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Lloyd90
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5 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

 

Good advice that mate 👍🏻

 

Re the rabbits, if your in an area that has loads about it’s much easier to steady to them than if you don’t have them around. 

Thin on the ground in lots of places these days, whilst others are lucky and have thousands.

 

 

 

Not many here 

personally thinking if there’s lots that’s when you find out if you’ve got it right it’s the same with birds 

you may (think )teds steady at the moment however  

be cautious taking him to a place with thousands of birds especially early season birds that don’t really know what a dog is 

 

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On 06/09/2019 at 17:18, Old farrier said:

Not many here 

personally thinking if there’s lots that’s when you find out if you’ve got it right it’s the same with birds 

you may (think )teds steady at the moment however  

be cautious taking him to a place with thousands of birds especially early season birds that don’t really know what a dog is 

 

Thanks mate will keep an eye on him Tuesday :) 

 

 

I thought I was supposed to be at a wedding this weekend but my Mrs got the dates wrong. 

So a bit of a last minute trip decided in the twilight hours last night before bed, but we were up at 6 a.m. this morning and set off for Llanelli, to compete in the Carmarthen Wild fowling Association novice gun dog test. 

I think there were around 15+ dogs running, and some real nice stuff on the day. I know some of the lads and had a good crack meeting them in person, and some of the dogs by their lines. 

 

Ted run really well, hunted quickly from the off, he covered the ground without stopping and had a nice flow. He dropped to the shot and then out went the retrieve. It was the other side of a fallen down tree. I was told to send him and he charged out and dives right through the tree, like a rocket. An absolute unit he was, before when he was less confident he would have run around but he looked really well driven today going for it. A lovely delivery sitting and handed right to be and we carried on. 

 

He hunted on nicely again and stopped to shot. The judge told me that there was a retrieve somewhere over in an area to send the dog to. I was told I could call him in or send him from where he was, so I said no problem, will send him from where he is. 

I sent him off and stopped him when he got to the rough area, then give him the hunt command and a point in the direction and he picked it straight away and right back to hand. 

 

I was very happy with our run and could not fault him. The only bit of ground he didn't hunt well was a really thick bit of cover right at the start. 

Unfortunately for us (although nice to see) was that almost all the dogs there were very good. Lots of dogs hunted really well, and only 2 really smashed the cover at the start. One of the dogs that smashed it well, was the litter brother to my previous pup that was sick and had to go back. Even at 8 weeks I remember those pups being keen to get into cover and having plenty of go in them so I wasn't surprised. 

 

Three dogs were called up for the run off for 3rd place, and I wasn't in it. I though it could go anyway. But sadly after the run off we didn't place in the top three and no other awards were given on the day. 

 

I asked the judge for some feed back on what to work on, but he said we could have hardly done any better.

45/50 for our hunting, 25/25 for our marked retrieve and 23/25 for our blind, for a total of 93/100. I think that's easily the best score we have had so far by a long shot so was very happy with that. The judge explained that the winning dogs just hunted really hard and I saw them myself, they were very impressive. 

 

I spoke to a few lads who trial and have judged a fair few trials themselves who complimented my dog, and said cos he is quite leggy he is fast, and they reckon would give those northern bitches a good run on the rabbits so they think. If we can get good enough perhaps we can find out one day. 

I was really proud of the dog today he really went well, bit of a gutted to score 93/100 and walk away with nothing but that's the game I suppose, can't knock those other dogs at all they were class! 

 

Onward and upwards now, partridge day on Tuesday and I am hoping with more game exposure he will really come up in his confidence and start hunting like a real machine, and we will be away :) 

 

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Part 19: A day on the partridge. 

 

I was very kindly invited to work Ted on a partridge training day / rough shoot yesterday, which was a sort of mixed rough shooting day but put on for the gun dog training. There were 8 handlers there most of whom had a couple dogs. 

