Click HERE to see the video.
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| Cap pointed and Terry Click HERE to see the video. |
There are times when most of us reach the end of the line in our experience. It may be in rearing a child, problems at work, or, even, training our dogs. I was lucky, this time, and I was stuck trying to figure out how to fix a problem Cap was exhibiting during his retrieve. Now, I know his retrieving was acceptable to most bird hunters. He would aggressively search out, find and bring back shot game birds. The problem is, he is not only a hunting dog, but a field trial dog, as well. Therein lies the rub. The rules say he is to go straight line to the bird, pick it up quickly, and return quickly, straight line to deposit the bird in hand. Any deviation will result in points deducted. You can see that what is commonly accepted as "OK" quickly becomes "points off", if you want to play this particular game with your dog (NSTRA). Cap (my fault) never got over the "let's play" part of retrieving. It wasn't corrected in a timely manner (my fault) and became a problem for him (and me) in trials. After the season, I RAN to the best Pro around and begged to have him "fix" Cap. He did it in four weeks (three, really, but I couldn't get back up for another week) and I'm very pleased with the result. Bottom line: swallow your pride when you know your are in over your head. Get to a Pro!
Click HERE to see the video.
