1/9/00 (28 Weeks 6 Days) 49.5 Lbs It has been around 8 weeks since out last update and there is much to be updated. I will include several updates over the next week to catch us up. Our downtime has been mostly due to hunting season. We do hunt our dogs and we do so as much as possible. First and foremost we have seen a great increase in Rosie's retrieve instinct. She has become addicted to our retrieve games and has demonstrated a marked increase in her speed during retrieves. She runs about as fast as a chunky little Golden can go. Yes, I said chunky. She has become a stout little girl and is still growing. Rosie now has her adult teeth. That means force fetch is possible and she is ready for the process to take place. Force fetch will begin after next weekend which will be our last duck hunt of the season. Over the last several weeks Rosie has gone to the duck lease repeatedly. She did not hunt from the blind but was allowed a couple of walk up type hunts. I am a strong advocate of not allowing a pup to hunt until the pup is ready for the experience. I don't feel the risks are worth the benefit. Rosie was not ready for a formal hunt and is not capable of performing all the tasks required. She was ready for some experience though and she was perfectly ready for some jump shooting. We did so and at first she was a handful. The sight of the birds coming up out of the rice around her was something to see. It did absolute wonders for her birdiness and ended up being a strong factor in teaching steadiness. I must point out that doing this was a risk. It could have created some very bad habits and I do not recommend anyone doing this unless you have a very good idea of what is going to happen. We were ready with the 20 foot lead dragging on the ground behind Rosie. We also had Rusty walking at heel on the other side and the purpose was to allow only a well behaved Rosie to retrieve a downed bird. The initial outcome was an immediate break. She was controlled by the lead calmed down and had the chance to see Rusty get her bird. She was a truly sad dog at that point. The next bird was a little better with a whistle being all that was required to stop her. Again she watched Rusty pick up her bird. The third bird was hers. A sit whistle as the bird flushed gained an immediate sit and she was allowed the retrieve. It was a mallard drake and was her first true retrieve of a wild bird. This routine was repeated with an additional break but the final outcome has been that she is now semi reliable at not breaking on a walkup. We also made a couple of trips afield with Rosie for some additional experience in dove style hunt set up. We did not shoot doves but the rice birds were very cooperative. The field was bare dirt and Rosie experienced considerable difficulty with scenting the fallen birds. These mock dove hunts ended up being an excellent method of practicing marking skills. The rice birds provided little scent and good marking was the only way for her to be successful in a short period of time. Water work has increased in length with our training pond no longer providing a challenge. Launched dummys to 150 yards are possible but may require some encouragement on the part of her handler. No physical effort at all, only an excited attitude on her handlers part. Speaking of water work... Rosie had her first taste of upset stomach from trying to drink the pond dry on a really long mark. This is something seen in many but by no means all retrievers. For those not have seen it, it is little more than swallowing to much water while on a retrieve. The end result is to regurgitate it some time later. In Rosies case it was about 45 minutes after we finished working and was in the middle of the office floor. Opps! No punishment would be considered fair for this and I would not even consider it but Rosie's reaction immediately after the incident was somewhat unique. She was very sure that she was in trouble and hid under the desk while I conducted mop duties. She remained there even when I called her in a very normal and reassuring voice. OK. Its a simple story about a simple incident but..... It is a very good clue that we need to do a debolt session or two with Rosie. The debolt is done to teach the dog to handle the pressure of almost any situation. In this case she chose to "escape" the perceived pressure by hiding. This is not something that will be acceptable during more advanced training and is something best dealt with before that time. We will do this as soon as we complete force fetch on the table. This is also something that has become more pronounced over time. When she was a tiny little thing she was a much more dominant animal than she is now. She is now easily corrected with little more than a change in her trainer's demeanor. Little physical correction is ever needed with her. This is also a change that to me, seems like it is more often seen in Goldens than in Labs. I don't consider it bad but it is necessary to recognize this when dealing with Goldens and adjusting methods to suit the particular dog. I will post an update tomorrow on our initial experience with the hold command. Only one weekend of duck season left. :-(

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