 

Met some lovely people, at least half of the lot I recognised as judges from trials etc so some good competitors and company to be with. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and we were also very fortunate to be allowed to hold it on the Honey Combe Shoot in Dorset. I have to say what an amazing place and a hell of a lot of game on the ground if anyone is looking for a driven day. This day however, was a charity day, with all the money raised from dog handlers, guns etc going to a good cause :) 

I was with Simon who we had been training with lately, and he said this was a lot for Ted but he was on the cusp of being ready for it. I said he isn't going to get trained sat in the house so was happy to give it a go, he just advised not to give him too much. 

Personally we had three runs from the day, which went as follows:

 

Run 1: Three dogs were in the field (a huge sunflower and mixed crop field) with 4 guns spread between the line. We walked up in a line and within no time at all birds were being flushed around us. Ted stopped to the flush/ whistle and gunshots every time. When initially cast off he was very sticky, kept stopping and looking at me, but after a few minutes with a bit of stopping mixed in, he actually got into a nice flowing pattern in this cover and was working a half decent pattern in front of me, which I was very happy with. He saw birds flush just a few feet way from him and stopped a few times, and after a long run Simon said pull him up whenever you are ready, so I pulled him out shortly afterwards and went back into the gallery, being very happy with out first run. 

 

At the end of this field, Ted was hunted on a bit of ground with no game on it, a fresh shot partridge was thrown out and he was sent and handled onto it nicely, picked it and delivered to hand just fine :). He was very switched on after this and almost "in the zone" or something, he didn't want to take a drink from me and seemed just keen to go, however was still quite relaxed, in-between waiting for our go etc, he would just lie down on the ground on the lead, which Simon said he couldn't get anymore chilled out than that. 

 

Run 2: Onto another field similar to the above, we were again in the middle, I clicked Ted off and he was very sticky again. I was hoping he'd be a bit better after his last run, but he kept stopping and looking at me. I just ignored him and he started to get down and hunt on a few spots. Again he stopped to flush and sat up but then he bumped a bird right in front of his own nose and took chase!! 😞 I chased him but he was running down the field flushing a few more birds as he went. How embarrassing. He went about 50-60 yards but then started coming back, I was already out in the field so managed to intercept him whilst he was out running, and dragged back to the flush point and told off. Simon told me to just hunt him 3-4 casts then recall and put the lead on which we did. 

A short stop for a bite to eat around midday and we were then back out again on a huge field.

 

Run 3: Simon said try to just get Ted a quick run, if he sees a flush and stops just put the lead on and be happy with that so this was the plan. This was a massive field so we were all able to work the dogs at once in one big line. We set off and Ted saw some flushes and shots either side for which he stopped. After a minute or so, he flushed one about 4 feet to his right, and he sat to the flush, but then another bird flushed about 2 feet from him and went right past his nose as it lifted, which was just too much and he ran forward again. I was immediately out after him, dragged him back and told him off, and then just stuck the lead on him so as not to spoil it for anyone else. We finished walking up out final beat on the lead, being made to sit to flush and shot on the lead as we went lol! 

We then did a bit of work at the end hunting, whilst Simon threw some already shot birds past Ted and he had to sit up, which he did well. We gave him 1 retrieve out of about 10 throws. 

 

 

Overall was a good first half to the day. His flushing and chasing seemed similar when in the rabbit pen. When he flushes something in close proximity he will sit up but when he is getting a good solid contact flush and almost driving it out with his own nose, that's when he boils over and the temptation is just too high. 

 

Bit more work to do, that stop whistle needs to be 100% every single time no matter what, but was good experience and lessons learnt on a few different things. 

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Part 20: Stop means STOP! 

 

Right, enough of this nonsense now. Simon told me he is right on the cusp of being steady, and it is the only thing holding us back from progressing this season and getting onto game etc. 

So up we went this morning, again into the rabbit pen. 

 

Before we went to go into the pen, we had a few Dove's for the bird launcher, and straight away Ted hunted up nicely, and then the bird was 'flushed' right in front of him. Immediately from the first bird he sat up and watched it away nicely. Didn't move an inch. We repeated and the ****** did the same again, it was like he wouldn't even consider running in to game ... yeah right!! 

