[JerseyFJ40]

I went to a training day yesterday down in Assunpink with Navesink River Hunting Retriever Club. It was my first time running my dogs in a hunt test in over 4 years. I wasn't too optimistic... I was running an older, seasoned dog but it hadn't made a retrieve like that in a while... and my younger dog has never even seen ducks before.

My older dog did really well. I ran her on a marked single, a double marked, and a blind (if I'm talking over anyone's head, let me know and I'll explain what each means). She nailed all four retrieves... I was impressed considering the first was 105yds, the second only 20 and the third was a live flyer at 120yds. The blind was about a 70yd cast. I ran her on a scent drag too but she's primarily an air scenter and didn't do well... oh well.

I bring my younger one to the line and he's totally distracted by everything. I asked for three single marks (and I skipped the blind). But I knew there was no chance he's gonna see the first marked retrieve fall... after the first bird was tossed and he didn't see it, I walk him down a bit closer and he finally gets a mark and runs to it. He gets to it and looks back at me as if to say "what the hell is this thing?" But he makes the retrieve ok... his first duck. He marks the second and third no problem but gets a little lost on the third... again a 100+ yard retrieve. But he ran through a block of decoys to make the retrieve and didn't pick one of them up so I guess that's a plus. I ran him on a scent trail too and he nailed that... about a 50 yard drag in under 30 seconds.

So I'm out at round valley today to work them again. We spook a flock of geese off of where I normally train them and my younger one hits the water like a ton of bricks. He got wind of the geese and decided he had to have one... I guess he likes the taste of waterfowl feathers. So long story short, I'm optimistic about his talent. He needs lots of work, but he'll be done for the goose september opener.

 

[wild work]

Good post I love dogs doing what they were breed to do. I, myself have two retrievers, chocolate a male 7 and a female 16 months. I also have eight beagles that I run 3 nights a week. Even after dark. Keep up the training they can only get better. Most people wear down and never complete their dogs training. In my opinion they are always learning as we are till the day we die. The book "10 Minute Retriever" means 10 minutes a day, everyday. Not much time per day, but little and often make much.

Till our trails cross,
Ryan

 

[JerseyFJ40]

Oh yeah... it takes time every day... and when you add it all up, it's alot. But the benefits are huge. There's nothing like hunting over a well trained dog... whether it's in a duck blind or in a field, you can't beat it.

My dogs are at the point now where a training session lasts atleast an hour (half hour each) and often as long as two. I "run the stupid out of them" then when they're settled down, I'll set up a drill while they're on a sit/stay... I run about 5 drills with each of them, then let them do some water work cuz they love to swim, then kennel them up. It's a fun time.

 

[JerseyFJ40]

Hey Ryan, I forgot to ask you, what do you run your beagles for?