Tyson's training log --- 2 guns, Ty kicked ass

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  • Entry #2011-2 (I have a new numbering scheme because I'm too lazy to look back and see what number I'm up to).

    This past Saturday, I woke my ass up at 5:00 to head down to the preserve with the boys, only to find it pouring rain. No go. So I made arrangements to go on Sunday instead. When I woke up at 6am Sunday, it was gorgeous out. Off we went. Both of the boys saw me put on my blaze orange shirt and briar-proof pants and immediately started whining and bouncing around. They knew it was go time. Who am I to disappoint?

    After a big-and-toasty with a large coffee from D&D (who's with me?), the drive down was uneventful. Diesel slept a good part of the way, Tyson sat and looked out the window, whimpering softly with excitement the whole way. Diesel occasionally would wake up from his slumber, try to play with Tyson who would politely tell him to back-the-f***-off, and then go back to sleep. We arrived at the preserve a little before 9am. Being Sunday, it was empty, so I grabbed my bird box and entered the chukar enclosure. I quickly grabbed 4 of them and headed off to an easy field nearby. Just as I was about to pull into the field, Bink, the Lab/GSP mix arrives, looking hungry to find some birds. Fuck. Guess that field is out. I accelerate down the road to find Bink sprinting along beside me at 25+ miles per hour. I'm impressed, but she's got nothing compared to my 5.4L Ford small block. Sorry Binky, but this is an invite only party. I smile seeing her disappear in my rearview while I listen to the quiet growl of my american-made powerplant.

    I headed up to the top of the hill at the very back of the preserve. It's secluded, but some tricky terrain with thigh high tufts of grass and the occasional tree. I let the boys out to relieve themselves and stretch their legs while I got myself ready. They came back a minute or two later, got a drink. I put the bird box with 4 chukar in it down and Tyson immediately started pawing at it trying to get a hold of the birds. He managed to grab a few tail feathers through the holes. Good boy! Diesel, not wanting to be outdone by his older brother, started getting in on the action. His puppy attention span showed through eventually though, and he started eating the grass surrounding the box. Oh well.

    I put both boys up in a crate in the bed of my truck and got the first bird of the day out. I put a studded harness over it's wings, let Diesel out of the crate, and put a 25' check cord on him. He was ready to go. "Hey pup pup pup pup!" Bark. Bark. I tossed the bird 15 feet down the road and off tore Diesel. TWEET TWEET TWEET (I blew the recall whistle). Diesel tentatively got a hold of this chukar, and came happily trotting in my direction. "GOOOOOOOD PUPPYYYYYYYYY!" He veered off into the grass about 5 feet away to inspect his prize. No problem, a little tug on the check cord and Diesel comes reluctantly to my side with the chukar laying nearby in the grass. I grab it. "Ready pup pup? READY?" He jumps. Guess so. I toss the bird 20 feet down the road. Off Diesel goes as fast as his 13 week old little legs will carry him. TWEET TWEET TWEET. He got it this time. "GOOOOOD PUPPPPYYYYYY!" He brings it right back to me, with only a gentle reminder on the check cord at about 6 feet away. "What a good puppy you are! Good puppy!" I love on him, praise him, stroke his chest. He gives up the bird reluctantly. We repeat. Diesel is retrieving his first live bird!

    Tyson's turn. I give D some water, and let T out. He know's what up. Let's get to business dad. I toss the bird and he's gone. Right on it like white on rice. He mouths it pretty hard, but holds it and brings it back to about 4 feet away with some encouragement. "GOOOD BOY TYSON! What a good boy you are?!?!?!" Repeat. This time he doesn't bring it back. No problem. I walk out, praise him for chasing it down, and throw it again. Same thing. By now, Tyson's relatively harder mouth has basically killed the bird, so I give T some loving and tell him "free". He picks up the bird and happily trots along side me back to the truck. Water and crate. Time to plant a bird.

