Bryn's blunders

[Bryn]

HGV driving has just been mad this year, the usual new year slack simply hasn't happened and only looks to get even busier after September especially in the run-up to Xmas. Silage is about to kick off in earnest soon so its a constant trade off between working to keep the pennies coming in and doing right by the dogs, so this year at least it'll be Galloway Gundogs tests only. Lilly is out of season now so we had all 3 out for a run together for the first time, great to have them all racing across the park then racing back on the recall even from fresh rabbit and pheasant scent.

[Bryn]

May tests today, decided sod the scores it was just a nice day out with Nell and the dogs.

Tests were held in the stunning setting of Corsock House, worth a trip just to see the grounds.

Test 1. was a fairly straight forward hunt up and stop to shot then retrieve a mark, I kept his hunting tighter than usual as we'd lost points the month before and he really hunted well he stopped to shot but once again the dummy in the air was his undoing dropped 3 points for the run-in and 1 for as I hadn't let him hunt as wide as the judge would have liked

Test 2. was a simple hunt up then sit the dog up, walk away and stop while the judge threw a dummy to the left. Hunted Bryna wee bit wider after the last test and he got on the scent of something in some brambles so I let him do his thing and give it a right good hammering before calling off and redirecting, then sitting him up, walked away, dummy thrown and Bryn actually stayed put and did a perfect retrieve. so our first ever 25

stopped for lunch on 46 with the water and unknown tests to come.

Test 3. Water, simple mark then another dummy thrown as the first was being retrieved. I could tell Bryn was a bit keen and sure enough the splash was the trigger, straight out got the dummy and was heading back when the second dummy nearly brained him but he retrieved it just fine and I sent him straight back out as the second dummy was drifting with the wind, he was unsighted a bit by the choppy water but sighted it in short order and made the retrieve. I was slightly disappointed but 21 points was OKish.

Test 4. Long weeds and rushes, hunt up stop and marked retrieve. By now Bryn was in overdrive, hunted like a machine stopped but was after the dummy straight away, I think he must have gone straight over the top of it but not seen it in the big patch of large docks, took a while for him to find it and he completely ignored the melodies I was playing on the whistle but he did find and retrieve it in the end. 18 points

So a grand total of 85 which is 12 up on last month's PB, huge progress but it could and should have been a lot better given the work we've done on steadiness recently, his hunting was really gratifying though.

It was great to meet up with Amberquest again with his lovely cockers and glad to see Canis Major was in the rosettes.

At least 62 dogs ran today, had to score 95+ to be placed in Novice Spaniel.

[Stacia]

Getting better Enjoyed reading about it.

[Nellie]

The happy chappies.

IMG_0150[1]

[Stacia]

Looks as if both have had a great day, super photo.

[Bryn]

yup it was a great day overall, even won a bottle of wine in the raffle

The unsteadiness is situational and I now have some ideas on how to resolve it, mostly recreating the situations but in a way that I can have physical control of him. Apart from that there is nothing in the tests he isn't easily capable of doing, I think (hope) he'll calm down a bit as he gets older.

[trekmoor]

The unsteadiness is situational ..................................... I think (hope) he'll calm down a bit as he gets older.

Sorry mate but I don't understand what you mean by "situational." Bryn was running in at this time last year and he is still running in now, he does it at tests held in different parts of the countryside , he does it in water tests and he does it on land ......how is it " situational ?"

Your second comment is you, to my mind, indulging in a bit of wishful thinking. I do a lot of that myself !

Wullie

[Judy]

Working Test, different places, different dogs, slightly different exercise, nervous handler, all these things used to create "situations" for one of my Flatcoats too.

And I disagree with the second comment too (me, disagree wiv Wullie? ) all mine have calmed down as they've got older, usually in to double figures...

[trekmoor]

My dogs also calm down as they get older but not where retrieving game is concerned, that just gets worse , they run in all the more ! To me it seems as though Bryn has never got completely past the puppy stage of running in for dummies. That should be curable. Even my retrieve crazy cockers save all their running in for game. They never run in for dummies. I can set up every dummy retrieve situation under the sun and keep on repeating the situations until running in ceases to happen . Wish I could do the same with fresh shot game.

Wullie

[Judy]

Yours too eh? Never ceases to amaze me that they can go from deep sleep to the kitchen in a flash simply on the sound of another dog chewing something soft and yet can't hear me saying "stay" or "leave it!" on a shoot day, must be the ringing in their ears from all the gunfire... Come to think of it one of mine can hear a partridge fall 100 yards away in woodland, that's that idea out the window then!

Yup steadiness should come in a working test situation, eventually. After lots of picking up I'm not so sure although I have had one or two who were off lead their entire careers, they were only doing 12-14 days a season back then and smaller bird-days too.

Bryn, you have to be aware he's going to go and pre-empt it by telling him to stay before he legs it, so what if you lose a few marks for being a tad firm with him? Nip the idea that "its a Test he can't get me / wont say anything" in the bud before it becomes ingrained.