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 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 :)
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 :)
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