I said to Simon, its easy for him when it flushes next to him, the real temptation is when he gets a hard contact flush and drives something off the end of his nose and then gives chase, so we said the rabbit pen was the best spot to replicate this situation as they sit tight and the dog gets a solid contact flush, so in we went. 

 

I set Ted off hunting, and he was going well. The exposure to game has certainly helped him and he was stopping much less. I was having a slight issue that he was almost pointing at times, like a pointer, indicating on scent. According to the field trial regs a dog that indicates on game is a good thing, but not a dog that false points. Well in the pen today he didn't stop to point at all so that was good.

 

Ted managed to get his first flush out of some grass, and he was bloody off again, I chased after him for a good 40+ yards, determined that he wasn't getting away with it, grabbed him and dragged him back to the flush point, made him sit and blew the whistle whilst telling him off. A short pause and I hunted him on. Shortly after and another flush, to which he tried to bloody chase again 😞 again Simon and I managed to cut him off fairly quickly and he was dragged back and made to sit. Simon said to me, "god, he really does like a chase doesn't he!" Another pause to catch his breath and he was hunted on. 

After a bit of hunting on he then suddenly pushed a rabbit out of cover right off the end of his nose, AND SAT STRAIGHT UP!! 

Bloody hell, I wasn't sure if the penny had dropped. He was given loads of fuss and praise and told when a good boy he was. 

Again we hunted on, and he paused for a moment, going almost on point for a second. I wondered if he was just scent pointing but we had a feeling there was game where he was indicating, and with another step and push into the cover, he pushed a rabbit out of cover right off the end of his nose AND SAT UP! 

 

Thing's were looking good at this point and I thought the hard work was finally starting to pay off. We took Ted back out of the pen for a while as it was hot and he was blowing. I gave him a big drink of water, and put him away in the car for a break. Simon and I had a cup of tea whilst he had a rest. 

 

We then after a good 20+ mins went back into the pen, without trying to push our luck, we wanted to ensure the penny had dropped, and the behaviour was solid. Again we hunted on and again another flush. Ted pushed this rabbit out of its seat, and instead of flushing away from him, pushed right past his face to run away. He sat right away as soon as it moved and it went right across the tip of his nose. 

On we hunted for another second, and he flushes a quail, sats up immediately and does not move. We are looking for another rabbit but this was a nice surprise added in for variety .

Simon said he has had 2 good stops now, just try for 1 more, and finish on a high, so on we hunt. Ted again going well, and as he gets to the edge, a rabbit flushes in front of him. He didn't bump this one out, but it flushed from cover right in front of him, and took flight up an open path right in his view, almost under his nose. He sat up the moment it jumped into his view, and sat rock solid watching it run away :D 

 

 

Jesus I can't tell you the relief I felt. I am not naive enough to think I can just run him on game now and expect him to be steady, but feel we do have a solid foundation now, and hopefully we can get out on some smaller shoots beating this season and the odd bit of rough shooting, and progress onward and upward. 

I will have to be careful out in the field now so he doesn't lose that steadiness.

 

I know some people say they never needed a rabbit pen, but for my dog, in this situation, I can not thing of any other method that would have allowed me to construct several flushes like that, in a short space of time, in a controlled environment. I think if we just continued with the odd flush every now and then, when able to get out, we would end up in the habit of chasing, so here's hoping its the end of that nonsense. 

 

 

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On ‎13‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 23:20, Lloyd90 said:

Part 20: Stop means STOP! 

 

Right, enough of this nonsense now. Simon told me he is right on the cusp of being steady, and it is the only thing holding us back from progressing this season and getting onto game etc. 

So up we went this morning, again into the rabbit pen. 

 

Before we went to go into the pen, we had a few Dove's for the bird launcher, and straight away Ted hunted up nicely, and then the bird was 'flushed' right in front of him. Immediately from the first bird he sat up and watched it away nicely. Didn't move an inch. We repeated and the ****** did the same again, it was like he wouldn't even consider running in to game ... yeah right!! 

