Day 28: Makes an A** out of You and Me...(but mostly me)

So for anyone keeping track, I spent the past day chasing my tail at work because of a mistake that could have been avoided had I just taken the time to fully understand what was happening. Instead, I ASSUMED that I knew what was happening rather than going the extra mile to understand. After a long and stressful day, I drove home and started thinking about dog training. I thought about what I could do from a training session to write a cleverly didactic blog post about not missing small details, focusing not only on the outcome but on the steps, taking all measures possible to avoid failure; blah blah blah.

With this in mind, I headed out for the three Hs and then decided to work on his T drills which have been on the shelf for too long and which I assumed would make a great blog post and allow me to tie dog training to life lessons. I started with the drill as we have always run it. He hupped on the whistle, but in a very lackadaisical way which definitely took him further off the line where I want him to go as you can see in the following video.

So I decided  to crisp up his whistle hups and handling with this trusty new found collar tool that I have. I started with the device on a 1. I was hoping that a small blip would keep him from drifting over and that I would use this magical device to make a dog that runs like a pro...but instead, after I used it twice; he popped on the third one; and fourth one, and fifth one. Following this debacle, I made a new back pile (taking the sides away) and just ran him on it six times. We then transitioned to a bit of quartering and sit to the whistle drills.

All in all, it wasn't an awful session, but it made me realize something that I hadn't initially expected to extrapolate from this session. I learned that things don't always go according to plan, and when they don't there are no silver bullets or aces up the sleeve. Generally getting the most information that you can up front is the only way to ensure that when things don't go as planned that you can minimize the risk.

Tomorrow brings a new day at work and in training; so I'll be ready for whatever it throws at me...but no matter what it does, I will do everything within my power to make it a good day, not just assume that it will be.

Day 27: Wide Open Spaces

Today Rob and I headed out to the club to take the pups for a swim. The weather was beautiful and the dogs were all ready to take a dunk. When I think to my issues with Fred, a lot of them were rooted in trips to the club. The majority of our sessions there for the past year have gone like this:

• Let dogs out of car to run
• Put on boots
• Yell for dogs
• Yell for dogs again
• Walk down to the pond
• Yell for dogs
• Run marks and blinds
• Let dogs run
• Yell for dogs
• Put dogs up

Today we altered the plan a bit and went with:

• Take dogs out of the car
• Walk to pond on lead
• Run marks and blinds
• Walk back from pond on lead
• Let dogs run

This new plan appeared to work much better than the old as Fred heeled nicely with no shenanigans at all. We shortened up what we had been doing just to see where we stood after the two weeks off and all of the obedience. He did a wonderful job. It was great to not have to fight with him, and certainly made my entire experience much calmer and more enjoyable for both of us.
 
After training, while Rob worked on force with Hondo, we talked about the fact that there is a big difference between getting the job done; and being a good all around employee. Hopefully we are taking more and more steps towards a long and happy employment!

  

Day 26: He Still Loves Me!

Today I got home about 45 minutes before Rob came over. I have more work to do tonight than I can even begin to explain; but somehow the nice weather and my desire to be fair to Fred made me decide to go out on a nice long walk with him to work on our H's. We went all around the property heeling (where I only had to correct him once) and hupping (where the count was five). He did a great job and was not stressing at all. It was some good time between just the two of us.

When Rob got there; we let the dogs have a bit of free time, then did the smart thing (for once) and put Hondo and Ranger up and headed out to work Fred. I kept him on a nice loose lead the whole way to where we were running the first set of marks from. He was focused and paying perfect attention. I had Rob throw four sets of long doubles for Fred from different locations, and he did a nice job. He actually hunted a bit on the memory birds (which isn't like him) but I'll have to admit that the trade off for his level of discipline was completely worth it.

I didn't do anything with the collar on his retrieves as they were really as good as gold and better. So, once we were done I made another good decision. I put Fred back on lead and heeled him as we walked back to the house, scattering in a few hups and heres. When we got back to the house, I had him sit and took the lead off before releasing him to ease the tension. Rob made a valuable comment about letting him know when the pressure is off, so I told him what a good boy he was and even gave him a biscuit.

As I sit here on the couch (still not doing work in case you are keeping track) with Fred sleeping peacefully at my feet, I realize that all of this pressure, and consistency is not bringing him down or making him love me any less, but rather making him love and respect me more than he has in awhile. I suppose that this is how my parents felt after they grounded me for being an idiot, but knew that I was learning not from my mistakes; but from the way that they handled them.

