Pheasant Pelt

I ordered a pheasant pelt from http://www.sportingsaint.co.uk/ to see what Olive would do with it.

It's like a pheasant skin with feathers that you can either buy already attached to a dummy, or separately. I bought it separate as I already have a few dummies, but probably would have been better to have got the attached version. I wrapped it around a 1lb dummy and put a few elastic bands around it to hold it in place. The dogs were VERY excited when I got it out, and were sniffing it like crazy. I thought it best not to throw it as could see it all falling apart, so just placed it down on a memory retrieve.

Olive has a habit of running full speed at dummy once sent and sort of pouncing on it when she gets there, never really worried about it as thought her enthusiam was good!... but when she pounced on the pheasant pelt a few feathers came out so had to re-think how I was going to do the retrieves with it. I decided to do blind ones so she didn't know where it was and therefore was sniffing around for it and not running full speed. This worked fine and no pouncing.

I was really pleased she picked it up straight away and retrieved as normal. The 1lb dummy is big for her anyway, and with this skin wrapped around I wasnt sure she would hold it, but she found a way. She delivered to hand and didn't drop it so all good. Although she was alot more reluctant to let go of it than usual and as I was trying to take it away kept trying to mouth it.

She loves retrieving anyway, but this pheasant pelt definitely made it super exciting for her. She was alot quicker on the blind retrieves too, I guess because the skin smells.

Once the skin is on, you can't really see the dummy, but Olive had no issues with knowing what to do, she knew it was for retrieving as normal, so thats great.

I think this is will be brillant training aid for progressing to cold game. I am pretty sure now if I put a bird down for her to retrieve she would know what to do with it.

Training Session

I got to take Olive out for a training session by herself today, which I don't get to do often. We usually take Olive and Wiley out together and take turns to train them, so I thought I would make the most of our 1-1 training session.
I bought a new dummy for her, which has ended up being really too big for her. But then it is good practise for her to get used to holding something alot bigger so I let her train with it. I did some more practise of dropping the dummy without her seeing, walking on, and then sending her back for it. I am doing this with one dummy dropped really far back, and one nearer. She gets the nearer dummy, comes back. Then I send her again and she needs abit more encouragement this time as she thinks she has already got the retrieve, and it is alot further back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhf-hzengH4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I then made her sit and stay while I hid the dummy in the woods, and sent her for it. She rushes off looking, and I let her hunt around abit and use her nose, and then she will find it and bring it back. I just want her to use her nose to find it with this exercise. I know that when we learn to do proper blind retrieves I will need to be stopping her and directing her to the retrieve as opposed to her just hunting around like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhhJGXjZ73c&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I then tried to do a hunting exercise with her, we don't do hunting anywhere near enough. This is probably because I don't fully understand it.
I hid the dummy in the woods, not very far up, as wanted to start off easy. I then told her to 'seek' and sent her off in a direction (not the direction of the dummy). She went off really fast, alot faster than she usually goes when she hunts. I think this must have been because she was aware I had walked off and hid something in there. She went so fast I'm sure she missed out loads of ground at the start. But then she started to fall in a quartering pattern. She very quickly found the dummy and I could tell she really enjoyed the exercise. I think I will have to keep at this, but somehow set it up differently so I ask her to hunt, but she isnt aware there is something to find.
Then I tried to work with her on pointing (again something never work with her on) She points alot on walks. I took her on a big open field, and she started to come on point. I tried to creep up to her side and tell her to be 'steady', I got right up to stand alongside her and stroke her back. I read this is what we would be doing in Field Trials. She held the point. I notice when I do this she keeps looking back to me and then at the point. I think this is good, as she is trying to indictate to me? I then encouraged her to come forward, she shoots forward so I gave a 'steady' command and she calms down abit. We practised her flushing the bird and then stopping once it has flown off, as opposed to chasing. When I am walking her she points and then chases and I call her and she doesn't react fast to commands, she is in the zone chasing! I noticed she was much better at paying attention to me when I crept up to the 'point' with her, and she starts looking at me. I felt like we really made progress her. With pointing, and also general control when she is really excited. It felt like we were hunting together :)

Improving water retrieves

I have tried to take Olive out to practise water retrieves everyday this week in an attempt to improve them. She waits really steady when I throw the dummy, swims out great, gets the dummy, comes back and immediately drops the dummy and shakes when she emerges from the water. I have had to use a really firm 'HOLD!' to get her to keep on to the dummy, and have gradually increased length I am away from waters edge. To begin with we started out with me saying hold as soon as she got near the waters edge until she got to me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okfk6r1JWgI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

then after a few I was able to do some not saying hold at all. I think I will have to keep these sessions up for quite awhile before I am able to do just send her for a water retrieve and know that she will never drop the dummy. Still, I was pleased with the distance we got from the waters edge at the moment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LoxCxHhWKA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I have been continuing the 'out' command training by stopping Olive to whistle and then throwing a dummy out to either side and sending her for it, which is going well. I think I will continue with this slowly to make sure she really understands this command as she is still young.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMvBrZsEvE4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Still doing the blind retrieves too, I think I enjoy these the most. I just drop the dummy whilst walking, and then recall her and send her back for them. I have started doing 2 retrieves now, so I will drop one dummy, walk on, drop another, walk on. and then recall her and send her back - she will find one, and then I send her back for another which she doesn't expect so she has to work harder. Here she is doing two blinds - on the 2nd one I sent her off in wrong direction so it was my fault she goes off round the corner looking for the retrieve. I need to concontrate more where my arm is pointing when I send her!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oAIZifEXPg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

She will be 9 months at weekend and still coming along nicely :)