The truck is fixed and running well. So it was back to the training grind again today. We ran a cheaty water double and worked on having the big dogs swim down the shore. This means the dog will swim parallel to the shore and not cut out early to run the bank. This is a pretty difficult concept to teach because it is obviously quicker and easier for the dog to run than swim. Kirby did great on this double. A had very small hunt on both birds but he was quite honest and stayed in the water the whole way through the swim.

After running our marks we set up a double blind. We ran back across the same location we ran marks for influence to get the dogs to try to cheat the water and catch them with their hand in the cookie jar to get a good teaching opportunity in. Kirby has been running crummy blinds this last week or so because of the battle I had to get in with him. Today, he looked a little better. He ran well on the first blind. It was a land blind about 100 yards long and through a tight keyhole between a couple of trees. He lined this blind and had good momentum. The water blind was a sharp angle entry, and they had to fight through running water before they go to the swim down the shore. Most all of the dogs faded right towards shore while in the running water. Kirby was the same. So I had to handle him back into water. He tried squaring the bank, so I handled again. This was a good teaching day for the dogs.

The next few days will be pretty slow for us training here in Dawson Georgia. Our 14 hole chassis rig had some engine issues that needed to be taken care of. The injectors on it went bad and the truck wasn't operating efficiently and was blowing a LOT of white smoke which can't be good for the dogs to be breathing in all the time. So, the truck is in the shop and we are here to do drill work and run what we can for marks around the kennel property. We had some down time between trials so now was the time to take the small break in training. Hopefully we are up and ready to go by Wednesday and can get the dogs back in the swing of things.

The next trial we run is on the 20th of February. It is a derby, open, and amateur all age stakes trial. There is no qualifying meaning Kirby and I are not running in it. That's OK though since we are working through some issues that needed to be addressed and should be all ironed out by the next time we run.

With the highly competitive nature of field trials its pretty much a waste of your entry fee if the dog isn't on its game for that particular day. This is why it is so important to keep a well balanced dog in training. Don't let the dog get too high, or don't squash the dog with obedience and get it too low because then it will have a pukey attitude towards training and you will just get in a battle and not accomplish very much with the dog.

Here is a picture I promised of Kirby and me with his JAM ribbon from the first trial we ran last week.

 

The last couple of days have been a break down Kirby's attitude and get him back to respecting me as a trainer. I took him to the point yesterday where he wanted to quit working, but I forced him through it and made him finish the task at hand. It all started with him being hard headed and thinking he knew where the blind was planted better than I did. He started blowing off sit whistles and started auto casting. This is where he doesn't wait for me to cast him a direction, getting him closer to the blind, but decides he wants to go on his own and not work as a team with me. So, I broke him yesterday and really hounded him for every little bit of defiance he gave me while he was supposed to be sitting rock solid. His blind running will be horrible for the next week or two but it needed to be done.

On the other hand, his marking has been exceptional and he has been one of the top 3 dogs on the truck. This is exciting to me because marking is what wins trials. Blinds are usually pass fail and Kirby is a consistent and very good blind runner. His marking needs to be on point for us to win. And if he keeps this up, we will win before we head back to Minnesota.

My first field trial running the qualifying stakes went about how I expected it to go. Would I have liked it to go better? You bet. But hey it was a lot of fun and we came out with a ribbon. The first day we ran a land triple with a retired gun for the first series and this is where kirby and I dug ourselves a huge hole that we would have to be flawless to recover from. Kirby creeped about 6 feet out in front of me as the marks were going off and he only saw one bird thrown. He picked that bird up flawlessly then we had to struggle through picking up the other 2 birds. Good thing he runs fantastic blinds, I lined him up liked he would be running a blind and sent him on his way. He had a HUGE hunt on the flyer but finally prevailed and dug it out. The long middle bird he took a great line, made on loop and picked it up.

After that fiasco we snuck back in for the land blind. After running a great 3 whistle land blind we were back in it and called to the water blind. This was no cake walk of a blind but we did a great job on it and I was confident we would be back for the fourth and final series. I was pretty excited for this since kirby was the youngest dog in the trial and we were lasting longer than a lot of pros that have been running and training dogs for 20+ years.

The fourth series was a BIG water triple. After smacking the first two marks it was time to run the long retired gun that required a swim to the end of a lake. Kirby's initial line was looking good until the suction of a gun station pulled him off line and I had to handle. We ended up with a JAM (judges award of merit) in our first qualifying. I was pretty excited about this since we are new to the game and many of the dogs we were running against were 4 years old. Would I have liked to win it? You bet I would have. But I was content with green... Until next time. I WANT THAT FIRST PLACE BLUE.
 Pictures will follow when I get back to my computer.

