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ZAC CALL ME!!!!!!SELLING BOAT
posted: July 17, 2006
author: TexasDuckHunter

Zac,

This is Mike Byers, give me a call at 972-658-6660 I am selling my duck hunting boat along with the boat blind and all my decoys and other accessories. I am selling it for a great deal and i thought you mind be interested in it. In a couple of weeks i am going to list it on ebay but i thought i might extend you an offer first. Anyway, give me a shout at the number above as soon as possible. If anyone else wants a really nice duck hunting boat with a pop up blind, about 3 dozen G&H decoys, trolling motor feeding decoy system, bags, etc for under $2000.00 please feel free to give me a call. Everything but the decoys are still in Norman so that if you wanted we could arrange a time that you could see it. Zac along with Blake have hunted out of the boat so they could give you more of the details if you would like before calling me. However, please call me if you have any questions.

-Mike

Big number 100
posted: January 26, 2006
author: QuackerWhacker

Southern got his 100th retrieve last weekend, he also turned 1 year old last week. I had intended to take pictures of it to post, but was lucky enough to have a budy come along and film the entire hunt so once the editiing and such are complete I will look into having it posted under the video section. The count is now 123 ducks + way too many quail, pheasant, chuckar, and coots to count.

Quick update
posted: December 23, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Just thought I would post a quick update, since I had said that southern would be getting his 100th retrieve soon. I realized that I had miss counted and Southern had actually made 130 retrieves but 33 of them were on upland birds so they didnt count. which leaves me at 97 since then (last weekend) I have been skunked twice and killed 8 on tuesday, but Southern only picked up 2 of them so I am still looking for that big number 100. I also found out this morning that he does not like crows as he would have nothing to do with picking that nasty black bird up.

Hey Up! Zac....
posted: November 28, 2005
author: urbanduckman

me and Irish just finished read'n your post and LAUGHED OUR ASSES OFF! It's nothing short of AMAZING what this dang ole Choco. pup has accomplished in such a short time. Here's to YEARS of you and Southern enjoying each other's company KILL'N and RETRIEV'N STUFF!

Upland Birds
posted: November 28, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Southern got his first taste of Upland Birds this weekend, and he liked it a lot. We hunted on the WB Ranch in Whitney, Texas all weekend and had a blast. Southern got to work with all of the bird dogs in the field and got his first taste of how to honor another dogs mark. He didnt like this a whole lot but by the end of the weekend he was getting better at letting the little Viszlas and Brittanys pick up there share too. He definately learned that he could intimidate those little dogs and I think they started letting him pick up most of the birds out of fear that he would eat them but he got results. I do however have a new respect for bird dogs because they had more energy than Southern and I combined. I had to put Southern up about every hour because he was going to retrieve himself into a heart attack, these big ol labs arent made for all of that running. Needless to say he slept well that night, and I think hes still recooping from the weekend. We did have to do things a little different for these hunts though , because I could not keep him at heal the entire time. We tried to make this hunt fun for him instead of putting a lot of structure to it and then let him screw up. By Sunday morning Southern even pointed his own bird! We were walking along a brush hogged lane when I saw southern lock up with his tale back and his right paw up. I thought he had a sticker at first but quickly realized that he had a big ol rooster pheasant in his sights about 3 ft off the tip of his nose. He Held the point for longer than I thought he would as he has been trained all of his to pounce on those birds, but as I got closer to him he let loose and flushed the bird, which I shot and he retrieved promptly. Though I have no desire to persue this pointing crap it was still fun to watch him.

ZAC!
posted: November 19, 2005
author: urbanduckman

It's time to GET IN HIS ASS when he BEAKS. Use the collar to bring him back on HERE , HEEL and then make him wait a bit then send him on his name! He's to the point that it won't ruin any of his drive and desire. You MAY notice a bit of reluctance to GO till he understands that it's O.K.!

If you don't get on with this NOW it will TURN INTO A REAL PROBLEM. BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!

That 500 yard thing is something ain't it. Yeah, it's hard to let'em get that far away from you BUT he's more at home in the water than he is on LAND so you don't have to worry TOO MUCH!

Sounds like he is exceeding everyone's expectations. Everyone but YOU as you ALWAYS have had faith in and BELIEVED in this big Choco. DEVIL DOG!

Southern with HIS ducks
posted: November 16, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Southern poses with his mess of ducks from Clinton last weekend, lil guy picked up every one of them including a wounded wigeon that tried to hide in a buck brush plant. He also found a bird that we had given up on finding that was in some waste high grass. The bird had fallen over a hill from us and none of us got a good mark on it. After looking for about 30 minutes we decided to head to the truck, on the way Southern winded something and was off like a rocket to a spot about 50 ft up wind from us. At first I thought he was running off, but when i saw him burry his head into the grass I knew exactly what he was up to!! 3 blasts of the whistle and he was headed back with the duck in mouth.

Big Retrieve
posted: November 16, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

This morning on T bird Southern got his first endurance test, chasing a cripped green head all over the lake. The mark started off as about a 50 yarder, and ended up being near 500 yards. Southern headed out after the crip, but when the duck saw him coming he high tailed it across the cove. Southern put on a good chase and closed the gap substantially before the bird made the shallow sand bar on the other side of the cove about 500 yards away. But the chase was all over as soon as Southerns long legs touched the ground on that sand bar. with about 3 bounds he was on top of the duck who attempted to dive but was met by Southerns gaping jaws. I could barely see him he was so far away and I can say that is a very scary feeling. But he returned after about a 10 minute swim with the big mallard in his jaws. All of my huntin buddies were amazed by this but even more amazed that upon his return he sat an marked the other downed bird and cried until I sent him to pick it up. Souther picked up 15 ducks today bringing his total to 56 ducks retrieved this year. All though he his still breaking about 80% of the time he is doing a good job.

Through the dekes...
posted: November 8, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Southern crashes into the water and through the spread in search of that little black speck of a duck in the distance.

Got Him In My Sights!
posted: November 8, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Swimming toward the duck.

Daddy , I GOT IT!
posted: November 8, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Southern Returns duck in mouth.

ATTA BABY SOUTHERN.....
posted: November 7, 2005
author: urbanduckman

you have hereby attained the envied TITLE of GUN DOG!

Zac, me and Irish have just finished your report and we both agree that Southern can now be called a REAL GUN DOG! Don't get the big head just yet but overall it sounds like the two of you are MAKING A GOOD TEAM!

WAS IT ALL WORTH IT? Don't have to answer cause I KNOW the answer to that one! Won't be long till yop won't have to lay down your gauge.

End of the day
posted: November 7, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Southern Khile and I pose with the days worth of ducks. 23 in all.

It all payed off
posted: November 7, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Southern made his first hunt this weekend, and what a hunt it was. There are a lot more details about the hunt in that forum but I will talk about Southern's performance here. This was a little overwelming for the pup, as he picked up 23 ducks on his first hunt!! But he did awesome, and nailed everyone of them. Southern worked from a spot on the left end of the avery grass blind, and did a surprisingly good job of sitting still while all of the action went on. We had a little bit of a problem with the decoys while we were putting them out but with a quick NO and HERE he figured out that those plastic ducks werent for him. The first retrieve was a ringneck (yuck but I didnt shoot it) that fell on the left side of the decoys at about 35 yards out. Southern marked it down on the water and waited to be sent. We lined up on the little bird and sent him off with a Southern and he was splashin through the water. He grabbed up the lil diver and came back to me in fine fashion and delivered the bird to hand. Next we lined up on a bird right up the middle of the decoys about 40 yards out, and BACK he was off and swimming and again returned the bird to hand. We did this 2 more times and then the action got hot, and there were birds crashing all around. Southern didnt know what to think but he knew he liked it. When this started he broke on a few birds which a couple of times I anticipated and stopped him, but a few he was already in the water and I didnt want to cause a bigger problem than necessary by burning him in the water so he was allowed to finish out his mark. This was ok for the first hunt as Irish and I are not finished, and the biggest goal of this hunt was to get him excited about hunting, which he got an A+ in. We did run into another problem with delivering to hand. After about the first 5 retrieves he began to drop the ducks at my feet and when told to FETCH to pick them back up he proceeded to lick them and mouth them a little but did not pick them up. Irish has told me that he was either tired or I was doing something to keep him from picking it up. The latter is morer likely true, but we have already started working on this problem. As well as getting some more handling experience for me.

During the hunt Southern also got some good experience with 4 cripples 2 of which went under just as he approached them. At first Southern did not know what to think about this but he stayed in the area and hunted for them uintil they resurfaced and he snatched them up before they could get away. One of the birds resurfaced about 15 feet to his side and he did not see it but he looked to me for a little help and with an OVER he was on his way and quickly saw the duck swimming away from him and snatched it up. It was encouraging to see his drive to catch the wounded duck because he definately accelerated his swimming when he saw that duck. I have posted several pictures with captions.

First Hunt
posted: November 4, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

After missing this entire weeks worth of training sessions due to the time change and my school schedule, Southern will still be making his hunt debut tomorrow morning for the Zone 2 opener as planned. Irish and I will be meeting this afternoon for one last session to check him on a couple of things that will be different on an actual hunt. I am expecting these first few hunts to be a little tough for him due to the transition (especially all of the calling and decoys which he has had limited experience around). But I have a lot of confidence that he will due his job with no problem as long as we keep it simple. This first hunt we will focus on getting him excited about hunting and get him used to watching the sky on his own. No matter how it goes it is gonna be fun. He is already getting a little spoiled though as his first hunt is gonna be on a flood in the middle of an enormous wheatfield in Clinton. So with any luck his first retrieve will be a redhead, bull can, or big ol green head. I will post lots of pictures and a detailed account tomorrow.

Back to the Water
posted: October 31, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

This Sunday Irish and I took to the water at Lions park for some water work. It had been quite a while since Urban and I had gotten Southern wet, so I was happy to see Southern get out there and get it done with no problems. We ran one mark with a white bumper which was about 50 yards worth of water and 20 yards up the bank on the other side and then repeated this exercise with with a duck. Both marks went smoothly. We will continue to work on the water marks and do some whistle stops in the water ( and make him tread water while he takes direction)once a day this week. We will also try to get his swimming muscles built up for the season since he hasnt been swimming much during the training up to this point. With any luck Southern will make his first hunt on Saturday morning as the goal Irish and I had set was that he would be ready to hunt on the first day of zone 2 season which Irish thinks we will make if we stay busy this week.

Been A while
posted: October 28, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Its been a while since I have been able to make a post on Southern's progress. Things have been very busy on the school front. Southern came off the table in early October and we started with basic 1 bumper fetch on the ground at about 5 yards, then 10 yards and then out to about 20 yards. From there we began to run piles in Irish' yard but soon needed more room to stretch him out. We now meet in a big field down the street twice a day. We ran piles with 5 bumpers. About 2 weeks ago we began T drills (having already done whistle stops ) we are currently working T drills and lining drills twice a day. I will elaborate on these processes in more detail later but I am only just now learning about them myself.

Southern Has Progressed Thru The Toe Hitch!
posted: September 28, 2005
author: urbanduckman

True to what is looking like Southern's Time Line it took a bit less than 2 weeks of two a days for Southern to get towards the end of the Toe Hitch.

The initial PRESSURE applied in FF on the Table was the product of the EAR PINCH! Some Trainers quit at this point and consider the dog FINISHED! BUT, another school of thought require more levels of Pressure , each an increase over the prior.

The next step of Pressure after Ear Pinch is supplied by the TOE HITCH! This is a cord attached to the dogs foreleg just below the knee with another tie being made around the two inner toes in such a manner that allows for it to be tightened and that to be held until the dog COMPLIES. Then and only then can the pressure or pull be abandoned or released and released the INSTANT that COMPLIANCE occurs.

Even though Southern was beyond Toe Hitch and had moved on to FF using the Ecollar to AGAIN up the Level Of Pressure. But, Irish agreed to demonstrate how to hook a dog up on the Toe Hitch.

The first pic shows the location and type of tie that goes on the upper leg. The second pic shows the actual tie going down between then up and over the top of the middle two toes in such a manner that it can be controlled. Controlled to the point that it can be increased and then immed. decreased when COMPLIANCE is achieved.

Once Irish had shown the Toe Hitch Tie Down he took the cord off of Southern and put the big Choco. thru a short and quick session where he used the Ecollar to issue the needed pressure to produce compliance.

In the VIDEO of this session you can see how the dog LUNGES at the bumper and how closely he keeps track of the bumper as Irish moves it up, down and back and forth.

When the dog is reacting in this manner it is a sign that he is GET'N THERE . Southern still needs to FETCH the bumper when it is out of the Trainers hand and this will be the next step. This will be done by tossing the bumper down the table to the opposite end from where the dog is on SIT and then COMMANDED to FETCH the bumper.

I would BET that when this occurs it won't take Southern long to figure out he BETTER GET DAT DAM BUMPER IN HIS MOUTH. Once this is done then Irish will move Southern down to the ground where a lot of this will be repeated until Southern is SOLID on the whole thing.

He will then be introduced to WALKING FETCH and then move onto Force To Pile where he will be stretched out. WHEN and not IF he gives the Trainer a NO GO on a command to FETCH from the pile the Trainer will have the TOOLS with which to CORRECT the dog in order to gain COMPLIANCE to the given COMMAND!

But , that is another STORY for ANOTHER DAY!

See Video Clip entitled : Southern Is Get'n THERE

WHO Says , " Pointer/Setters Are TRASH DOGS!
posted: September 28, 2005
author: urbanduckman

To a TRUE LAB MAN the Labrador Retriever is the ONLY BREED worth having. Pointers/Setters really don't rate !

