Very interested in this as Rourke drops the dummy out of water when it gets in his ears, which it does everytime as he throws himself in the water and disappears from view. I have been getting more success and now keen to try the dummy ball thrown behind. However, the water I use is drying up and very muddy and stinky and the dogs can walk on the bottom! It is also full of weed so I cannot send him across. So I have to wait for rain, rain and more rain!
That's very interesting. I've got to do something about Charlie's water excitement levels before I can return to the not shaking thing....
We had a dummy training session last night, the final one before our hunting exam on Saturday. We practiced sending for blinds, searching for lost dummies, long-distance marks, and a walk-up, as well as a simulated drive. All went well, except for Pops running in on the drive (again). Ah well, I shall just have to keep her on the lead for that particular task, which will mean a loss of marks (but better than a zero for running in). Whatever happens, she will have a wonderful day, doing the stuff she really loves to do, and even if we don't pass (though of courseI hope we will), it will be great training for shooting this winter.
Glad to hear it went well, and you feel ready for Sunday - everything crossed here for another great result for Poppy!
Saturday, not Sunday Early start, too - we'll have to leave the house by around 6:30 for an 08:00 start, and won't be back until late in the evening as it is a full-day program followed by a dinner with the participants, judges and dogs . It should be fun at any rate. Last weekend this exam was held on both Saturday and Sunday, with only a 50% pass rate...
Well, that didn't go well! We got disqualified because Poppy ran in on the walk-up. It was a real shame, because she did so well on everything else - swam across the river on the blind, followed my directions exactly, brought the duck back and delivered to hand WITHOUT SHAKING, great on the tracking, and so on. But she was just too excited on the walk up. Argh, all that work... Poop. Mostly cross with myself - I knew she wasn't completely steady around a gunshot and game combo, and I should have stepped back from it until I was 100% sure, rather than allowing myself to be talked in to giving it a go. Another team was also disqualified, because the dog became very unsure of herself around gunshot, so rather than pushing it any further the owner and the judges agreed to call it a day. So in the end, of the five dogs there three passed. Poppy worked very well all day; I cannot fault her for her dedication and determination. She was a complete honey too, really sweet tempered and got on well with the other dogs, handlers and judges. Everyone loved her. The exam was held in a really beautiful area on the Nahe, which is a lovely little river. I saw two kingfishers! And lots of deer, as well as pheasants and a hare. It was a good day, on the whole - just would have been better if we had passed the exam! But Poppy had a wonderful time, and I know what we need to work on, if I decide to re-take the exam at a later date.
Well done, I know it must be disappointing to fail because of the run in, but think about the fantastic water retrieve when you had been having such problems with that. It sounds as if only a very small part of the test was the part you failed on, but 95% if was SUCCESS.
I think you both did well and it was just a tiny, tiny bit that didn't go to plan and you can now work on that until your next test and you will smash it!! Don't be disappointed Karen. Very well done to both of you xxx
Ah, that's SUCH a shame - I know it meant a lot to you. It was only one thing that went wrong though, although appreciate that's probably not much comfort right now. It does seem she did you proud though, just one mistake. Of course you'll do the exam again. And she'll be fantastic (it sounds like she was already!).
I'm so sorry you just missed out To do everything else so well is super though. You'll get passed this and pass with flying colours no doubt. It sounds like a fabulous place to play with dogs. I've never seen kingfishers in the wild
The test sounds extremely demanding and it sounds as if Poppy did most of it very well indeed, so I hope you don't feel too disappointed. Poppy is leagues ahead of most of us in her training!
So sorry you were disappointed in the result, but at the end of the day there WAS much more good than bad, and you would beat the rest of us hands down! Next time......
Thanks everyone, have been feeling a bit flat about it, but went out with Son today as my helper and we did some nice water retrieves (although why oh why does she sometimes still shake on the first retrieve??). Anyway, I have a week off work, the sun is shining, my son is here at home with me, and we are having a lovely time going for long walks and a bit of training. My big worry now is - will Poppy transfer the huge excitement caused by shotgun fire and game, to starter pistol fire and dummies???? She's never run in before, so I am hoping this isn't a bad omen for our working test next week...
Sometimes I wish I'd never started all this Gundog training - let alone all the breeding malarkey. I had a lovely laid back labrador before who liked retrieving but didn't get too hyped up about it... Didn't know what I was getting into with Miss Loony Retriever!
Seriously. You have a dog that has run in once. Once. You are one of those people that can say things like "Poppy once ran in on an important exam". You so need to borrow Charlie for a day.....
You could hire him out Julie - new sport, extreme dog training! None of these easy peasy dogs. Live life on the edge!
