Re: Riley's training log Argh just lost my great long admiring reply!! Good boy Riley! How fab to be able to train during the week - I can never manage it in the winter, and it shows. Poppy was a real pain at training on Sunday, ignored my stop whistle and was over-excited. Ah well, a week holiday coming up in a couple of weeks and we are staying here, so some serious (but fun) training will be in order.
Re: Riley's training log I'm so lucky work is flexible so I can take an hour out in the day if it's quiet. I always have my phone and iPad with me so I can respond to any emergencies
Re: Riley's training log I've loved reading these. On throwing the dummies out and picking them up yourself, does that really work? I heard it was an old wives tale...I can't remember where now...
Re: Riley's training log [quote author=JulieT link=topic=9765.msg143134#msg143134 date=1423682232] I've loved reading these. On throwing the dummies out and picking them up yourself, does that really work? I heard it was an old wives tale...I can't remember where now... [/quote] Not an old wives tale but a fact of life for gundogs. Lots of retrieves are for other dogs or even for people to pick up. On shoot day I will pick up a fair amount myself if they land close enough and are accessible.
Re: Riley's training log I do it...well, I do now I can throw a boring dummy and Charlie is on his placeboard. I just heard (can't remember where now) it doesn't help over and above asking a dog to wait for a dummy. My trainer does non of these steadiness drills (but has steady dogs) and I notice Clare Raymond on PGs said she doesn't do them either....
Re: Riley's training log I train mostly with friends and their dogs so the dogs learn to honour another dog's retrieve. That is not so easy to do when training alone with just one dog, that's when I go back to picking up dummies myself.
Re: Riley's training log [quote author=heidrun link=topic=9765.msg143149#msg143149 date=1423684749] I train mostly with friends and their dogs so the dogs learn to honour another dog's retrieve. That is not so easy to do when training alone with just one dog, that's when I go back to picking up dummies myself. [/quote] Same here if there are other dogs around Riley obviously has to wait. When he's on an absolute hair trigger like Monday he needs to wait somehow. I chose to make him wait for me to pick up but I guess I could have turned him away or asked him to do something else....... I know people with more than one dog who use their other experienced dogs to achieve the same thing.
Re: Riley's training log So Riley was a bit off colour and missed class last week, once he'd perked up a bit we did some work on hand targeting with a clicker. The long term plan for this is to use it to improve his heelwork. Here's a short video.... https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153654084123289&l=8905162240972243544 After posting this on the Positive Gundogs Facebook group (and one of Obi that will be in his training thread) it was suggested by the lady who'd posted the original videos showing what she does with her labs that I should ask for a double tap as that would result in a stronger push into my hand. This only really worked for Riley once we were outside as he's very gentle, almost tentative in the house. I'm starting to use the hand push as I take steps round the garden now and will transfer to outside walking soon. Back at class yesterday and we really struggled to get going, I was worried the time off had dented the progress that we'd made in Rileys retrieving but the class could have been made for us (after the first bit which we were rubbish at). We started with a weave at heel through some poles followed by a short retrieve and a weave back through the poles. I don't know who or what had been on that ground but Riley couldn't keep his nose off the floor and wasn't interested in the retrieve in the slightest! I thought it was going to be a long afternoon but tried not to get frustrated : Next exercise was hide and seek - a recall in the woods, I hid while someone had Riley and he had to come and find me. Interestingly all the dogs went straight to handlers almost desperately, no sniffing, no messing about of any kind which just showed they know what recall means but sometimes the environmental rewards outweigh their desire to respond. We did some walking retrieves then where we all walked along a path as a group with the dogs offlead at heel. Dummies went out which the dogs marked and each dog got a retrieve or two and then delivery was taken on the move. New ground and Rileys desire to retrieve came back in spades!! Phew!! He just about managed to be steady but his heelwork in the excitement was atrocious (more clicker work required!!!) We did a marked retrieve through a wood about 10 - 15m deep, basically a cover strip. The dogs heard the bbbbrrrrrp noise and saw the dummy in the air, they heard it land and were sent verbally(no hand signal). There were brambles right in front of us and the handlers only had the very roughest idea where the dummy would be. Once the dogs were past the brambles you only got the barest glimpses of them so you couldn't handle them at