This is PATCH who is also owned by Eric. While not a lot of folks OB and FF thier Upland Pointing dogs Eric thinks there is something to all of this. Something that serves to make the dog BETTER AT HIS JOB!

Let's face it CONTROL over POINTERS is a TOUGH THING to achieve. FF just may be the ticket where Patch and Eric are concerned.

1st. Tie!
posted: September 28, 2005
author: urbanduckman

This shows the spot where the first part of the TOE HITCH is attached.

2nd. Tie!
posted: September 28, 2005
author: urbanduckman

After tying off to the dogs leg just below it's knee the middle two toes are then tied off. The tie is one where the pressure can be CONTROLED. Controled both in the inital application and then the IMMEDIATE RELEASE upon the dog COMPLIES!

PULL!
posted: September 28, 2005
author: urbanduckman

After tying on the Toe Hitch cord Irish demonstrates how it is used. The bumper is held just off the edge of the table. This is held in a spot that is UNNATURAL to the dog. Initially , the dog will not want to reach out and take the bumper as he already UNDERSTANDS FETCH . But, the PRESSURE applied via the TOE HITCH will cause the dog to go ahead and do that which is both a bit unnatural and NOT what he WANTS TO DO.

Sothern Is SECURED To The FF Table!
posted: September 28, 2005
author: urbanduckman

A lot has been made of SECURING the dog's HEAD during this section of Training. This pic shows how this is done.

O.K.! O.K.! I Got It! If I.........
posted: September 26, 2005
author: urbanduckman

BITE dis thing then you'll STOP PINCHING MY EAR, RIGHT?

Southern Meets The Force To Fetch Command AND The Ear Pinch!
posted: September 23, 2005
author: urbanduckman

The next logical progression in all of this after Formal OB and Force To Hold is Force To Fetch or more specifically Force To The Fetch Command. This is important in many different areas that if done properly will serve to produce a much more controlable and dependable retriever. Without going into a long winded and scientifically sounding redention I will simply state that the bottom line to this is that FETCH becomes synonymous with releasing the dog on it's NAME or on a BACK. Each of these are very strong commands and will remain a basis or foundation of achieving a well rounded Gun Dog.

Southern and Sosa both have proven to be fairly calm dogs. By this I mean that they do not show signs YET of wanting to BOLT, BITE or exhibit any of what is known as AVOIDANCE. Other than turning thier heads from time to time they have been fairly controlable throughout the process to this point.

A LOT of dogs are not so manageable. More than not will go to extremes to AVOID doing what you need them to do. This is manifested by going a bit nuts when you try to control thier heads. It is during this time that it can get a bit dangerous for the dog and especially the human trying to train the dog. Many a good trainer has been BITTEN by a dog that under normal conditions would not even think about doing something like this. Most times it is NOT AGGRESSION as it is more of a fear reflex. Most bites are accidental scrapings that occur when the dog yanks it's head back violently to get away or avoid what's going on.

Having said this it is also possible to get a REAL BITE. With Force To Fetch you are right near the dogs face and TEETH. So, make sure you SECURE THE DOG WELL so that you don't get BIT IN THE FACE whether it's on purpose or as an accidental thing.

Control of the head can be achieved initially by the way you hold onto the collar. Slip your third and fourth fingers underneath the collar leaving your pinky , forefinger and thumb outside. The forefinger and thumb are used to place the mid portion of the dog's ear ( the area where all the nerves meet ) between the forefinger and thumb and PINCH DOWN.

The amount of pressure you pinch to get the desired reaction varyies from dog to dog and the reaction of a dog is NOT KNOWN right off the bat. It is during this time that you are going to get a good idea on how much pressure it takes on your dog. It is also during this time that you are going to tell if your going to have to take further steps in order to CONTROL THE DOG'S HEAD. CONTROL THE HEAD and YOU CONTROL THE DOG!

Longer than normal fingernails are a GOOD THING to have during this time. This is due to the fact that a lot of times when you PINCH the dog simply sits there looking at your as if to say IS THAT ALL YOU GOT . To get started and to teach this block of instruction you HAVE to find that point where you get the recation that the pressure is designed to produce. There are of course a lot of different ways to CRANK UP THE PRESSURE if the ear pinch does not work.

In fact, once a dog learnd to TURN OFF THE PRESSURE of the ear pinch , and these dogs have already learned a bit about HOW to TURN OFF THE PRESSURE long before ever getting to this point , there is still a couple more levels of pressure that will be introduced.

These will be introduced to insure that the dog GOT IT and that it willl KEEP IT for the remainder of it's life. Examples of this are the TOE HITCH and PROOFING VIA THE ECOLLAR!

Keep in mind that most dogs will give you just enough to get you off thier backs . Compliance during this period of time just may not be the level of compliance needed for the dog to be considered actually trained. This is exposed when the dog is presented with a physical or mental situation that it considers too much or too tough . It's a lot like a kid who runs up against something that he or she feels is something they cannot do even without TRYING. In a few words they SHUT DOWN . A dog will also shut down on you or revert BACKWARDS or FORGET lessons that you THOUGHT it HAD DOWN PAT!

So, as soon as these dogs get what is being TAUGHT via the ear pinch the pressure will GO UP and the whole process starts all over! Irish has scheduled a month of two a days to get this done.

A few other items to consider with this is that initially the trainer starts out offering up the object to be FETCHED in his hand right up under the dog's nose or OFFERING it up very close in order to get that VERY FIRST compliance or where the dog learns to TURN OFF THE PRSSURE. As he progresses the dog through this the object is moved furhter and further away from the dog or stretched out much like the pups were stretched out when running Puppy Marks or coming to you when called to HERE at DISTANCE. Distances are always a very important consideration in training a good Retriever. You start CLOSE IN and WORK OUT! Same thing with FF!

What proves at times with most dogs is that the first time the trainer takes his hand off the bumper and commads FETCH the dog is LOST! It's is lost due to a big change in the routine . It has been conditioned to SNATCH UP the bumper while in the trainers hand. Now it's just lying there with NO HAND ON IT! THIS AIN'T RIGHT, WHAT DO I DO NOW?

The dog has to be reconditioned to pick up the bumper when out of the trainers hand. Then comes the move to the ground. A bit of this was discussed in the previous section ( Force To Hold ) but a bit more information is timely.

Just like having been conditioned to pick up the bump with the Trainers hand on it then reconditioned to pick it up without the hand being present and DISATANCE being added while ON the table ( if you are using a table ) the retrieve or fetch must be done ON THE GROUND. So, you gotta go through the whole thing all over again to get the dog to FETCH the bumper off the ground.

Thing is that a dog may get it rather effortlessly and quickly via the initial Ear Pinch work BUT when you take your hand off of it or go to the ground MOST dogs will come across SOMETHING during all of this that will cause them to take a step back or act like they have not learned one thing . This can to most true Amatuer Trainers be a HEARTBREAKER or source of some or a LOT of FRUSTRATION! Just keep in mind that if and when this happens that it is simply an expected condition and you can and will get the dog AND YOURSELF past it.

A lot has been made of the table. WHY USE A TABLE? There are basicly 2 answers to this. First, bending over to a dog's level is HELL on the ole back. A table simply moves the dog up to a level that is safer and more comfortable for the trainer. Secondly, and probably more importantly than saving your back is that it is simply SAFER. Safer for the trainer and the dog. It is easier to not only CONTROL THE DOG'S HEAD but also it's backside if in fact it tends to go down on you . This of course is something you cannot afford to happen. Basicly , the overhead wire running the length of the table at the heigth of the dog's head is used to attach the dog's head to. The chain collar used to do this is then attached to a small pulley system that allows the dog to move freely up and down the length of the table but NOT to jump off or lie down. As mentioned earlier when you use a table your FACE if right level with the dog. IF the dog decides that it has had ENOUGH and this is not all that unusual you can GET A BIG BITE TAKEN OUT OF YOUR FACE. With the head properly secured the chances of this happening are lessened.

O.K. , back to Southern!

Southern has proven to thru the initial Ear Pinch stages of this to be quite compliant. That is , he has not shown any strong avoidance behavior. This being the case he has yet to have his head secured to the overhead wire. But , when he moves to the Toe Hitch section which is next up even he may change his reactions.

In this pic Irish shows what the initial Ear Pinch looks like in order to get the dog ot OPEN IT'S MOUTH and take the desired article it is to FETCH or put in his mouth and HOLD.

Something else that you may run into at this point in time is that the dog DOES DROP the item without being commanded to do so. This of course cannot be allowed to happen. So, a QUICK Chin Chuck as a CORRECTION is used to remind the dog not to do what it just did. Keep in mind that the Ear Pinch as a pressure application device is a bit more higher than the Chin Chuck was. AS YOU INCREASE THE PRESSURE you very well create an unauthorized DROP of the bumper. However, this is a GOOD THING as you TEACH the dog that it is NEVER acceptable to do this and if it does it WILL be quickly corrected. It simply makes FH BETTER!

One reason we are so interested in keeping the pressure ON and even keep INCREASING IT as we go is that to RETRIEVING DUCKS is a HARD JOB! It is not an EASY or even all that NATURAL for these dogs to do. A complete and well administered Force Program is like going into Marine Boot Camp a shave tailed kid and coming out the other end a MAN! It's simply TEARING THEM DOWN and BUILDING THEM BACK UP!

Southern Update-One Step Closer To Move'n On To Force To Fetch
posted: September 13, 2005
author: urbanduckman

In two weeks Southern has progressed thru Force To Hold in a well regimented and somewhat prdictable manner.

He has been conditioned to a myriad of different articles . He has been proofed by having the end of the article tapped , his side stroked , walked back and forth on the table and then taken off the table and moved to the ground. A dog trained up off the ground on a FF Table will in most cases forget what he has just learned. So, you gotta reteach the command with his feet on the ground. Of course, this happens quickly.

Southern has been on the ground enough to begin thinking about moving onto Force To Fetch at the end of this week.

This pic shows some of the differing articles he has been conditioned to and the Video Clip shows him coming off the table holding a Hand Spade and walking a short distance.

Southern Goes On The Table For FORCE TO HOLD!
posted: September 7, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Irish has really been mov'n along with both Southern and Sosa! The first week and a half was used to Formalize thier OB or in other words the introduction of pressure produced by different Training Tools ( Choke Collar/Lead and the ECollar ). This process will continue on a daily basis along with a daily dose of a Force Program.

The first step of the overall Force Fetch or Conditioned Retrieve is Force To Hold. Today was the second day that Southern and Sosa had been on the table for this and I was invited over to take some pics and video to show those keeping up with this whole Gun Dog Training process how this is accomplished.

The morning started off with a good OB Session. By this time both Zac and Eric took care of running thier pups through this process. Both owners and pups are starting to LOOK LIKE GUN DOG HANDLERS and OB Trained Gun Dogs!

After the obligatory OB Sessions both pups went up on the FF Table for thier Force To Hold work. Like the OB Sessions the FTH sessoins are fairly short and quick.

The first step is to use your hand , usually gloved with a leather work glove , inserted into the pups mouth and kept there till it stops fighting having something in it's hand. While the hand is in the dog's mouth the HOLD , HOLD , HOLD Command is used. DROP is used to signal the dog that it can expell whatever is in it's mouth.

There are two pieces of video that show HOW this is done.

Force To Hold #1 shows how to secure the dogs head for CONTROL and then the use of the hand to properly introduce the HOLD command.

Force To Hold #2 shows Irish introducing the first real article the dog is taught to hold. The article most folks choose to use first is a paint roller covered with foam and secured with Duct Tape. As the process continues different articles will be used in order to condition the dog to holding most any type of article regardless of what it is made of, weight, texture, etc.. Of course an actual DUCK will also be included in this.

Zac And Southern's First Week Of Formal Training!
posted: September 2, 2005
author: urbanduckman

It's been just over a week since Zac and Southern had GRADUATED from PUPPY TRAINING to FORMAL GUN DOG TRAINING! The Puppy Training focalized on Marking, Intro. To Water , Intro. To Birds , Intro. to Gunfire , Live Flyers and some teaching of the most important VOCABULARY WORDS or commands a good Gun Dog needs to know before entering it's Formal Training. ( HERE , OFF , NO BITE , QUIET , KENNEL and of course NO ).

As a part of TEACHING MARKING was the running daily of Land and Water Marks. Both dogs had shown that they were indeed birdy , liked the water, marked well and seemed quick to pick up the initial vocabulary. They had also been collar conditioned to the flat collar and lead, the choke collar and lead and some CC'ing to the Electric Collar. We were careful not to do anything with any of the collars and leads that would be negative to the point that it would interfere with either dog's willingness to GO!

Zac and Southern started TWO ADAYS with Irish a bit over a week ago. His first task was to FORMALIZE OBEDIENCE ( HERE , HELL and SIT )prior to and in order to prepare him for his Force Program.

While initially being a bit worried about Sothern's toughness or bottom Irish reported that Southern in his opinion had more than enough bottom for the Force Work.

Irish also reported that Southern was a quick learner and over the course of the last week there had been 14 OB sessions that lasted no more than 15 minutes. So, in less than a total of 3 hours Southern was at the point in his Formal OB Training that he was indeed ready to go on the FF Table to start Force To Hold.