Day 25: Another Tool in my Belt

For those who know me, you know that I'm generally opposed to the use of an e-collar for training. I don't ever want to nick Fred for something that he doesn't know, but I do agree that it can be an effective training tool. I think my stubbornness, and abandoning the collar too early may have been contributing factors to getting where we were. That being said, I have had my new-ish Hawx collar on Fred for the past few sessions. To anyone who hasn't purchased one of these yet (a low cost add on if you have the upgraded Bumper Boy Electronics), I highly recommend it. For a novice trainer such as myself, the rigid expansion strap makes placement a snap and keeps you from making it too tight or loose which helps to ensure proper contact.

I didn't turn the collar on until today when I decided to get back to conditioning from the ground up. We revisited the undeniable H trifecta: hup-heel-here. I set the collar on the lowest stimulation and gave myself the "keep calm, carry on pep talk". I started with hup and just kept on the lowest stimulation when I gave the command and tugged on the lead. We hupped dozens of times, but it sure didn't take long to crisp up his response. Next we moved to heel. I kept the leash loosely in my left hand. Every time that the lead tightened at all, I gave him a low nick and repeated the command. Sure enough in 10 minutes or so we were on very loose lead and hupping perfectly. We did several here's as well, although I didn't need to use the collar at all on here as his response on this was immediate.

We took a big and exciting walk around the property for about 30 minutes and I kept this up when needed. I realized that I was being a very responsible trainer as I was not using it to train and for once I was being completely honest with myself and Fred. When using this method, my timing is much better than it is when I am simply trying to jerk him into place (anyone who has seen me dance knows that I lack all sense of coordination and timing!)

I have always been very cautious with the collar, so going back to these basics is helping to re-collar condition both of us. As I cautiously rebuild my Lincoln Logs with Fred, I will continue to use the collar fairly and consistently as yet another tool that can help me help him to reach his full potential.

Day 24: The Truth Hurts

Two weeks ago I was away for a conference, and on Wednesday night L.C. had six beautiful puppies. I took a few days off and was planning to get back at it last week when my BFF and training buddy Rob hit me with a ton of bricks. I was talking about Fred flunking out of Seasoned on the water double (as he wouldn't swim through a big patch of lily pads); and I mentioned that I had issues with control that almost got him pitched. Rob sat quietly and listened to me, then threw it all out there. He mentioned that he had re-read all of my training blogs and got thinking that between what he read, and what he saw on a daily basis; that I had bigger issues with Fred.

He mentioned that I often repeat commands and that both before and after training I let him run like a mad man. He talked about how I struggle to get him lined up and use a litany of here, heel, look, etc. etc.  He went on and on and I kept coming up with excuses and explanations. I have to admit that the wine wasn't helping, but I went to bed thinking that he was crazy. I woke up the next morning, however; with a new sense of clarity. I was refusing to see it because I was getting what I wanted out of Fred in the blind running and marking; but the more I considered it, I realized that all of these little things that I was accepting were starting to add up and would soon be a great big problem.

I talked to Rob (and apologized) then came up with a new plan. I decided that each training session needs to contain a good amount of heeling, whistle sits, recall drills and just basic control. I needed to remind myself that these little behaviors are not acceptable, and that duplicate commands and refusals are not fair to the dog.

I headed out this afternoon for a good 45 minutes of heeling and short marks. I was very honest with where he was and very cautious about what I was accepting and saying. After the session, Fred was stressing a bit, but is now happily sleeping at my feet. While the truth hurt a bit, I know that I need to be clear and concise on what I want out of Fred. This is the only way that I can continue to improve my dog, and improve myself.

I'm not sure what other training elements I will incorporate, but I am sure that this tough love conversation helped me to turn over a new leaf and we will start looking at the coming weeks as a whole picture, not just a little dog who can run a blind.

Day 23: HRC Help?

Today Rob and I headed out to the club to enjoy the beautiful whether and get away from LC who is ruling the roost with her big belly at the moment. I have come to grips with the fact that with only a few days until we take a crack at a our first Seasoned test, I have to be honest about where we are. I have realized in the past few weeks that our water handling just isn't there yet. Sure I can put on a whistle clinic and get him through it, but its more of an etch a sketch than anything else.

That being said, today I tried something new. Fred got off of his line while swimming across the pond. It wasn't awful, but he probably drifted two or three yards left while swimming across (i think he fixated on a stump that he saw). Instead of trying to get him to take delicate angle backs, I let him go. When he got four paws on the ground I gave him an over to the blind then called him in. I have posted the video below; but my question for all of you HRC gurus out there is whether or not this would constitute a failure at the Seasoned level?

If it would, I'll plan on hacking him through, but if not; I'll take my chances once he gets to land. Let me know, because I'm clueless on this one!!