all. Riley was great another dog ran in on his retrieve but he (apparently) carried on with his job which is a big deal for us as other dogs are usually a much higher value than retrieving unless Riley really has his work head on so little steps but important ones. Musical statues next as we all want to work on our stop whistles but are at differing levels. This basically involved playing with your dog with a toy or your lead or anything and when the whistle went the handlers had to freeze and see what the dogs did. With the odd exception of a sniff or a run off to play (yes Riley did go to see his buddy Chocolate Buzz ) the dogs all froze too and after a few goes they were all stopping completely on the whistle, freezing as we froze. This was a lot of fun and the only bits that didn't freeze were the tails ;D Riley loved this game and he liked it even more when after each freeze a dummy went out and each dog got a retrieve. Woohooo ;D Then we did a stolen retrieve across some cover which was mostly long grass. I had to use my stop whistle twice but the ears finally worked which was good. A reward dummy went out which Riley nicely picked and delivered. Next 5 dummies went out across an area in the long grass and we needed to bring one back. We were last but one so there were only two dummies left out. I had an inkling where they were so back to splitting up the area into sections and working each one. Riley took a reasonable (but not very straight ??? ) line out and started hunting, he held an area but then decided to come back towards me at the right hand edge of the area we were working. He stopped beautifully and I sent him back into area with my left hand. He hunted again, picked on his nose and came home - really, really pleased We finished up with a straight mark, Riley's marking skills have come on really well (I'm not quite sure how but it's a good thing!) and where some of the dogs got a bit lost in the grass and needed handling onto their dummies Riley just legged it straight out and back. All in all a very good session - Bonio richly deserved! And here he is, photographed last week by Heidrun
Re: Riley's training log Another fabulous photo (see Obi's post). Your training class sounded very interesting and enjoyable.
Re: Riley's training log That sounds like a great class! And what a lovely photo. [quote author=bbrown link=topic=9765.msg145493#msg145493 date=1424778520] Interestingly all the dogs went straight to handlers almost desperately, no sniffing, no messing about of any kind which just showed they know what recall means but sometimes the environmental rewards outweigh their desire to respond. [/quote] Charlie is different to working dogs in this exercise. Before Christmas, we hid in the woods (all dogs were loose on a bumble walk), we didn't use our recalls though, just hid. And measured how long it was before each dog found their handler. Charlie repeatedly was the last dog. It could be a function of just general focus, in that the other dogs had more awareness of their handler, and also Charlie was the youngest dog there (so I can work on these things, of course), but I think he also just does not have that edge of desperation that I saw clearly in the other dogs. So I was wondering about this, in that wondering if I'm doing the right things in my training - I think I clearly need to work harder on it than handlers with different types of dogs.
Re: Riley's training log If I hide from Riley when we're out and about and don't recall him he can be absorbed in a sniff and doesn't really notice. When he does though he comes to find me as his very next thing with a reasonable sense of urgency. Once he knows where I am though and if he knows the area well he may well break off before he gets to me and start sniffing again. I think he likes to pretend he wasn't bothered ;D
Re: Riley's training log I always think it is amusing when I hide from the dogs and can watch them panic 'where is she, where is she' they then find me and at once assume a nonchalant walk and wander "wasn't bothered about loosing you at all' ;D
Re: Riley's training log enjoying this training log, and I'm going to try to do the freeze exercise....on the hidden owner thing, Brods rarely lets me out of his sight, UNLESS he gets absorbed in following a scent, he wouldn't notice if I hid. A few weeks ago he shot off on a pheasant scent, nose to the ground, fast tail, complete hunting mode, and oblivious to anything else. I legged it in the other direction, cut up a steep hillside, and just stood watching him in the quarry below with Cuillin next to me. He was madly hunting, then the scent came to an end, adrenalin subsided, he looked round and couldn't see me or Cuillin, and switched straight to blind panic, like lost the plot panic . I felt sorry for him so called him in quickly and have never seen a dog scale a super steep hillside via brambles so quickly in my life....but got me thinking that the power of the hunting instinct is just soooo strong, it seems to override even this very strong need to be with his owner....not quite sure where that leaves me training wise, or how to tap into it more effectively, given my non existence during the hunt....
