[Harley]

Just finished watching Evan's Basic Drills DVD, very useful for a novice like me. I was quiet suprised at the end Evan stated that he would spend between four and eight weeks on this, I must admit I didn't appreciate how long this sort of training would take (not that I mind you understand )

A few questions, typically would this be the only drill you would run each day? Would you run it once or twice a day? (I typically have 20-30 minutes available for training morning and night) How many times would you send the dog in a session?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[HuntinDawg]

Big Mike,

There are far more knowledgeable people than myself around here, but since none of them have replied yet, I'll give it a whirl.

This really isn't a drill that the dog enjoys very much...especially during the time that you may be applying pressure to get what you want...also because there may be times where they are somewhat confused about what you want and that causes stress for them too. Once they are doing the full double T and they are not being corrected (because they aren't messing up) they may enjoy it more because they know what is being expected of them and they gain confidence from success, but by then they are almost done. I said all of that to say this: I wouldn't do it more than once a day. You could early on maybe when you are just trying to establish the back pile and get all the way back to 100 yards, but generally I wouldn't train on this drill more than once a day.

I also wouldn't do any other drills at the same time. Instead I would try to use my other session to throw easy marks (singles that are easy to find) or even just fun bumpers to keep his attitude up.

I hope that helps and now that I'm bumping this up to the top maybe somebody with more knowledge will chime in.

Good luck.

 

[DL]

Mike,

I would get a copy of the Lardy Retriever Journal articles volume I just to have a second description of the training. I have recently watched the Smartwork Basic Handling DVD recently, and I also reread the Journal Article on the Double T. In some instances, I imagine the Double T is finished in less than two weeks, or up to a month. Maybe what is said in the Smarwork DVD includes more than just the Double T. It might includes 3 handed casting, force to pile and all of that.

There are a lot of things that could be done on the Double T to make it easier for the dog if someone wanted. I went to seminar, and the trainer said he was disappointed if he got through the Double T with a dog without having a refusal of some sort. He said he would rather it happen in the drill than later in less controllable circumstances.

I'm not saying this is the way to do it, but someone could identify the piles before casting to them to the point where the dog just does them through habit. You can make the sessions so short, and incorporate fun bumpers so that a dog is not stressed out at all. You could go out and line to the pile from up close only twice inbetween doing two overs, then throw some fun bumpers and stop for the day, and do something similar for everyday in a week if you wanted. That would definitely draw out the time.

I'm just saying that not everyone follows every move that is on a video step by step especially if they have some other information, or past experience to go by. I'm a complete novice but thought maybe I had something to add. To give an example of how complete a novice I am, when I get something like slow flaring sits on the double T, I'm not sure I know what to do about, and just ignore it for a good while.

 

[mjh345]

I'm not familiar with Smartworks program but 4-8 weeks on double T seems extremely long to me. I could imagine lack of interest & boredom setting in way before 8 weeks

 

[Howard N]

I must admit I didn't appreciate how long this sort of training would take (not that I mind you understand )

It takes as long as it takes. This is where you deal with flaring, popping, no goes, and bugging. You don't work through all these problems in a week. How well you do it will be relflected in the dog's work from this time onward. Do it right whether it takes 3 weeks or 8 weeks.

BTW, I haven't seen this video yet.

 

[Gun_Dog2002]

I must admit I didn't appreciate how long this sort of training would take (not that I mind you understand )

It takes as long as it takes. This is where you deal with flaring, popping, no goes, and bugging. You don't work through all these problems in a week. How well you do it will be relflected in the dog's work from this time onward. Do it right whether it takes 3 weeks or 8 weeks.

BTW, I haven't seen this video yet.

Spot on Howard. I have a fargo pup thats 5 days into FTP, and just yesterday did we really have any success at 120 yards. He's done all these a time or two so far as well as bolting for the barn and fetch refusal over the pile. This is where you get oppertunities to deal with these issues in a controlled situation and where you show the dog the correct behaviour. You can simplify the task easier due to this setup as well. Don't get in a hurry during this portion, there's plenty of time...

/Paul

 

[DL]

I must admit I didn't appreciate how long this sort of training would take (not that I mind you understand )

It takes as long as it takes. This is where you deal with flaring, popping, no goes, and bugging. You don't work through all these problems in a week. How well you do it will be relflected in the dog's work from this time onward. Do it right whether it takes 3 weeks or 8 weeks.

BTW, I haven't seen this video yet.

Spot on Howard. I have a fargo pup thats 5 days into FTP, and just yesterday did we really have any success at 120 yards. He's done all these a time or two so far as well as bolting for the barn and fetch refusal over the pile. This is where you get oppertunities to deal with these issues in a controlled situation and where you show the dog the correct behaviour. You can simplify the task easier due to this setup as well. Don't get in a hurry during this portion, there's plenty of time...

/Paul

There are opportunites earlier than the Double T to work on a lot of that also. I don't go from a pile at 50 feet to a pile at a 100 yards, because things are out of control at 100 yards. The double T isn't a super controllable environment to me. It is sort of like a first attempt to run things on a larger scale by teaching it step by step, but you do have to encounter problems in the process, so making it too easy on the dog is not a good thing. There is still an acceptable success rate that has to be aimed for.

 

[Harley]

Thanks for the replies guys and you are all correct it will take as long as it takes.