Shot of little "Whiskey"

Today was a fun morning. I had the opportunity to work with an 11 week old German Wirehaired Pointer named "Whiskey". .
This little guy seems absolutely fearless. Aside from the introduction to birds in the video below, he also waded into the flooded areas, runs around as much as his little legs will carry him and seems intent on being a "Big Dog" as soon as he can.

 

Training Session "Bailey"

Continuing to test out the Go Pro Video Camera and used it to record a training session with Rod Michaelson's dog Bailey.  Hope you enjoy!  I know I really like working Bailey.

The Trained Retrieve - Update

As many already know - I've been experimenting with the trained retrieve as an alternative to force fetch.  It's been a while and I have had a couple interruptions of Field Trials, etcetera - I thought perhaps an update was in order.



I started with three pupils.  A six year old Vizsla Female, (Tessa)  A 3 1/2 year old Vizsla Male (Hank) and an 18 month old Vizsla Male, (Leuc).  The first observation is the males seem a little slower to "get it", but then the sampling is very small so take that for what it's worth.  Of the two males, the one is to the point of almost picking up the dowel from the floor - he is the slowest, but also the least food motivated.  I've found he takes the treat - but by giving loads of praise at milestone moments it helps set the behavior better in his mind.

The younger male  is very food motivated and will offer other behaviors.  Keys with him seem to be proper timing of the click and also copious praise at milestone moments.  I moved too quickly on the transition to whole chuckar from the chuckar feathered dowel and backed up running through the same steps as a first introduction.  He understands the steps and is progressing through them quickly.  I anticipate he will be reliably retrieving the whole chuckar in the training setup within a week.  A client loaned me a Go Pro headset camera and I'm testing it out in this video.




The female  just ticked everything one by one off the list.  It could be her age, it could be her food motivation.

My conclusions thus far are that I like this method.  It takes some time, but the dogs look forward to each session and it builds a learning link between handler/trainer and student.  I've gotten to the point of shooting birds over the female and have gotten about 90% retrieve.  All of them are understanding what I want as a trainer and are trying to please.  Hope it is useful to others!  If questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Surprise Visitor

I have a good friend who comes out once or twice a week and trains with me.  It's always nice to see him.  He's an easy going, good guy.  He brings his shorthair and we work her along with the other dogs.  It's nice having the extra set of hands to flush birds, do some gunning and shoot video of client dogs for updates. 

Today we cast off the second dog of the day and I witnessed first hand the athleticism of which a Veteran Marine is capable.  NBA stars wished they could jump/twist and move like this Soldier. 


Thanks for the good time my friend!  It's going to be a loooong time before we let this one go.  :-)

Intro to gunfire - will this myth never die?

I've worked on explaining this for going on 30 years.  Maybe this graphic representation will help...

THE #1 Cause of Gunshy dogs!

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STOP TAKING YOUR POOR DOG TO THE SHOOTING RANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fun Fun Fun Till Daddy took the chuckar away



"Nuk" after not quite enough fun!

The Vizsla Club of Northern California held it's annual "Fun Field Day" Saturday, April 14th at Hastings Island Hunting Preserve near Rio Vista California.  This is a great day for any Vizsla enthusiast as everyone comes out to help introduce new people and young dogs to the exciting realm of birds and field work.  For a Vizsla, this is a day in heaven.  Attendance was high, with 73 dogs entered in different classes ranging from Puppy to Novice, to Advanced/Senior Dogs.

"Riley" on point

"Riley" With HER bird

"Riley" wanting HER bird back!

Janet and I look forward to this event every year.  For us, it is a thrill to see energetic new people discover the fun that is running dogs in the field and seeing the genetics in the dogs come out as the pups "turn on".  It is truly a Happy Place and a great day!

These two young couples (above) and their dogs were very fun to spend a bit of the morning with.  Their dogs really turned on - at lunch the "Judges" were commenting on Stella - she stood out in their minds having held her point for a very long time. 

The Bird work doesn't necessarily stop once the dogs leave the field....

And the socializing is EVERYWHERE!

It is not only a fun day, but it also allows for some of us to train in a competition setting.  I used the opportunity to get a training session in on Bailey and was very happy with the lesson we achieved. 

I have to say one of the real highlights of the day was the very last brace of the Junior or Novice field.  The dog had run earlier and this was a "re-run".  I'm fairly certain though the dog thought it was a fantastic time, his "Dad" is still flying on cloud nine! 

There are at least a couple great folks that also have blogs and photos of the event if interested in their viewpoints
http://www.redbirddog.blogspot.com/2012/04/vizsla-fun-field-day-2012.html

http://ltlor.blogspot.com/2012/04/fun-field-day-41412.html

And a final HUGE THANK YOU! to Suzy and Stephen for their tremendous efforts in putting on this event and everyone from Judges to bird planters and all points in between that volunteered time to help.  It's the dedication of all these folks that make all this possible!

Over the river and through the woods

I love running the dogs. Just running them. They love it too. There have been several different blog posts of running the dogs on foot, from bikes, (both good