[Noah]

I recall Lardy stating in the "Total Retriever Marking" tapes that streamers were only put on the marks to make them more visible to the camera. Recently in a RJ article he advocated the use of streamers, in part, for teaching marking concepts. A number of trainers that I know are using streamers more frequently. So, it got me curious as to how widespread a practice it is and what the pros & cons might be. I personally use them most of the time.

 

[Lisa Van Loo]

They add extra movement. Birds have this motion with feathers fluttering slightly, etc. Even old, moldy, many-times-frozen-and-thawed birds do this. Putting streamers on dummies helps our sight-stimulated retrievers lock on better, especially on very long marks, or ones where the background is poor.

Lisa

 

[Angie B]

When working on marking we want to do everything possible to make sure the dog sees the mark.

white tape on birds and bumpers helps greatly.

Angie

 

[Jesse Higgins]

I have only started using them recently, but I like them on live pigeon and dead bird marks. I train for hunt tests and I do not run the extremely long marks that FT'ers do. 250 yard marks max. I haven't seen the need for them on my dummy marks.

 

[DKR]

snip

Putting streamers on dummies helps. Lisa

I wonder what size I am?

 

[Miriam Wade]

I've only usd them when training with a bumper boy, but the streamers make the bumper so much more exciting to the dog. They lock in on it the same way they do with a flyer. It is also easier to track from the second it's thrown to arc to fall.

I never thought about (there's a shocker! :shock: ) using regular bumpers w/ streamers (have tied some to birds when the background was just miserable), but I think I'll give it a go!

Angie B wrote:

When working on marking we want to do everything possible to make sure the dog sees the mark.

Can't say it any better than that!

M

 

[Keith Farmer]

When working on marking we want to do everything possible to make sure the dog sees the mark.

AMEN & AMEN!

I ran a 500 yard mark (between two shorter marks) yesterday with white streamers on the birds. Even with the streamers the marks were challenging for the dogs to spot. They cannot mark what they cannot see. (by the way both dogs I ran on the super long mark got it having to traverse two ditches full of water enroute).