Today, I met the guys over at the big Soccer Fields where I took some pics and a Video Clip of such an OB Session. What I witnessed was indeed right on what Irish had reported earlier. Southern had in a short time gone from being a very hyper pup to being an attentive student of the three basic OB Commands! He had graduated from the Choke Collar and Lead to the Electric Collar and NO LEAD with no noticible difference in how he reacted to the Commands. Irish had also begun to not just Introduce Southern to Whistle Stops but to Formalize and include Whistle Stops into the OB Routine.

I also took a Video Clip of a typical OB Session of Irish and Southern. Southern , while not flawless , looked good during this session. A bit of initial work on a lead and choke collar warmed the big Choco. up and this was followed up by an off lead routine with nothing but the Ecollar.

He performed well and with this Irish announced that Southern was ready to MOVE ON. After this session Zac took the Transmitter and walked Southern through another short OB Session. I saw a LOT of PROGRESS in Zac's Training also. He was much more confident and more on time with his moves than I had ever seen him. While I have to admit that Irish is dam good at this I just HAD to remind him that Zac and Southern came WELL PREPARED for this quick success.

I will get Zac and Southern back later on this Fall in order to get into some ADVANCED FIELD WORK. This will involve Transistion to the Actual Hunt , Doubles , Lines and Initial Introduction to 3 Hand Casting. CAN'T WAIT!

IF Southern continues at his present rate he will be Delivering To Hand in a short time. He will know HOLD , DROP , FETCH , HERE , HEEL and BACK . He will be ready to GO ON THE REAL DEAL of a DUCK HUNT!

CAN'T WAIT!

To see the Video Clip go out to VIDEO CLIPS and Click on the Video entitled Southern's OB Is Formalized . Keep in mind that this is one of my first attempts at dooing this and it looks like the audio is lacking as I let Irish get a bit too far off while giving some information on what he was doing , why and where it was all headed. I hope that the audio will come across better on your computer. If it don't then I APOLOGIZE as I WILL get better at this.

Formal OB
posted: August 24, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Last night Urban and I met for what would be Southerns last set of puppy marks for the next 30 to 45 days as Southern will begin his formal OB and Force program this weekend. We met at urban's house at about 7:30 as we always do and from there went across 12th street to a big open field. We ran 6 marks 3 orange bumps and 3 white. Mark would start the first mark at about 80 yards and move in close then out away across the field throwing each mark at different angles and different distances to keep the pup from getting used to one set up. These marks went well but we had a problem with Southern taking off for the bump a little too early while it is still in flight which causes him to not see where the bump lands. To remedy this I held onto his collar until the bump landed and then released him this worked well as long as he kept his eyes on the bump and not trying to fight loose to go get it. From here we went down the street to a developement pond to run some water marks. Mark set up on the other end of the pond and tossed the first mark into the water. I again held onto his collar until it landed unfortunately this time he turned his head to look at me and why iI was holding him back from doing his job. He turned back to see the the wake the bump made in the water but I could tell he was hesitant about its location as he took to the water much slower than usual. This proved to be true as every little bug that flew across his face in the water got his attention and made him swimm right or left a couple feet in chase. After about three bug chasing expeditions Mark tossed a helper bump which got him in the area and then a rock next to the original bump got him all the way to it. We ran 4 more marks in the water and land water land marks. Then Mark set up Lucy on a little blind across the pond with what little light we had remaining. The low light would prove to be a problem for Lucy but as always she got the job done. Southern and I will be meeting with a new training budy on a daily basis for the next month or so. In this process we will sharpen up his manners such as here,sit, heal. We will also get him up on the table and teach him force fetch and eventually will get to force piles and teach him whistle stops. I will try to post updates on what we are getting accomplished and some details on how we did it. Since this process is new to me I will be learning along with Southern and will try to post not only what Southern is doing but also what I am learning, so that hopefully anyone who is considering starting a new gun dog might get something out of it. Likewise if anyone is in this position feel free to post any questions about the process (not that I will have the right answer but I know some people that probably will!)

Zac And Southern.......
posted: August 11, 2005
author: urbanduckman

have been coming every day this week! As Zac is not working at his summer job any longer preparing to start his Senior year at O.U. he has got some free time here lately. He has also spent some time Scuba Diving and Spear Gunning big Catfish out at Dirty Bird! He produced PROOF as he had a bunch of pics! Only thing is Southern will NOT in all liklihoom be able to DIVE THAT DEEP and RETRIEVE DEM BIG CATS! Wonder if we could TRAIN for dat?

Yesterday we returned to the newest pond we have recently located. We had utilized the pond a couple of days ago and since the wind was coming from a different direction we could work on a section of the pond that we had not utilized in the earlier session but a few days ago.

Southern got 3 Land Marks! Zac would run Southern off the top of the dam while I was across the dry neck that ran down between the other bank and the dam. It was thick with tall ( over the dog's eyes ) with cover and at the bottom and up the oppostie side laced with ditches of varying degrees of depth. He would then be required to drive UP a steep incline and locate the bump in thick tall Bermuda Grass.

The first mark was the shortest of the two and I tossed it from up on top of the bank down to the edge of the water. I was aiming at a bit of a wash out to effectivley hide the bumper but managed to MISS and the bump ended up lying right out in plain view. Since the pup had the LONG STEEP INCLINE through thick high cover before he broke out the fact that the bumper was lying out in the open was of no concern as this was still going to be a very CHALLENGING MARK for the young Choco.!

Southern got a good mark BUT as he is prone to do on the first couple of marks he CHARGED off the line a bit too early and did not see the bump hit the ground.

He drove his way downhill building speed as his momentum carried him pretty much along the line to the bump. The actual line to the mark did not include water but the water was fairly close. When the pup broke out of the thick cover he found himself standing at the very edge of the shoreline. He was SUPRISED to say the least and he stood there wondering what to do. No one made a sound or moved a muscle. Finally , the big pup decided on a course of action. That was to TAKE TO THE WATER and SWIM OUT towards the open water. Along the way he apparently decided that there was something WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE and turned back to the spot where he had entered the water. He stopped for a moment and decided to make his way back to Zac.

At the point where it was clear that he in fact had given up on the mark I tossed a HELPER up and gave him a HEEEEEY UP . He turned just in time to see the bump at the apex of the toss and hit the ground. Of course he turned and PINNED the mark and then returned to Zac.

About halfway up the embankment he stopped and SPIT THE BUMP OUT as he had run across a SMELL on the ground that in his opinion needed further inspection. I had left the ecollar transmitter with Zac as he has been working his pup on HERE . This would be the first time that he would use it while running a mark.

LIGHT HIS ASS UP ZAC! Making sure that Southern did NOT have the bump in his mouth Zac began the Recovery Routine he had been taught and had been practicing on the pup in OB SESSIONS . This did the trick as Southern forgot all about the diversion and beat a chogey up the bank to his young master. O.K. Zaceroo, keep the transmitter handy but MAKE SURE you don't ignite it till the pup is NOWHERE NEAR THE WATER and DOES NOT HAVE THE BUMP in his mouth. And then, ONLY ON HERE !

Since Southern had needed a HELPER we REPEATED the mark. This time he LAXERED the thing with no attention paid to anything but his mission . He also RETURNED RIGHT TO ZAC. Ahhhh, the wonderful results that ELECTRICITY BRINGS TO DOG TRAINING!

While Southern was making his return I moved down to the midway point of the steep bank and on towards the end of the structure away from the water. This move added a bit of distance to the mark and again I aimed for the deeper cover. This time I hit it smack in the middle and the bumper was well hidden.

Southern still had to make his way through and deal with the effects of the steep incline and the thick high cover. This time he came out of the cover well on the correct line to the mark. He jumped across a couple of ditches and drove up the incline to the AOF. He then put down an immed. HUNT as it was apparent that he knew where this one was at. He picked up a snoot full of scent as he hunted around to the down wind side of the mark as he promptly snatched it up and made for Zac. Again, he returned the bump right to Zac and did not display any of his old habit to TURN AWAY form Zac as he got closer. It looked like all of Zac's hard work and dedication to Southerns initial leash work on HERE , SIT and HEEL was starting to take hold and pay dividends. At least Zac did not have to CHASE down the end of the long check cord that Southern was drag'n along behind him.

The last mark was the longest and most difficult of the three. I moved on down the steep incline and down to the bottom. This mark would be tossed BACK UP onto the steep hillside and into thick and high cover. I tossed it right at the spot where the two banks met. With the added backdrop being the side of the embankment the Choco. pup would HAVE TO MARK THE HELL OUTTA THIS THING to get to the AOF without HELP! I took hold of a HELPER just in case.

This mark would also require Southern to RUN ACROSS THE FACE of the hillside on his way to the mark. We did this in order to hopefully see him fight against the slope of the hill causing him to slide down and force him off the line to the mark.

I'll be danged if Southern did not run straight across the face of the hill without dropping off and down into the gully below. Now we don't know if this is something that Southern has actuall LEARNED or if we were just lucky on this one. It is POSSIBLE that he has LEARNED THIS but we won't know until he runs a LOT MORE of these types of marks.

It could have had more to do with the fact that after two good marks a bit of the initial steam or excitement that the big pup exudes when first coming out of his box for the first set of marks as this time I watched him eyes and head and for this one he WAITED UNTIL THE BUMP HAD HIT THE GROUND. He watched this one ALL THE WAY DOWN!

He held his line across the face of the steep hillside even though it was a severe angle across it. He popped out of the high and steep stuff into the more open area at the bottom of the gullie . He never broke stride as he was now called upon to clear two rather deep washes or ditches. He did so by JUMPING OVER both of the negative structures. He landed on the opposite side and without breaking stride he drove up the hillside and dam near PINNED THE MARK. There was NO WIND as it was blowing over the top of the mark and his hunt had to be TIGHT. He came up with the bump and returned back across his original track to the mark. He also finished it off in fine fashion by returning all the way to Zac's side.

TIME FOR WATER MARKS!

For the three Water Marks I had spotted Zac and Southern would only have to move down the top of the dam to thier left side putting them more directly in line with the water.

I moved back to the shoreline and down away from the guys towards the opposite bank. The first mark was tossed from up top down to the edge of the water. The bump hit the very shallow water and did not kick up much of a splash as landed.

By now the steep hillside DOWN and the thick high cover was of no consequence to the Choco. He came out of the stuff at the edge of the water and hit it like a TON OF BRICKS! He drove across the bit of channel as he KNEW where this one was ly'n! He snatched up the bump and headed back to the SIDE of his young Master. Thing is that Southern don't really KNOW WHY he's doing this!!!!!

While the pup was on his return I moved on down the shoreline and from the middle of the bank I tossed the next one up a bit and into the cover where upon hitting the cover the bump was all but fully hidden.

AGAIN, he came out off the steep bank and out of the cover on the like he knew where he had to get to! Again, he took to the water and swan the angle out to his preseclected exit point. He did so coming out the water right on the line to the bump . He drove up the hill and dame near stepped on the bumper. Again, his return was an improvement over what he had been doing as he took the bump right to Zac.

The last mark was on down to the end of the shoreline where it met the shoreline across the pond. This mark went up from bottom to the TOP of the CORNER the intersecting shorelines created. It was also buried up in the Bermuda Grass cover. Again, with no hesitation the big Choco. negotiated his way down the steep embankment and when he popped out it was clear that he had made and adjustment for the new line. He was LEARNING THIS GAME! He did not come out of the water early as his angled swim across the water to his exit point was pretty much RIGHT ON! He began laying down his hunt pretty much at the correct spot and in no time had located the hidden bumper. Again, he turned right back to the water and took the same path back across to where he got in the water. The angle of entry for each mark had prgressively gotten more severe . Southern had APPARENTLY allowed for this and had negotiated these in a proper manner. Though just about any manner that got him to the mark would have been acceptable the fact that he had run these marks more correctly or at least like he would be REQUIRED to run them once he comes out his FF program was a GOOD THING. It showed that this pup does have some of what it takes to make a good Gun Dog and even BEYOND if Zac is inclined to want to PLAY DEM GUN DOG GAMES!

Zac will take about a week's vacation in Colorado. He PROMISED to keep his pup tuned up each day. I do believe that Zac will do this as it is apparent that Zac LIKES the PROGRESS that his pup has made this last week.

Southern WILL backslide a bit as he continues to GROW UP but we now KNOW that when these things pop up that if we hold fast to our Training Program being CONSISTANT he WILL snap out of it.

I took back my ecollar and told Zac that it was time to purchase HIS OWN COLLAR! He won't really need it while Southern is going through his FF work BUT it IS time to collar him up EVERYTIME he is out of his run or the truck!

Zac, HAVE FUN IN COLORADO cause when you get back it will be time to WORK DAT LITTLE CHOCO BOY'S BUTT OFF!

I Called Zac.........
posted: August 8, 2005
author: urbanduckman

earlier today to see if he wanted to go run some marks. Since Eric had bitten off cut'n down ONE BIG ASSED TREE that dang near ATE HIS LUNCH it would just be the two of us. When I mentioned that I had located a NEW POND and that it held some good new marks HE WAS THERE!

We drove over to the far east side of the pond and stopped out on the skinned dirt area. I walked the remaining 50 yards to the grass line and into the very thin stuff a bit. Zac set up the big Choco Boy and I tossed the mark on a 45 degree back well away from me and had it land on into the deeper and thicker cover. The nice thing about this one was that there was a thick and tall line of trees that provided a backdrop. I also put the bump up fairly close to the tree line to see if Southern would work in closer to the trees.

