Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

With luck I'll get the chance to see how she gets on picking up on the shoot tomorrow. As I see it there aare three possible outcomes.

1. She will sit there and do nothing. :

2. She will pick up a bird and run off with it with yours truly in hot pursuit for several miles! :-[

3. She will pick up and retrieve back to me thus boosting my ego to new and unimagined heights. 8)

So what do you think is the most likely outcome. Place your bets here. ;D

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

3. The small black dog will do you proud

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

Lady will never let you down. Helen x

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

Go for a 3!

Have fun

Jacqui

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

Definitely, 3 8)

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

Yes you were all correct! So proud of my girl today. She had to wait a while for her first chance that came on the second drive, but it all looked hopeful from the start because she was tracking all the birds as they went over. On the second drive she got her chance and a bird went down about 100 yds in front of us. She'd marked it and I sent her off (we pick up as we go). She needed a bit of help because the distance was further than she is used to and it was also complicated by being in a field of turnips, but she picked it up and returned it to me as good as gold once she'd sorted out the best way to carry it.

The next drive saw a bird go down on the opposite side of a quite wide stream. She's frightened of water, but swam over and retrieved the bird and brought it back over the water with a bit of encouragement. Brave girl!

Her last effort of the day was not so good. A bird had gone down in trees and I sent her to hunt it out at the end of the drive. She found it easily enough, but decided it was hers! I decided the best strategy was to ignore her and go back to the trailer. She brought it back just behind me and put it down on the trailer. Need to deal with that - any advice greatly appreciated.

So my ego is boosted to an all time high. Not bad for a pet dog. Good girl Lady.

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

Well done you and Lady, and it was such a beautiful day for a shoot too. I think she is a gundog in disguise!!! How did you get on with "the bells"? Helen

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

Haven't tried yet, but I'm definitely going to give them a whirl. I'll post up when we start training on them.

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

Hi David, good to hear you enjoyed your first time out with Lady picking up.

I follow a certain progression with my dogs during training the retrieve. I start with dummies, then fur and feather attached to dummies, then cold game in a stocking or something like that to make it easier for the dog to carry, then straight forward cold game and only then freshly shot game.

The shooting environment is intensely exciting to the dogs, especially a young and inexperienced dog, so I introduce my dogs to that situation in a very gradual way, picking and choosing some very simple retrieves to start with and gently building up over the course of a whole season. I never rush the process, it is all too easy to ruin weeks of training in one day, sometimes in one drive.

So, going back to your question, if it was my dog that was possessive about a freshly shot bird, I would go back several steps, back to cold game or even dummies to get a perfect return and delivery.

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

Hi Heidrun. Thanks for that. Yes I've built her up through steps from dummy up to cold game etc although she's never been very keen on cold. Yesterday was supposed to be a simple day with just one drive, but the birds didn't really come our way so we ended up "picking up" the whole day for a total of 3 birds. They were meant to be simple line of sight retrieves over open ground, but it didn't quite pan out like that. The one over water in particular was just one of those things where the bird flew on before dropping. I thought it was good exercise for her sitting for longish spells with no action. She whined a bit but not too much and when the birds started coming over and the guns opened up she was as keen as mustard.

I'll follow your advice and take her through a refresher course before the next one and then maybe have her beating in the morning's less productive drives and give her another chance in the afternoon. She got loads of encouragement from the nearby guns - they all knew she (and me) was a novice, and it's a very small private shoot so we all know each other well enough.

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

That sounds good. You are very lucky to have access to a small private shoot, I much prefer those days out with a relatively small bag compared to some of the large commercial shoots I work on. Things can get a little hectic there. Enjoy your season.

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

Congratulations David, that's Super - and well done Lady!!!

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

Wow. Lady sounds brilliant. I have a stirring longing to get my two into the whole gundog thing too...very much pets and im very much a clueless novice but really like the idea...they can hill run with me and i can try and work out how to get us involved in Their World too....

 

Re: Small Black Dog is about to "go outside the box"

Hi Debsie. Lady is just a pet and my first Labrador. We are both rank amateurs but she probably has the edge on me with inbuilt gene power. I do it for fun and she is full of "faults" but there you are. We got itnto the shooting partly because she was such a handful when she was a pup that we though giving her something to do might help calm her down and get her more under control and a bit of gundog training did to a certain extent I think. Joining the shoot was pretty much by accident after a casual conversation with the farmer when I was out in one of his fields doing a bit of dummy work. ladyy was 2 and a bit at the time.

Lady loves the whole business now she has got used to the people, dogs, noises and general carry on. She's also grwon up a lot and is less timid with other dogs and more confident in what she is doing etc etc.

I expect others can give better advice, but if you aren't against the concept of shooting etc I would make some enquiries and go for it. We maily beat which s quite a sociable activity and tires lady and me out. She's not really built for it but she paddles about with enthusiasm.