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Teds progress


Lloyd90
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13 minutes ago, oowee said:

Result :good:great control and the training is paying off. 

I shot three today and each time dog retrieved them but I have to use my voice and stopping is not in the equation. In the hide on Monday and he retrieved all birds waiting to be told to go and then taking directions from my hand signals for the hard ones in the field behind.

Well done on your efforts. 

 

Where did you go mate? 

It's nice when the pieces come together. You dog is good mate he is nice and bold. End of the day he does all you want. 

One of the lads told me the other day how his dog flushed and chased a bird across the shoot. I asked him if he was mortified, he said no... no one on the shoot cares and most their dogs do it :lol: ... beauty is in the eye of the beholder... I am still hoping I can run Ted in a trial. After today, if he hunts like he can and stays steady he could manage to finish one :) 

 

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1 minute ago, Lloyd90 said:

 

Where did you go mate? 

It's nice when the pieces come together. You dog is good mate he is nice and bold. End of the day he does all you want. 

One of the lads told me the other day how his dog flushed and chased a bird across the shoot. I asked him if he was mortified, he said no... no one on the shoot cares and most their dogs do it  ... beauty is in the eye of the beholder... I am still hoping I can run Ted in a trial. After today, if he hunts like he can and stays steady he could manage to finish one  

 

Pulled in all directions at the moment. II have three farms crying out for shooting. I will do two tomorrow starting in Chew. 

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19 minutes ago, JDog said:

You are certainly putting the effort in with that dog. Not many would be so diligent.

Thank you, 

One trialler did say to me to just get rid and try again with another. I also have seen other trial lads go through dogs, even moving on trial award winners as they didn't have that x factor. 

 

Ted won't be going anywhere as he often sleeps on our bed and keeps us warm :lol: especially with this frost coming in. 

Honestly though, I was with a bunch of very succussful field triallers today and have lots of good compliments on my dog, I think if he can link in his mind that stopping when told = bird is shot and picked (when told) then he could get an award in novices on a good day ...

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21 minutes ago, B725 said:

Happy day's Lloyd 👍keep the sessions short and sweet as you have done and your reward for all the effort will be a dog to be proud of next season, really pleased for you well done. 

Thanks mate,

I am being selective, I shot on peg on Saturday but left him at home. 

 

I shot some fantastic high / long birds I was very pleased with. Nice not to have to worry about the dog for the day and just concentrate on the shooting :) I will have to setup some exercises for next year, so practice being on the peg and staying steady. 

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I am picking up Friday, beating Saturday and shooting Monday but not taking Stan as much as I like having him with me I'm going to have one day without him oh and it's a free day for me. I do admire your determination and not give up and being happy to put in the miles and hard work. Ted will eventually pay you back over many year's 😊😊👍👍

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Nice little run about on the farm today where we shoot, yesterday was not a shoot day but next week is so we went for a round around to try and push some birds back into the woods.

 

We walked a long hedge-row to begin with, Ted working down the hedge, he only went down about 10-15 yards each time before turning back to me with very little whistle, we got near the woods at the bottom when he noticed some scent and pushed a bit of cover, about 2-3 feet from where he pushed a hen bird exploded from the hedge. I blew the stop but Ted had already parked his butt on the floor, we both watched as the bird flew lovely back towards the woods. I then threw out a tennis ball, called Ted to heal and then let him pick the ball as a reward :) 

 

We then hunted a big area of field with some light cover in it, we saw a snipe get up which he also sat for and watched away. 

 

On we went and hunted some woodland, I kept Ted tight and he was good, I got out to him once when he didn't turn as fast as I'd have liked but overall he was going nicely. He needs lots more exposure to ground with plenty of scent and game to get him running through cover etc much more eagerly. However this was a good run. 

We worked some hedges back to the car, he mostly ran along them, however every now and then got a bit of scent and would dive into the hedge to have a look around. I am taking it easy around hedges as if the dog is unsteady you can not get to him, however he was good today and had a nice run. 

 

Nothing went wrong all day, two nice flushes and stops, so we will keep building off that and aim for more and more success each time :) 

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Part 26: Ted on the peg. 

 

Once again it was my turn to shoot on my small syndicate today, and this time Ted was coming along for the day. 

On the first two drives I pushed my stick into the ground as hard as I could and dropped the handle of his lead over it. I thought if he run's it it might at least slow him down and allow me to shout at him to stop. It was not needed, he sat well on the drive and did not move. After the drive was over I planted one of the picked birds and sent Ted out, where he picked it for me and brought it back to hand. 

On drive two I did the same and he was good again, he moved about a little bit to get a better view but held his position on peg, at one point lying down to relax. He sat up when the birds started flushing and he saw some birds shot at / shot nearby and did not move. He saw a bird dropped by the gun on my right, which came down hard. At the end of the drive I left him sat up and I walked out to the bird and picked it myself. 

On drive three I sneakily slipped 2 leads onto Ted, and then took one off so he thought he was now loose off the lead. Again this wasn't needed as he sat steady anyway.