He left out with a lot of ZIP and ran to the edge of the cover. He hesitated but a short bit of time and took it all in like he was say'n to himself , this LOOKS FAMILIAR . He dropped his nose down and began a bit of a hunt. He had come up on the upwind side of the mark and worked around behind it and came up on the downwind side and got a snoot full. This led him the few feet to the patch of cover that was hiding the bump and SNAGGED IT!

While Southern was moving back to Zac I walked over to an area where the cover was thicker and taller. By the time he was ready for the next mark I was set. I pushed it out a bit further from me than the norm and as the bump hit the ground it ended up in a spot that was probably the thickest cover we had utilized yet!

He did not pull up short this time and drove into the cover. He worked the area with his nose down and we could see the early begginnings of what his personal hunt will look like. He located the bump and was off and back to Zac in a flash.

I had Zac move over to the south side of the pond and I walked down next to the water on the north side. I tossed the bump so that the pup was presented with a bit of an ANGLED ENTRY and I tossed it up into the corner of the pond and up into a bit of light cover. The big pup hit the water very nicely and made for the AOF like he was on a string. He drove out of the water with no hesitation and blew passed the bump hidden in behind a piece of Johnson Grass. By this time he was downwind as the wind on this one was coming in across his backside. He turned on a dime as his nose caught the scent and scooped it up.

While he made the swim back across the pond to Zac I moved on up the shoreline and was ready for the second mark. This one went UP on top of the bank and again just behind a thin line of Johnson Grass. Again, Southern held a nice line all the way across and up and out of the water driv'n up the steep bank. He was within a few feet of the bump and either saw it or scented it as he was mov'n by. He latched onto the bump and was on his way back to Zac.

I had tried to SCREW HIM UP using the cover but the Choco pup was hold'n his own. The last time out he had done a dang good job and he was continuing to do so today. O.K. , let's see if you can handle a bump down deep in the Big Wash?

I stood at the water line and faced back towards the top of the steep bank. The toss had to be a long and high one to make the wash out and have the bump drop right in the middle of it. The bump pretty much hit where I wanted it to and as it fell it disappeared into the canyon made by the washed out red dirt. O.K. Zac LET HIM GO and LET'S SEE WHAT HE'S GOT!

He came out of the water on line and stopped out on a bit of a mud point that had been built by the soil washed out of the bank. The mud was soft and it came well up over his knees. He stood and looked like a bit of a CONFUSED CHOCO. The mud was something new and he really did not know what that was all about. HEY BUDDY , YOU GONNA BLOW UP on this one?

NOPE! He got it together and figured it out as he pulled himself out of the mud and up onto the dry bank. He then drove across the wash out missing the bumper by a few yards. He turned up the bank and then made a hard left turn and re entered the wash out. Once down well inside the wash out he quickly saw the bump and picked it up.

O.K. , let's try ONE MORE. I walked on down to the corner and tossed the last bump well up into the thick Bermuda Grass in the turn at the end. Again, this mark presented a bit of a severe entry angle and was the longest of the marks. There was not hesitation on making the entry right off the bank line and there was no deviaton from the line to the mark and there was no problem with his willingness to EXIT and DRIVE out of the water and up onto the bank. He drove a few feet past the bump and caught sight of it as he passed. THAT'S ENOUGH FOR TODAY DUDE! Next time out I WILL SCREW YOU UP!

Once done with the Loco Choco I got Lucy out and ran a good long Blind up the middle of two tossed marks. I ran her off the top of the dam and down the severe drop through some very heavy cover. She held the line all the way down and through the crap and came out on the spot where I wanted her to enter the water. I put her up over a bit of a point and then across the water and out and up the steep bank on the oppsoite side.

Once she ran up over the top of the bank she began to drift a bit left of the line. I stopped her and gave her a Right Hand Back. She turned out to her LEFT and for this indisgression she got a NO, TOOT , NICK . She got the right hand again and she took it.

Zac had planted the orange bumper on TOP of a mound of dirt that was about 3 feet off the ground. As Lucy drove past the thing it took about 10 yards past before she caught the scent trail blowing across the top of the bump. She turned on a dime a circled the hump before she figured out that the mark was up on top. She hopped up on top of the mound and scooped up the bump and started on the return trip of about 250 yards.

Even Daisy got a work out as I swam her on a BUNCH of fun bumps in the water. I got to get her in good shape for the upcoming season as she will make the trip to Canada in early October.

We ended up the session by hooking Southern up on the SportDog 2000 and working on him on HERE . Dang, ELECTRICITY and DOG TRAINING sure go together!

I had Zac take the collar with him so that he could work Southern out on HERE in a session later tonight and then a couple tomorrow before he comes back for MORE MARKS tomorrow!

Of course anything can happen but right now my early on doubts about Southern's fitness for this thing were nowhere close as he is doing some nice work. KEEP IT UP GUYS!

Sure Is Nice To Have More Than One.......
posted: August 4, 2005
author: urbanduckman

dog Train'n Buddy!

Thrusday's are Eric's heaviest work day and though he wanted to train again today he was gonna have to stay at it till darkthirty. BUT, Zac came through so instead of sit'n at home watch'n the boob tube I got to go out and throw some marks at a nice young dog.

The guys were at the house at the appointed time and we headed up the road to the new housing development under construction that me and Eric found yesterday.

Once there I decided to toss the same marks at Southern that we threw at Sosa yesterday. The first two were Land Marks. Zac sat Southern up on the scraped dirt and I stood just past the dirt in some medium length cover.

The mark goes up and out and lands about 10 to 15 yards in the cover. We did this in order to see if we could get an idea if Southern would lay down a hunt and use his nose a bit. Since we started all of his marks have been set up to leave his noseo out of the equation. Now approaching 6 months of age it was time to begin to introduce his nose into the equation.

He ran to the AOF hard and slowed a bit as he approached the front edge of the cover. He never fully stopped but he reacted in a manner that said, hey , this is DIFFERENT . There was an instant of confusion and you could see the wheels turn'n in his head.

Even in his CHOCO HAZE it came through to KEEP LOOK'N and to keep look'n RIGHT THERE. He passed by the partially hidden bumper on the up wind side and circled around to the downwind side. As he passed within a few yards of the bump he caught a SNOOT FULL of scent and followed it like he was on a wire to the bump. He returned to Zac and then showed his butt a bit as he turned out and tried to get Zac to play a bit of keep away .

While Zac was try'n to get the big boy to him I moved over a bit and lengthened the distance of the next mark as I also wanted to toss the mark deeper into the cover!

As I made the throw I moved an extra bumper into my throw'n hand just in case Southern needed some HELP! I half expected this to be the case. BUT, Southern ran this one even better than the previous mark. In fact, I would say he actually PINNED this one. Bottom line was that this was the best I had seen him MARK!

We moved down the hill to the edge of the big pond which is one of two nice new ponds. The thing that makes them good for this activity is that the sides down to the water is STEEP.

Like yesterday I tossed the first bump along the shoreline and did so in a manner that did not produce any SPLASH. Zac had set up half way on the opposite side on a bit of a shelf and Southern dug hard off the line. He hit the water hard and held a nice line across the 30 yards or so of water. He ended up but a few feet from the floating bump and had no problem with seeing to make the pick up and return.

While he moved back to Zac I moved on down the shoreline and was ready to toss the second mark. This one was tossed up and onto the side of the sharp bank at about the halfway point. Southern would have to truly MARK this bump to get anywhere close to the AOF. This one had some meat to it!

Again, I had a helper handy and ready to toss as I must admit I did not carry a of optimism that the big Choco. would work this one out. BUT AGAIN, he made ME look bad for doubting his puppy ass.

He SMOKED the bump and again was headed back to Zac. Again, as he moved back across the water I walked back to the end of the shoreline and walked up almost to the top of the bank. This one would go WAY UP and ON TOP of the bank right in the middle of a bit of a depression. NOW I GOT A HELPER READY FOR YA , CAUSE YOUR GONNA NEED IT!

NO HELP THIS TIME as Southern did another nice job of MARKING the bump and making a nice exit carrying up the steep embankment and LAZERING the mark.

Upon finishing with the marks for Southern Zac ran an orange bumper across on the opposite side of the pond at about the 200 yard point and dropped it at the edge of a large cear tree. The interesting thing about this was that the developer had placed a line of BIG ASSED ROCKS along the top of the pond. I was gonna run Lucy across the water and then drive her OVER the line of rocks. Or that was the plan. It just MIGHT TURN UGLY but we have run a lot of drills where I cast her over boats and hay bales so it was TIME TO FIND OUT if any of this had taken hold. As she got out and drove up the hill she was look'n for a way AROUND THE ROCKS. TOOOOOT and as she sat and faced me I gave her a left hand back. She TOOK THE CAST and was look'n like she was gonna in fact JUMP OVER the rocks! The thing was there were SPACES between the rocks themselves and all she had to do was trot through them and out the other side.

We could not see the breaks in the rocks from our vantage point plus it was get'n a bit dark at that time. I'll find her SOMETHING to JUMP OVER on a BLIND one of these days.

After Lucy was done we hooked Southern up on the SportDog 2000 and let him wander off in order to give him a bit of ELECTRICITY on HERE . We got 3 good sessions on this and after the 3rd. one Southern would not get more than a foot or two from Zac's side!

All in all Zac, Southern , Lucy and myself had one fine Training Session. EVERYBODY got something out of it.

Thanks Zac! Thanks Southern!

FLYERS For Southern And Sosa!
posted: July 31, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Nothing tells you where you and your pup are at more than SHOOT'N FLYERS! It's as close to the REAL DEAL of an actual Duck Hunt than running this set up.

So, early this morning Eric and Zac along with Sosa and Southern showed up at the house and we headed over to Whack's where we picked out a half dozen pigeons to SACRAFICE TO THE DOG TRAIN'N GODS and headed south on the Big Slab and The Triple Nickel.

At least we would get out in the country and away from the Urban Ponds and Frisbee Golf Courses. I mean if we had of tried to smack a few flyers on these either the PETA FOLKS or the COPS would have RUINED OUR DAY.

I shot video of each retrieve BUT it seems that they are too long to properly load up and run. SO, I've got some serious work to do before I get it down right. Sorry I screwed it up guys. NEXT TIME!

Southern Gets FLYERS!
posted: July 31, 2005
author: urbanduckman

We had enough pigeons along so as to allow us to shoot a Land Flyer and a Water Flyer for each pup.

Just inside the big white gate of the Triple Nickel there is a big bowl where the land falls off and heads toward Cade's Lake. We chose to set up on the far edge of this bowl and run the dog's down through it and up on the far side where the flyer would be shot from. While it added a bit of structure to the mark it would not be all that SEVERE! We wanted this to go well without any PISS'N MATCHES.

This would also mark Eric's first attempt at shoot'n a flyer and as anyone who has done this it provides a LOT OF PRESSURE. I mean if you MISS you KNOW your gonna take a lot of RIBBING!

Eric walked down and across the bowl and up on top. He loaded up and got hold of the day's first PIGEONOUS AMERICANUS. Zac brought Southern up to the line and the big Choco locked in on Eric. Eric launches the bird and STARTS SHOOT'N. The minute Southern sees the bird released he is OFF even before it hits the ground cause ERIC DID HIT THE DAM THING!

Southern was on a good line and then all of a sudden he decided that he needed to FERTILIZE the place. After he did his business he recalled that he still had a job to do and he picked back up and drove down across the bowl and up the opposite side.

He made for Eric and the crate of birds. HEY , I'M SUPPOSED TO GET ONE OF THESE. WRONG , Dude! Eric gave the big pup a piece of his foot kicking him off the crate and out towards the mark. Thing was Southern seemed to be a bit confused and forgot all about it and started back towards Zac. Eric responded with a HELPER and this got the Choco. to finish the mark out.

Once he had made his return we REPEATED the mark with a shoot and toss and this time Southern ran the whole thing out in good fashion. We then moved over to the water.

Eric walked out onto the top of the dam at about the 50 yard mark. He again tossed out a live bird and dropped it out over onto the surface of the water providing Southern with a nice big fat SPLASH!

The big Choco knew what this was all about as he LIKES DEM BIG SPLASHES! He drove to the mark and after chasing a few pieces of feathers down located the main body of the Pigeon and snatched it up and returned to Zac.

IF both these guys simply wanted a MEAT DOG then they could consider thier dogs pretty well done and ready to transistion to the REAL DEAL DUCK HUNT! BUT, to thier credit they both have larger GOALS and EXPECTATIONS for them and thier pups.

Today's efforts did prove that they are both pretty much on course to reaching those lofiter than normal goals. It goes a ways in proving that Southern is ready to enter into his Formal Training as a good Force Program should smooth out a few of the weak spots . He WILL come out his Force Work displaying a bit more of a serious mind set.

Sosa will begin wearing a dummy ecollar and will also begin to wear a choke collar and 10 foot lead when she is out of the crate. We will also begin to work in some light OB work on her ( Heel , Sit, Here ) utilizing the choke and lead.

Zac will begin Southern's Formal OB and Force Work on a bit over two weeks. Until that time we will throw some more marks and who knows maybe we can work in a few more FLYERS for the HARD CHARG'N PUPS!

Both Eric and Zac have put in a LOT of time and WORK get'n these pups this far. It was rewarding for everyone involved in this thing to see just how far they have both come.

GOOD JOB ZAC! GOOD JOB SOUTHERN!

Zac Is BACK!
posted: July 28, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Zac and Southern seem to be done with thier VACATIONING and ready for some WORK as Zac called today and wanted to go out and run some marks. Since Eric and Sosa were already on board it would be a threesome. With the cooler weahter we even got a bit of an earlier start. Time for a Land and a Water Mark apiece!

