petted her until she dropped it. I threw it back out.
Sally on point.
This time she got a better grip on the dummy. I said, “hold” and reeled her to me. She held it all the way. When she got to me I petted her until she dropped the dummy. I picked it up and threw it again. After she retrieved the dummy 5 times I took the check cord off and put the retrieving dummy back in the shed. I let her run.
I started toward the kennels and she was on point. One of the pigeons I had released was on the ground near the pigeon coops. She was sight pointing but the bird was about 20 yards from her. I went toward the pigeon but also to her front. The pigeon flew before I got very close and she held until the bird flushed. I put her in her kennel. She’s a fun dog to play with.
Yesterday was National Puppy day so I put some pictures of Sally when she was a puppy on this post.
When I went out to clean pens I wasn’t thinking about training dogs or even a dog but it was a fun evening. Sally is really smart and it’s always enjoyable to work with her.
Sally pointing a pigeon.
Sally pointing a quail.
Sally pointing a quail.