On drives four, five and six, he sat by my side steady, watching birds go right over us, two of which I have both barrels and didn't even tough. Last time I didn't take him I shot amazingly well, today I could not hit a thing. On the upside it was good training as Ted sat and didn't move on the gunshots either. 

Another bird was dropped hard on my right, and at the end of the drive I packed up and walked Ted over and instructed him to hunt the area on it. I stopped him several times and sent him back but he could not find the drop point. He stopped and came back to me as told, and I planted a bird nearby so he was rewarded for all the searching he had done. He picked this planted bird and brought it back delivered to hand lovely, he has previously struggled to find the right hold on pheasants so this was a good retrieve. We were then waiting for another dog to come over and have a look for the missing bird, when Ted pulled the lead into an area way off that we had not searched. I thought he had definitely winded a bird so I let him off and he climbed into a very dense hedge, only to return a few moments later with the missing pheasants :) He struggled a bit to get the right hold on this but a bit of practice and I am confident he will be fine. 

 

Not a bad day and he didn't put a foot wrong all day. I wish I had managed to actually shoot a bird nearby for him as that will be a further test of steadiness but I'm sure that will come in time. 

 

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5 hours ago, London Best said:

Every dog I have ever had, first day on the peg with me I can’t hit a thing! Combination of one eye on the dog and being anxious to shoot something yourself for your dog to fetch.

Yes ... let’s blame it on that 🤣 two weeks before with the same gun I shot some cracking birds. 

 

I didn't mention in my post that drives 4,5 and 6 Ted was entirely off lead and loose next to me. He was very good. 

On one drive we had to move along ready with the beaters, he walked to heel all along well behaved sitting on each point as we went :) 

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Nice little walk about with Ted today just me him and the gun, we flushed 3 cock pheasants near hedges but all came out the wrong side and too low so off they went as Ted sat still. 

On the last one he got a bit frustrated and after sitting tried to go have a look for it ignoring the stop, but was a good training opportunity as I got after him and put him right. 

 

I do wish he would hunt through cover more but he was the right side of wind on the hedges, will just keep going. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Part 27: Poor peg performance.

 

Back dating a bit to 28th of December, Ted came with me on the peg again. We started off well with him sitting off lead and behaving however he became a bit annoyed after a few birds over us were missed and ran in on the shot 😞 ... still I put him back and used this as a learning / training experience. I then just left the lead on for the rest of the day. 

On my final peg I shot some cracking birds and once the drive was over safely unloaded and sent Ted for one. He was mouthing it a bit and getting feathers in his mouth so didn't really pick it up. He has picked partridge very well but not many pheasant yet, clearly still needs a bit more work. 

At the end of the shoot I tool him in the pen and gave him a run to try and get him a bit keener to get into cover, he still doesn't go into bramble or thickish cover yet and needs a bit more drive, on long grass and reedy ground he goes well now (he used to be wimpy in this as well) so I am really trying to get him some finds in cover and hoping the desire to get in will come out. 

 

Not a great day overall but hey, we have our ups and downs. 

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Part 28: A brilliant day! 

 

This update is from today... I was going to take Ted beating but instead took him out rough shooting, as there wouldn't be as many birds, wouldn't be loads of dogs running about and I thought just less temptation.

Arriving we saw a lot of birds running about just driving in so thought we would have a good day. I went with 2 other lads from the club who don't have dogs, so got them to walk either side of me when we could to give us a good chance. 

 

We set off hunting a small woodland and Ted saw a bird flush up front of us, he sat but tried to run in on the shot, so was taken back to the spot he should have stopped and told off. 

Further down the field another bird flushed from the hedge row and I dropped the bird with the first shot. Again Ted moved and was taken back. I picked this bird myself. 

 

On wards we hunted, and this time we see a bird flushed and shot, Ted sat and waited, and one of the other guns dropped the bird into some cover. He could't not find the bird so we came along and Ted found it tucked into a bramble patch stone dead in a few seconds, he picked it up and dropped it near me.

 

Again we hunted on, this time crossing a big thick piece of woodland, Ted started hunting into the woodland and flushes a hen bird out of cover. However, this time Ted sits on the flush, I shoot the bird about 20 yards from me as a crosser, look over and Ted (amazingly 😮 lol) hasn't moved an inch. As a reward for doing the right thing, I give a hand signal and tell him to get out. He does as he is told, cuts through the woodland and finds the bird, which suddenly starts flapping about. I think being a bit lively gave him a nudge to grab hold of it, as he picked it up fairly quickly, and retrieved it to me. As he came in I said to him "hold it, hold it" and instead of dropping the bird, he comes right in to hand, I take the bird and say "dead" and he gives it to me :)

 

He then hunts on again on command and flushes another hen just a bit further up from the last one, I missed this bird, but Ted remained sat steady. The bird carried on down the wood, and presented like a nice driven pheasant for one of the lads coming down behind me. He dropped it into a bramble bush... but he had to go and retrieve it himself lol! 