Day 22: Trust is a Two Way Street

I didn't write yesterday because it was a fairly uneventful training day. We trained at the farm and stuck to some long bumper boy marks and a few simple blinds. A storm rolled in and cut us short; so this afternoon we picked up where we left off.

Rob, Kevin and I headed to the club and set up some fun situations. We went back to the water double followed by a water blind for our first scenario. The double seemed like it would be pretty straightforward, but when Kevin threw the memory bird and neither I or Fred could see it fall (or so I thought).

Despite a little cheating on the way back from the go bird, Fred did a great job on this. I got ready to send him on the memory bird, and realized that if he got in trouble I wouldn't even be able to handle him from where I was standing. As soon as he sat down and locked in to his far left, I thought he just might have an idea so I sent him....and he nailed it!

As you can see it is difficult to see the fall, but just that little splash was enough for Fred. I was so proud of him, and just like I'm asking him to trust me in the blind work, I am learning to trust him a little bit too.

The blind went moderately well. I knew that I lined him wide right and just let him go. Once he hit the other shore he was about 5 feet off of it so I blew the sit whistle...right as he saw it. Oops. I need to keep at it though, because as hard as my little guy is working to learn for me I need to keep learning for him!

Day 21: Calling the Audible

Today we headed to the club to set up some more test scenarios. Kevin and I beat Rob there, so Kevin headed down to the pond to set up a water double and a water blind. I took Fred down to the "line" and the water double (which I was worried about) went perfectly. After this, I moved him a few yards over to run the blind (which I expected to go perfectly).

As usually happens, the blind did NOT go perfectly. It was about 60 yards across the pond; only it was in an area where just getting off a little bit would tempt him to swim to the shore. I sent him out on what looked like a good line but he slipped and faltered on some rocks offshore and ended up going a bit left towards the bank. I whistle stopped him; only it seemed like more of a whistle pause. I just couldn't get him to pay attention for long enough to take a decent cast. Moreover, while he'd take the right over well, my back casts fell on deaf ears. When he reached the point of confusion and was starting to swim in circles I called him back in.

Rather than send Fred again from that spot with his brief 20 days of water blinds under his belt, I took him to the side of the pond which would make the blind about 30 yards. I lined him up and got him to go back to it and swim back to me. Kevin yelled over from the other side of the pond, "nice job calling the audible"!

I wanted Fred to perform the trickier blind, so I took him back to the rocky shore where I had originally sent him from and had Kevin drop the blind so that he could see it happen. I then sent him and as expected he went straight across and straight back. While I would have liked him to do this the first time around, the way that we changed it up to give him a win was perfect for where we are at.

After working the other dogs we did a walk up followed by a blind with a diversion bird on the way back. Both Fred and I are having fun with this new type of training that involves many of the different elements that we have practiced. I am sure that we will still be doing drills and focusing on one thing or another; but for right now its a blast to throw it all out there and "Call the Audible" to make every experience a learning one!

Day 20: And Now for Something Completely Different

We had a big weekend in South Carolina with the Carolina Boykin Spaniel Retriever Club. This group of people is so wonderful, hospitable and a heck of a lot of fun. Even if we had left with no ribbons, Fred and I would have enjoyed ourselves...however, it ended up slightly better than that. Fred earned his last two Started passes and is now officially an SHR!

I cannot even think about how many hours my on site assistance (Rob Keddie) and my remote trainer and dog therapist (Millie Latimer) have spent with Fred and I getting us to this point. I am happy to say that it wasn't like he just eeked past on these tests, but he sat there steady as a rock and nailed his marks.

So what's next? Well...two weeks from now the High Flyers HRC has a test in Grove City. I guess its time to take some of this blind work and put it all together and try our luck at our first Seasoned test. I reviewed the rules and thought about all of the parts and pieces and figured I have...Water Doubles, Water Blind, Land Doubles, Land Blind, Diversion Birds and Walk ups to get ready for, so despite the whopping three hours of sleep that I had last night, Fred and I headed out to the club with Rob to get training.

We decided to kick it off with a Water Retrieve with a Diversion bird followed by a Water Blind from a slightly different spot. I figured its time to get rid of the security blanket of big white bumpers and move to small orange and black ones. I didn't tape the whole ordeal, but I did manage to flip it on for the blind part. Even though my heart was in my throat, and it was a short blind, Fred took a great line, got on land and got the blind!

After the water work we did a Walk up with a Double Land mark and a Land Blind. Fred did well on all counts; but I'm not getting ahead of myself here. I fully understand that I am not going to have a bombproof dog in two weeks, but I think if I keep after him every day until the test, and the test happens to resemble a situation that he has seen....we might just have a chance slightly better than a snowball in hell!

