trekmoor wrote:I have never used buckets and dummies when working on quartering but I have often used tennis ball "lanes" and they worked pretty well. My spaniels end each shooting season as picking-up dogs with their hunting in tatters at least as far as range is concerned. I need my dogs to "sweep" through cover of all kinds at the end of almost every drive and sweeping is a wild and woolly form of hunting during which dogs hunt , unguided and often unseen, at very considerable distances away from their owners.
I used tennis ball lanes to put some pattern back into the dogs and since the balls were well within easy proper spaniel hunting ranges using the lanes caused a reduction in range too. It wasn't that the dogs needed the balls as an incentive to hunt, the balls just helped me get my dogs back in a bit in preparation for any test I might want to enter.
Wullie
I can see how this type of work would require a reminder of proper range.
Could you explain how ball "lanes" work? I did read through this thread and did not notice it mentioned but maybe I missed it?
My dog just turned two and has a few trials under her as well as several hunt tests and I am always looking for new training ideas.
Quote ...."My dog just turned two and has a few trials under her as well as several hunt tests and I am always looking for new training ideas."
I don't think your dog would get much benefit from a tennis ball lane since it already hunts well and never goes picking up .
This is the tennis ball lane idea for possible future use.
You need a pup or a dog that likes retrieving tennis balls and you need 10 to 20 tennis balls depending upon how much forward distance you will walk during the dogs hunt. Any old tennis balls do fine but I buy cheap ones. Make sure they all have your scent and your dogs scent on them before making a lane.
Leave the dog where it cannot see you make the lane. Now imagine you are walking between two railway lines but those lines are 10 to 20 yards apart (depending upon how wide a hunt pattern you wish to establish.) As much as possible the hunt should be done into the wind and never on a tailwind. Arrange the direction of the lane to suit this.
Now you walk up the centre of the lane you are about to make while tossing alternate balls to left and right out to approximately the required width of the pattern you are trying to establish. The distance between the balls in the forward direction dictates how "tight" the pattern will be, it , to some extent it allows you to adjust the dogs forward bite into the wind.
With you holding to the central line as much as possible hunt the dog between the two outer lines for the tennis balls. When the dog fails to find one do not send it back that way again , to do that at this stage disrupts the dogs flow of movement and therefor it's pattern. Just accept that you have lost a ball and continue the hunt taking the balls from the dog as it brings them to you with as little fuss and as little time spent as possible on the deliveries.
I sometimes send out another dog later to do a "sweep search" for any missing balls.....but usually I just buy more balls !
As time goes by and the size of forward bite and the width of the pattern are what you want then fewer balls can be placed along the same outward distance or the hunt can be lengthened by using the same number of balls but at greater forward distances between them requiring the dog to make several casts to encounter a ball.
That's about it.
Wullie
If at first you don't succeed .....find out if there is a booby prize !
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Don't do what doesn't work - do what does.
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Can anyone point me in the direction of some youtube links with excellent examples of quartering that shows both the dog and the handler in action? Need something to aspire too!
I suggest you view training videos at Gundogs Online. They are free to watch. Look for the place board training videos by Gary Breitbarth. These place boards can be used in many different ways. Come, sit, stay and more can also be taught on place boards. Teaching hand and whistle can be incorporated with these training steps. Taught and reinforced correctly your dog will learn quickly. I use place boards to help teach pattern work and some steady drills, all as yard work. Then move to the field. You might look at Ian Openshaws videos also. His approach is different. Ideas to work with. As trainers we need to be open to ideas and use what works for us and the individual dog. Keep sessions short and positive. Good luck and have fun.
They way I would approach it is a open space not a lot treats in left and right hand dog sitting in front of me knowing what I have got I would raise my left hand up and throw the treat saying out and repeat with the right hand standing still repeat the process starting with big treats the can see moving throw the air and fading it out to a treat so small that she can't see it and is adventualy taking a command now eventually stop useing s
Treats and have the ball hidden ect hope this helps best of luck
I would be hesitant to use treats like this. It is possible that you get a dog that constantly stops to look at you to see where the next treat is going. It would drive me nuts.
I would be inclined to take a young dog out into an area with a bit of a (head on) wind and cast it off. I would then walk into the wind and turn the dog with the whistle hold out my arm in the relevant direction and veer off in that direction. Once the dog gets to the end of the cast, I would whistle again, hold my arm out in the opposite direction and veer again. Turning in the direction of the cast will get the dog following you. The dog will soon be turning on the whistle without you having to veer in the direction you choose. I like a dog that keeps an eye on me, but isn't fixated on what I'm doing. It must do it's job, I shouldn't have to keep directing it.
Cooper wrote:They way I would approach it is a open space not a lot treats in left and right hand dog sitting in front of me knowing what I have got I would raise my left hand up and throw the treat saying out and repeat with the right hand standing still repeat the process starting with big treats the can see moving throw the air and fading it out to a treat so small that she can't see it and is adventualy taking a command now eventually stop useing s
Treats and have the ball hidden ect hope this helps best of luck
This is exactly what I did, not that my input is particularly credible
Muddling along in the hope that one day it starts to make sense.