    I walk around the road, plant a chukar on the edge and head back to the truck. 12 gauge in hand, Ty and I head off in the other direction. I want to bring him around the opposite side I used to plant the bird. He hunts enthusiastically (relatively speaking) for a good 10 minutes, taking a nice wide line down wind of me. I bring him around a few times in the vicinity of where I planted the bird. He bleeds out onto the road. I call him back into the cover. He gets birdy, but he's tentative. Not sure why. I can see him thinking it through. His nose working. He's interested, but not ready to move in. I take a step closer. That's his cue. He walks around my side, nose down, and moves in slowly. Flap flap flap flap flap...the chukar flushes in his face. He instinctually sat as the bird flushed. BANG. BANG. Fuck. I miss two shots and the chukar lands in a thick tree 40 yards away with Tyson in hot pursuit. I walk over and examine the tree closely. Nothing. I throw a few rocks. Tyson enthusiastically chases each one down. No bird though. After a good 10 minutes of searching that tree, I decided to throw one last rock. Ahhhaaa! I got your ass! That damn bird made the mistake of moving. He landed on a low branch, so I reached up with my gun barrel on poked him. Off he flew. BANG. Fuck! I missed again. Under one tree and onward toward a stand of four our five trees. After 20 minutes of searching, I was hot and sweaty, Tyson had his tongue out the side of his mouth, and that damn bird still eluded us. Oh well. One to the hunting gods.

    Watered, T went back in the crate. I harnessed up another bird and planted it nearby the last known location of the lost bird. Diesel's turn. I took him out of the crate, and he was on me right away. Bumper time? Bumper time? No D. It's hunting time. "Hunt around" I said to Diesel as I motioned forward with my hand. I haven't taught that command yet, but he seemed to know what I meant. Off he went, happily bounding around the cover. He got out about 10 yards, then turned around and came back. "Is this what you want dad?" Good boy. "Hunt around." That was all it took. Of he went, nose to the ground, quartering at about 10 to 15 yards. He looped out past the planted bird, circled around it twice, and then stumbled on it. TWEET TWEET TWEET. Right to hand. No problem for the D man. I tossed it out for a marked retrieve, but the grass was so tall, Diesel couldn't mark the fall. "Hunt around." Find. Retrieve. Repeat. After six tosses, missed marks, hunts, and retrieves, I figure the bird is dizzy enough, slobbery enough, whatever enough, that I can take the harness off and really let Diesel have some fun chasing this thing. I toss, and off flies that damn bird with Diesel in hot pursuit. Fuck. He hunts the area enthusiastically for a good three or four minutes, and then comes in. Pretty good for a 13 week old puppy. Fail on my part for not having anything ready for him to find. I walk him around the area for 10 more minutes, then give up. Maybe Tyson can find this elusive little guy. Nope. Not after 20 minutes of searching. This thing is gonzo. Fuck. Fail on my part for not having anything out there Tyson can find.

    Just not my day. A+ effort from the dogs, D- performance from the handler. Rather than waste another bird, I figure I'll just put it back and save the money for next time. We wrap up the day with a few bumper retrieves in the pond for fun, and then I head by the office to let the owner know I'm leaving. When I arrive, I'm informed that Bink got into the chukar pen and killed three birds. And it's supposedly my fault. Fuck. I offer to pay for 2 of them because there aren't too many preserves where the owner will give you free run of his land and birds with just a phone call to inform him of it. It's a valuable resource for me, even if I end up paying for six birds on the day and only brining one home. All in all, a great day training for the dogs, a less than stellar day for me.

    Today both T and D got some good training in. Diesel got introduced to marked retrieves through decoys, and Tyson got to go swimming with me and his favorite bumper. I guess time will heal all wounds, because he was happy to retrive today. It's the first time we have worked that bumper around the house since his earlier refusal, and you'd never know he had an issue. Part of me is coming to the conclusion that while I may be able to train Diesel 2-3 times per day for 20 minutes, Tyson needs a little more time. He's more of a 10 minutes every 2-3 days kinda guy. Which is fine with me. More time to write these training log entries. :-)
  • I loved reading this even though you lost a few birds. That sucks, but at least the dogs did good!
  • What a great story! I was captured and intrigued.
  • Don't you love it when your dogs understand a command you've never worked? I find Solomon and Tuula both sometimes just "get" it. They'll even just do the things I'm thinking--I don't always even have to tell them what to do. I love that connection between me and my dogs.
  • Glad they're doing good!
  • Fun read Dr.Dave. Sounds like a good day :)
  • The retriever training fairy came today!
    image
  • Oh wow, that's a lot of stuff! Pretty awesome.
  • woa, I have no idea what all that stuff it for, but that's a large package...it must be good :)
  • is there a possibility of shibas learning how to retrieve?