I said to Simon, its easy for him when it flushes next to him, the real temptation is when he gets a hard contact flush and drives something off the end of his nose and then gives chase, so we said the rabbit pen was the best spot to replicate this situation as they sit tight and the dog gets a solid contact flush, so in we went. 

 

I set Ted off hunting, and he was going well. The exposure to game has certainly helped him and he was stopping much less. I was having a slight issue that he was almost pointing at times, like a pointer, indicating on scent. According to the field trial regs a dog that indicates on game is a good thing, but not a dog that false points. Well in the pen today he didn't stop to point at all so that was good.

 

Ted managed to get his first flush out of some grass, and he was bloody off again, I chased after him for a good 40+ yards, determined that he wasn't getting away with it, grabbed him and dragged him back to the flush point, made him sit and blew the whistle whilst telling him off. A short pause and I hunted him on. Shortly after and another flush, to which he tried to bloody chase again 😞 again Simon and I managed to cut him off fairly quickly and he was dragged back and made to sit. Simon said to me, "god, he really does like a chase doesn't he!" Another pause to catch his breath and he was hunted on. 

After a bit of hunting on he then suddenly pushed a rabbit out of cover right off the end of his nose, AND SAT STRAIGHT UP!! 

Bloody hell, I wasn't sure if the penny had dropped. He was given loads of fuss and praise and told when a good boy he was. 

Again we hunted on, and he paused for a moment, going almost on point for a second. I wondered if he was just scent pointing but we had a feeling there was game where he was indicating, and with another step and push into the cover, he pushed a rabbit out of cover right off the end of his nose AND SAT UP! 

 

Thing's were looking good at this point and I thought the hard work was finally starting to pay off. We took Ted back out of the pen for a while as it was hot and he was blowing. I gave him a big drink of water, and put him away in the car for a break. Simon and I had a cup of tea whilst he had a rest. 

 

We then after a good 20+ mins went back into the pen, without trying to push our luck, we wanted to ensure the penny had dropped, and the behaviour was solid. Again we hunted on and again another flush. Ted pushed this rabbit out of its seat, and instead of flushing away from him, pushed right past his face to run away. He sat right away as soon as it moved and it went right across the tip of his nose. 

On we hunted for another second, and he flushes a quail, sats up immediately and does not move. We are looking for another rabbit but this was a nice surprise added in for variety .

Simon said he has had 2 good stops now, just try for 1 more, and finish on a high, so on we hunt. Ted again going well, and as he gets to the edge, a rabbit flushes in front of him. He didn't bump this one out, but it flushed from cover right in front of him, and took flight up an open path right in his view, almost under his nose. He sat up the moment it jumped into his view, and sat rock solid watching it run away  

 

 

Jesus I can't tell you the relief I felt. I am not naive enough to think I can just run him on game now and expect him to be steady, but feel we do have a solid foundation now, and hopefully we can get out on some smaller shoots beating this season and the odd bit of rough shooting, and progress onward and upward. 

I will have to be careful out in the field now so he doesn't lose that steadiness.

 

I know some people say they never needed a rabbit pen, but for my dog, in this situation, I can not thing of any other method that would have allowed me to construct several flushes like that, in a short space of time, in a controlled environment. I think if we just continued with the odd flush every now and then, when able to get out, we would end up in the habit of chasing, so here's hoping its the end of that nonsense. 

 

 

nice to see years of work and patience come together  (result ) nice wright up Lloyd  👍 carry on updates 

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Part 21: In the awards. 

 

We spent this weekend down with my partner's parent's in deepest darkest West Wales, so whilst down there we entered ourselves in the Carmarthen Working Gundog Society Novice & Open tests. 

 

On arrival I was told that we could enter both tests if we wanted and I knew as Ted can retrieve and handle very well, he would have no problem with the harder aspects of the open, and it would all hinge on how he hunts anyways, so I entered him to run in both parts. 

There was some stiff competition, with several of the handlers recently being in the Welsh gun dog team and some having the top overall dogs. 