Day 19: The Next 30 Days

Tonight was another Mommy and Me day for Fred; but instead of hammering on water blinds, we decided to take the bumper boy out and do a bit of practice for the HRC test this weekend. I have to give it to the dog...he can mark! You can't tell from this angle, but the mark actually falls on the other side of two paths so he had to do multiple cover transitions to get to it.

Watching the videos, however; made me realize that our next 30 days ought to be dedicated to running a straight line back to me. I traditionally haven't been using the "here" or whistle, but I tried it to get him not to cut into the paths tonight. Oh well...I guess I'll have to get creative with this one too!

After 12 bumper boy bumpers from various spots around the back field, Fred was all tired out and READY for his water blind. Maybe he'll sleep tonight!

We can't wait to see everyone in South Carolina on Saturday!

Day 18: Mommy and Me

Today I headed back out to the club with the dogs. There was a youth fly fishing lesson going on at the one side; so I decided just to take Fred down for starters. We headed back to the fated corner of the pond. I ran him on a bunch of land marks and blinds first, then tied him up out of sight and set the wheel of bumpers out. This time I opted to move from the white ones to the black and white ones (I don't yet have the confidence for black or orange!). Much to my surprise Fred focused in a lot more and took every line beautifully.

I'm not sure if it was the increased focus on the bumpers since they were harder to see; or if it was the fact that it was just the two of us; but it worked! We didn't have a single mis-step or problem as we ran the exercise one time from each side of the pond.

I'm looking forward to another few days of training, then a trip down to lovely South Carolina for the CBSRC Trial!

Day 17: We Interrupt this Training

After a week of obedience and a "refresher" on the fetch table, we are back in business!

Today Kevin, Rob and I headed over to the club for some training. I was happy that from the get go Fred was paying much more attention! I decided to move back to the three or four bumpers around the corner of the pond.
It wasn't perfect or even pretty; but the week of momma's iron fist seems to have him paying attention to me again. Ironically he got off of his line a few times today. I think it had to do with him being able to see the other "blinds" when he got out there. Nonetheless, we got a chance to handle a bit and he did a good job. I made a boneheaded handler error on the second one where I blew the whistle, but didn't wait for him to turn around before I gave him a back...doh. I think this training is as much for me as Fred. I also enjoy the play by play critique from Kevin and Rob!

I am having trouble posting the video; but things went well for the first three. On the last return he makes a big production about trying to get out of the water. He has been reasonably de-cheated, so he never tries to run around the bank, but he runs up and down it. Kevin yelled at me to stop him and whistlehim back, which worked; however he still flopped around like a 6 month old puppy....back to the drawing board I guess! It seems that every time we fix a problem, we create 5 more!

Day 16: House Rules

There are only a few rules in the Kees household that aren't up to interpretation:
1. Never leave the paper towel roll empty
2. Never leave a nearly empty gin bottle on the shelf
3. Never growl at the person who feeds you

Seeing as Kevin is out of town, I'll give you one guess as to what happened today.

I can't say as this was a complete surprise; and despite good advice given to me by Fred's namesake, I saw it coming and ignored all of the warning signs.

Over the past three weeks, Fred has transitioned from my loyal employee to completely self employed. I had shrugged of Sunday as a slump, but today when we hit the club pond, I was back to a wrestling match at the water's edge. Everything from his focus to his delivery was miserable. Ironically his line (yes his, not mine) was good and he came straight back through the water, but any casual onlooker could tell that I was only there to drive the car.

After Fred's blind, I went to put him back on the chain gang. When I reached down to get his collar, he gave a full on growl. Needless to say; this didn't end well. I felt a little silly as a grown woman tackling her dog and biting his lip and growling back...but a trainer I worked with a long time ago told me to do that if I ever needed it, because it puts the argument in dog language and is much more effective than other "human" punishments.

I followed this up with heeling and obedience. Even during Fred's favorite "free time" at the end of the training session I kept him at tight heel. I think the point got across, but tonight's antics have let me realize that I will need to work extra hard to ensure that Fred understands who the boss is. Its not a pleasant or fun part of dog training; but its a necessary one!

Day 15: Sunday Slump

I am starting to think that I should just not train on Sundays...

Despite the cold weather, Rob, Kevin and I headed to the club. I forgot my hat camera and a scarf; which I apparently needed. I decided to take the Wagon Wheel drill and do 1/2 of a wheel around the corner of the pond. I was feeling pretty confident so we set them all as blinds.


When I took Fred to where I planned to run from I absolutely could not get his focus. I think I said heel more times than a podiatrist does in their career. Finally I got him to lock in on the first line and I sent him...and he cheated the bank. I didn't get too bent out of shape and lined him up for the next one. When I say I lined him up; I mean that he happened to lock in where I wanted to send him anyways. He went for the second one with no issues. Still fighting him and considering the use of a 2x4 as a training aid, I spent a good 5 minutes trying to get him to line up for the third one. After I decided that he was completely self employed, I looked to Rob and Kevin and said "help!".

