Spring Training!

Training Sunday 9th March 2014 10am

As I walked down to Stape Hill fields this morning I didn't have to look far for Mother Nature's first clues that Spring is on the way. I was surrounded by clusters of bright yellow daffodils, bluebells blooming, the odd queen bee buzzing and brimstone butterflies fluttering around the green fields. The sun was shining  and the sky was blissful... beautiful, clear and blue... A perfect day for training!

Ivy and I focused on a long distance retrieve exercise today with a ditch at the far end of the retrieve. The dummy was thrown over the ditch and I sent Ivy out using her name for the command. As she approached the ditch I gave the command 'over'. The trainer asked me to remain quiet and just use the whistle to call her back once she found  the dummy.

As the sun was shining we decided to do a water retrieve and walked over to the large pond which was filled around the edges with masses of jelly-like frog spawn.  My challenge with a water retrieve is striving for a neat delivery of the dummy to hand without Ivy dropping the dummy as she gets out of the water and shaking before giving the command 'shake'.

Today I made sure I was close to the water's edge as Ivy came out of the water so that i could calmly take the dummy from her and then give the command 'shake'. Gradually I want to ease back from the water's edge so that she has the opportunity to get out of the water holding the dummy and deliver to me and then shake.

The key lesson I learnt today focuses on consistency with my commands. I should be staying with the same command and not changing it half way through a retrieve. For example I sometimes change my 'get on' command to 'back' when I should be using 'back' consistently for a retrieve exercise. My aim this week is to be aware of what word  I am using for each command and aim to be consistent with them so that I do not confuse the dog.

 

Training Wednesday 12th March 7am.

I managed to nip out this morning for an hour and catch the end of the dawn chorus whilst training. One of nature's most beautiful sounds. We found a long gravel  track in our local woods and set up several long distance retrieves using the track to keep Ivy straight as she went out for each retrieve.

There is something special about walking early in the morning in Spring time. Everything is growing and bursting into life. This morning our walk energized my body, mind and soul.  I'm sure my dogs picks up on my state of mind. Creating a truly strong bond with Ivy and Jack is not just about caring for the dog but spending time together on a one to one basis and working together as a team. What a wonderful way to start the day!