 

Novice run:

In the Novice test we were up 5th out of 22 dogs, we had to hunt some light cover on top of a hill, working along, stop to shot, pick a marked retrieve, hunt on, stop to shot and pick a blind. 

Off I set Ted and he set off with a big of pace, he was pulling out on me a bit, he was doing this yesterday just when I had him out for a run on the Mrs parent's field but I didn't want to do too much before the test, I wish I had tightened him up a bit now, but despite that he hunted ok, he had his head/nose up a bit but had a good few moments of getting nose down and working away with a bit of style, he was alright overall but I would have preferred him to go much faster and really hunt like he can do on occasion. 

He dropped to the shot instantly, marked the retrieve and fall and went straight out to it, straight back and sat with head held high giving it to me :) 

Hunted on, and was going ok, dropped to shot right away again, then lined him up on the blind, I sent him and he went straight back and I sat him up in the area it was in. I sat him waiting for a minute then clocked that he started to snick and had twigged something on his nose, so give him the signal to drop down into the area it was in, but he pulled forward as he went down, I quickly dropped him again before he went too far out of the area, told him back and he picked it, and again delivered perfectly. 

We were asked to hunt on a few yards then pulled up and finished. That was the end of our run in the novice, so we went off to have a joke and a laugh with the other blokes whilst waiting our turn in the open. 

 

Open run: 

We were up 9th in the open, out of I think about 21 dogs. It was similar ground to the novice but with some thicker cover and heavier patches in areas. The dog had to hunt up, then stop to shot. A bloke about 40-50 yards ahead in a bush would then throw a high dummy which the dog had to spot in the air, mark and then retrieve. The dog had to then hunt on for another 0 yards, and a similar shot and dummy was thrown to be marked. The dog then had to ignore that marked, turn around and be sent back for a blind retrieve. After retrieving the blind the dog then had to pick the 'distraction' dummy that had been thrown previously. 

 

Off Ted clicked on this run and started off well, but definitely wasn't getting his head down enough, he was pulling a little bit but this time we had a back wind so he pulled out and worked back to me alright. He went into some of the heavier cover, and thank god he didn't go on bloody point as he has done a few times, he did pause at times but carried on mostly. At one point he hit a spot of real interest and just stopped sniffing on it for ages, he ignored the peep to turn so I said "OI!" to him, which probably lost me some points, but he got moving again. 

 

He dropped to the shot absolutely fine, marked the dummy thrown way out in front and went out picking it easily back to hand. 

We hunted on, but he wasn't going with real intensity again which is a shame, he again stopped to the shot, and again marked the dummy far out in front, however called away from it fine, turned around and was sent back for the blind. He took a straight like to the blind area, but again I had to stop him twice and just give him a little direction onto it. He again picked this and delivered back to hand lovely. 

We then turned around and I had to apologise to the judge and say I had no idea where I was supposed to send him for the distraction dummy that was thrown. The judge said he couldn't remember exactly himself but gave me a rough idea, I lined the dog up and sent him, and he right to the exact stop the dummy was, picked it up as if he didn't even need to consider looking for it and delivered perfectly back to hand. 

On went the lead and that was the end of our runs! 

 

Results time now. 

Novice: 56/80 - third place!! 

We had the results back from the judges, and managed to just pip into third place in the novice :D Brilliant result and very happy with that.  

I spoke to the judges afterwards, we had 30/50 for our hunting (top dog that came 1st had 36), 15/15 for our marked and 11/15 for our blind, lost a couple points for having to stop him and handle onto the blind. I asked the judge the best way to score on blinds and he said just sent straight out, no stopping no whistle just send and picked, although he said you would be ok to give a hunt signal such as "hi-lost" when in the area. So something for us to work on in future to try and score top marks on the blinds also. 

The judges feedback was good, advised to tidy up his pattern a bit, he said he really handled well couldn't have done that much better, needs to hunt harder to get more hunting points really, which is something I was aware of myself. 

 

Open: 75/100. 

Unfortunately we didn't place in the open, however I was very happy with that score for a first open run. 

