Fall is definitely here and we had a perfect day for field training - cool, crisp and sunny! I forgot my camera but snapped off a few shots of the dogs running in the field before we began training. No, I didn't get a German Shorthair Pointer. This energetic girl belongs to my friend and training partner Jeff and I took her for some obedience and socialization training with Jam, Savi and Trixie.
Becky, the GSP, is a friendly 9 month old pup but needs to learn some manners with other dogs. Jam took on the role of teacher and gave Becky a number of appropriate corrections until Becky learned how to behave. All dogs need to learn dog language and if they don't it can be dangerous. Becky runs in hunt tests and needs to know when another dog doesn't want to play or not to get in their face.
Once Becky was comfortable with my grey girls, she had a blast running and playing with them in this huge field. It also helped get burn some of her endless supply of energy off.
Training was very satisfying. Jam ran with Becky's housemate, Beau, who received his 1st Senior Hunter leg last weekend. The two ran well together and we were able to steady them and shoot for retrieves. Jam broke before the shot and I was able to correct her before she grabbed the bird. I then made her stand and then released her for the retrieve, which she did well with. Unless a dog makes a mistake in training, it is difficult to fix problems encountered during the actual test.
Even though Becky is a green dog and working on her Junior Hunter, she is extremely birdy and the perfect running mate for Savi. Savi had a gorgeous point, sorry no photo, and we shot over her for the first time. I did attach a check cord before we flushed and released the Chukkar in case she broke. Well, so proud of my girl who stood through the shot and waited until I released her for the retrieve. She had to search for the bird as she didn't mark the fall but when she found it, had an impressive retrieve to hand. We are also training her to honor and she's starting to understand that not every bird is hers. I'm very excited at the progress she is making and hope to have her ready to run in Senior Hunter in the Spring.
3 comments:
looks like a grayt day!
I love reading about other people's training techniques. Thanks for the detail. It gives me ideas for Milo Man.
Amy, I'm still learning about the field stuff and try and use my blog to help teach others. You're fortunate to have great places to take Milo hunting and I love the photos you take!
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