copy of journal entries
May 24 (early morning) quick training session to take the edge off the dogs for the long trip & get them "emptied out" (left for Arkansas at 9:00 am)
note: ran Daisy on the split lining drill
note: ran Kooly on the walking baseball drill
(late evening) arrived Stutrgart Best Western Motel - 668 miles & 10 hours 50 minutes
May 25 Daisy attends the Avery “Trainin’ in the Timber” Seminar in Stuttgart, AK met at Mack's Prairie Wings at noon and drove to Avery's Lodge which was about 15 miles out (with some mighty dusty roads along the way) after intros went off with Rody Best who was the pro trainer for the transition group - ran a land set-up and a water set-up to see where all the dogs were at (marking, OB, attitude, skill levels) to have a better idea of what to work on Saturday and Sunday
note: Daisy did about as expected and gave a good read to Rody Best the pro working with the transition dogs)
finished the evening off with a great meal, followed by a lot of great socializing, I was ready for a good night's sleep and got it.
May 26 up early for a great breakfast and training day = lots of drills with one on one (more to follow)
1) in line breaking drill with five dogs and a rotation
2) circle breaking drill with five dogs
3) over the brush pile lining drill
4) push/pull work using three (similar to our split lining drill) and used ATB's
5) turned around and used three piles for a "lining the head and spine"
drill and 6) did a BB blind drill to work on getting off the line, square sits and
literal casting work = during all this work we worked on the mechanics and
improving the dog's control with emphasis on timing, finding the proper type
and level of corrections while paying attention to consistency and concerns
for motivation
keys = timing, consistency and motivation
note: These integrate right into the five keys from the Kentucky seminar
responsiveness, retrieving, "birdiness", focus and control
had lunch at Mack's Prairie Wings and then went back out to run some more setups
1) inline singles alternating sides and increasing in length and 2) long single up the middle with a wide double afterwards and a cold blind up the middle (to the left) was a real indicator of how far we had come and what we needed to work on
note: given how warm it was the dogs hung in there and gave a good effort
then each of the transition group drew numbers to run one of Rody
Best's SRS dogs on a triple with a cold blind = this was fun
note: the meal, shower and bedtime were a welcome relief to the long day
note: Daisy and Kooly could not have been any better travelers on this trip -
easy and very cooperative
May 27 up early with a good breakfast and a morning of watching all the dogs from each group participate on a set-up which was a triple and blind for advanced, single/double/blind for transition and three singles for the young dogs, finished off with pros running a dog with setup changed to add more difficulty (got to watch Dusty run)
Great Weekend!
KwickLabs Journal Reflections - "Avery Trainin' in the Timber" seminar 2007
The seminar was a perfect fit. As everyone is well aware of, Avery Outdoors has made a wonderful contribution to meeting the demands of hunters and trainers for better equipment and Mack’s Prairie Wings is doing a great job of supplying it. Avery and Mack’s generous gesture to provide a free opportunity to learn more about retriever training could not have come at a better time for Daisy and “Kwicklabs”. The trip to Stuttgart is difficult to describe in words. It would be best to just say “it was pretty darn significant to me personally”. The people and atmosphere were truly inspiring. Thanks!
I’d have to say the anticipation for the trip was only exceeded by my anxiety to get the most out of it. Pro trainer Rody Best worked with our transition group and his initial intentions were to focus on timing and consistency as it relates to a dog’s control (paraphrased). If you could have seen my thoughts on hearing that, I’d have to say it would reveal a mental picture of a Tiger Woods’ hand/arm pump.
Now I’ve been searching for quite some time for the "mythical" meaning of solid OB and know what sit, heel, here look like when it is done right. However, my dogs and I have never quite figured out exactly where that is. The frustrating part is knowing what it looks like and almost never……well, you probably get the picture. Friends see my dogs and are amazed….hunt test judges have (on more than one occasion) held a slightly different opinion.
To be concise…..Rody delivered. The key components were how to determine the proper level of a correction and that it must be given in less than two seconds of an infraction (or it is pretty much ineffective). The frustration has been in seeing what’s going wrong and not being able to react properly with consistency.
