Training Diary Day 56-60

The Squeaky Gundog Continues his Holiday

Day 56

Today was another resting up day and we practiced staying in the open boot of the car whilst I read for a while in the sun and practiced chilling out at the tea room again, see picture. We also did quite a lot of on lead work walking into town and around the campsite which he did and OK job with.

Day 57

Today we had another one to one shoot over lesson. Erik was a bit nuts to start with, not responding to whistles and running hard on a ground scent which unfortunately took him to a group of birds which he flushed which was a bit frustrating that he was reinforced while so far away.  On the positive side he came back from the flush straight away with no chasing even though he was in an open area.

He retrieved the birds that were shot today, 5 in total, again brought them straight back but struggled to let go.

Erik had a bit of a strop and shout when we took a break but managed to get himself under control and managed to be quiet for a while before we set off again. He then worked much better for the rest of the session.

He worked the hedges really well staying close so when he flushed a bird we managed to get a stop but the he ran in on the shot, hey ho!

The last bit of hedge was lovely, he didn’t pull onto a bird that was running along the hedge in front of him and when it came to the end he flushed it and we managed to get another stop 🙂

We finished the morning with Erik working a fodder beet field which he did really well.  Lovely close quartering – video to follow.  He finally found the only bird in there and flushed it well, thought about stopping, he hesitated but then he took off to chase for a small distance and then came back to work.  The bird was shot but he didn’t run in on it and so we sent him for the retrieve after we had finished quartering in the fodder beet.  He had to sweep up to find this bird and found it easier to let this one go as he seemed less aroused.

Day 58

Today was also a one to one shoot over lesson and Erik was less bonkers to start with today. It was a bit of a mixed bag with some stops after flush, some return to me after flush and some ‘run as fast as you can after the bird’ after flush.

It really confirmed that he is happier to stop in cover even with a shot but open ground is more tempting especially if he can see the gun as he has managed a few run in and retrieve after the bird has been shot which is not ideal.

So the things that I have to take away to work on :-

Increase ability to let go when aroused

Continue to strengthen the stop whistle and proof more against chasing

Continue to work on teaching him to self-manage in gradually more exciting places

Need more exposure to working with birds and self-managing around the sight and smell of birds.

Things that I have been very happy with:-

He has managed to be still in new places away from shooting and settle for a good length of time.

He has managed some quiet and still moments while out shooting. Not many but better than before.

His hunting was much more controlled than it has been.

He managed more stops this year that previously.

Erik is by no means perfect but I have been very encouraged with the progress that he has made in the last 12 months.

Day 58

We travelled home, more sitting in the open boot practice whilst I packed the car.

Day 59

I was back to work today and ran a crate games group class. Erik came along as demo dog and after working for about 10 mins he spent the rest of the session in his crate with the door shut.  I rewarded him periodically and he was quiet for about 45 mins whilst I was teaching with only 3 very short and quiet squeaks.  Very pleased with him and we will see how this goes as he spends more time in class!

Day 60

We worked on the stop whistle out on our walk today.