RetrieverTraining.Net - the RTF banner

Have you ever looked at your dog the mourning of a hunt test and knew you were toast

4K views 19 replies 18 participants last post by  mostlygold 
#1 ·
2 weeks ago my 2 yr old clm was signed up for a sat. Sun . Sr hunt test he did pretty well sat. And got a ribbon. We went back to the motel and setteled in for the night. We got up sun at 5 am aired and fed him. I looked in his eyes and they were twice as big as normal and he appeared evil i have never seen crack but i wondered how he got out and scored some. At the test he was wild, the walk up was 1st up and i was sure he would break but he didn't the next was the live flyer again he sat there until released he took off like a scalded dog and my normal good marking dog over ran the bird and was headed to parts unknown. The good part was i got him stopped with a whistle and handeled back to the area of the fall but he was not interested and would not pick up any birds. So it was a early exit
 
#2 ·
HaHa! I am worried about the same thing in the two day double senior coming up. My guy has been really good throughout junior and his first senior a month ago. But this may put him over the top. I would not run both, but this will be our last chance until next June. I am determined that if he is bad at the line I will leash him, thank the judges and put him back in the truck. Hope I've learned my lesson enough to have the fortitude to make this decision!
 
#4 ·
Pat yes they have this great glee in their eyes and can hardly wait to run the show. When I ran my old guy in HRC he knew what the second day was about. :) It was hard enough to keep him in check the first day. Consequently he only went to his HR title and did duck hunting instead which isn't all that bad.
 
#6 ·
The eyes have it! Seen it several times with a 3 y/o CLF who had 10 master passes before age 3 but quite a few of those DAYS of wide eyed anticipation of freedom from the chains of training. Good luck with that! Most of all have fun, the Lord knows I tried but some days were not all that fun. Told the judges at the last test that I was not about to have much fun. Sure enough she blew me off after the 1st bird of a delayed trip was thrown and she was sent on the blind. Somewhere in the 1st 50 yards she went whistle deaf.
 
#7 ·
Have had that happen halfway through the land series on a SH test. When he went for the memory bird, he turned and looked at me and I saw that "I'm going self-employed NOW" look. I sat him and called him in. The judges told me that I didn't have to pick up my dog....I said, "oh yes I did!".
 
#8 ·
So what did you do to counteract your reading of his intentions?

IMHO The dog needed his thought process changed...now...before the test. I think this calls for a healthy dose of pre-test OB and some blinds or blind drills to get him thinking about you so some of this control carries over to test time. You're gonna have to skip breakfast today and prepare his mind. And then make absolutely sure you are in complete control from the moment the door to his crate opens at the truck. Some off-grounds rinse and repeat might be in order between series too, depending on his behavior in the first.

Curious what other folks might do...
 
#11 ·
what I did was walked him around and reinforced all commands and did not put up with any crap we did not have any place around to do blind work but on the way to the test I found a place where I could throw some marks . he still had the look but he did the job. on sat. he ran #38 then when he reached the blind a rabbit ran out beside him he started to chase it but I stopped him and handled back to the blind and he picked it up. next up he was honoring and the 1st 2 dogs broke so he sat through 3 dogs he was almost crawling out of his skin. sun. he was #1 dog so there wasn't a lot of scent out there but he didn't take time to use his nose. it was a pretty hard test but like some one said he was self employed.13 dogs out of 30 passed so it was possible. on a good note I got home early. now it's blind building time and testing is on hold till next year
 
#9 ·
I too know the evil look! I see it when I let him out to air at the grounds- :)
 
#10 ·
I learned quick to not take my dog from the truck to the line. He has great line manners and is fun to run but run he does. Twice on second day series I have seen him run to a fall, look at the bird without slowing, take another 25 30 yards and come back to the bird. He knew where it was, he looked at it both times, he was just amped and wanted to run. We now work off some energy before we hit the test grounds.
 
#14 ·
My little black dog gets a glazed over look in his eyes and I know we are done if I can't snap him out of it.;-)

If I can't - he goes on a nice fun run making it look to the judges like he just missed the mark and is putting on a nice hunt. But he and I know he is just having a nice jaunt and has no intention of finding it, or being handled to it.:-x

All that seems to work is to getting him all happy and try to get him to focus on me. Worked at the MN 2X :) and got the pass, but man does he drive me crazy.
 
#15 ·
I've experienced the crack effect. I thought I had a different dog with me as we approached the line with an energy level I've never seen in him. Couldn't hardly contain him in the holding blinds but chalked it up to the fact we didn't train a single day the week before the test as I was consumed with work that week. We were running Senior and he hit the marks and I handled him to his blind but he was obviously out of his mind and the Judge said just honor on lead if you won't mind and let's say it's train ability. I said no problem I understand , rather awkwardly .

It wasn't till I returned to the truck due to the fact my dogs ride in the cab until I kennel them in the back, that I realized what had just happened. My dog was all wound up and had ripped open 2 bottles of sweetened Ice tea and consumed them. I'd just taken my dog to the line on a sugar high you can only imagine. He's a high energy dog to start with and now it was like he'd taken rocket fuel. It might have well been crack because I couldn't tell the difference. One for the memory
books but at least I knew it wasn't train ability.
 
#20 ·
I had a friend whose dog would sometimes stop on the sit whistle, sit promptly then start wagging her tail very quickly. When she did that my friend knew she was done for the day. The wagging tail was much the same gesture as the individual finger. Sure I'll sit for you but that will be all you'll get out of me.

Dawn
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top