Saturday we put Chunk through the paces, rolling him into some birds for him to find and retrieve, which he was doing quite well at...until...seemingly out of the blue, he started dropping birds before completing the retrieve. I thought to myself, "wow, where did that come from". Chunk continued to do this while working on Marked Retrieves so Steve Church did some Hold work with him. We then took Chunk back to the field and rolled him on some more birds which he then successfully retrieved. He successfully completed all of his retrieves on Sunday as well.
After giving it some thought, I believe I know how the dropping started. During the course of the winter, Chunk was digging up some of his toys from under the snow and bringing them in to us. He would deliver to hand until one day he dug up a mole. It was dark outside and it looked like another toy until it was delivered, yuck. He also did it with a dead squirrel, some sticks and eventually we just started commanding him to "Leave It" at the door know matter what it was.
So, our homework assignment from Steve was to do some Hold work with Chunk.
I like to use a training table that I built a few years ago for the Setters. It has lots of great uses for training and grooming and allows me to train when the weather is bad outside. I set it up in the garage this morning (it's pouring out) knowing we won't need the garage to park in again until next winter (fingers crossed).
The first step was to introduce Chunk to the table. I used the Setters to show him this. They are quite used to the table which I used to help teach them "Whoa","Steadiness", "Heel" and "Hold".
I started with Gunner and began with just heeling him to the table, then around it and up and down it. Then I "Whoa'd " Gunner on the table, all the while with Chunk watching.
Gunner has to Whoa no matter what part of the table he is on, including the ramp.
Next, it was Gally's turn to demonstrate.
Then after Chunk had seen both dogs work AND saw them get LOTS of praise while they were on the table, it was his turn.
Chunk went up onto the table without any trouble on his first try. I hupped him and praised the heck out of him. What I had not anticipated was that Gally would want to be part of the action. She came over, got on the table, with Chunk and he never budged. I was so proud of him I heaped on the praise.
I should point out that I should have corrected Gally for moving from her place but I did not want Chunk to experience any negative associations his first time on the table.
I then looked at Gunner who by now had crept over to us and I said "oh alright, get up here", which he did. I at least insisted that the "Deviants" had to Whoa on the table so I could take the picture above.
I continued to work Chunk by himself, just getting him comfortable with the table before letting him see some "Hold" work by the Setters just to help prepare him. Again I lead with Gunner. You can see he has the bumper in his mouth while he is Whoa'd on the table. Chunk was watching but turned toward the camera when I took this shot.
This is Gally taking her turn. One funny thing I noticed is that while I was praising each of the Setters, Chunk's tail would be wagging like crazy while he was seated, watching the action.
Here is Chunk on the table with the bumper. He held it the very first time for a long time. I take no credit for this as I think Chunk remembered well the Hold work Steve had done with him.
The next steps will be to continue with the Hold command, using a variety of bumpers which differ in size and weight, as well as birds. I'll also have him walk the table without dropping the objects, then heel off of the table, up the table, around the table without dropping whatever he is carrying. I'll continue to use the Setters to demonstrate for him. Then once Chunk has that down, I'll use him to demonstrate to the Setters what a proper retrieve is.
Thanks for reading this and as always, Enjoy your dogs,
Ken, Gally, Gunner & Chunk
(Yes, I need to clean my garage)