We had 40/60 for hunting, again needed to hunt head down much harder, he remarked about some of the winning dogs, and I said I watched them myself, they were outstanding, noses could have been hoovering the ground and went really well. Something to aspire to.

We had 10/10 for our "flush" - drop to shot, 10/10 for the marked, only 5/10 for the blind as needed to be stopped twice and handled onto it again, and 10/10 for the final pick of the distraction dummy. 

 

Overall a very nice day out and rewarding to be placed in the top 3 at Novice this time. I do believe there aren't many tests left this season now and I won't be attending anymore. 

Out on another partridge day next weekend and will get the dog out beating on some small shoots and some rough shooting over him on club land also. 

 

I am really pinning my hopes that a season on game will fire up his hunting drive once he knows the game. We will have to wait and see, his handling is mint, and apart from some small work to be done on blinds etc there isn't much to improve on, although I am sure in future there will be more complex handling to be done, such as over walls, ditches, ponds etc.

 

I will have to put in some graft this season to get out as much as possible, as I am back to Uni from tomorrow to do 6 months training in Mental Health, so it's going to be a bloody busy season! 

 

 

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Part 22: A partridge in a game bag. 

 

We were lucky enough to get out twice this week on a couple partridge which seems to be bringing Ted along well and getting him hunting :) 

 

On Friday we drove down to Somerset and joined Simon who's pen we have been using and managed to get out on a couple of partridge just working the dog and Simon shooting. Ted was hunting well with a good pattern and flowing well, not stopping to look at me every 2 seconds.

He hunted well and had a solid flush, sat up and watched the bird hit and drop. He didn't move an inch and was duly sent for the retrieve. 

He picked the bird which was still alive 😮 and started having the old death flap once Ted picked it. He hesitated for a moment but did not drop it and with a bit of encouragement of me saying "fetch it, fetch it" he brought it back and delivered nicely to hand :)

We hunted on and Simon's dog had a flush and Ted sat and watched him pick it, and later on he hunted well and sat to some shots. He was going very well however right at the end an unexpected bird was flushed, Ted dropped but the other dog took a few steps forward (however then stopped) but Ted then ran in and didn't stop. I had to chase him over 100 yards up the field and drag him back to the stop that he should have dropped and tell him off. Such as shame as the first part had all gone so well. We had done this little outing on Saturday as I was on a partridge shoot / training day the next day and I wanted things to go well... We did have a few good stops and flushes, and picked a live bird, and the 1 time he ran in, he didn't catch or retrieve and therefore had no reward for it, so I was hoping it would sink in. 

 

Saturday - We drove up to Gloucester and had a lift from one of the lads as I didn't know where we were going. Some spot up Hereford way. We arrived on the small shoot and there were a few lads working there dogs. We had 2 dogs hunting in a trial like situation, in a big field of root crops. I knew that if Ted was going to run in, It would be on the gunshot and not the flush this time. 

We got up to our turn and he was hunting pretty well, he flushed the bird close to him and sat up well, shot fired and the ****** tried to run in. Luckily, the bird was hit (so he wasn't running a hundred+ yards up the field) and also it dropped into the cover crop, so he couldn't get to it right away. I was chasing after him the second he moved and I got to him first, dragged him back and told him off. 

After a short break we were off again, again he flushes, sits up ... then bloody runs in to the shot... once again I am after him the second he moves, he is not getting away with it! 

He again doesn't make it to the retrieve as I am right on him, drag him back and sit him where he should have stopped. As a note, both times he moved the other dog was then told to retrieve those birds, he did not get a retrieve if he moved.

 

We stopped for a while to have some lunch and I put Ted away in the truck for a bit. When we started again he was fresh, had a drink and a rest and good to go.

Out we went on our turn, and he started to hunt really well, nose down hunting not looking at me all the time. He flushed a bird right next to him and sat right up, the bird was shot hard although I didn't see it as I was firmly fixed on the dog. Ted didn't move an inch, he sat up just looking at the fall point. The lads said time for the reward for the correct behaviour, and he was told get out. He went right to the fall spot, picked the bird and retrieved it to hand lovely. 

