Joined
·
5,248 Posts
De-flaring Revisited
Time and again, the perception surfaces that this type of training is purely for competition dogs, and I wanted to discuss it with those who may be interested and want to comment on how they see it. The topic is de-flaring structure of all kinds, whether on marks or blinds. That structure may be a log, a hay bale, diagonal shoreline, a row of cover, clumps of cover, a ditch, a hump, or any of the many terrain features that dogs naturally prefer to avoid. The result of avoiding such structure is flaring; a deviation from the accurate line or route to a fall.
In this example the dog would be running from upper left to lower right. The light shaded area is mown grass, and the darker areas are taller grass (1-3 feet high).
The dog would initially cross through the first line of cover at a slight diagonal, and then begin to negotiate some finer diagonal entry/exit combinations en route to the fall. I agree, this would make a nice blind for a hunt test or field trial judge to set up, but what are the practical applications for training on this type of work for a dog that hunts exclusively?
Evan
Time and again, the perception surfaces that this type of training is purely for competition dogs, and I wanted to discuss it with those who may be interested and want to comment on how they see it. The topic is de-flaring structure of all kinds, whether on marks or blinds. That structure may be a log, a hay bale, diagonal shoreline, a row of cover, clumps of cover, a ditch, a hump, or any of the many terrain features that dogs naturally prefer to avoid. The result of avoiding such structure is flaring; a deviation from the accurate line or route to a fall.

In this example the dog would be running from upper left to lower right. The light shaded area is mown grass, and the darker areas are taller grass (1-3 feet high).
The dog would initially cross through the first line of cover at a slight diagonal, and then begin to negotiate some finer diagonal entry/exit combinations en route to the fall. I agree, this would make a nice blind for a hunt test or field trial judge to set up, but what are the practical applications for training on this type of work for a dog that hunts exclusively?
Evan