Training Diary Day 332 to 400

Day 333

We had another day pottering and unpacking.

Day 334-340

Back to normal life again, so getting back into normal routines and trying to do more individual training with the boys.  Did a session with Erik settled on his raised bed whilst I trained Ragnar.  All went well.  I am doing more lead work with the boys together so that we can keep up the momentum that we have built so far with Ragnar.  I have bought a brace lead and that seems to be working fine so far.  I just need to remember to unclip Erik before I open the boot of the car as Ragnar sometimes jumps in before I tell him to at the moment!

Day 341-348

We have had two more crate games group sessions but now Ragnar is also coming along to the group which is a big change for Erik.  He has been a little squeaky on and off if I am working with Ragnar but not too bad on the whole and able to stay in his crate with the door open.

We did some work on some long retrieves, seens and blinds.  He did a good job and even stopped and redirected a couple of times.  Not too much work as he is a bit stiff, Ragnar has been a bit rough with him over the last couple of weeks so I have booked him in for a back treatment.

Day 348-356

This week has been a quiet week for Erik and his training.  We have did some hunting training up in the woods, we found a new spot which is great.  A friend came along and so I could do some stop to throw and retrieve and recast hunting.  He was a little bit whiney occasionally but very quietly and not as much as previously.  He managed to hold for the retrieves for a good 10 seconds without shouting or moving.  Some of his recasts were a bit noisy but more not noisy.  The intensity of the noise when it is occurring is less and he is transitioning much better.

I also did some hunting on my own with him and that was quiet on the recasts.  I am trying to wait a bit between receiving the retrieve and recasting so that he doesn’t expect to go again straight away.

We did another crate games group session and he was very good in that, no noise.

Day 357-383

Well we have been at this now for a year and the progress has been slow but sure. I think if I had been able to spend more time training the dog things wouldn’t have taken this long but life keeps getting in the way!!  Erik has however been making steady forward progress which I guess is the main thing 🙂

Today I did some work with Erik hunting a small area.  He got very excited when we approached the area so we did some heelwork until he had settled and was less sure that we were going to be hunting.  I then asked for a sit and then waited and fed him for a short while so that I started to sow the whole process down.  I was really pleased when I cast him off as he didn’t squeak.  He hunted for a short distance and then I snuck a ball out into the grass for him to find.  When he found and retrieved it I rewarded him with a ball throw and then when he returned I asked for a sit and again fed him while we waited for a short duration.  I cast him off again with no noise.  The third waiting cycle had a small amount of noise but he sorted himself out very quickly.  Fourth cycle there was no noise again.  The last two hunting sections I threw a dummy out while he was hunting and he automatically stopped which was great.  The first stop I rewarded with a chance to retrieve and the second stop I went out and picked the dummy and then walked back to him, then threw it again and let him retrieve it.  No noise during this waiting 🙂

Day 384-390

I have continued working on some hunting and pausing before restarting.  This is going well.  Less frustration now he is starting to expect to have to wait.

I have also started working on teaching Erik to bow; this is to help stretch out his neck muscles as he is having some issues with tightness through his neck area.  It is great as I am training both the boys in an evening one working and one parked up.  Erik is managing himself on the raised bed and is managing to be quiet whilst I am training Ragnar to retrieve, Ragnar is then crated whilst I teach Erik to do his stretches and bow.  Good progress is being made by both of them.

Day 391-400

We did a couple of sessions of crate games this week, Erik is happy to sit in the crate with the door open for the duration of the classes.  More keeping things ticking over.  Not much going on in the training department as life has gone nuts.