I've got a blf that will be 2 in November and she is an HRCH and SH. she has never given me in real issues and been very easy to train. In the last week she has started not retrieving multiples. She will take off after the go bird But when it comes to the second and third mark all bets are off. Most of the time she does get the second mark. When she returns she will look out at the next mark but when I say her name she will take off and go a few feet and spin around and come back or not go at all. I train at Qual distances for the most part but she will do this at shorter distances as well. She does it on land and water. I'm signed up to run master the next three weekends and up until this had no worries. Any body had similar issues with a dog and found things to bring them out of it. I have run singles and then run it as a triple with same outcome. I run a double and then add one for a triple and same outcome. When she does go she is on fire. Throwing dirt. She loves to retrieve. Any insight or ideas would be wonderful. Thanks.
Multiple retrieve issue
Rob DeHaven
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Wish you best and hope you have a game plan in place on the line.
Do you train on the same grounds all the time? Your last comment about going to a new area, struck me. Dogs remember so much at heavily used areas that it can be a hindrance, and create confusion. That's why I throw mostly singles at grounds I use a lot. Does not sound like a memory problem, so I would quit "testing" her memory with triples and quads constantly. Do more singles off multiple guns. When you get to a test she will know what to do. I rarely throw triples, even through my dog ran HRC finished (passed 8 for 8, btw). Your dog may be getting stale with so many multiple marks. Singles are more exciting, especially if you are throwing birds. Flyers can fix any intensity issues!!-LOL
Make sure you relax too, our dogs are so sensitive to us and if you are worried then she will be too.
If she is close to be in heat, then there is not much more you can do but keep it simple (singles, singles singles). Some females are very affected by hormones, others you can never tell.
Make sure you relax too, our dogs are so sensitive to us and if you are worried then she will be too.
If she is close to be in heat, then there is not much more you can do but keep it simple (singles, singles singles). Some females are very affected by hormones, others you can never tell.
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Hi Rob. I don’t want to come across the wrong way because I really have no idea how you train, methods, whom with or experience. I did have a couple of general things that come to mind from your post I’ll toss out for thought purposes.
Wingers/Bumper Boys – I’ve trained with these a lot over the years and while they can be a huge help for the guy with few people to train with or just want to get some quick marks in, they do have some limitations. For one, there is nobody out there to provide help. Since your in a situation where your dog is currently having some memory issues, getting some live station help that knows how to help will be a big value in working your dog through this current issue. Over the next couple of weeks I’d really encourage you to get some people out in the field and explain to them what you need. For example if during a triple the dog loses memory on a bird have the stations ready to stand up if you signal and even make noise, fire another popper, or throw another bird if necessary. Its extremely hard to get the timely help you need with wingers/bumper boys.
Cover – In general I see a lot of hunt test folks throw their marks in the hardest cover possible, really making the dog hunt right at the end of each mark to find the bird. While we do want to encourage dogs to persevere on marks, when a dog is having memory problems I’d like the dog to get that instant reward of finding a bird. I’d focus more on putting the factors on the way to mark and then once they persevere through those factors get that big rush of excitement finding the bird right where they saw it thrown. Until I get the dog’s memory back working I’d keep factors fairly simple and just get the dog back in the marking mode.
Hope you find some of this food for thought. Have fun at the test regardless of outcome…
/Paul
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Seems to me the major issue is no going on multiple marks, with a high level and let me guess a female dog? If it were me I'd bump her forward until she thinks better of not going, if she spins on me, or hesitates on going back, I'd have my hand in the air and give her a pressured back followed by another back, get her moving. At this point she knows to go and should be responsible for her marks. Get her going then worry about marking, odds are she knows where they are, but even if she doesn't get her out there then worry if you need to handle her to the area or have the bird boy help. She's becoming an adult female, and trying to figure out what she can get away with. Obviously she can get away with not going, when sent. Still better to nip it in the bud before it becomes a habit. Once such is ingrained it's much harder to fix. Ask me how I know?
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I agree in what you said, but and a big but is that you are not there, you don't have any idea about this dog and not been there to see it firsthand.
Plus the trainer has 14 years experience in dog training.
Just saying.
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I really appreciate all the info and have been keeping it simple for success. I know she can do it or she wouldn't be where she is. As I said I have thought about this until my head hurts and I can not figure out what caused this as far as training. My biggest concern before this was getting in the tests. I got in the 3 closest test to me which the closest is 3 hours one way. Needless to say I'm sick at my stomach over this but know we will get it worked out. Got an early morning drive and way to much time to think on it. Onward and upward.
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Things did not go as planned. The first series was a triple with a walk up, blind and an honor. The flyer was the go bird. She stepped on the first two birds and lined herself up and was actually leaning forward waiting for me to release her on the third. When I said her name she took off like a shot but stopped and turned at 20 or 30 feet and I handled her from there. She had no problem with the blind or honor. Next series was three pretty good marks. Birds went down and she stepped on the first two which most dogs had big hunts on one of them. On the third she lined up on her own again and looked out like she was ready. I said her name and nothing. I thanked the judges and headed home. Good news is since that happened she has picked up all the triples I have thrown and that has not happened for almost three weeks. I've been doing a little drill with her that seems to be working. I was getting excited about this weekend because it seems she has gotten passed whatever this was. Unfortunately we found out that my wife's aunt passed away suddenly so I will have to scratch from the test this coming weekend. Hopefully she stays on track and I can hit our last master the next weekend. Already looking forward to the spring to tackle some masters and Qs.
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