The first mark a Land Mark was at 125 yards. Zac said that he had been running Southern on a regular basis and a nice mark at this distance would tell the tale. As the mark went up it was apparent that Southern's line manners were a bit better than the last time we had all been together. He dug hard for the mark but got distracted by a pair of Boxers lined up on thier back yard fence barking like hell. A helper brought him back to reality and he finished off the excercise with no further CRAP!

We repeated the mark and the big Choco did not give the Boxers the time of day as he zipped by thier posistion on his way to PINNING the mark. He had LEARNED something.

We then moved to water where we set up a nice Land-Water-Land mark that entailed a bit of a severe downhill entry and a bit of an up hill drive out of the water. The big boy handled this one like he was on his way to a Junior Title!

We then moved him over a bit to a new line and tossed out a bumper that was up fairly close to the shoreline. He really liked the bit of spladh the bump made upon hitting the water and if he lost sight of the bump on the top of the water he recalled the spot due to this splash as he drove straight and true to the mark and scooped it up returning it to Zac.

It had been a month since Southern had put on the ecollar to wear around in order to get used to the thing. The fact that he had never had any ELECTRICITY applied was about to change as he was fully acclimated or the initial collar conditioning had been completed.

I operated the transmitter while Zac supplied the continual HERE, HERE, HERE . Upon his ignoring his maters command I hit the NICK button with it on it's lowest setting. I slowly dialed it up a notch then another until we got a reaction. That reaction was that Southern dropped to the ground and began scratching at his neck in an attempt to rid himself of the irritating biting he was experienceing. Thing was the furious scratching DID NOT STOP IT!

His turning towards Zac and running to him DID turn it OFF! As he was almost to Zac he turned away and again he got a bit of a ZAPPING! Again, when he turned towards Zac and began to run to him the zapping stopped. Hey, a bit of SUCCESS! How long it will take or how much of this it will take to cause the big boy to associate his OBEYING with the zapping goin away we don't know but with this bit of clear success we decided to put him up till tomorrow.

Zac has also been doing his yard work or initial introduction to his OB by using a choke collar and lead. We did a bit of an OB SESSION to get a close look at Zac's technique . Looked dam good! A bit of work on the HEEL area but all in all Zac's timeing is coming along and he is get'n more and more comforable with this whole thing.

This should all work to shorten the time it takes the Trainer that will teach Southern the Force Program. At least he will go in conditioned to the ecollar and KNOWING the initial vocabulary or set of commands he will need for this portion of his training.

HEY CHOCO DEVIL! YOUR LIFE IS ABOUT TO UNDERGO A DRASTIC CHANGE. Does the term BOOT CAMP mean anything?

It's Been Dang Near .........
posted: July 27, 2005
author: urbanduckman

a MONTH since Zac has had Southern over to run some marks. Some of this time has been spent on a family vacation in Colorado. BUT, Eric reports that he is running Southern regularly WITH A BIRD THROWER and he appears to be doing very well.

Besides , Zac and Southern will start Force Fetch on August 1st.! He is well conditioned to the choke , lead and dummy ecollar. Zac may get the time to run some marks and if he does we will begin issuing corrections off the ecollar to HERE ONLY!

Can't waith to see how Zac takes to the Force Fetch program. From everything we have seen out of him he should make it through in good shape and come out the other side all the better for having done so!

IF everything goes well Southern will definitley be in good shape to begin his career as a GUN DOG!

Some Timers...........
posted: July 27, 2005
author: Hooter

Hey Urbanduckman! Is this Eric or Zac? I couldn't resist!

Hooter

Southern Runs A Set Of Land And Water Marks.......
posted: June 22, 2005
author: urbanduckman

after his initial introduction to being Collar Conditioning. Would it affect his performance one way or the other? This was the question in my mind as we set things up for Southern's set of Land Marks!

A bit over a week ago we decided that it was time to hang an ecollar around Southern's neck to start off the CCin process. We also decided that whenever the big Choco. pup was out of his run or crate that Zac would also hang a choke collar and head.

Last week the guy who Zac has chosen to do Southern's Formal OB and FF training also concluded that it was time to begin the CCing process and introduce Southern to some light OB.

Sometimes this early on process will take some of the STYLE out of a young pup. On the other hand it can also work to increase the pup's attention span to the task at hand. Southern is a HANDFUL and could be described as hyper . BUT, we THINK he has enough of a bottom to handle this conditioning even right at 5 months of age.

Thing was Zac had lost the short lead and again we would have to run Southern with no lead or check cord .

As Zac corraled the pup and set him up for his first of three Land Marks I could tell or THOUGHT I could tell that Southern was a bit more attentive and more into what we were about to do than normal.

While the past couple of times out we had run the pups on some ground with some structure we had decided to go back to the soccer fields whose short mowed grass and level ground would allow us to work for PURE DISTANCE this time out.

The first mark was at about the 40 yard mark. There would be a bit of a diversion in shredded white paper around the AOF and it would be interesting to see if Southern would give into this. Last time out he got diverted by a stump in the middle of the water mark and we had to RERUN the mark to teach him to FORGET everything else but the all important MARK!

Southern sat up very nicely and was paying complete attention to the HEY UP , HEY UP prior to the toss. He was off and running to the AOF and sure nuff the white pieces of paper laying about short of the fall GOT HIM. He put his nose up to each and every piece of paper and by the time he was done he had pretty much forgotten about the quest he had started out on.

He got some timely help and remembered what he was supposed to do and ended up snatching up the bump and heading back to Zac. Once there he again proved to be a handful to get corraled and set back up for the RERUN of the first mark.

HEY UP, HEY UP and the bump goes right back out over the same arc and distance as the first one. Again, the Choco. dug out and made his way to the bumper and this time he IGNORED the diversions along the way and smacked the mark.

As he made his way back to Zac I moved on downrange to about the 65 yard mark. HEY UP, HEY UP and he was on his way smacking the mark and looking good in the process.

While he was on his way back I moved on out to the 80 yard mark. This time the big pup comes up a bit short. Even helper bumpers did not work to get him there . He pulled up at about the 60 yard mark and ended up giving up and returning to Zac.

This called for moving BACK to the 60 yard mark and carrying out a RERUN. The pup this time did his job. While 60 yards ain't bad I would personally like to see him stretched out a bit further. Zac will work on this during the upcoming week.

We moved over to water to run some Water Marks. The walk down the path from the parking lot to the lake is a couple of hundred yards. A perfect time for Zac to work on the way Southern walks at the end of a lead. Normally, Southern PULLS HARD on the lead and pretty much PULLS ZAC ALONG going where he wants to go.

As we made our way along the path Zac began to get on the pup with an authoritative NO and a yank up on the choke collar. It did not take long before the process took it's intended toll. That being , Southern was starting to walk at the end of the lead without the accompanying PULLING!

He was starting to walk like he is supposed to and not like a LITTLE HEATHEN! This pup may be a bit hyper but he AIN'T DUMB!

Zac and Southern set up on the end of a cove and I walked down the shroreline so the first mark out would be in the middle of the area at about 40 yards.

The mark hits with a big SPLASH and Southern knew what was required of him. He was off and swam straight to the floating bumper. He swam to Zac and held off a bit about coming out of the water as he wanted to KEEP THE BUMPER a bit. Zac finally got him cornered and I moved on up the shoreline to the 50-55 yard point. Again, Southern did a good job on the water mark and again he did not want to give it up coming out of the water.

During this time I again moved on up the shoreline and tossed out a bumper at about 65 yards. This was pretty close to his maximum range on Land and it would also prove to be his maximum range on water. It took a helper to get him all the way to the bumperBUT we did get him there.

We RERAN the mark and he did a better job on it. THAT'S ENOUGH for today boys.

While Eric ran Sosa Zac stood over to one side and Zac kept him at SIT just over to one side. Each time the Choco. would raise his butt up off the ground Zac would give him a quick NO, SIT with an accompanying yank or snap on the lead and choke collar. Again, this process had the desired effect as the Choco. pretty much SAT as he was told.

As we made our way back out over the path to the parking lot Zac again worked Southern on the walking on lead without PULLING. This time the previous training efforts seemed to take hold much quicker as Southern pretty much walked the entire distance at the end of the lead the entire distance.

While these are very early attempts to introduce and prepare the young pup to not only additional OVERALL CONTROL it is also serving to PREPAR him for his FORMAL OB work.

If , over the next week Zac and Southern continue this progress then it will be time to work in HEEL ! Until that time MORE MARKS and MORE LIVE BIRDS are the prescription that this Bad Ass of a pup needs.

Keep it up Zac , don't LET UP ON HIM!

Southern Drives Out Hard...........
posted: June 22, 2005
author: urbanduckman

on his way to a Land Mark!

On The Way BACK To Daddy........
posted: June 22, 2005
author: urbanduckman

with the LOLLIPOP in tow!

If you look close enough you can see that Southern is sport'n some new NECKLACES ! He is wearing a dummy ecollar and a new choke chain collar. He is supposed to also have a length of check cord attached to the choker BUT seems like the one Zac had been us'n came off while the pup was run'n a water mark.

Hang'n all this extra stuff around his neck is to collar condition the pup to the ecollar and the choke chain collar. The choke chain collar is being used for some initial OB work while we will wait another week or so before we actually begin to utilize the ecollar. When we do start using the ecollar it will only be on HERE and at the lowest setting possible. It will be just enough so that he will feel a slight nick . He should react by running to Pappa and get in close where it is SAFE.

By wearing and getting used to the collar pre actually initiating a correction the pup will not associate the discomfort the electric nick will produce with either the collar or Zac. This is one of the keys to making sure the ecollar is a useful TRAINING TOOL!

The time will come where the pup will become a bit more collar wise and figure out more about what's going on. We will work to keep it this way as long as possible.

YEP, this dude's life has begun to take on a whole new and much more serious turn. He's GROW'N UP!

Finish'n Off A Good Water Mark!
posted: June 22, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Southern has from the very start LIKED WATER. His early attemtps at swimming left a bit to be desired as his back end was carried lower than his front end. This made for the appearance that the pup was treading water or having a bit of a problem.

Over a bit of time and the more water work and swimming that has been required of him this has smoothed out. Smoothed out to the point that now is very comfortable in the water. His strokes are now more POWERFUL and he get's more out of each stroke than ever before.

This is fairly NORMAL for a lot of young dogs though a few of them NEVER do get over the dog paddling thing. Some of them NEVER learn to swim no matter what you do. BUT, Southern is NOT one of these. He has quickly become at home in the water and this will NOT be a concern.

Zac, keep your BOOT IN HIS BUTT!

Southern's Life Is About To Change!
posted: June 17, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Zac has been mak'n the evening get together's pretty regular and a few changes have been added to the approach to Southern's Puppy Training.

Zac hung an ecollar around Southern's neck to start off CCing to the thing. We have been avoiding a lead and collar BUT with Southern's apparent attitude of being more into what he wants to do when he wants to do it we felt it was TIME! Time to step it up a bit and prepare the pup for his Formal OB and beyond.

The bit of light OB that Southern has been subject to seems to over the past few days seems to be having a positive effect. The way he ran today's set of Land and Water Marks seems to bear this out.

Zac ran Southern off the top of a hill and down into a bit of a shallow valley. The first toss was at about the 30 yard mark. On the HEY UP Southern was quicker to look for the Mark. Once it was up in the air he was OFF and directly to it. He picked it up much more readily and took it back to Zac in a much better a more acceptable manner.

I moved on down the hill a bit and tossed out another mark at about 10 yards furhter out. Southern again NAILED the bump and returned it to Zac. The last one was well outwards of 50 yards and again he made straight for the mark and snatched it up. The use of a check cord on the WILD THING is also helping prove to the Choco. that HE IS NOT IN CONTROL!

We then moved over to a small pond and with Zac and Southern on one side I stepped out of a line of trees on the opposite bank and tossed a mark out onto the surface of the water at about the 30 yard mark. Today is the first time that I have seen Southern actually be more interested in the toss of a mark than to screw around. He picked up the mark in the air and the big SPLASH onto the surface of the water served to kick him into high gear . The wind had moved the bump along the water a bit but the Choco. pup made a line for the white bumper and grabbed ahold returning back across the same line he had taken to the thing.

We moved on down our respective shoreline making for a longer toss and swim. This one was at about the 40 yard mark and again Southern was up to the task as he made short work of the mark.

We again moved on down the shoreline in order to make the last toss a fifty yarder at a mimimum. I had to stand back off the shoreline due to the thick growth of Cat Tails and toss the bump well up and over the vegetation. Again , the big splash of the bump hitting the water ignited the Choco. pup into action. Thing was there was a big stump at about the half way point and sure nuff it got his attention. He swam over to the stump and tried like hell to get ahold of it. When he could not dislodge the thing he was a bit confused and turned to swim back to Zac. This is when he got a HELPER tossed out and this worked to turn him back to the business at hand. He made his way on over to the HELPER and picked it up and returned it to Zac.

Since he had blown up on the initial toss we REPEATED the previous mark. This time he did go for the big stump but not as readily as on the previous trip over. He bumped it with his snout and then turned away and for an instant it looked like he was going to return to Zac. BUT, this time he recalled something about the last one and turned back and swam over and located the floating bumper. JUST LEARNED SOMETHIN DID'NT YOU BIG BOY!

We returned to the truck and got Lucy out and picked up the extra bumper still out on the water as a nice long and tight Blind.