Kevin laid out a half wagon wheel on the land and told me to go get his focus. I went over to the land and he did his push/pulls perfectly just as expected. I took him back over to the water and we were back to Fred completely ignoring me. Rather than making a bad mess worse, I put him back on the chain gang and we moved on to the other dogs.

After everyone else was trained, I heeled him away and had Rob set the blind again. This time I got him marginally lined up and sent him. His line was okay; but if I was a better trainer I wouldn't even have sent him because he was so far from what I expect from him. We all headed back to the clubhouse as the chilly rain started to come down hard; and just cut our losses for the night.

Usually I get the wind knocked out of me once or twice during these 30 day sessions; and it happened today. I am not going to lose determination, but also not ignore this problem and hope it will fix itself. While every dog has their day, I am not comfortable knowing that my little guy was flipping me off with all four paws. Since this week may be snow covered (4-5 inches tonight!) I guess we will run the gamut of push/pull drills for the next few days and try to get his head back in the game.

Day 14: Boys Night Out

We got a bit of a late start on Friday; so I opted to leave the girls at home and meet Rob at the club. The weather was perfect, and I was feeling full of myself; so I decided to have Rob put a "true" blind clear across the pond and send Fred to it. It was still a white bumper...though I am deciding that we are about to transition to non visible ones next week.

There were a few other distractions going on as Friday night is dinner at the club and a gentleman and his daughter came down to watch. They sat on a bench across the pond from Fred and I; about 15 yards from where the blind was. When he was about 3/4 of the way out, he arced a bit towards them, but quickly got back on track so I let him go. I have realized that when I do handle him in the water; I'd better really need it because he is not yet crisp enough to get right back in his line.

Once he got the mark he waked a few feet on the bank before getting back in; but in my opinion that's not a major issue. I will continue to work on cleaning up these little things; but for now I am happy with his progress. The video is long...and he isn't going to win any races in the water, but I enjoy his determination and almost methodical approach to this new game!

I was thinking about thawing some ducks so that I can teach him that he can use his nose in this game too (since he often winds things at 50 yards) but I don't want to confuse the situation in the event that the wind is coming from the wrong direction and he starts trusting that...so, unless anyone has other opinions; we'll get after it next week with black and orange bumpers and see whether he trusts me, or he just has really good vision!

Day 13: Can you Handle This?

Rob, Kevin and I are still sitting in the kitchen talking about dog training, but if I don't write this soon I will never get around to finishing all of the things I need to finish for work!

We headed down to the pond for some water blind training. Since it was warm out again today; we opted for big swims. We were back to true blinds with white bumpers again today. Kevin set the first one and I sent Fred through some muck and mud. He got 1/2 way across the pond and started getting off of his line. I whistle stopped him and gave him a left back; which turned into an over...um, what?

I didn't post this video because it largely turned into a whistle seminar and an etch a sketch type of trip to the bumper; plus I think I was cursing! We moved and reset the blind nearby and I sent him on a long swim which is what the video is of. He cheats a little bit at the end, but after the amount of swimming and whistling that was happening leading up to this; I let it slide.

So my question is this, how is it that this little dog can be so solid on his handles on land and seemingly have no clue what the difference between a back and an over is in the water? For the past hour we have been watching videos and talking about this. It seems to the consortium of unskilled and unaccomplished dog trainers that when I whistle stop him, I don't wait until he is directly focused on me and facing me. I have been giving him handles when he is sideways; and since on land he is sitting square on facing me; there is a very clear distinction in my handles.

So...while this swimming to the other side of the pond in a straight line thing is fun; I am going to need to learn how to teach him to be completely focused and facing me before I handle him. On the land, I run out there and reinforce the whistle, but I don't think that swimming out there is an option. Is an e-collar my only option; or are there other tricks that I can use to accomplish this?

Day 12: Walking on Water 2012 Style!

For anyone who followed last year during the first 30 days of water work, you'd know that my all time favorite place to train dogs is the back corner of Peter's Lake in April...so guess where we went tonight! Rob beat me to the lake by about 20 minutes and sent me a wonderful text which said "lunging water looks good." Perfect!

I met Rob over at our favorite spot and had him set a true blind (aka; Fred didn't see him place it). We are still using white bumpers for at least another week of this until I'm ready to take more risks. You have to admit watching this; that it's a blast to see my little guy bounding out through the water!

