Re: Excited Small Black Dog Oh good girl! Amazing. Well done small black dog! Good girl. (Push him for a few extra treats while he is still so proud ).
Re: Excited Small Black Dog Thanks for the kind comments. I have to make the most of it when it all works out well. I expect Pippa and Heidrun will be shocked at the lack of training Lady and I seem to be getting away with, but it all seems to be working reasonably well at the moment. Please don't follow my lead, and make sure you do it properly with your dogs as it will most certainly be more successful and less stressful all round. I think what helps is for me to not worry too much if the dog goes a bit wrong at times. Just a case of reeling her back in and trying again, and at the end of the day she doesn't run wild at all - just goes a bit wrong on what's required mainly because of the excitement and lack of experience. We had a big problem of locking onto the wrong bird but that now seems to be pretty much a thing of the past and she will unlock with a firm "no". In fact, it may be wishful thinking, but most of the time now she seems to be able to distinguish a normal flying bird from a pricked one as long as she's been tracking it to start with. There is also some talk about joining other shoots so that has to be a good sign. Next season I should think but we can't be regarded as really bad in any area or socially unacceptable, and we can turn our hand to beating as well as picking up as needs require on the day. Yesterday was the first time we've been put on the first team picking up though. We've normally been second string on the edges which was actually a good place to be. Anyway it all went well and I have no idea how many birds she brought back but it was way more than she's ever done before. Sorry to gabble on but it actually helps me to clarify where we are as a team in my own head.
Re: Excited Small Black Dog Sounds like you have done a fab job with Lady. If she wasn't good, she wouldn't get invited on shoots with other people . Keep up the hard work
Re: Excited Small Black Dog Hi Naya. Thanks. She's adequate I think. Not good although she does often surprise me by doing quite difficult things.
Re: Excited Small Black Dog C'mon David, she's doing brilliantly; especially for a dog that wasn't originally intended to be a gun dog! And you know you are really bursting with pride… So would I be!
Re: Excited Small Black Dog Well, Karen, I tend to compare her with what Heidrun and Pippa do as a benchmark of how it should be done and I know neither of us are anywhere near what would be regarded as a proper standard. : You are dead right of course that I feel really proud of her, but she's my dog (and Rosemary's of course) so I'm very biased in that direction. ;D One area where I do know she's good and up to standard is being very steady between drives, walking to heel when required, recall and keeping close and not hooning off in all directions. I think she'll improve as her experience increases. Saturday was quite a baptism of fire for both of us. It was largely by good fortune because the shoot from the previous week had been postponed because of flooding and the usual lead dog couldn't make the revised date so we ended up in pole position doing the "front Line" stuff. Some important work to be done but I'm saving that for when the season ends. I need some help and advice in a few areas. Anyway just off out to walk before it gets dark and I may take the dummy launcher with the tennis ball attachment on it to give her some real fun and a bit of much needed aerobics. ;D
Re: Excited Small Black Dog [quote author=David link=topic=3975.msg46753#msg46753 date=1389628903] Well, Karen, I tend to compare her with what Heidrun and Pippa do as a benchmark of how it should be done and I know neither of us are anywhere near what would be regarded as a proper standard. : [/quote] You're pole position, front line standard! Celebrate all your achievements, I'd say - you've both achieved so much! Always like hearing how you and Lady are getting on... both in training and with the real thing. I'm sitting here with a 5 month old asleep next to me, all 4 feet in the air and snoring loudly (and yes, she is on top of the spaniel again). To us, you and Lady have reached dizzy heights! Clare
Re: Excited Small Black Dog Ok Clare will keep things up to date. 8) All I would say is that I have gone about "training" her all wrong and wouldn't advocate anyone else short cutting the hard work that's needed to achieve a properly trained dog. ;D
Re: Excited Small Black Dog Poop. We've been invited back to the shoot we were at in December, OH to shoot, us to do beating and picking up. But - we are not in the UK!!!! Have to wait until next season.
Re: Excited Small Black Dog You'll have to stay for longer next time and get a few days picking up in
Re: Excited Small Black Dog [quote author=bbrown link=topic=3975.msg47033#msg47033 date=1389689079] You'll have to stay for longer next time and get a few days picking up in [/quote] Yes indeed! They also do small walked up shoots (six guns) where novice dogs are welcome for training - I'll send you the info by pm in case it might be of interest to you.
Re: Excited Small Black Dog Thanks Karen I like the idea of smaller and walked up shooting over big driven shoots. I'm making a training plan to work on Riley's sensitivity to shot over the spring and summer so hopefully by next season we'll be ready. Looks like I'll be shooting on Saturday but leaving Riley at home. I might also get a chance to go beating before the season ends so I'm going to ask Heidrun to pop Murffi in the post to me
Re: Excited Small Black Dog Sorry David for the hijack! As an aside - on the one and only shoot we have taken Pops on, when we told people her age, they mostly seemed to feel that next year, when she'll be two coming up to three, will be the time when she will really start coming into her own. As David says, I think as dogs get older and more experienced, they can deal better with the huge excitement caused by the noise of the guns, the adrenaline flowing, and birds falling from the sky needing to be picked up! Sure you'll have a good time shooting and beating, Barbara! Not sure what Murffi will think about the postal service, though…
Re: Excited Small Black Dog [quote author=bbrown link=topic=3975.msg47064#msg47064 date=1389696364] Thanks Karen I like the idea of smaller and walked up shooting over big driven shoots. I'm making a training plan to work on Riley's sensitivity to shot over the spring and summer so hopefully by next season we'll be ready. Looks like I'll be shooting on Saturday but leaving Riley at home. I might also get a chance to go beating before the season ends so I'm going to ask Heidrun to pop Murffi in the post to me [/quote] You will have to prise him off OH, Barbara. I definitely lost my number one beating dog to my husband, someone who was never interested in working the dogs. Don't quite know how that happened. ??? ;D Enjoy your shoot day. If you are going beating for the first time it is definitely an advantage to be without a dog, that way you get a chance to see how it all works, where the hot spots are likely to be etc. without having to worry about what your dog might be doing.
Re: Excited Small Black Dog That's so lovely that Murffi has brought the love of working a dog to your husband. What a transformation you've wrought in that bundle of crazy ;D
Re: Excited Small Black Dog I'm looking on my trips out as education for me as I don't come from a shooting background. I think it will help enormously not having a dog on these trips and put me in a better position to work with Riley if/when we actually get to that point
Re: Excited Small Black Dog Enjoy Barbara! I think that's good advice re not taking the dog first time. I took Lady aged 2 and a bit the first time because I was asked to bring her, and it was a bit stressfull at times because I was petrified of puttting a foot wrong with her. Have a great day. Hope you get your "eye" in.