The whole thing did not take much more than 20 minutes and before long we were back at the house. Zac and I stood and talked a bit after Southern had been KENNELED into his crate. Once in he began to RAISE HELL!

Zac decided that it was time to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS NASTY HABIT of habitually BARKING when he don't get his way. So, Zac opened up the door and did the squeeze the snout thing with an accompanying NO , QUIET ! Thing was that Zac is just not quite into get'n in Southern's ass in a manner that can be described as ascertive .

It took a bit of coaxing but Zac FINALLY got with the program and it did quiet the big pup down. Just gotta be CONSISTENT with the thing and NOT let the pup BEAT YOU!

Zac will begin to walk Southern at the end of a lead and choke chain. He WILL teach the Choco. Devil that it is not nice to PULL Zac along. Zac will also begin to start SIT on command. Heel will come along as both Zac and Southern get the hang of things. Zac has just got to be careful in the beginning of this in order not to cause problems later on with the pup wanting to go down!

I personally was initially concerned that Southern was a bit soft for what he would undergo when it came time for his FORMAL TRAINING! BUT, it would appear that in fact Southern just may have a DEEP BOTTOM .

This was first verbalized by Fanning Young who will be the one to train the Formal OB AND the FH, FF, FTP and FTW! This should start in about a month.

I feel better about Southern's ability to make a good Gun Dog! One things for sure is that for a college student Zac appears to be the sort to actually PUT THE DAILY EFFORT into making this become a reality. In tha past I have seen a lot of these kids start off on this and simply LOSE INTEREST or find out that it takes some time and effort in bringing this about. BUT NOT ZAC!

Southern RAMBLES Down The Hill!
posted: June 14, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Sothern is going to make a BIG good look'n Lab when he is full grown.

Zac And Southern Are BACK............
posted: June 14, 2005
author: urbanduckman

from 2 weeks of vacation in Colorado and this was the first time in awhile that we could get together to run Southern on a few marks. While in Colorado Zac ran onto a couple of Pro Retriever Trainers out of the San Diego , Calif. area. Seems like they brought thier truck full of FT dogs up to beat the heat back home.

Zac reported that he helped toss thier dogs marks and they in turn tossed for him. So, even though on vacation Zac and Southern got some work in. Now that's DEDICATION!

Since Eric and Sosa would also join us it looked like this had the makn's of a good training session. We decided to go ahead and work Southern on some Land Marks while waiting for the other two. We also decided to toss in a bit of structure to see what would happen.

We chose to run off the top of a nice hill. We had also decided to toss three marks in an arc along the bottom of the hillside in order to lengthen each subsequent mark.

The first mark was at about the 30 yard mark and it fell out of the pup's site at the last minute. Southern got up some momentum on the way to the mark and losing sight of it did not seem to bother him in the least. Now he did screw around a bit before deciding to pick it up as there were other things going on around him that DISTRACTED his attention. The Doggie Park just across the road seemed to be the real culprit BUT HEY it don't hurt to from time to time run some marks in the middle of a severe distraction.

Zac also had a bit of a time in get'n Southern corraled once back at the line BUT this is nothing new for the little Choco.! From day one Southern has seemed to be more into himself and doing what Southern wants to do when Southern wants to do it instead of doing what Zac wants him to do when he wants him to do it!

I moved on down along the bottom of the hillside and tossed out another mark. Same results. YEP, Southern likes GET'N THERE to the mark it's just that he then likes to look around before HE decides to pick it up! BUT , HE IS GET'N THERE!

Again, I moved on down the line and ended up tossing a bump out at about the 55 yard mark. The light down in the bottom of the valley was very low and it was going to be interesting to see if the Choco. pup would be able to mark the bump.

Southern did mark the bump and the trip DOWNHILL he LIKED! He had to stop halfway down and do some business and this proved to be his undoing a bit. He came out of his crouch looking for the bumper BUT could not pick it up in the dimming light. He did not put on a hunt and appeared to be on his way back to the top of the hill so he got a HELPER! This did the trick as he ran on out to the bumper and picked it up and made his way on the return.

Erick and Sosa pulled up and since Southern had ripped a cut in his flank and had stitches he was DONE FOR THE DAY!

After Southerns work out Zac and I talked about working on Southerns DESIRE nad DRIVE for the BIRD by increasing his exposure to LIVE BIRDS. That is a LIVE PIGEON wing clipped and tossed out onto the ground for him to CHASE and BITE HELL OUT OF.

We also decided to hang an ecollar around his neck to wear pretty much all the time. This would serve to collar condition the pup to the ecollar. In from 2 to 4 weeks we will begin to lightly nick Southern to HERE ONLY! Man , is his life fix'n to CHANGE!

We also decided it was time for him to start wear'n a CHECK CORD when run'n marks or is out of his run. Southern is but a month or so from being a candidate to move on into FORMAL OB Training and then on into his FORCE WORK!

Southern WILL make Zac a good gun dog even with what looks like a bit of a personality trait that can only be described as INDEPENDENT!

Besides, it appears that Zac has been doing HIS JOB in all of this and will not allow Southern to fail! While keeping the pup working on PUPPY MARKS for the time being a well administered FORCE PROGRAM should help in this area.

A Typical Puppy Training Session For THE CHOCOLATE DEVIL!
posted: May 27, 2005
author: urbanduckman

I met Zac and Southern down the street from the house at the large Soccer Fields where we had plenty of nice FLAT and SHORT MOWED BERMUDA GRASS for cover.

Zac reported that he had Southern stretched outwards of SEVENTY FIVE YARDS so we set up a nice PUPPU SINGLE at that distance.

With Zac running the Chocolate pup he gets a HEY UP, HEY UP, HEY PUP!The mark goes up with a nice arc and plops down on the soft Bermuda Grass. Watch'n Southern's head and eyes I could tell he got a good Mark as he immed. began to WANT TO GO!

Zac dropped his forarm from across the pup's chest and Southern was OFF and RUN'N! He drove hard for the first 50 yards and then he broke down and was not inclinded to keep up much of a hunt. Ended up he turned and was in the process of returning to Zac with an EMPTY MOUTH!

HEY UP, HEY, HEY ,HEY and another helper bump was tossed up and out along the same route taken by the first bump. SMACK! It hit right alongside the first mark and as Southern turned around he caught the second helper at it's apex.

When he spotted the helper he picked back up and ran past where he had quit and finished off the Mark in a positive manner. We REPEATED the mark and had the pup breakdown at the same spot and again requiring HELP to finish it off.

On the third try it was apparent that Southern's range was at the 50 yard mark. It was also apparent that he was not going to be able to hold it together long enough to make it to the AOF on the 75 yard toss so we shortened it up and moved into the 50 yard mark.

He pretty much nails this mark as he did not need any help. This called for put'n away the bumps and mak'n for WATER as Southern needed a good LAND-WATER-LAND Mark and I had just the place.

Bedsides we had Lucy with us and after a morning of run'n some of Whack's selected and designed Blinds AND an hour of run'n ONE MAN TOSSED MARKS and a BLIND she needed a Test like set up.

With Zac and his buddy Layton along for the ride it meant that I at least had 2 of the three needed for a properly run Triple and a Blind. It also meant that I would have to throw the 3rd. from the line myself.

This URBAN DOG TRAINING can supply it's own special types of challenges . First and foremost finding water IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN can be tough. But, the pond we were headed to was one of those ponds that has had an exclusive gated community built around it. There are all kinds of signs tell'n ya somethin'n like STAY OUT - FOR MEMBERS OF THE XYZ HOMEOWNER'S ASSOC.!

Most times these folks are VERY SERIOUS about ENFORC'N thier signage. Luckily , last year me and Lucy had made friends with one of the homeowner's who APPRECIATED A GOOD RETRIEVER IN ACTION type of show and had ended up given us permission to play on the pond.

With this one possible obstacle out of the way we had one more to worry about. That being the path from the Soccer Complex to the pond would take us right through a heavily wooded area that is frequented by dem ole boys that SWING THE OTHER WAY . Luckily , we passed through without being accosted . I mean three guys WALK'N thier dogs just might have been viwed as ONE OF DEM KINDS OF GUYS and who knows what would have happened. While no one had a PISTON on'em we all had varying style and lengths of SHEATH KNIVES. Mostly used for FILLETING OUT DUCKS they would have come in handy if we had been approached for a date along the way.

Southern was up first and we picked a spot on the opposite bank from which to run. A spot that would keep the wind directly off our backs. Zac ran Southern right off the edge of the water and as I tossed up the white bumper up and out landing it up on a mowed hillside Southern PLOWED through the stand of young Cat Tails get'n a good start. He then had to make his way through some very thick CABBAGE before he hit the water. To his credit the young pup would not be deterred and in a flash he was through the crap and churning hard for the bank.

Once he reached the far bank he had to again blast his way through the thick cabbage and the obligatory line of Cat Tails before breaking clear and out onto the shorter cover and the UP the hill a ways to the mark.

He came out of the water and through the stuff and then carried on up the hill but he came up on the upwind side of the bump and initially missed the mark. As he ran past he started a bit of a hunt and finally caught the SCENT that drug him on into the locatoin of the bumper.

He fiddle farted around about pick'n it up and then once he did he only carried it but a short distance before he dropped it and hit the water to return to Zac. I could tell that Zac was a bit DOWN about this and he had to be reminded that this was no BIG DEAL as FF will take care of this later on when the pup enters his FORMAL TRAINING.

Zac and Layton were stationed along the opposite bank and they tossed me a FLOWER POT type of DOUBLE. Layton tossed his first real mark and found that it's not as easy as it looks. This was evidenced by the fact that he gave Lucy a LINE DRIVE. But, she marked it well as it hit among the thick water vegetation so lovingly described as CABBAGE . Zac's toss was well placed with a nice arc and it resulted in the dog get'n a good mark on it.

I tossed the 3rd. mark well to the right of the first two leaving a bit of a gap between the nearest mark and the one I tossed as we had planted a bumper as a Blind to be run in between two of the marks. I hit the shoreline just in the cabbage and this 20 yarder was the GO BIRD!

Lucy scooped it up with not much sign of any real enthusiasm as we were us'n BUMPERS and we all know she really WANTS THE REAL DEAL! But hey, you GOTTA PRACTICE before you can PLAY IN A REAL GAME! Right?

I turned and pointed her at the longer and outside mark. The one that Layton had tossed out. She locked in and she was off and on her way. She did leave out with a bit more style than the first one and drove across pretty much pinning the thing.

Upon her return I lined her towards the middle mark and she locked in as if she KNEW WHERE IT WAS so she got he release. She looped it a bit crossing the water and came out to the left of the bumper. I THOUGHT she just might be hav'n a bit of a time actually recalling the AOF on this one but upon coming out of the water she bee lined up the hill to the mark. So far , so good or at least good enough that I thought , if this had indeed been an actual Test then we WOULD STILL BE PLAYING. Only thing left was to pick up the blind that was straight across from us.

HERE, HEEL , DEAD BIRD ! She knows the routine and she began to scan out in front of us holding her head steady while moving her eyes slightly left then right. She locked in a bit to the left of where she needed to be so I dropped my hand down a bit and she moved her eyes over a bit to the line I wanted her to take.

LUCY and she was off. She covered the 30 yards from the line to the water's edge and entered just a bit to the left of the line. She had swam about another 20 yards when she got a WHISTLE and a RIGHT HAND BACK cast . She took the cast in good shape and moved over a bit but not quite enough. She needed another one to get her far enough over and once there she carried the line to the far shoreline. Just before hit'n the far bank she again sucked a bit to her left. DECISION TIME!

It came down to stopping and casting her a bit shy of the land or letting her carry it on out and then casting her. I decided on the latter and as she exited the water she moved right on her own. I think it was more due to the hillside she came out on than actually knowing where the bumper lay but whatever the actual reason she ended up right on top of the bumper.

Not having run any Master Tests I don't know for sure if we would have gotten a Call Back or not BUT I'm pretty sure that we would have. Now, it's back to TWO A DAYS until TRAVEL DAY!

We all walked out to the trail where we encountered two gals with a lil yippy yap dog. They looked a bit butchy but were pleasant enough. After passing by we discussed the fact that more then likely they were butch as they made no MOVE ON THE THREE OF US and we all know that a real woman could not have RESISTED.

Of course the fact that we were all 3 MUDDY, WET and SMELLED LIKE A WET DOG could have someth'n to do with the whole thing!

Whatever we had just been through a typical PUPPY TRAINING DAY for Southern. One that showed that the lil Choco. still had a ways to go to get ready for the day his WORLD CHANGES and he starts his FORMAL TRAINING. It's get'n close enough that before long Southern will begin to wear an Ecollar for about a month to begin Collar Conditioning him to the thing.

It is also time for Zac to begin thinking about someone to FF his dog CAUSE I AIN'T GONNA DO IT!

I personally left with a bit of newly instilled CONFIDENCE in my lil yellow bitch , Lucy. After watching quite a bit of the Master Level Tests I felt that she could do the work well with some tune ups in certain areas. BUT, having never run one I was worried. However, after the set up we had just run, which was a reproduction to an actual test I had seen , I was feel'n that we are BOTH GET'N THERE. SLOWLY BUT SURELY!

With Zac, Layton and Eric show'n up between school , work and thier WOMANIZING it looks like the makn's of a small training group. At least from time to time I will have enough help to run some good set ups.

Time For Southern's First FLYER!
posted: May 13, 2005
author: urbanduckman

I had not seen Southern for a month , except for the pics Zac posted last week. Zac and I had talked once a week about the pup's progress.