I’ve always believed that help in training comes best when a teacher (like Rody) can see the problem(s) in the context of the working trainer/dog. What happened in this three day seminar was Rody watched, gave advice and showed us techniques which were designed to the specifics of each team (dog and handler). We are talking about total immersion in training. I was a sponge and enjoyed every minute of each day. Although, I have to admit Saturday afternoon……sitting there in the chair in a shady spot I did doze off for a moment (and got caught).
On a side note……..the ticks were a “consistent and interesting” distraction. If
you were sitting under a tree (for shade), the ticks fell like rain drops.
As everyone knows these dogs can do some amazing things if they are focused and under control. The hard part is learning to place equal value on the “focused and control” aspect of training. Toward the second half of the seminar, I found myself almost ignoring whether my dog looked good “out there” and was mostly focusing on what she was doing near me. I think I’ve finally made the transition to accepting the fact that everything “out there” will get better when we are “looking good” at the line.
I had the opportunity to run one of Rody’s dog.....Jazz. I asked if there was anything I should know about her. His comment was, “She is high drive.” At the line, she was obviously fine tuned and a lot of fun. I guess at the time that "high drive" comment meant something entirely different than what she showed me. She was high drive only after I released her. That’s what I want from my dogs. It was a good lesson to experience what I’m looking for.
Dang, I almost forgot.......the food was......terrific!
Let me say, Jazz is the best dog on Rody's truck…..no question about it. Each handler in transition drew for one of Rody’s dogs to run a triple with a cold blind. In the pile for the cold blind, there was a single orange bumper with a ribbon. That bumper was worth $20 to the handler whose dog brought it back. Jazz and I ran first………..she is a one mighty fine dog! ($20 came in handy)
To finish, thanks again to Avery Outdoors and Mack's Prairie Wings, David Carrington, Christian Curtis, Avery’s Pro Staffers and the Team Waterdog Trainers – Scott Greer (young dogs), Rody Best (transition) and Dan Heard (advanced). This was all good!
Jay said, "Don't think that you are getting away without giving DETAILS!!"
Ok, here's the "skinny". We did not talk about or work on a sequential training program. There was no "this is it cure" for training. The seminar was all about the trainer/dog relationship as it relates to learning and performing.
We all pretty much know what sit, heel and here mean, but doing it perfectly during the heat of distractions, excess adrenaline and heavy pressure usually becomes an exercise in how much can be tolerated laced with masked frustrations. The amateur trainer gives in to all kinds of excuses......."Its the dog." "Hey, I'm doing the best I can." or my favorite "We're getting there." Up until this last week, I was not sure of where "there" was. The end result is the dog just doesn't sit, heel and stay put like it should. Down deep inside most trainers know why..........they just don't know what to do.
Mechanically 1) one "good" correction for a taught concept infraction should do, 2) corrections must be given in less than two seconds or forget it, 3) everything you do must be done in the same way.....be consistent and 4) keep the dog motivated. The concept of a "good" correction is not as easy as it sounds and consistency is fairly easy to pronounce.
So Rody Best's approach was to modify our expectations, learn the meaning of a truly proper correction and become more consistent in our delivery. Every dog and handler team were different. All the dogs were in various stages of transition, and the personalities and skills of each trainer and dog were unique. The group goal was the same........improve on consistency by watching the dog. Rody refused to let us "wallow in the same old same old". So we all changed.....for the better.
It was more like therapy. I know that doesn't give anyone some magic drill to solve problems with, but the agenda was two fold 1) a trainer has to change when things aren't going well and 2) there needs to be an experienced person there to force the right changes.
If a person can manage to step back and analyze their consistency and make an accurate evaluation of whether their corrections are "nagging" or "too heavy handed" that's a start. Secondly, you need to pay more attention to how the dog is reacting.....really learn to watch the dog. The simple reality is....if things aren't going well....you personally have not changed enough.
To repeat, without an experienced mentor the difficulty will always be in finding when and how.
Follow up:
Here's another part of the puzzle. When a mentor gets you on the right track and positive reactions from your dog occur, as a trainer you become more confident. A dog always seems to sense whether you are "full of it and unsure" or "in charge and confident". They feast off your emotions.
Rody's quote was, "Don't feed the beast."
note: My youngest retriever, Gigi, is a work in progress. She is definitely a "beast".