 

We then hunted several hedge rows and corners of fields, Ted wasn't hitting the thick cover / bramble still but did have a sniff about. He really does hit reedy ground well though, and on the way back up to the car / other end of the farm, we walked up hill through a large patch of 'bird and bumble'. where Ted quartered quite well side to side. As we were going up he flushed a lovely hen bird that was sitting tight right in front of him, which I missed on the first shot, but thankfully was dropped by one of the guns on my left. Ted had remained sat exactly where he had been when the bird flushed so I told him to get out, and out he went and picked the bird, and delivered it back to hand, releasing it when told. At this point I was yippeeing and jumping for joy in the field :) 

 

Again we hunted on, and Ted this time flushed a big cock pheasant right in front of him, it goes directly forward and I hit it with the first shot, and it comes down hard. Instead of sending Ted I called him back to heel which he did right away, and I then sent him. He picked the bird and again delivered it to hand. At this point I was on the verge of doing cart wheels around the farm with joy. 

 

We hunted on and although Ted didn't flush them, the gun to our left bumped two more hens, one after the other, and he missed both of them. Ted stood steady to the flush and shot, and I told him "gone away" and hunted him on in the opposite direction, which he did as commanded. 

After this we had reached the top of the field. The lads wanted to hunt on but we had been out 2 hours and everything had gone so well I called it a day. I put the lead on Ted and gave him loads of fuss and praise and we went back to the car.

 

I managed to snap this picture as we packed up. Out of the 9 birds I think Ted flushed 5 of them and retrieved 4 to hand... can anyone see anything special about the picture? 

8 minutes ago, Old farrier said:

Maybe he’s not wimpy just cleaver enough to know there’s nothing in the bramble bush 

maybe next time out on the peg start with the lead on and take it off on second to last drive or when you’re pegged on a quiet stand 

making sure you have one more drive if it goes pear shaped 

 

Could be mate, he is flying through crop cover now, when we first saw it he wouldn't go through that either. He really has come on well.

After today's performance if he will start hunting thicker woodland cover then I will try to get a run in a novice next season :) 

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11 minutes ago, B725 said:

Sound's like you had a good day and it can only get better, shame the season will soon be over just as its all coming together. Well done both of you. 

Can't see owt special in the picture unless Ted has his lipstick out 😂

 

Yes this season has been rubbish as I have spent 6 months from Sept - Feb on this mental health course, otherwise I would have taken more annual leave and days during the week etc to get Ted out onto game and shooting ... they only do the course this time of year. On the upside I think it will be a boost to the career and an asset once completed so getting it over with. 

Ted is around 19 months now I THINK... if he stays good he is doing everything well to be a great all rounder apart from bashing thick stuff, hopefully with experience that will come too. 

 

The picture is the same spot / fence hanging the pheasants as this time last year. I had a look they're near enough 1 year apart. Ted only gets is lipstick out for special occasions :P  

 

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On 26/10/2019 at 21:40, figgy said:

Lloyd I have driven home home after s shoot with my chest puffed out at how well my dog worked and comments off others on how good he was. On the flip side I've also driven home almost biting my own tongue off with frustration at how bad he was, like a naughty kid on blue smarties. Gotten him home and told my wife of all the woes of my day. She has on occasion said I thought I'd give him a treat last night and fed him god only knows left overs. Dog was like a coiled spring. That don't happen anymore but he still has his moments as they all do.

Main thing is enjoy it and take pride in the good points forget the bad points and just keep.on training him.

How true that is. After a dozen or more dogs in my life, all true working dogs you could not have put it better. That is why it is such great fun and enjoyment. Like if every time you fired a shotgun a bird fell from the sky, then expecting your friend, your dog to be just perfect every time would be so boring.  I've read the progress to date and think if you stay patent and do as you have been doing your going to have a dog and a pal to be proud of. That is what it is all about.   All the best.

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Thank you gents :)

We have been going to the local playing fields lately after work as their is just enough light from the floodlights. They have a small patch of woodland cover, which I have been throwing balls into and trying to get Ted to hunt through to find. He was good tonight running through. 

 

Just have to keep going building up his confidence in thicker cover. He will fly across grass but when he gets to cover its like its a wall rather than different cover than he is currently on and he stops. Bit of work and hopefully he will fly through. 

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Part 29: Woodcock hunting. 
 

Big drive today down to Cornwood in Devon to meet a bloke for some training and hunting. 
 

Ted went well in a rabbit pen that had lots of cover, he was getting in the thick stuff, after which we went out hunting the woodland and some fields of bracken and reeds. 
 

Ted was alternating with another dog and hunted well in cover eventually flushing a woodcock out of some bracken and seeing it away. 
 

He then hunted well through woodland and completed a retrieve across a river that the other dog failed to find bringing it back to hand. 
 

Enough for the day :) bit more work and hopefully he can have a run in a trial next year if he keeps going well. 

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