TIME WELL SPENT

Mike teaching "place"

Mike teaching "hold"

Two weekends ago, I attended a Forced Fetch Seminar sponsored by the New England Seacoast Chapter of NAVHDA (North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association). Everyone was friendly and it was easy to feel welcome.  The dogs that were involved with the seminar were at various stages of development.  It wasn't about "finished" dogs.

The instructor, Mike O'Donnell is a NAVHDA judge, and trains dogs in Connecticut.  He came north to provide the instruction at the seminar.  For me, It was time well spent.  This was "training for the trainer".

Mike's training process closely follows the techniques developed by Jim and Phyllis Dobbs-- well known trainers in the "hunting dog world"--and Tri-tronics Inc., one of the leaders in the dog training industry.

The Post and Training Tools

One of the many interesting things to me was his adaptation of "the post" used by Jim Hobbs.  Mike took a piece of black pipe, a flange and a PVC cap and mounted them to the (typical) Navhda training table.  He used the flange for (a) stability and (b) for easy installation and removal.  It was a bit of genious...really!

The concept is that the dog is secured to the pipe by a collar.  Shackles may be needed for a pup not used to constraints, but it seems that they are soon not needed, so I wouldn't spend much money on them unless I were training a lot of dogs.  With the dog secured to the pipe, both hands are free to work with the dog.  The pipe holds him securely, and if there is any objection to being fastened in such a manner, the dog feels that the pipe is the problem, not the trainer.  It also helps the dog remain calm.

Teaching the beginning of "hold"

I noted that time on the table--teaching the dog to properly "hold" --was greatly reduced using the post.  There was much less resistance, and much more learning by the dog.

It wasn't long that the dog/pup graduated to off-post training, and once basics were learned on the table,  The training started over again on the ground.

Also noteworthy was how Mike was sure to teach the dog how to turn off the stimulation--which was set very low.  Before using the collar for further training, Mike would ensure that the dog knew how to turn off the stimulation by obedience--both coming and going.  Mike strove for balance--not just ensuring the dog came to the master.  His training was a "great day" for dogs in our area.

Monkey see.....Monkey do.

They say that copying someone is the highest form of flattery.  Well, copy I did!   I installed a pipe and put K-Lee to work. She was familiar with the table so it only took a few moments to get familiar with the pipe.  Now she gets to practice on it every day.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Her own snow-fort

A sign of the times (or season) was K-Lee making snow forts.  Yep.  She does.  When she needs more exercise, she acts clownish.  The other day she went outside and dug herself a snow-fort in the snow banking that we had plowed up.  Go figure!  The next thing I should probably expect is being hit by a snowball!  This is a clear indicator that we need to spend more time outside doing things besides plowing snow.  She needs mental stimulation.

"Hold" technique--sorta!

Since the weather had broken a little, we've been doing yard drills.

Can you see the droppings?

However, training isn't nearly as much fun as exploring in the nearby woods.  Even though there's snow on the ground, there are interesting things to find.  A few days ago--about 1/2 mile into the woods--I heard the whirr of wings and the excited yipping of my dog.  We poked around to see any 'sign'.


Sure enough, we had surprised a grouse that was lying under a birch log.    What we noticed was that the "droppings" were nearly white-not darker colored as we would normally see in warmer weather.

Cavities galore!  A critter hotel.

Later, we came across an old dead pine tree that could qualify for a "hotel" for critters.  They are all sleeping now, but we counted a whole bunch of cavities that were probably used by squirrels, birds and such.  It wasn't a Marriott, but I'll bet they liked it.

Farther along, we found a track indicating that its owner strode along the snow, then jumped onto a large boulder.  It finally made its way into some small pines.  I suspect that it was the track of a Fisher, but I don't really know.

Can you identify this track?

 The best "sign" that I  saw was in a McDonald's parking lot.  It was a pay phone--plowed in and unusable.  When I was a young lad, I would spend many coins in one of these.
 

Now.... well, it's just a sign of the times.