You could say today sure was an interesting day. It started off with an early wake up to get all the dog chores done before we had to roll out for the trial we were attending today, tomorrow, and Sunday. Well, I got my chores done and left my dog Kirby out in the airing yard because I knew it would be a long day of being in his dog box on the truck and I was just letting him stretch out for a while. Well, after about ten minutes of him being out I hear a huge eruption of two dogs fighting. Kirby, and another male, got in to where there were four females in heat. With tensions at a high Kirby and the male got into a fight and Kirby, in simple terms, got his butt whooped. He came out with a puncture wound in his right lip, a small puncture wound on his muzzle, and a few small cuts around his left eye. His eye was OK, just around the eye was skinned up.

Well, after that was out of the way we finally arrived at the trial in Thomasville Georgia. The first series was a triple with a retired gun on the left and the right bird was a live flyer. With Kirby's adrenaline still pumping from his scuffle earlier in the day he proceeded to "creep" out on me approximately 6 feet or so. During this time birds were being thrown and Kirby was focused on one bird and one bird only. When it was time to send him he picked up the first bird clean. Time to send for the flyer station. This is where it all went to hell. Kirby had no idea where this bird landed and he backsided the gun station and hunted for what seemed like ten minutes! Finally he dug the bird out and we were on to bird number 3. Surprisingly Kirby did very well on this bird, picking it up after only a small hunt.

So after the first series in today's Qualifying stake I was feeling pretty low. Thinking I lost Kirby due to a dumb mistake I was ready to throw in the towel. Luckily, I was called back to run the second series land blind. With a near flawless, 3 whistle, blind we were on to the third series! The third series was a long water blind that crossed one point in the water, and the dog had to swim past another point. Kirby, again, ran a great blind. Working as a great teammate taking the casts I presented to him perfectly.

Now tomorrow is the real test. The fourth and final series! Kirby has to knock it out of the park to make up for his stumble in today's first series and we also need some help from some other dogs botching this last set up. Kirby was the youngest of 36 dogs to start the qualifying today. Now he is one of 13 left in the trial. I am ecstatic to be in the 4th series of our first ever qualifying. The only thing that will make it better is a red or blue ribbon!

This is a pretty busy week for us here in SW Georgia. We have a field trial competition coming up this weekend. It is a double derby/qualifying. The derby is a stake for dogs under 24 months old. In the derby stake you see the best young dogs in the country competing. The derby is typically made up of four series. The first series is a land double. The second series is also a land double. The third series we move to water and run a water double. Finally the fourth and final series, if you are good enough to make it there, you will run a land/water double, or a water double. The derby is designed to test pin point marking and natural ability of young dogs. The straightest line usually wins.

The qualifying stake is the next level up from derbys. In the qualifying stake the trial consists of four series. The first series is typically a land triple. The second series is a land blind. The third series is the water blind. And the fourth series is your water marks. Usually a triple again. Qualifying stakes are for more advanced dogs that have received more training. If you win or get second place in a qualifying stake you achieve being able to call your dog Qualified All Age or QAA. It takes a special dog to get to this level.

We head to Thomasville Georgia on Friday January 30th for the start of the trial. Since it is a double there will be two qualify stakes, and two derby stakes.

In conjunction with our marks this week we ran multiple blinds. A blind is when there is a planted bird, or bumper, at a location unknown to the dog. As the handler it is your responsibility to get the dog to the destination. Blinds are a true test of obedience and extensive training. To do this you give the dog cue words such as, "dead", "good, right there" and to send the dog you give the command "BACK". To accomplish running a good blind it is your job to keep the dog as close to the line to the blind as possible. This is done with giving a whistle blast and a cast. A cast is a directional change you indicate to the dog with your hands. Some people also call casts or blinds hand signals. There are 6 main casts you can give a dog. A left or right back is straight up above your head. This is to get the dog to correct his line very minimally. The next casts are angled backs. Represented with a 45 degree angle between a straight back and an over. This gets the dog to make and even larger change in his direction. Finally, there is the over cast. This is a cast that is straight out to your side and the dog should make a 90 degree change in his course to the blind. Here are a few examples of blinds we ran this week.

This first blind was pretty straight forward. It was approximately 100 yards through a couple of cover changes. My dog Kirby lined this blind and didn't have to take and directional casts to change his initial line.

This next set of blinds were a little more difficult. There was a side hill on the right hand blind working as a factor against the dogs and they had to fight against it so they didn't cave one direction or the other. The left side blind was down through a valley, and back up the hill then drive past the top, over a road, and through a field to get to the end. Kirby took 2 casts on the right hand bird, and one cast on the left hand blind. Very good work out of him this day.

This set of three blinds was tough on some of the dogs. The right and middle blind had what we call a "key hole" slot to run through. The right blind had two bushes on each side of the line the dogs had to go through. This blind was about 75 yards. Kirby took one cast. The middle blind was through a key hole in 4 small trees. It was about 125 yards. Kirby lined this blind. The last blind was an angle across a road and tight to a round hay bale on the right. This was a 250 yard blind. Kirby also lined this blind.