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Training for the long retired gun

4K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  Tim Carrion 
#1 ·
What are some good drills to improve marking the long retired gun? I'm having some problems on the dog not driving deep enough on the 300 yard+ retired guns.

Thanks

Ricky
 
#2 ·
I used to train with Bach Doar when he came thru here in the spring each year. One of the things I learned from him was to run the long retired gun as a stay out single. He ran each of his dogs like that, put them back on the truck and then set up a multiple with the same long bird but retired it.
 
#4 ·
I am working with Bach one day a week right now. I am going to ask him about this concept. My dog is doing fine in the marks, just beginning the blinds and Bach is making a huge difference for us. What a great human being as well as a total dog guy!
 
#3 ·
You could run it as a bird-in-mouth single. Have the gunner throw and retire immediately. Take the bird from the dog's mouth and use all the same cues when you send that you would on a long retired memory bird. Over time the dog would understand that those cues mean "run way out there."

Some dogs are naturally better than others, I guess. I have a bitch that could hammer a long retired mark as a young dog without ever being "taught" that concept. I hope for a really difficult, long retired mark at trials. :D
 
#6 ·
Finally...an actual retriever training subject.:)

bump.
 
#8 ·
It depends on what he specifically has issues with - you say driving deep, but is it being run as a single or in a multiple marking situation and how tight is the line tp the long retired past the other marks?

There are several things you can do to help.

One is run it as a stand alone single, retire in route mark. Mark is thrown, dog is sent, once the dog gets going, retire the gunner. Umbrellas work great for this. If the dog faulters in route you can have the gunner reappear quickly and stand there.

Another way to run it, is as a single with multiple guns exposed and retire the gunner as the dog is in route. You can run the long retired first so the only suction to leave the line to the long gun is other gunners in the field. And eventually you can run it last to create more suction. I would also suggest giving the dog space to be successful and not making the marks too tight.

Another thing you can do is run is as a part of a double where the second bird is thrown from the line, just to give the gunner time to retire - also let the dog have a long good look at the long gun before throwing the second go-bird from the line. If the dog is having issues, then have the gunner pop back out, let the dog lock in, send and have gunner retire as soon as you kick the dog off.

Another way to help is to setup you complex marking setup, throw the birds as you normally would, retire the gunner as you normally would. When it comes time to pick up the longer gun, let the dog come back and line himself up for the long retired, let them settle in and then using a radio have the retired gunner come back out and rethrow the mark and send the dog and retire the gunner after sending.

Always remember coach your gunners to be ready to help with retired guns, if the dog breaks down in route it could be as easy as having the gunner pop up for a second and then retiring again.

I like to use umberallas with the younger dogs when teaching retired guns, so my gunner isn't making all sorts of trails and moving to get back to where he threw the bird from.....and the dog isn't by chance watching my gunner retire.....

Hope these ideas help.

FOM
 
#9 · (Edited)
Single marks:
Long singles designed such that the dog loses sight of the gun while in route allowing the gun to retire. Once the dog emerges from the raven, ditch, water,etc the gun is retired the dog continues on without having seen gun movement.
OR
HT type single at FT length. No call. Retired gun shoots and throws. I commonly use unmarked bumper boys for these marks.

Tim
 
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