set up and ran this mark today, using a bumperboy. wind directly at my back, total distance pushing 200 yds. i purposely just let him go on his own to see what he would do - no handling going or coming. immediately to my left is a major freeway so there are a lot of distractions and noises.
my perspective from the history of training this dog is he tends to go fat when in doubt or has a longer than usual land run before water when there is no bumper/duck in sight when making the water entry - on marks only - on a blind he will hit a very acute angle and maintain a reasonable line fairly consistently.
looking at his path, one might think he winded the fall, but with wind behind my back this is not the case.
so to tighten this up would you come back in 2-3 weeks and run it again as a 2-step pattern blind, starting from the middle strip of land for step one then backing up to the original line, do the same above as 2 marks, or do what i did today and start handling about midway through the first water?
in the meantime run similar shorter concepts elsewhere?
for the record, i try to handle on marks only as a last resort for fear of ever creating a popping issue.
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zoomed in view, at least he didnt avoid the thick weeds going and coming
![Image]()
my perspective from the history of training this dog is he tends to go fat when in doubt or has a longer than usual land run before water when there is no bumper/duck in sight when making the water entry - on marks only - on a blind he will hit a very acute angle and maintain a reasonable line fairly consistently.
looking at his path, one might think he winded the fall, but with wind behind my back this is not the case.
so to tighten this up would you come back in 2-3 weeks and run it again as a 2-step pattern blind, starting from the middle strip of land for step one then backing up to the original line, do the same above as 2 marks, or do what i did today and start handling about midway through the first water?
in the meantime run similar shorter concepts elsewhere?
for the record, i try to handle on marks only as a last resort for fear of ever creating a popping issue.
zoomed in view, at least he didnt avoid the thick weeds going and coming
