how to lock on to a cold blind??

[RookieTrainer]

Absolutely true and exactly what I was hoping to avoid.

One of the biggest and most common mistakes new trainers make is trying for the line before teaching blind running momentum & attitude. This is the usual cause of bugging that can arise after the basics.

[Baron]

At 10 months you won't get it. You have to build trust, meaning the dog must trust your alignment, not his. Go to a field with cut green grass and bring four orange bumpers. At heel, throw one about 20 yards out, turn 90 degrees, throw, 90 degrees, throw 90 degrees throw. Now treat each one as a blind. Line him with verbal and physical cues. I use my right leg to fine tune his alignment. Heel and right leg out a bit means look/turn left. Come and right leg back, look/turn right. When he is looking exactly where I want, I say a quiet gooood, and then I send him with "back". Because he knows the bumpers are there, his intensity will be strong. In time he will trust your alignment and cues and not bug out and get distracted. I find that using hand cues is just a distraction to the dog and adds no benefit to the gooood cue/re-enforcer. After time you can place three in the grass without the dog seeing, then come out and throw one, turn 90 degrees and send and the dog will take the line you gave him and not go for the one that you threw.

My 2 cents

[KwickLabs]

I find that using hand cues is just a distraction to the dog and adds no benefit to the gooood command.

That's interesting.........I did not know that "good" was a command.

[Baron]

Ok, it is a cue, you knew what I meant.

[Howard N]

When he is looking exactly where I want, I say a quiet gooood, and then I send him with his name.

Uh oh, I use, "Yeah, that's it," kind of in an excited whispered voice. Dang, I'll never get it right.

Good drill, by the way.