Gundog Training Forum

westcountry wrote: ↑Sun Feb 02, 2020 6:17 pm Dont do cock ups with the young dogs. Learnt from training the older dogs not to do so. Thats the thing about training a new dog every year. You learn not to make the same mistakes.

chrokeva wrote: ↑Sun Feb 02, 2020 7:15 pm Had a cock up with my 16 month old this past weekend.
First open trial and day one she was lovely. On the first day she even made it to the third series but due to some inexperience with scenting did not place.
Day two I expected a repeat but that did not happen. She started at the end of the course with a bird less downwind beat where her brace mate put and retrieved a bird. We then turned around to start a headwind beat where her bracemate immediately put up a another bird and again she did a lovely honor. Still looking for a bird she made a bird and a short retrieve. Off we go for another bird and she starts to trail a bird off to her brace mates side and then her bracemate puts up the bird she was trailing about 20 feet on the bracemate side of the course. My dog stops about 40 feet from her bracemate flush and watches the dog make a retrieve stopped all the time. That is when things get fun. My judge asks me to call my dog in while they change dogs on the other side. When I go to recall her she totally blows up! Goes directly to my bracemates side and starts hunting for her bird that she still figures was there and totally ignored me as I frantically blew my recall whistle. I then took to yelling as she continued to hunt like a wild banshee on the other course. I had the attention of both judges, all the gallery, a well respected pro that happened to be gunning was said to me "she is blowing up" and to calm down and just go get her....haha it was something else. Here this lovely dog who had just been doing everything right lost her mind. The pro made me feel a bit better as I leashed my dog hanging my head in shame as I headed for the gallery he said "if they don't blow up at least once they aren't worth much". Haha took the sting off just a bit suppose.

Judy wrote: ↑Sun Feb 02, 2020 6:51 pm

westcountry wrote: ↑Sun Feb 02, 2020 6:17 pm Dont do cock ups with the young dogs. Learnt from training the older dogs not to do so. Thats the thing about training a new dog every year. You learn not to make the same mistakes.

How many dogs have you trained then, Westcountry? And what happens to the older dogs if you bring in a new one every year?

westcountry wrote: ↑Sun Feb 02, 2020 8:45 pm
Trained 7 Judy. Only sold one who went to a great home with a gamekeeper in Lincolnshire. I have 14 dogs. A team of picking up dogs and a couple of retired dogs and several young dogs in training with a view to trialing next year. I do not move dogs on as that is an admission of failure. I have dogs of 13 years old here.

Miesque wrote: ↑Sun Feb 02, 2020 8:54 pm

westcountry wrote: ↑Sun Feb 02, 2020 8:45 pm
Trained 7 Judy. Only sold one who went to a great home with a gamekeeper in Lincolnshire. I have 14 dogs. A team of picking up dogs and a couple of retired dogs and several young dogs in training with a view to trialing next year. I do not move dogs on as that is an admission of failure. I have dogs of 13 years old here.

Admission of failure? Try telling that to Openshaw, Clulee, Walsh and the like!

Springfield Pointers wrote: ↑Sun Feb 02, 2020 7:16 pm

westcountry wrote: ↑Sun Feb 02, 2020 6:17 pm Dont do cock ups with the young dogs. Learnt from training the older dogs not to do so. Thats the thing about training a new dog every year. You learn not to make the same mistakes.

Thing is, a mistake with one dog, isn't a mistake with another. They can vary so much. It's more about watching development, interest and growth. You build on what you see, training, developing and maintaining a dog is a very fluid process.