We then hunted for a bit, the other dog had a flush, Ted sat up when he noticed and sat to the shots, I was really on edge here as if he ran in it might put the other dog off also but luckily the bird went back and I was in-between him and he didn't move. He sat well and waited whilst the other dog picked his bird. 

On we hunted, and for a moment he was really flying, he is a big dog quite tall and well built, and his power really shined through for a moment, he was flying along the beat with real intensity. Again he flushes a bird, sits up and marks the fall. Again he is rewarded for doing the right thing and gets out, picks the bird and delivers perfectly back to hand. 

Following this he hunted on, the dog on the other side flushed but that dog moved on the shot! Ted did not move, but the other side didn't want to give their dog the retrieve because he had moved... so we were asked would we like to pick it. Ted had not seen it so it was a blind retrieve about 30-40 yards out in a sea of green root crops... as directed Ted walked to heel to the other end of the line, sat down and I pointed him in the rough area and sent him back, he took a straight line and got back, and I hunted him in the rough area. I did have to stop him a couple of times and get him back in the area, but once he winded the bird he was on it, picked it up and back delivered to hand. We marched over back to our side very happy with ourselves.

We hunted on just for 2-3 casts, then I stopped him, called him in and put the lead on. Very happy with the second half of the day and a good performance :) I wanted to get out of the line asap at this point whilst everything had gone to plan and not let anything go wrong. 

I soon after put Ted away in the truck with some water and gave him a well deserved rest. 

 

I did manage to finish the day watching some of the other lads working their dogs on the rest of the crop, they had a few more flushes and retrieves and some of the lads had huge long retrieves which were very impressive, something to look up to, just hope we can get to that level of handling one day :) 

 

 

The real test for Ted now will be whether he stops from the off when we go out next time, it's not good him keep stopping after being told off, he needs to do it right from the start, we are going to do a bit of practice with some dummies, the starter pistol and whatever else we can get our hands on now :D lol 

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Not a lot of change recently ... I took Ted out for the first saturday of the season on a rough shoot I can go on, just walking around with the gun and one of the lads. 

 

First patch I sent him into some thick tall cover, bird and bumble I think it's called. It was so thick and tall he couldn't even hunt in it and we just spent our time trying to get across it. 

At the end of flushes a roe deer out of the cover, and it runs out about 5 feet in front of him. I blew the stop whistle and Ted sat lovely and watched the deer away without even moving. 

 

We got out onto another area and Ted was going well, he still isn't smashing thick cover sadly but was quartering well and staying in range mostly. We got along a hedge line and I saw some of our club lads walking a hedge across the field. I knew if they flushed anything it would fly towards us as we were next to the woodland, and low and behold 2 birds get flushed out of the hedges. 

As usual, the boys in the club miss the birds (LOL) and they carry on towards us across the field. I whistle Ted to sit who does as told, lift the gun and give the cock bird about 5 foot lead, as his is coming diagonally past about 45 yards out. I intentionally dropped my finger back to the back trigger (which I know is full choke) and shoot, and the cock bird folds up nicely in the air falling into long grass.

Ted, being eager to go and fetch the bird for me... then decides to run in without being told 😞 ... I however blow the stop, and after 3-4 steps he stops and sits up nicely ... so not all bad. I then have to go and pick the bird myself as the dog has moved... bloody shame as it would have been a nice reward retrieve if he hadn't moved. I spent a few minutes searching about and somehow manage to stumble across the bird... thinking to myself why do I even bother with the dog, I am doing the work myself!! lol 

 

Later on we are out a bit further and a shot is fired at a pigeon but not hit, Ted again tries to run in, this time without stopping to the whistle... bloody nightmare. After this I put him back on the lead and didn't do much else with him. 

 

 

It is hard to fire shots regularly with the starter pistol as you can't just use it down the park etc... but it is evident that he needs a refresher on what the shot means, and he isn't allowed to move until bloody well told. 