His return is a little bit lack luster; but after we ran the other pups we realized that the mud was pretty thick. As I said last year; this corner of the lake is really more for me than for the dogs...but after 6 blinds and three or four marks, I actually have a very rare sleepy Fred watching the hockey game with me. Maybe I'll see if I can tire him out again tomorrow!

Day 11: Making the Most of Mistakes

Today Rob and I headed out to the club after work. We took along the bumper boy and decided to give everyone a good swim. I started Fred out with a medium distance true blind. It has been a week or so since I tried this; so I thought I'd give it a go. After taking a decent amount of time to line him up; my little guy went plunging in and swam a straight line there and back! Grant it, it was a white bumper; so once he was headed out he could see it, but I see it as a step (or swim) in the right direction. The video is below; but my hat cam was a tick off, so you miss some of the action.

A good dog trainer might have stopped at this point...but since I don't claim to be good, or a dog trainer; we decided to forge on. I had Rob load up the bumper boy and we planned on a long single mark with a diversion bird on the way back. With the new electronics being a bit more sensitive than the old ones; both bumpers ended up going off right in succession of one another and landing only a few feet apart in the water. Ugh. I sent Fred and he got the first one perfectly. When I got ready to send him for the second one I realized that he had no recollection of the fact that there were two out there to begin with. Luckily, I have been training for just this situation for the past 11 days; so I lined him up and sent him back. Much to my amazement, he took the line and swam about 45 yards out before I had to handle him back to the bumper.

With just this one handle, he nailed it and came swimming back. I even had Rob throw the diversion bird on the way back and he handled it like a champ! I have this whole ordeal on video but needless to say its a long one so I'll keep that one in my own archives for when I'm getting down on my training skills.

Now that the weather is getting warmer and the days are getting longer, we should be out to some of our other favorite spots soon!

Day 10: Suck it Up and Train

It was a beautiful sunny day; so despite the fact that I'm plagued with a flu like illness, I sucked it up and went out to train. I guess my thought is that I'm sure there are days when Fred just doesn't want to, but he still does it for me; so I owe it to him.

We headed down to the pond and Kevin set a few time and space delay blinds which went smoothly. I then had him set one while Fred couldn't see at all in a similar area to the time delay ones. I then heeled Fred to a different area of the pond and sent him for the mark. The video is hard to see because it was so sunny; but the important part is that I spent probably a minute getting him lined up perfectly. I am starting to learn that taking this extra time is absolutely worth it!

I think that we are making good progress in a short amount of time. We are only 1/3 of the way through so there is much more work to be done; but with the right steps in place, the next 20 days should be a blast!!

Day 9: Swimming Solo

Fred and I headed out for a quick training session tonight on the pond. Since it was just the two of us; I took him down to the pond near a down tree and threw a white bumper in. I then took him back to the pasture and threw some marks, then heeled him to the other side of the pond. With this method, the mark/blind was both a time delay and spatial change for Fred.

I'm not sure if he just has a great memory or he is really starting to get it; but he did a wonderful job taking my line to the mark. His swim back was questionable, so I reverted to the sit and cast back into the water which does seem to be working effectively as you can see below.

I have, however, noticed another problem in the past few days. Fred is getting a little bit full of himself and his delivery and heeling is slipping. I have seen this in his training in the past and it is usually resolved by putting something challenging into the training routine; so, while we continue to work on blinds, I am going to interject some good old fashioned drills to get him thinking. He's pretty attune to Walking Baseball, Single T's and Wagon Wheels, so any suggestions are welcomed! If we can't come up with anything; I'm thinking about the two tiered wagon wheels that Evan Graham does...they have always scared me in the past, but hey; Fred and I could both use a bit of a challenge!

Day 8: New Trick and Toys

Today was a busy work day, followed by a conference call, then some work issues; so by the time I got out to train with Rob it was almost dark. It was also a chilly 38 degrees and kind of snow sleeting...so why not train dogs? I have said it before and I'll say it again, If you are going to hunt in it, you may as well train in it.

We headed out to the back field and threw triples for Ranger, doubles for Fred and some nice long singles for Hondo. We decided to stay on land for the majority of the training session because of the temperature, but at the end of the session we took Fred down to the pond for a short blind. This one was right on the water's edge with a good deal of lunging involved. Fred took a great line to it. On the way back, once he got a little too much "lunging" he started to get out; so I used Kevin's trick. I decided to stop him and then cast him back into the water. I didn't have high hopes; but it worked as you can see in today's video.

After the training session, I came back in and unpackaged my new Hawx Dog and Gun Control...I can hardly wait the three hours until it is charged up and ready to play with this weekend. Fred doesn't know it yet; but he's gonna love it!