Today just happened to be FLYER DAY for Lucy and Daisy as we will leave out tomorrow and head for a Trial at Wagoner. Since Zac was done with FINALS he came along and brought Southern. It was time to see how Southern handled a FLYER!

Zac advised that Southern was run'n Land Marks at about 50 yards. So I stepped off just a bit less than that and as Zac Handled the pup from the line I gave the pup a bit of a heads up with a HEY, HEY, HEY his way. As soon as he snapped to attention I tossed up a nice big fat WHITE PIGEON and was fortunate not to MISS hit'n the thing with a load of SEVEN and a HALF's , LEAD NO LESS! Dam , would I LOVE to SHOOT DUCKS WITH LEAD , AGAIN!

Southern got a good mark on the pigeon and he was off and on his way.For the most part he had no problems with any type of diversion or losing his way for any reason. He ran to the pigeon and picked it up and was no his way back to Daddy with the bird.

He stopped a bit short as is the way he runs his marks FOR NOW. Zac was then able to get him on in close engough that he could get hold of the pup and the bird. All in all a very credible job by both Pup and TRAINER.

We then moved on over to water for a shoot and toss Water Mark for Southern. The Water Mark was more like a 20 yard affair but Zac ran the pup off a tall ledge. No problem for Southern. He don't exactly HIT THE WATER HARD but he KNOWS WHERE THE MARK IS and that's what is important.

All in all a good day for Zac and Southern. Zac has not only been do'n his College Homework but he has also been do'n his Homework with Southern. I can tell cause the pup is do'n some really nice work that he did not learn ON HIS OWN!

It's time for a CHECK CORD as the pup is for my way of look'n at things TOO DAM INDEPENDENT and TOO MUCH INTO HIMSELF!B,ut WE GOTTA BE CAREFUL with the INTRODUCTION to a LEAD of any sort.

The Mark.......
posted: May 13, 2005
author: urbanduckman

was dumped out at about 40 yards. It was dumped in a bare spot where the cover was very short.

We did however introduce something new other than the mark being a TRUE FLYER. That was, we ran Southern off the top of a terrace. He handled this bit of structure well and ran a nice line to the mark.

Zac will still run his Daily Puppy Marks on FLAT , VERY SHORT COVER and STRUCTURELESS GROUND. BUT, it is about time to begin to add some simple structure like short hills, terraces and knolls at the Starting Line.

In this pic Southern has just located and picked up the bird and started back to Zac who is at the Line acting like an IDIOT to keep the young pup's ATTENTION on the job at hand.

Dig'n Back To The Line HARD.....
posted: May 13, 2005
author: urbanduckman

I got this one as he went past me on his way to return the pigeon to Zac. Shortly after this pic was made Southern took a bit of a break. It seems like a lot of pups this age that he LIKES COW PATTIES . But, Zac was able to call him on in and finishe off the pick up. Zac will work on convincing Southern dat dem COW PATTIES is NOT to take the place of his Puppy Chow!

Zac describes Cow Patties as being KRYPTONITE for the young pup! This is fairly common in young puppies BUT while you may not be able to for a time COMPLETELY BREAK the habit you can do some things to MINIMIZE IT, especially when run'n a mark.

DROP IT......
posted: May 13, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Zac KNOWS that get'n a BIRD away from the 14 week old Pup is gonna be a chore! But, Southern has done a nice job on his FIRST REAL FLYER!

IF Zac simply wanted a MEAT DOG then a bit more of this and Southern would in fact fit the bill. BUT , Zac, to his credit , has much higher expectations for his PRIDE and JOY!

SWEEEEET!
posted: May 10, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Thanks for the update! Looks like YOU have been do'n YOUR JOB cause DAT'S SOME GOOD STUFF!

Now STRETCH HIM OUT in the WATER and KEEP STRETCH'N HIM OUT on LAND. Run a Land Mark AND a Water Mark ONCE A DAY or as close to that as you can.

Keep in mind that he will reach greater distances on LAND quicker than on water! So, don't look to compare the two.

In addition to running a good Water Mark daily look to simply SWIM HIM across ever greater distances of OPEN WATER! You will in all liklihood need a TRAINING PARTNER to get this done. BUT, it WILL be worth the effort! The swimming of long distances will work to CONDITION the dog PLUS it will build his CONFIDENCE just like the LONG SINGLE Land Marks serve to do. Try to maintain a balance between the two as you don't want him to lag behind in one area or the other.

Oh yeah, be careful about toss'n stuff into deep cover or into BEAVER HOLES as the dog being UNABLE TO LOCATE THE MARK and COME BACK EMPTY MOUTHED is NOT GOOD at this piont in time.

He's STILL A PUPPY and ONE seemingly insignificant failure or bad experience can still cause problems that can take some time and effort to clean up .

DAM HE'S GROWN!

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

posted: May 9, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

I had to post this picture so I could brag on my pup a little. On this mark I accidently through the bumper into a beaver hole on the other side of the creek (it is behind the grass on the opposite bank, as you can see the bump is nowhere to be seen. When I heard the bumper splash in the wet bottom of the beave hole I thought for sure I had just lost my bumper. Then I noticed Southern jump into the water and head over there, which at first I started to stop him because I thought their was no way he would be able to get it back, but since he was already half way across the creek I let him go check it out. When he got their he looked around in the grass for a minute and without any hesitation stuck his head into the hole and pulled the bumper out, this left Jared and I amazed ( I think Kimber was a little impressed too).

Swimming
posted: May 9, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Just thought I would post some pictures of the pup doin his thing in the water.

We GOT A WATER DOG! Southern Update
posted: May 7, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Zac reported that he was out at Dirty Bird mess'n around and decided to walk out into a shallow bit of water well off the bank. He called Southern with a Here and the pup waded out and then began swimming like a pro when he hit the water over his head!

The pup swam out to him and swam around him a few times and then followed Zac as he made his way outta the water. Zac the reported that he went to the truck and got a bumper and returned to the edge of the water. He tossed out a mark a few yards off the bank and out to a distance where the pup would get into some SWIMM'N WATER.

Southern LAUNCHED off the bank picked up the bump and returned to Zac!

DAM GOOD STUFF! Looks like Zac has got himself A WATER DOG!

HEY , Zac!
posted: May 5, 2005
author: urbanduckman

There are a BUNCH of ways to coax the pup into the deeper water! Bottom line whether you use any of the ones listed or come up with something yourself you GOTTA do it in such a way so as to make it so the pup THINKS IT'S HIS IDEA! NO PRESSURE!

Seems like I recall that you told me over the phone not too long ago that you had your bird thrower on one side of a narrow and shallow neck of water and had him toss a short mark on the opposite bank. Then Southern worked his way across and picked up the mark and returned back across the shallow water?

If this is the way it happened then you are pretty much THERE on your pup's INTRODUCTION to WATER/SWIMMING! Go back to this spot and rerun the mark. IF the pup is successful then return the next day and move down a bit to a spot that if he goes across on on his way after a mark the water will be a bit higher up on his legs. Say right about his knees! Repeat this a couple more times till he is comfortable with what's going on.

Once this is apparent then move on down to a spot where the water is right at his tummy and repeat the process until he is comfortable. Once he gets there at this depth then you are ready for the REAL DEAL!

That is , you will now move on down to a spot where the water is deep enough that he will at some point on his way over to the mark get deep enough to be over his head and FORCE HIM TO START SWIMMING!

Expect him to COMPLETELY GO UNDER THE WATER when you run this one! He should go under and come up THRASHING the water. It would be a good thing if you can get him to make his way for the opposite bank and get out BUT it may not happen this way.

If he comes back from where he left from then IMMED. try him again. The degree of how birdieness you have taken him to will WORK IN YOUR FAVOR on this one as it will on a lot of the things that he will be presented with over the course of his training regime.

Try to keep distance as it relates to the actual water he has to travel across as narrow as possible. The best scenario is to find a spot where when he leaves the bank and enters the water that he almost immediatley hits DEEP WATER. Then when he comes up he won't have but a very short distance in order to get to the other side and the bird.

IF he goes on across make sure the bird boy has a helper ready. This is due to the fact that when he goes under he will tend to forget the mark. BUT, seeing another one go off as he comes up will work to get his mind back on the BIRD!

I like to use a small creek for this purpose as most pond coves used will cause you to increase the distance across as you move out to get deeper water.

You can start with by trying tossing a bumper a foot or so off the shoreline into a spot where the water is still not deep enough to float his feet off the bottom. Make it like a real short mark.

If and when he is leaving the bank and picking up the bump and coming out simply work to stretch him out just like you have on the land marks. Thing is when you begin get'n a ways out and he don't go and get it you need a way to retrieve the bumper , especially if the wind ain't up enough to blow it across to the opposite side.

If he will respond to a buddy's calling him then find a small shallow neck on a pond and send him ( buddy ) across on the opposite side. Bring out the pup and have your buddy call him across. Yeah, he may sink a bit and be suprised when he goes in over his head BUT he will not blame it on anyone and will more than likely come right up and start swimming. Thing is he may turn around and come back to you BUT then again he just may keep responding to the other guy. IF this works to get the pup across you should pretty much be on your way!

Take an older dog out with him and turn them out together. Have the other dog's owner go to the opposite side of a small neck and call the older dog across. Better yet toss a bumper across for the older dog to retrieve. The pup SHOULD go right along and try to keep up with the older dog. Again, when he hits the deeper water he may be a bit startled but nothing that should cause his attitude towards water to be negative. While he won't necessarily learn how to do anything by watching the older dog he will more than likely WANT to stay up with the other dog.

Probably the most popular way to do this is to simply walk out into the water yourself and let the pup decide for himself that he wants to GO WITH YOU! Start off bringing him out in shallow water and then slowly work out to water that will be deep enough to get his feet off the bottom. As he works out try not to help him when his feet get off the bottom but turn and head for the other side forcing him to again decide what to do.

The decision you are trying to get him to make for himself is to SWIM AFTER YOU. Just stay out in front of him a short distacne until you get to the opposite side.

Like every other time he does something well or especially monumental MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF IT. Then, turn right around and REPEAT IT another time or two. Don't wait too long and give him time to think about it too much.

With all of these it's best to work to get him all the way across the short distance of water to the opposite side. Going all the way across is always much better than turning around and coming back out from where he left!

How's school going? Been fishing lately?

Any day coming up that you could go out and mess with a test . It's about time to SHOOT HIM A REAL FLYER! Would love to see the results of what you've been doing with him since I saw him last!

IF you need to talk about this before you give it a go then feel free to call me!

Gun shots
posted: May 4, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

This week I started using a 20 gauge while running Southern's marks, and I was very happy to see that he was not bothered by the change from blancs to a much louder shotgun. He is unfortunately back to his habbit of returning with the bumper and running away from me when he is about 5ft from me, although he is still showing a lot of interest in chasing down the bumper. The next thing I want to do is try to get him in the water. At this point he likes gettin in the water but does not go in to the point that he has to swim. The next task will be finding a way to slowly get him transitioned into the water.

Crappie
posted: April 27, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

The crappie fishing on T-bird went pretty good but the big females havent moved in yet (or at least as of this weekend. There are a lot of smaller males to be caught from about 6 inches of water to about 4 feet, and they seem to be feeding on anything you can throw at them. The puppy training is going well I think Southern is finally over his bad habbit of breaking away on his way back to me. thanks for the info on the shotgun training, I think I will get some shot gun poppers and try them next weekend. If you wanna go crappie fishing give me or Jared a call.

Shotgun " Poppers "
posted: April 24, 2005
author: urbanduckman

You will find that more than likely the noise level between the 22 blank and the shotgun popper will not make any difference to the pup.

But to stay on the safe side and to insure that nothing negative occurs and derails something that is goin so well I would suggest that you continue to run your PUPPY MARKS using the blank gun.

When you do introduce the shotgun do so by simply by substituting it for the blank gun on a shoot and toss PUPPY MARK. It won't be too long before your outwards of a HUNDRED YARDS on these and at that distance you should not incur any problems with the shotgun.

From your posts you have done a good job in teaching the pup to associate gun fire with GOOD THINGS like his FOOD and BIRDS. This will last a lifetime BUT due to his age you still want to proceed on the side of caution . It won't be too long before you will not have to worry about him being in his puppy stage as he is not far off from his first serious adolescence stage .

I also wanted to alert you to the fact that if you have not already run into TEETHING ISSUES you will shortly. Watch for signs of him not wanting to pick up the birds as readily as he has been. He may want to mouth them or hold them loosely if he in fact picks them up. The worst case scenerio is that he may flatly refuse to PICK UP ANYTHING in his mouth.

When you detect this simply give him a few days off for the teeth to finish coming in. You may need to lay off of him for up to a week or better but DON'T PANIC as this is normal.

Did you guys catch any Crappie?

Gun Training
posted: April 22, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

Ya that was me honkin at RC and 12th, I was on my way out to Jared's to do some training and then out to dirty bird for some crappie fishing. The puppy training went really well. Jared and I stretched him out to over 40 yards today and he returned straight to me with the exception of one mark which he found a piece of a tennis ball on the way their and decided he would bring that to me instead. Other than that we ran about 6 marks all at about 40 yards and they went well. As for the gun training I started shooting .22 blanks while he was eating in his kennel about 3 weeks ago. I started outside then made my way closer every time he ate. He never looked up from his food even when i was standing on top of his kennel. After this I started shooting real .22 rounds while he was playing with a live bird (about a week ago). I shot six rounds and he looked up at me once but that was it I dont see him having a problem with gun fire, but I dont know how long it should be before I let off a 12 gauge around him.

