Charli from the North Coast
- Thread starter JLS
- Start date
Working on heel, down, sit. She’ll hold a down or sit stay for over a minute while waiting to be released for food.
Drags are easy for her. She has an outstanding nose and a lot of prey drive. Time to start increasing the distance and vegetation cover.
Hot weather in the forecast so some good water work is in order for the weekend.
A few adult teeth have shown up this week.
Drags are easy for her. She has an outstanding nose and a lot of prey drive. Time to start increasing the distance and vegetation cover.
Hot weather in the forecast so some good water work is in order for the weekend.
A few adult teeth have shown up this week.
fleabagmatt
Well-known member
Did she follow Finn in? That's what Franklin did. First time at the water, Ruby went after a bumper and he just waded right in and started swimming after her.
Surprisingly, no. I tried this earlier with no luck. I waded in this time and she finally came out to me.
On Saturday she was going in after a bumper on her own.
@Wild Bill per your request...
Charli got a lot of exposure last fall. She hunted both with Finn, and solo. She quickly demonstrated a very, very fine nose. She would point coveys Finn had missed. Her caution and manners behind game were impeccable, even for a pup.
After hunting season ended I began preparing Charli for her VJP test in March. This test highly values the ability of the dog's tracking ability, so I made a trip to southern Idaho to work her on some jackrabbits.
Her test went very well. She didn't do as good as I had hoped, and that was likely my fault in the prep work. That said, she had a great showing.
Now, it was time to start training for the fall natural ability test, the HZP. This test places a huge emphasis on retrieving game, and force fetch is the core of the training.
One thing I learned early in the summer, Charli does not need, nor will she function under the pressure it takes for Finn. At one point, I felt the train was coming off the tracks and I had to evaluate things. The breeder, a good friend of mine, told me "she's a girl dog, she needs to know you love her and are friends". I completely shifted my training approach and we started making some progress.
Blind retrieves were our nemesis during training. Some days she'd nail it, and others she just appeared to lack confidence. We did a ton of reps, in different water. I thought things were going pretty well, then we had a couple of stumbles. I had to swim her out to get a bumper a week before test day. I almost drowned, I think she believed I was trying to kill her. We did some easy reps a few days later.
Test day, she hit a walk off grand slam. I would joke and tell people she could fail or she could post a 199 (perfect score). She almost did the latter. She demonstrated desire, cooperation, nose, search, you name it. She absolutely nailed it.
She is a joy to hunt with. She just doesn't miss birds. Her retrieving is improving drastically. She made a couple of advanced level retrieves last week. She has a ways to go to match Finn's retrieving ability, but her use of nose and search are unquestionably better than his.
Now, it’s hunt a lot. She’s been on three big game recoveries this fall. I think she will be a fabulous blood tracking dog.
I will run her through the two day utility test, the VGP next year. She has some focus and discipline issues I need to clean up. She also needs to get a little stronger for the longer forest drags. Her tracking ability and water work are already on par with dogs older than her.
I will have her x rays done this winter and take her to a breed show in February.
Charli got a lot of exposure last fall. She hunted both with Finn, and solo. She quickly demonstrated a very, very fine nose. She would point coveys Finn had missed. Her caution and manners behind game were impeccable, even for a pup.
After hunting season ended I began preparing Charli for her VJP test in March. This test highly values the ability of the dog's tracking ability, so I made a trip to southern Idaho to work her on some jackrabbits.
Her test went very well. She didn't do as good as I had hoped, and that was likely my fault in the prep work. That said, she had a great showing.
Now, it was time to start training for the fall natural ability test, the HZP. This test places a huge emphasis on retrieving game, and force fetch is the core of the training.
One thing I learned early in the summer, Charli does not need, nor will she function under the pressure it takes for Finn. At one point, I felt the train was coming off the tracks and I had to evaluate things. The breeder, a good friend of mine, told me "she's a girl dog, she needs to know you love her and are friends". I completely shifted my training approach and we started making some progress.
Blind retrieves were our nemesis during training. Some days she'd nail it, and others she just appeared to lack confidence. We did a ton of reps, in different water. I thought things were going pretty well, then we had a couple of stumbles. I had to swim her out to get a bumper a week before test day. I almost drowned, I think she believed I was trying to kill her. We did some easy reps a few days later.
Test day, she hit a walk off grand slam. I would joke and tell people she could fail or she could post a 199 (perfect score). She almost did the latter. She demonstrated desire, cooperation, nose, search, you name it. She absolutely nailed it.
She is a joy to hunt with. She just doesn't miss birds. Her retrieving is improving drastically. She made a couple of advanced level retrieves last week. She has a ways to go to match Finn's retrieving ability, but her use of nose and search are unquestionably better than his.
Now, it’s hunt a lot. She’s been on three big game recoveries this fall. I think she will be a fabulous blood tracking dog.
I will run her through the two day utility test, the VGP next year. She has some focus and discipline issues I need to clean up. She also needs to get a little stronger for the longer forest drags. Her tracking ability and water work are already on par with dogs older than her.
I will have her x rays done this winter and take her to a breed show in February.
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Flatbrimmer
Well-known member
193 out of 199? Dang that’s impressive! Good pics!