We have been doing work all week with me throwing retrieves and picking up 9/10 of them myself... I am off today down my mates where I can use the starter pistol and give him a refresher than he is not to move unless I say so! 

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2 hours ago, B725 said:

Use the starter pistol as if shooting at a bird, and use the stop whistle a millisecond after unfortunately it's repartition, repartition untill it's second nature for Ted to stop. 

 

Yes mate, it's just a pain as you cannot use the starter pistol in public, which is a pain as it's hard to get that repetition over and over without it!

 

Today we popped up my mates farm and knew there were a couple birds in cover. Ted had 4 good solid contact flushes within 20 mins and sat up perfectly, I had put the long line on him just in case and he didn't move at all. 

Unfortunately my mate had some horses nearby so we were unable to use the starter pistol. Shame as this would have been ideal. 

 

However, after Ted had sat up and waited a short while, I had clapped loudly and then threw a ball out which he was sent for as a reward :) Will keep building on that and hope it keeps getting better. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Part 23: Bang, Bang! 

 

Just a small update today, this Saturday was the first day of the small syndicate I have joined that is just 15 mins from my home. The day was only a boundary day with us as walking guns, and as I was walking and shooting, and knew there would be lots going on I left Ted at home. I intend to bring him on the other days as long as his training is progressing well, as he can stand on peg with me and it be good steadiness training if any birds get shot coming over me, or even other guns.

 

Today however Ted and I did go out searching for birds, but instead of the shotgun I took the starter pistol.

Ted found 3 birds not too long into our little hunt, upon flushing I fired the starter pistol and he did not move. I fired several times and he stayed nice and still for all of these. 

 

After we did not see any more birds, my friends son threw some balls past him and I fired at them, 4/5 were picked by my friends son and Ted was allowed 1/5 retrieves. 

He was very steady today even when flushing which was promising. 

 

Next Saturday I am taking him beating so I can concentrate on his him, I am on shootingegg's (off here) small shoot and hope to get a couple flushes. I know that Ted should (or can be when he wants) steady to both the flush and the shot now so will be careful with him and be strict on Saturday.

 

On Sunday I plan to attach some wings to my dummy launcher and get my mates lad to fire it out of a bush where the dog don't see it... and I will discharge the shotgun, so it is like a bird flushes out of sight and I have shot it. If Ted remains steady to this "falling bird" then he can have the retrieve. 

 

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30 minutes ago, bigbird said:

You’re doing brilliantly Lloyd 👍

 

Ticking along, slowly slowly.

 

His only 'fault' as I would put it at present is that he is not a real cover basher, previously when onto heavier cover he would almost go on point. 

Today however with verbal encouragement he went into some proper thick bramble when he scented a bird in there. 

 

I am hoping taking him beating, him scenting birds and going into cover will give him the confidence needed to forget about pointing and give him drive to hit cover more :) 

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Well done, glad it's coming together for you 👍 

I have back to back day's next week, first shoot 1800 bird's but mainly woodland second shoot 1000 bird's but quite open ground. Next door is a large commercial shoot and there will be a hell of a lot of bird's moving so it will interesting how Stan will cope. 

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24 minutes ago, B725 said:

Well done, glad it's coming together for you 👍 

I have back to back day's next week, first shoot 1800 bird's but mainly woodland second shoot 1000 bird's but quite open ground. Next door is a large commercial shoot and there will be a hell of a lot of bird's moving so it will interesting how Stan will cope. 

Did you mean 1800 and 1000 birds?

 

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1 hour ago, B725 said:

Sorry for any confusion that's the number of bird's put down, the second shoot draws a lot of bird's from next door, different pressure on the dog as its quite open and a lot of bird's on the ground. Each shoot does around 100 bird day's. 

 

Those are a good number of birds should be plenty for the dog to flush there. 

My little shoot I’ve joined only put down about 500 birds and there aren’t any other shoots about, although the lads across the field put some feeders out and shoot some of the birds that cross the boundary. 

 

On one hand I am kicking myself a little for joining a shoot as everyday stood on the peg is one less day to get out working the dog. 

 

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