Hey ZAC!
posted: April 22, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Was that you at Rock Creek and 12th. Street earlier today? Me and Garbage Gut were on our way to Los Dos Amigos to TEAR IT UP!

I was just sit'n here read'n your post and it sounds like dat lil Choco. is com'n along! Keep up the good work!

I also recalled that we talked about intrducing Gun Fire to the Puppy Marks. Have you begun to do this yet? If not then you might get hold of one of those cheap cap guns from Wal Mart and start mak'n it a part of things? The earlier you do this the better it will be for you and the dog!

The fact that he moved off of the real birds and took to the bumper right off without having to trick him or use any gizmos tells me a LOT. It says that you indeed have been doing your part AND this boy indeed just may turn out to be one heck of a GUN DOG!

Oh yeah, thanks for the UPDATE! Now, I don't have to sit around wonder'n how the pup is do'n!

Bumper Transition
posted: April 22, 2005
author: QuackerWhacker

As Urban said in his last post the next big step in Southerns puppy training is to convert him from real birds over to training bumpers. As urban said this can be a big transition because the dog may not be as excited about picking up bumpers as he was about grabbing a feathered bird. Urban had told me several ways to get this transition started such as feathers or ribbon tied to the bumper (for the time being a small canvas bumper as apposed to a normal plastic or rubber one. I was lucky enough to be able to find a small enough WHITE canvas bumper to use. Before I went to tying all sorts of do-dads to the bumper to get Southern's attention, I wanted to try a couple marks with the plain bumper just to see how interested in the bumper he was. Fortunately he seems just as interested in the bumper as he was in a dead pigeon, we ran about four 15 to 20 yard marks in the morning with the bumper. His respponse to this was exactly the same as it was to retreaving the dead pigeon, which is to run full blast right to the bumper pick it up turn around start bringing it back to me and then break to my right or left about 5 ft from me. When he does this I try to head him off (in an effort to avoid making him try to get away with the bumper and cause a chase which is a big no no). Usually I can head him off about 6 or 8 ft from me and get back the bumper.

Yesterday evening things looked to go about the same way he picked up his first mark and returned and broke about 5 ft from me as he had done in the morning, but this time instead of corraling him in and praising him for returning and getting the bumper I caught the bumper from his mouth as he tried to go by and he came running back to me. The next 3 marks went perfectly he returned directly to me without any hesitation. So on that good note we went home and he went back into the run. This is a good example of how a dog will have good days and bad ones and its next to impossible (to me) to be able to tell how they will do on any given day. Jared and I are about to go work with him and I am interested to see if he does as well as last night.

Lil Boy Choco UPDATE!
posted: April 13, 2005
author: urbanduckman

After introducing Southern to a LIVE PIGEON and get'n a nice PIGEON CHASE and BITE Zac went home to continue working daily with his little boy.

He was to run a PUPPY MARK with a Bird Thrower as he has access to a couple of room mates that Zac can COERCE to act as his Bird Throwing HELP! If the pup is progressing in get'n STRETCHED OUT on his Land Marks and continuing to show good DRIVE and DESIRE for the REAL BIRD then it won't be long to take the kiddo to WATER and to TRANSFER him off a steady diet of REAL BIRDS to the RUBBER TRAINING BUMPER!

Even though Zac had a local supplier where he could go by and pikc up a fresh pigeon it would prove to be a bit costly to keep the pup on REAL BIRDS. In addition, there has to be SOMETHING that the pup REALLY get's into when offered.

I called Zac and he reported that indeed he had been working daily with a Land Mark. The last time out he worked close to a shallow and narrow pond. So, he had the Bird Thrower cross over and toss out a mark. The pup charged out into and across the runn'n depth water , picked up the mark and returned it close to Zac. Zac reported that Southern seems to have a bit of an independent streak in him as we had begun to notice this in our earlier evaluation sessions. It seems that Southern will more readily return a REAL BIRD to Zac but he won't come quite all the way and Zac has to move over and head him off . This is not all that big of a deal as Zac has already indicated that he WILL TRAIN to a COMPLETE FORCE PROGRAM later on!

We talked about Zac continuing another week using REAL BIRDS for MARKS and during this time he will acquire the necessary items needed to transfer the pup off of Real Birds and over onto Training Bumpers.

To accomplish this Zac will make a run up to Bass Pro and purchase several of the smaller canvas bumpers. He will then glue duck and pigeon feathers to each of these and giv'em a shot of bottled Duck Scent. He will also tie WHITE RIBBON streamers to these bumpers and toss'em for the pup as Marks.

This should work to fool the pup into believing he is getting the REAL DEAL. He will or should be able to tell that something is different but not to the extent that he will lose any Drive and Desire to PICK IT UP IN HIS MOUTH.

With a healthy dose of PRAISE for doing so it will not take the pup long to look at this new bird the same way he now veiws the REAL DEAL.

Using these special bumpers daily will result in the attached feathers slowly but surely coming off the canvas bumper. Then it will be time to move the pup off of these and onto the regular rubber or plastic Training Dummies. A loosely attached wing on these may need to be done in the early phases but there is no reason to indicate that Southern will NOT make this important transistion.

So far , so good! Keep it up Zac!

HEY DADDY, WasssssssUP?
posted: April 5, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Here he is in all his GLORY! A typical 9 week old Lab Pup. This is SOUTHERN son of Zac and young Gun Dog in Training.

Zac purchased Southern from a Breeder over by Sallisaw about three weeks ago. He brought the pup home and noticed that after an initial time frame of where the pup was NUTS about chas'n his little yellow rubber ball that he appeared to lose interest .

So, being a bit on the SERIOUS side especially as it applies to his DUCK HUNT'N EFFORTS he called and described how his lil boy was act'n towards his job ! Zac , like anyone else who has selected a young pup as a Gun Dog Prospect was in dire need of a bit of PUPPY TRAINING!

Zac brought Southern over to the house and brought his toys. He also brought along a frozen duck. We tossed the pups toys about and tried to get him interested in retrieving his favorite toy. The pup did not really respond in a positive manner. We read from the pups reactions or more specifically the lack of to mean that it was possible that Southern was tended towards being a bit spoiled . That is even though Zac had purchased a CRATE to house the pup while he was inside the house he was out of the crate quite a bit. In addition, Zac had two room mates and all the college students had GIRLS over to the house. Naturally, Southern was get'n a TON of ATTENTION.

We also noticed that Southern just might be one of those pups whose personalilty tended to be one that was more into HIMSELF and what HE WANTED TO DO , WHEN HE WANTED TO DO IT and NOT into what DADDY wanted him to do when he wanted it done.

He was a bit weak when it came to a positive rection to HERE . This was evidenced in the fact that the pup would turn and go his own way when he did pick up an item tossed as a mark !

Zac took the frozen duck and got down on the pup's level and teased the pup with the dead duck. Initially, the pup simply ignored the thing but eventually Zac got a bit of a reaction.

Southern's initial reaction to the teasing was a GOOD SIGN and Zac continued to mess with the dog. The more Zac teased and PLAYED with the dog the more the pup tended to WANT to BITE the duck. One of our goals for the session was to GET SOME FEATHERS IN THIS PUP'S MOUTH! We were SUCCESSFUL in get'n this done.

Zac pulled a clump of the larger wing feathers out of the duck and while holding onto Southern he simply tickled the dog's nose and mouth area with the feathers. Zac was able to get the desired reaction and that was to get Southern to BITE the feathers. The moment the pup got his mouth on the feathers Zac quickly removed the feathers and repeated the process. He did this a total of THREE times and then he QUIT! It is important to point out that Zac GOT SOME SUCCESS and then put the dog up WANTING MORE! This will be a reoccuring theme during both the PUPPY and FORMAL TRAINING of the dog.

We had learned a few things about this pup. We were pretty sure that this lil Choco pup was a bit too much into HIMSLEF and not into Zac as much as he should or could be. Simply stated this was exhibited by the pups tendencey to go his own way and simply ignore Zac's pleadings to HERE !

We also felt that this could be a result of Southern being allowed to ROAM around the house as HE PLEASED in addition to being HANDLED BY DEM FEMALES. The pup just may be being SPOILED a bit too much at this point.

We also had seen that with some work and effort that Southern would in fact BITE A DEAD DUCK and he SEEMED to LIKE having FEATHERS IN HIS MOUTH!

The prescription or TRAINING PLAN we came up for Southern was 1.) to cut down on the pup's freedom or time outside the crate. 2.) Decrease or severly limit Southern's contact with any other human other than Zac for awhile. 3.) Zac would construct a proper OUTSIDE DOG RUN and begin to keep the pup OUTSIDE in the RUN, even though there was a nice privacy fence around the backyard. In essence , the dog's world would be SHRUNK! 4.) Zac would crate Southern up in the bed of Zac's truck and be taken along on as many trips about town as possible. 5.) Zac would take Southern out into as many different SOCIAL situations as possible BUT the dog would be CONTOLLED when doing so. 6.) Zac would begin to take Southern out on long walks off lead in areas that presented different cover , structure and FOOTING! Essentially, Zac would increase his efforts to properly SOCIALIZE this pup! All this was to simply cause Southern to THINK THAT BEING WITH DADDY was a GOOD THING and THAT IT WAS HIS ( Southern's ) IDEA!7.) Zac would twice daily use a bunch of duck feathers to tickle or tease Southern and get him to BITE the feathers. 8.) Zac would TWICE DAILY tease the pup with a complete frozen duck 9.) Zac would tie a duck wing onto the end of a length of fishing line and the other end onto an old fishing pole and twice daily cast the wing out close to the dog and try to get it to CHASE the wing. He would play a game of KEEP AWAY with the pup utilizing the fishing pole and wing. This is the ONLY way he was allowed to play KEEP AWAY with the pup.

Utilizing the fishing line , pole and attached wing to play KEEP AWAY with the pup works to keep the pup from seeing that the wing and the keep away game was coming from Zac. Simply put this was a way to set the pup up into begin associating with the fact that those birds come out of the sky and NOT from Daddy's Hand!

Last but not least Zac would pretty much put the pup's favorite toy ( a yellow rubber duckie ) AWAY. The ONLY toy the pup would be allowed to play with would be a bunch of duck feathers, a dead duck or a duck wing on the end of the fishing pole!

Zac would also be the ONLY person allowed to PLAY with the pup. This meant that with the pup being kenneled up for most of the day , except for the twice a day PUPPY TRAINING SESSIONS he ( Southern ) would tend to be more READY to BE WITH ZAC when he was allowed out. THE WHOLE THING IS ABOUT CONTROL!

As with any level of Dog Training you train to reach a specific goal or to TEACH a specific concept. Then at some point you have to TEST the dog to see if in fact the dog is GET'N IT !

TODAY was to be Southerns FIRST REAL TEST! The test he would be presented with would be the release of a FLIGHT FEATHER CLIPPED LIVE PIGEON. To PASS the test Southern would merely have to CHASE DOWN THE PIGEON and BITE IT or GET IT IN HIS MOUTH!

Zac fired his lil boy up by using the fishing pole tool. We then moved to a tennis court where we could keep the pigeon and the pup in a secured area. We also had to make sure there was not anyone WATCHING as most folks don't understand the sacrificing of a SKY CARP in this manner.

Wing On A LINE!
posted: April 5, 2005
author: urbanduckman

You don't need much in the way of expensive train'n equipment to get a young pup onto LIVE BIRDS! Here is one of the best train'n tools you can have. A bird wing tied off on the end of a piece of fishing line. You then simply toss out the wing in the area of the pup and pull it across the ground. The ACTION and MOVEMENT of the wing coupled with the SCENT seems to help click the desired switch to the ON POSISITON! In this pic Zac shows me his wing on a line TECHNIQUE!

" The CHASE IS ON "
posted: April 5, 2005
author: urbanduckman

The process Zac used for the past ten days was done in order to prepare Southern to CHASE DOWN and BITE HELL OUTTA a LIVE WING CLIPPED Pigeon. This pic and the following prove that Zac DID HIS JOB as Southern chased down the picgeon and BIT THE BIRD! Southern is a bit on the independent side and has an agenda of his own. He shows signs of being into himself and not into his DADDY and what HE WANTS! This shows itself in the fact that Southern is more into tak'n his PRIZE off to where HE wants to take it and NOT bring it back to Daddy! BUT, at this point that ain't no big deal. Just get'n him to CHASE DAT BIRD DOWN is what we are after. We'll clean up the rest later on!

" And Here Comes HEARTACHE Com'n Up he Back Stretch!
posted: April 5, 2005
author: urbanduckman

The frenzied ACTION produced by a SKY CARP try'n to GET THE HELL OUTTA DODGE will in most instances CLICK SOMETHING ON in a pup! This is what Zac and Southern have been work'n for over the past week or so. Zac works Southern TWICE A DAY. Once in the early A.M. and once in the late evening. That proves that Zac is SERIOUS when he says , this is IMPORTANT to me ?

Hey DADDY!
posted: April 5, 2005
author: urbanduckman

LOOK WHAT I GOT! These things IS FUN! Can we do this AGAIN?

ATTA BABY!
posted: April 5, 2005
author: urbanduckman

Another GOOD BITE! Southern's GET'N THE IDEA!

Dat's A GOOD BITE!
posted: April 5, 2005
author: urbanduckman

It all comes together when they JUMP dat ole bird and BITE THE HELL OUTTA IT! This is GOOD for the overall program.