Training Diary Day 40-43

Day 40

Today we had a 1-2-1 session with a spaniel trainer; we are working towards stop to the flush. Today was Erik first real session out with birds this season and they were everywhere!!  We were doing some control work where we wanted Erik to sit whenever he saw a bird move at a distance.  Needless to say there was lots of noise and he was very aroused by the whole thing.  Not much actual progress today but I came away with a good understanding of what I need to do and a plan to go to my local shoot and work on desensitisation and Erik’s ability to do other things when there are birds around.

He did just about manage to retrieve a dummy along a very scenty hedge line with birds the other side of the fence. He was very distracted but did manage to hand deliver, all be it after a bit of a slow return.

So a challenging couple of days’ training but lots more info on how to make more forward progress.

Day 41

No training

Day 42

We did some more work on crate games at my training facility today. We managed to get much better drive and speed to the crate from about 20ft away and then worked on increasing the distance.

Day 43

We did some more work on one of the permanent blinds today and Erik locked on and ran straight both times. It seems like he is starting to ‘get’ the game.  He was also very patient whilst I chatted with a friend that I met, no squeaking even though I couldn’t give him the ball as the other dogs wanted it.  I also stopped to chat with someone as we were walking home and he stood nicely waiting on the lead with no noise for about 5 mins.  Yay!

Erik’s new raised bed arrived today, a bit smaller and more portable for taking out and about; it also has a mesh bed area so that if it is raining when we are training Erik won’t have to sit in a puddle!

I think that Erik likes his new bed as he lay down on it whilst I was faffing about trying to take a picture – result! 🙂