- Location
- Herefordshire, UK
Cassie and I are just back from a good morning out.
I've been thinking about the type of training I want to do with Cassie over the last few months. I didn't really want to give up on doing gundoggery, because in the right set of conditions we both really enjoy it and it's so good for our bond, there's no doubt about that . So I have had my thinking cap on and decided to contact the local lady I was going to a couple of years ago. As I've learnt more about training generally and Cassie in particular, I realise that 1) she struggles to focus in group training sessions 2) she has zero focus on dummies in a location with any game nearby 3) she isn't retrieve driven as so many Labradors are.
I decided not to carry on with the Grade 3 of the GGS as her delivery to hand wasn't good enough and I had no intention of putting her under pressure about improving that aspect. Over the last few months I've just taken out her rabbit skin dummy which she loves every now and again and tossed it out as a game when practising hand touch, which she absolutely adores playing. Another thing that has helped is playing that game with my slippers in the house -- turning what used to be a game of keepaway after a walk into hand delivery practice!!
This morning we did some simple retrieves, marked and blind so that J could see how Cassie is performing now, and I'm delighted to say that almost every time she returned to me she was actively seeking out my hand to put it in. I was so pleased with her. She was loving doing this stuff in a small playing field in an urban setting with kids playing and riding bikes. But being Cassie you can only do it for so long! It was lovely to see her bright eyed enthusiasm though.
So we are going to have a session every couple of weeks, tailor made for us and featuring the aspects she enjoys the most -- hunting out the dummies in cover and enabling her to use the wind, which is a strength of hers apparently, where her natural ability lies.. We will build in steadiness which is good already, except in the presence of dogs which are new to her but the plan is to start training with just one other initially.
So I'm very pleased to have this to go forward with, and hopefully we will be able to combine this with going on the shoot a few times through the winter giving her the chance to do what she really thrives on.
I've been thinking about the type of training I want to do with Cassie over the last few months. I didn't really want to give up on doing gundoggery, because in the right set of conditions we both really enjoy it and it's so good for our bond, there's no doubt about that . So I have had my thinking cap on and decided to contact the local lady I was going to a couple of years ago. As I've learnt more about training generally and Cassie in particular, I realise that 1) she struggles to focus in group training sessions 2) she has zero focus on dummies in a location with any game nearby 3) she isn't retrieve driven as so many Labradors are.
I decided not to carry on with the Grade 3 of the GGS as her delivery to hand wasn't good enough and I had no intention of putting her under pressure about improving that aspect. Over the last few months I've just taken out her rabbit skin dummy which she loves every now and again and tossed it out as a game when practising hand touch, which she absolutely adores playing. Another thing that has helped is playing that game with my slippers in the house -- turning what used to be a game of keepaway after a walk into hand delivery practice!!
This morning we did some simple retrieves, marked and blind so that J could see how Cassie is performing now, and I'm delighted to say that almost every time she returned to me she was actively seeking out my hand to put it in. I was so pleased with her. She was loving doing this stuff in a small playing field in an urban setting with kids playing and riding bikes. But being Cassie you can only do it for so long! It was lovely to see her bright eyed enthusiasm though.
So we are going to have a session every couple of weeks, tailor made for us and featuring the aspects she enjoys the most -- hunting out the dummies in cover and enabling her to use the wind, which is a strength of hers apparently, where her natural ability lies.. We will build in steadiness which is good already, except in the presence of dogs which are new to her but the plan is to start training with just one other initially.
So I'm very pleased to have this to go forward with, and hopefully we will be able to combine this with going on the shoot a few times through the winter giving her the chance to do what she really thrives on.