Day 7: Water in a Winter Wonderland

Today was cold...not just a little bit cold; more of a "what did that stuipd groundhog say?" type of cold. Kevin and I took Fred into the back pasture and spent a decent amount of time quartering and doing steady drills on our way down to the pond. When we got there; I started to question whether or not I should even put Fred in, but after he jumped in on his own accord, I decided to run two quick blinds and then get him back on land to warm up.

Luckily, the two blinds went beautifully. We used white bumpers again so that they were, what Millie just told me were called "site blinds". He swam out like a champ and only briefly had an inner struggle over whether or not he would swim back.

I can feel myself getting arrogant again and considering moving to cold blinds; but I will spend tomorrow talking myself off the ledge and reminding myself of Kevin's old suggestion to expend the amount of effort that you think it will take to train something; then double it, then triple it...and then you MIGHT be close!

On a warmer note; when I came back in, I saw that the incredibly gifted Mark Atwater had posted pictures of Fred from the BSS Nationals, http://upclosenature.com/gallery?g2_itemId=226505 so I just had to order a canvas of my goofy dog!

Day 6: Concept Corners

For anyone who has been reading along, you'll know that yesterday's session didn't work out so well; so I spent the day thinking about what we could do to work on the bank running debacle that we had yesterday. I got thinking about SmartWorks and about Graham's Tune Up Drills. For anyone who doesn't watch these, he takes four or five bumpers and puts them around the edge of a small farm pond, then teaches the dog to go to each one and swim back.

I wasn't yet ready to delve into this water wagon wheel; but I did decide to take Fred down to a remote corner of the club pond and set up a few water blinds across only 20 or so yards of water. I started with ones right across from him and then progressed to ones that were a little bit more cheat enticing. You can see the videos here and here

All in all, I am proud of his progress and on this blustery afternoon we got some big wins to make up for yesterday! I can't wait to take this concept and turn it into a lining drill with bumpers all over my new found concept corner of the pond!

Day 5: Don't Count Your Easter Eggs...

Today we decided to go out to the club and train with our friends Dan and Cindy Hupp and their two wonderful Boykins, Sam and Sophie Ann. We headed down to the pond and threw several long marks for Sam, who is the single fastest swimming Boykin that I have ever seen. After that we threw a few marks for Sophie who is still deciding whether or not she likes the water. In the spirit of keeping it simple on this holiday, we threw a few water doubles for Fred and LC just to get them some exercise.

There was a lot going on with all of the dogs, plus another dog and fisherman on the pond; but because I have a tragic sense of confidence; I had Kevin put out a bank running blind. Right as I sent him, the other couple with a dog threw a stick in for their pup, which took Fred's attention. He started in the wrong direction which led to three loud whistles and a few overs before I got him to the bird. Ugh. Once he got it; he decided he'd run the bank. Double Ugh. Kevin tried to cut him off at the pass which led to both of them getting caught up in a mess of fishing line. Triple Ugh. Finally I went over to him and cast him back into the water. He swam some, but still cut the corner.

At this point, I was out of whistle and looked like an idiot in front of the "gallery", so I decided to cut my losses and figure out how to work this day of failure into another day of training. We did a few land marks and a short land blind and called it a day. I guess it goes back to flexibility, ups and downs and remembering not to count any Easter eggs until they have hatched.

Day 4: My Kind of Happy Hour

A few years ago I never would have guessed that I'd be rushing out of work on a Friday to get home and train dogs, rather than to get to a popular happy hour spot...yet this afternoon as my Friday afternoon meeting ran late; all I could think about was getting back to the farm.

It was cold again (it was below 32 last night!) so I decided to do just two long water blinds. We did a lot of quartering and hup to flush drills on the way down to the pond. We ended up flipping the direction of the blind from day 2. Kevin dropped the first one so that he could see it. The line out went perfectly and he popped right back into the water for the return. While returning he got distracted and swam close to the shoreline. Kevin hollered "stop him and cast him over!" I didn't think it would work, but sure as shootin' it did and he stayed off the bank!

While Fred was on his return, Kevin replaced the blind, only just in the vicinity of where it had been and in some weeds. He took the back line nicely and swam right to where the other one was and didn't find it. Fred panicked and hopped back in the water at which point I yelled "Kevin, show him!!" and Kevin went and dropped it so that he returned and picked it up. Whew.

I think I learned a valuable lesson today...we are at a phase of building Fred's confidence, so it is important that once he is well on his way to where I sent him, that he sees (or smells) the blind. At this early phase in the game I need him to trust me implicitly to make sure that he keeps up the good work and doesn't get turned off to it.

Every day that I train I remind myself that its like going to a bar for happy hour that doesn't serve Guinness...you have to be flexible if you want to get the job done...that being said, its time for a few well deserved Friday evening libations now!

