Problem with lab training

Minneguy · Post by **Minneguy** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 2:27 pm

Hey Guys! Since I don't have a hunting dog right now I have been working with my buddies lab, it is relaxing and fun for me to train a hunting dog. She and I have been working on line drills lately and she has been doing great, she's getting so close to being proficient at blinds it's not even funny. The problem is, when I direct her, she runs at an angle instead of straight. How the Heck do I help her figure this out?

reba · Post by **reba** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:23 pm

crackerd · Post by **crackerd** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 2:50 am

Minneguy wrote:...she's getting so close to being proficient at blinds it's not even funny. The problem is, when I direct her, she runs at an angle instead of straight. How the Heck do I help her figure this out?

Thought you said in another thread you'd had "great success, as an amateur, at training Labs?" How the Heck can you not figure this out? The "lining drills" don't seem to be giving you the profiency you need for running blinds. Nothing's known about the dog's level of training except that you're "training a buddy's hunting dog" - but it sounds as though the dog's flaring on sends and getting to the blind with a "banana" outrun. For the early stages of teaching blinds, that's not bad. But I've got a sneaky suspicion you're doing this before putting in the foundation for blinds with force to pile - where a straight line to a known objective is processed by the dog - and without single or double T, and swim-by. Can you stop the dog on the way out and correct its line with a cast or casts taken by the dog? - that's the litmus test for "being proficient at blinds." Blinds are about handling, not lining.

MG

Minneguy · Post by **Minneguy** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:28 pm

Reba, she runs at an angle when I have her sit to whistle, then cast her. How could I adapt your advice for that situation?

Minneguy · Post by **Minneguy** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:29 pm

Crackerd, I've been very fortunate. She literally won't run straight when cast. I don't know if you're fishing for something, I asked for advice and if you have insight I'd love to hear it.

Del Lolo · Post by **Del Lolo** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 6:54 am

Minneguy
What training program are you following ?
Have you done FTP - T - TT ?

crackerd · Post by **crackerd** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:31 am

I'm not fishing - or casting - for anything, but this ain't how you teach a dog to run a blind retrieve.

reba wrote:You should be standing on the side of the dog with it's head at or against your knee. Swing your arm from behind between your knee and the dogs head pointing at the correct direction to the bird giving your chosen verbal command. The dog should run in that line until it picks up the bird/scent.

Unless you live in the UK where blinds are...well, I'm not sure what they are, and they're not either - but "picking up scent" ain't what we're aiming - or casting - for in this country...

I said above, apropos your "great success with Labs," that your training apparently hadn't included the staples of handling: walking baseball, three-handed casting, force to pile, etc. Are you confirming that?

MG

gonehuntin' · Post by **gonehuntin'** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 7:36 pm

I don't know why you want a true over for a hunting dog. Angle backs are much more efficient.

Minneguy · Post by **Minneguy** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 2:01 pm

gonehuntin' wrote:I don't know why you want a true over for a hunting dog. Angle backs are much more efficient.

How so? I've never considered that before.

Minneguy · Post by **Minneguy** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 2:17 pm

gonehuntin' wrote:I don't know why you want a true over for a hunting dog. Angle backs are much more efficient.

So would the dog go past the downed bird and then be directed back and over towards it?

Minneguy · Post by **Minneguy** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 2:28 pm

Del Lolo wrote:Minneguy
What training program are you following ?
Have you done FTP - T - TT ?

Yep, we've worked FTP and T drills. We've also gone up town and played on the baseball field. From heel she lines out well. From pile, not so much on a blind. On a mark it's not an issue.
I am following the wildrose dvd's. Have you seen them at all? They focus more on what the finished product should look like, and a little less on how to get there. Is there something I should be using instead?

gonehuntin' · Post by **gonehuntin'** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 4:06 pm

We used to say in the field trials, "If you have to give an over, you're out." To me, there is never a reason to let a dog get so far off line you need an over. On a blind, as soon as he starts to drift, a simple right or left hand back or right or left angle back should easily correct the line.

Minneguy · Post by **Minneguy** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 1:59 am

Thanks gonehuntin', that's really good advice! I guess I really hadn't thought of it like that. Maybe I'm asking a little much of her, and should be asking more of myself directing her.

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