    Ive been trying to teach Sushi the "go get / give me" command with no luck, he gets everything I throw and he just starts running waiting for me to chase him.
  • @ivanmesa03 - Absolutely! Every dog can be taught to retrieve. Some will do it more enthusiastically than others, but all can learn it. There are a few general guidelines you should follow when starting.

    Make it fun! With a puppy, throw something small they can easily pick up and carry (like a glove or a balled up sock). Shake it to get their attention, throw it a few feet away. When they get it, call them back. Make yourself as interesting as possible. "Hey pup pup pup pup pup!" If they come back, praise them lavishly. Tell them how good they are. Pet them. Lots of encouragement. Don't be in a hurry to take the object from them. Let them hold it and enjoy it while you praise them. Then, after a bit, take the object and throw it again. To start, you may want to do this in a hallway in your house so they have no choice but to return to you.

    The other major rule is to always leave them wanting more. Play this game with them once a day, but only throw the object 3-5 times. If your puppy is begging for more, that's exactly when you want to stop.

    After a few weeks, you should be able to increase the distance, size, and weight of the object being retrieved, and add some distractions (like moving to the living room or out in the yard).

    Hope that helps!
  • @dlroberts Great thanks for the tips. So I should try to do it in a hallway?, the few times I tried it was at the park, I guess he has too many distractions over there. And what is it a good way to make him comfortable with water? he will avoid/leap every hole filled with water, even the small ones.
  • @ivanmeza03 - Water is tougher. Part of water enjoyment is instinctual, so you'll be fighting an uphill battle if he doesn't already like it. With water, there are two golden rules. 1) Never pressure a dog into water if they don't go in themselves. 2) Make sure the water is warm (>65 degrees) when taking a puppy in. Then, what I'd do, is get some treats, his favorite toy, etc, and wade out into the water. Make sure it is shallow so he doesn't have to swim at first. Encourage him to come to you. When he does, treat and praise or throw for a retrieve (not into deeper water). Walk out further, and eventually your puppy will have to swim to keep up. Let it be his choice. And he'll learn to like it.
  • @dlroberts I tried what you told me and its actually working, I just had to add treats to the praising and the "good boy". But yeah he is getting it. I'm going to try for a few weeks more in a hallway so he is free of distractions, the I'll try outside. Thanks for the tips (y)
  • I've been stupid busy lately. Mainly with life, working on the house, training Diesel and Ty. And somewhere in there I've found some time for work. Albiet not as much as I feel like I need to. I don't have time for a full update, but I wanted to share. I took Tyson and Diesel out on Saturday with a friend of mine. It was Tyson's first time being hunted over by two people. I also had a preserve guide plant birds for us, so it wasn't my scent around the birds. Ty did AMAZING. He even chased down and retrieved a cripple over 150 yards!

    image

    All in all, a great day. :-)
  • good boy, Ty! :) Nothings better than being out in the woods with good dogs!
  • Great picture! Ty is a handsome Kai. And Diesel! Diesel is getting so big!!

    PS Is Diesel really excited about the birds in that pic?
  • LOL. No Tara, it's an optical delusion. :-P
  • Yea Ty!! :) All these hunting pictures and stories make me want to do it myself! :) But somehow, I don't think that will go to well heheee...
  • Awesome! Congrats Ty! Dang, Diesel is getting big.
  • Good job guys! nothing beats a good day afield.
  • edited October 2011
    Very nice job glad Ty doing good 150 yards is a good distance!.

    Diesel growng up nicely hows he doing with learning? :)

    ivanmeza03 Saya will fetch or retrieve either way.. I tell her to get it or get her toy and she gets it and brings it to me. Outside Saya is distracted sometimes especially if mister skunk been digging holes in backyard or if a mole tunnel is near..
    She fetches better inside I think if I worked with better treats she might do it more outside.

    Here's Saya bringing me a squirrel it's skinned got it at an event. Saya loves playing fetch with it. She gets super focused and once to get it.
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    Saya will fetch toys, my cellphone if it's opened, wad of dollars, and dog collar.

    Saya fetching me my cellphone
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    Puts it right in my hand sometimes she drops it, but mostly she gets it in my hand
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