Tuesday 2nd of March 2011
We went out training today in an area with dence woodland, streams, valleys and ponds, and focused on retrieves that was in heavy cover - enaballing the dogs to use their natural hunting skills.
To start off with we threw a dummy into cover and then walked away round the the boundary of the wood - using the path system. The test was to range the dogs out diagonally through the dence woodland - over chopped logs, through brambles and over ditches, for the memory retrieve. The dogs were to use the woodland both on the way out and on the way back in - and not retrace our steps on the paths. The distance covered on this test was around 230 yards. All 4 dogs did well on this test and all 4 did go through the woods and not on the paths.
The next test we did was to throw a dummy down a ravine and across onto the other side - over a stream. We then walked away - again using the winding path system - to a distance of around 250 yards.
The test was to straight line the dogs through the heavy wooded area, down into the ravine, over the stream and up the other side of the ravine to retrieve the dummy. The dogs had to get their noses down and hunt the area well, as the ground was littered with chopped logs, brambles, rocks and holes and was also covered in pheasant and rabbit scents from nearby pens and burrows. For the majority of this test the dogs were out of view so were obviously left to get on with the job. Again all the dogs completed the test, and all came back proudly carrying the dummies which they delivered to hand.
We continued with a couple of other tests - then called it a day, as we were ready for our fish and chips and a nice hot cuppa. A good day was had by all.
Pete's two young dogs did exeptionally well today, as this was fresh land for them and which had plenty of distractions so they could quite easily have been tempted away from the retrieves.
(Please ignore dates on photos as the date/time etc has not been set properly).