Re: Riley's training log Handsome boy Riley, what a lucky lady you are Barbara and again gorgeous photo Heidrun These photo's make me think about getting some nice ones done of Hattie & Charlie x
Re: Riley's training log We've been having an I testing time the last week or two. I've been putting some work in on our heelwork and done less retrieving and that seems to have impacted Riley's confidence in his outrun, he's a little sticky and won't run past a person if the dummy thrower is between him and the dummy. I'm not sure if I'd managed to get more retrieving in it would have been better or the focus on keeping him close for the heelwork is causing the stickiness but it just shows you......you fix one thing and something else pops up Anyway out on Salisbury Plain today in beautiful sunshine and I wanted to stretch his legs and keep him moving. There were 4 dogs out and so we had a good opportunity to work on steadiness and also focus amongst other dogs. Riley is getting so much better at concentrating on the job in hand amongst other dogs I was really pleased. He even hung onto his retrieve when a 10 month old made a bit of a lunge for it as he passed. Most of the retrieves in the early part of the session were marked but the ground was deceptive as it fell away from us and the dummies got lost quickly in the tufts grass. His marking is good in terms of line but the downhill nature of the ground flummoxed him on distance until he got his eye in. He was hunting really well though and his stop on the odd occasion he got out of area was great. I'm mixing up my commands between visual and verbal on the handling at shorter distances so that I can use either or both out and about. It seems to be going well on the visuals, the verbal only need more work though. We moved into the woods and a mix of marks and blinds. It was almost impossible to handle the dogs as you couldn't see them most of the time. Riley was working really well though and being really persistent which has come on so much recently. He did a great stop when he came back towards me having not found in the area he was working but I couldn't see him so the first I knew was when he appeared at full tilt up a little bank into view. It's one of the few times I've just blown my stop whistle because I wanted him to stop and not because I thought he would stop (if that makes sense) and the brakes fully went on which was extremely pleasing as it all just notches up the confidence for both of us and the trust as I sent him back to the right area where he picked and came home ;D I think our training probably sounds quite repetitive and in some ways it is but the ground changes and variety in dogs we're working with are all big factors
Re: Riley's training log Sounds just like our training Barbara ;D ;D You and Riley sound like you have a great time and the boy did good from what I understand : xx
Re: Riley's training log Tut! I missed a Riley training log entry! Great stops by the sound of it. Charlie is deaf to stops if there is a dummy out still...so I'm envious. [quote author=bbrown link=topic=9765.msg147819#msg147819 date=1425660533] We've been having an I testing time the last week or two. I've been putting some work in on our heelwork and done less retrieving and that seems to have impacted Riley's confidence in his outrun, he's a little sticky and won't run past a person if the dummy thrower is between him and the dummy. I'm not sure if I'd managed to get more retrieving in it would have been better or the focus on keeping him close for the heelwork is causing the stickiness but it just shows you......you fix one thing and something else pops up [/quote] That sounds a bit odd, though. I can't imagine why heelwork would make him sticky. Has this happened again since?
Re: Riley's training log It hasn't popped up again but we've done a lot more marked retrieves to just get rid of the problem so I'm not worried it may just have been coincidence that it occurred at the same time as I made a significant change in what we were practicing at home. In class on Monday we did mark, memory, blind over four different pieces of ground and he was keen as chips. The four different ground types were: flat on a path, flat into cover, uphill into cover, downhill, out of sight, in cover. Between each group we did a marked dummy launcher retrieve as a reward - who would have thought that would be rewarding to Riley!
Re: Riley's training log Ah, sounds like he has found his groove alright. Haven't done dummy launchers yet....that will blow a little Choccie mind, methinks.... ;D ;D ;D
