It seems I'm the problem with Poppy's training. 
It became very clear yesterday. We did some warmup stuff to get the Pop Dog focused. Walking between place boards and sitting on them. Sit stays while I walked off. All very iffy I'm afraid. Poppy was hard work. We tried a short retrieve. That went well provided you wanted the dummy taking into the centre of the field and then buried. 
So then Judy suggests she takes Poppy. Hear! Straight to her side and sit. Heel! Walking nicely to heal alongside. Wait! Poppy waits while Judy walks forward and throws a dummy out. Pops stays sitting. Out! Pops retrieves and delivers followed by a sit.
I say OK it's me that's the problem then. Judy says afraid so because Poppy did all that perfectly and to be honest I would never have thought we'd get this far this quickly with an ex-sniffer dog. She can do it but she's in charge of you rather than the other way around.
We gave it another whirl with a long retrieve using the starter pistol and then a second "bird" at the same location while Poppy was on her way back. Pops stops half way and buries the dummy.
We reassess. I say she failed as a sniffer dog because of a lack of concentration. Judy says, yes, she can see that let's change tack and try something else.
I have Poppy sitting next to me looking away from Judy while she places a blind in some cover. On command I send Pops back and call "Find it". She knows this command possibly from sniffer work. I also use the hunt whistle but she doesn't know that one yet. She does her stuff. Finds the dummy and brings it back with a perfect delivery. In the meantime Judy has placed another dummy in a different but nearby location. I give "Back" plus "Find it". Poppy does just that.
We stop there on a closing high. Judy thinks Poppy just needs challenge and interest to do the job. She thinks in her previous life Pops was probably fed up with just sniffing out baggage. Good dog in the wrong job. We'll see but I hope she's correct.
I've now got lots of homework on the "I'm in charge" front. Onwards and upwards!
It became very clear yesterday. We did some warmup stuff to get the Pop Dog focused. Walking between place boards and sitting on them. Sit stays while I walked off. All very iffy I'm afraid. Poppy was hard work. We tried a short retrieve. That went well provided you wanted the dummy taking into the centre of the field and then buried. So then Judy suggests she takes Poppy. Hear! Straight to her side and sit. Heel! Walking nicely to heal alongside. Wait! Poppy waits while Judy walks forward and throws a dummy out. Pops stays sitting. Out! Pops retrieves and delivers followed by a sit.
I say OK it's me that's the problem then. Judy says afraid so because Poppy did all that perfectly and to be honest I would never have thought we'd get this far this quickly with an ex-sniffer dog. She can do it but she's in charge of you rather than the other way around.
We gave it another whirl with a long retrieve using the starter pistol and then a second "bird" at the same location while Poppy was on her way back. Pops stops half way and buries the dummy.
We reassess. I say she failed as a sniffer dog because of a lack of concentration. Judy says, yes, she can see that let's change tack and try something else.
I have Poppy sitting next to me looking away from Judy while she places a blind in some cover. On command I send Pops back and call "Find it". She knows this command possibly from sniffer work. I also use the hunt whistle but she doesn't know that one yet. She does her stuff. Finds the dummy and brings it back with a perfect delivery. In the meantime Judy has placed another dummy in a different but nearby location. I give "Back" plus "Find it". Poppy does just that.
We stop there on a closing high. Judy thinks Poppy just needs challenge and interest to do the job. She thinks in her previous life Pops was probably fed up with just sniffing out baggage. Good dog in the wrong job. We'll see but I hope she's correct.
I've now got lots of homework on the "I'm in charge" front. Onwards and upwards!
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