Day 3: Everyone Could Use a Little Patience

Day 3 was another chilly one; but Rob met me out at the club with Hondo and Ranger, and I brought LC, Fred and Maggie. Much to my surprise, all dogs opted to go hop in the pond before we even got down there, so I guess it wasn't too cold for them! I had some grand schemes to teach swim by thing, but decided to keep that for a day above 40 degrees!

I (arrogantly) decided to run Fred all the way across the pond on a cold blind...after he got about 30 yards out, I realized that both his brain and ears must have been frozen because he went deaf on the third whistle and headed for a clump of something. I called him back in and had Rob drop the bumper so that he could see it. After the cold blind became warm, he had a nice line, swim and cheat free return. Rob and I decided that after about another 100 warm blinds, he might be ready to try again...so we are back to teaching them for the next week or two; or until I am all out of patience.

In order to make the most of these short days; we took everyone down to the water and used my new tieouts to keep the bystanders standing by. I have a great video of Fred going across the 60 yards of water to the mark, then getting back in....yet I think this one of Hondo and LC on the Chain gang is much funner. It is nice to have everyone down there because I really think that even when we are training one dogs, the others learn valuable lessons in patience...something that their owners have yet to master!

Day 2: Giant Snowman

I didn't realize that it was going to be in the 40s this evening when we started training; but if you know me, you know that getting me to change my mind is like putting toothpaste back into the tube, so today was day 2!

Rob came over to the farm with Hondo and Ranger so that we could work on blinds, then work on some of the venison in the freezer for dinner. Our pond is suffering from some duck meal right now thanks to the rapid change in temperature and the lack of solid freeze this winter, but despite its gross appearance; it in no way impeded training.

We set a visible blind across the pond right off the shore in little to no cover today. Somehow in my haphazard training, I managed to miss the whole swim by pond thing, so Rob offered to play boogie man (or as he calls it, Giant Snowman) in case Fred decided to get out of the water. He took a great line as you can see here. He got a little bit confused in the duck meal; but quickly got himself back in line. As you can see from his return, we managed to get a good blind AND a decheating exercise done all at once!

After several other shorter blinds, and some land marks, Rob and I headed in to watch some SmartWorks drills and read through my crusty version of Finished Dog while eating tasty tasty venison. Fred and Hondo were really paying attention to the videos...maybe i'll play them at night to see what sinks in! I swear after a few more days of studying and benchmarking i'll have a plan, but as of right now, i'm pleased with my little man!

Day 1: Back in the Saddle

It is the week after the Boykin Spaniel Society Nationals; so that can only mean one thing...time for Fred The Dog and I to embark upon another 30 day challange!

While I was watching the Open level dogs run on Saturday, I realized that I want to have a dog who confidently crashes into the water and swims the width of the English Channel. We have done a bit of water blind work over the past few months; but our exposure has been limited to floating blinds, or blinds on land on the other side of a 30 yard patch of water; so I figured it was time to take it to the next level and start on 30 days of water blinds.

Step one was completed on the way home from Clinton, SC; which was to spend an excessive amount of money at LCS for new tieouts, some new hex bumpers, a gun stand, marking tape, holding blinds and a few extra whistles.

Step two was to do my research. I read several programs and reveiewed my SmartWork by Evan Graham videos. This being said I didn't yet write aout a training plan; but I think I have one in mind.

Step three was to call my partner in crime Rob and see if he was ready to start another 30 day challange...only I forgot to call him, so today I asked if he wanted to train dogs and then when we arrived I said, "oh, in case you didn't know; this is day 1".

Day 1 was a bit of a benchmarking day. I wanted to work with Fred and see where we stood on some basic skills so that I could decide how to best devise a program to fit our needs. I started by having Kevin put a visible bumper on the other side of the pond at the club which would lead to a 60 yard swim and then a pickup right on land. Due to the amount of water, Kevin wisely suggested that we make this a learned blind. Fred watched him drop the bumper; then I sent him back to it. He swam a perfect straight line across the pond. He really wanted to run the bank on the way back, but Kevin and Rob had a standoff with him unitl he decided to swim back to me.

After his long swim, I put him up and we trained LC, Hondo and Ranger for a bit. Kevin replaced the blind and I sent him again. He swam approximately 35 yards and got off course a bit. I whistled him and gave him a right back which put him right back in line and he swam straight to the mark. This time, he didn't consider running the bank, and got back in for the chilly 60 yard swim.

All in all, the session went well as a benchmarking exercise...now to make a plan for the next 29 days. As always, please send comments, questions or suggestions as I am always ready and willing to try new things with my little man Fred!