We received some sad news today. Wildmountain Tollers You Move Me So aka Lucca from the B.B. King litter has been put down.

Lucca lived in the Southern part of Jutland with Brian, Diana and their two girls. Later the Family was extended with two Cocker spaniels. Lucca has had a good and active life. He went hunting with Brian and he had a lot of nice adventures and daity swims.

Lately, he has had a few cases of conjunctivitis and he has had a huge lipoma removed from his head. The last year he has also had a lot of pain in his musculoskeletal system. His hindquarters was stiff and he was unable to jump up into the couch and into the car. He had to take breaks when he ate to straigthen up. Then, his familiy decided that it was time for him to go.

Lucca was born on 14 June 2007 and was 8,5 years when he was put down.

We know he ment a lot to his Family and that he will be missed. But as always when you are responsible towards a pet you have to be able to take the dificult decision to end it when it is time.

I think it's time for a very needed update before we enter a new year. We have "suffered" from the dogs having been in season and a new knee for me so not much has happened. But nevertheless, a few things did happen.

I had "commissioned" a new knee on the 23 November. The date had been chosen carefully as I had entered Vixen to a lot of different training and she was supposed to go into season just around the 23 November. However, you can not control nature and Vixen went into season on 22 October which interferred a lot with my plans :-)

I had entered her to hunting obedience class with Potepower.dk. However, we missed out on the last couple of times due to her coming into season. I had also entered her into a direction course of four classes every two weeks. The first time I was unable to attende due to the Toller Club test. And then she went into season, so I also missed the next two times. I was so looking forward to the last lesson, but Pernille (the instructor) fell ill and the lesson was postponed to January 2016.

I had also entered her to a course with Marianne Pedersen. A course about calmness - which we really need more of. I also missed this course due to Vixen's season.

One thing, I did manage to participate in, was the course with Sanna Hallgren. I had arranged a course on 14 and 15 November. We had a team of very young and inexperienced dogs and a team with older and experienced dogs. Some of the younger dogs were three of Vixen's pups - Colokie, Cofy and Vigger. It was so nice to be able to spend more time with them and see them work. Vixen and her sister, Foxy, were amongst the older and more experienced dogs. And so was Charlie owned by Odd - June's husband.

As usual, I learned a lot training with Sanna. The first day we worked with direction work, memories and hunting the area. The dogs were allowed to see that Sanna placed dummies in different places in a large area. Then we took turns in sending the dogs to the different areas. The object was to have the dogs run a straight line and not be distracted by the fact that other dogs had worked in a neighbouring area. At times, it was difficult for them, but in general they all did really well.

Having worked with this for a while we went to another area with high vegetation were we had to train "hunting the area" and teach the gods to maintain the area.

The next day, Sanna used the area where we did the direction work to prepare a long direction. Foxy and Vixen were the first two dogs. We placed a dumy in one of the areas used the day before. Then we walked approx. 140 meters to the other end of the meadow where we placed another dummy. Then Foxy was send to retrieve the first dummy. It was not easy for her as she was distracted by the areas we worked in the day before. June went closer and closer to the area and tried send Foxy again. After having tried 4-5 times, they succeeded. Foxy went to the area and retrieved the dummy. Vixen and I had followed them. When Foxy had solved her task, Sanna asked me, if I preferred to send Vixen from the area where we were or if I wanted to go further thus making the distance longer for Vixen. I was not sure that Vixen still remembered the dummy and chose to send her from where we were. However, when I aimed Vixen towards the area, I could feel that she was totally in control of where the dummy was. So I chose to go even further away. We ended up at a distance of 120 meters. I alligned her, she "locked in" to the area, and I send her. Without a hitch she ran directly to the dummy and retrieved it. Helle recorded it with her phone and published it on her blog: http://clevercookiescorner.blogspot.dk/2015/11/sanna-hallgren-kursus-dag-1.html. I was really happy with her.

We endd the day with a very instructive direction excercise which we will be using when training ourselves.

On 22 November I had a training date with Jeanette, Helle Stockfisch and Helle. The topic of the day was "search". We have struggled a bit with this excerise as Vixen "asks for help" after having searched for a while without succes. Jeanette has trained with Birgitta Staflund-Wiberg in Sweden. Birgitt has tought her a clever way to train the search and wanted to show us. It was a bit of a frenzied day as Vixen was a bit hot, it was extremely cold, it snowed and my knee hurt. However, I got the point and will try using this approach when training the search.

Then on 23 November I went to Aarhus where the nice doctors at Hamlet Hospital replaced my knee - or to be exact: half of my knee. Leif picked me up the next morning and then I spent some time relaxing and eating pain killers. Being an optimist, I had entered Vixen to a direction course with Pernille Lillevang on 19 December - just about four weeks after my operation. Some people called me crazy. However, I went and spent three hours in the woods walking up and down hills and crossing ditches etc. I brought a chair to be able to rest my knee when possible. It went really well. However, I was toast when I came home. I had entered Vixen to the advanced class. We were not on the same level as the other participants but all in all Vixen did OK. And Pernille is superb in adjusting the exercises to each dog.

During my sick leave we haven't trained much. However, during the Christmas Holidays we will have to be active. Vixen is no longer satisfied with cuddling in the couch. When i go down to the basement, she brings me dummies . I think she is trying to tell me something.

So far, the training plans for 2016 include a search course in January with Pernille and a hunting obedience 2 class - also with Pernille. Then I hope that Marianne Pedersen arranges another "Calmness" course. Furthermore, I expect regular training with friends and another training session with Iben Pytlich. Finally, Helle and I have agreed to train mother and daugther more often

We feel so privileged as breeders. This Sunday we spent the whole day in Haunstrup with six of the seven Ben & Jerry pups. The reason is that Frick’s owners Katrin and Kai (Frick is the sire of the litter) spent a week’s vacations in Denmark and offered to spend a day training the pups. As if it isn’t enough that we found a sire for this litter that together with Vixen has produced a bunch of fantastic puppies. This male also has an owner who is genuinely interested in the result of this mating and follows closely how the pups are developing. Furtermore, we have found some wonderful puppy buyers who want to spend a whole day in Haunstrup in typical – not so nice - autumn weather to have a good time and to learn new things. Two of the pups came all the way from Germany. Kai and Katrin had also “brought along” four of the pups from their own breeding that about the same age of the Ben & Jerry pups. All those pups came all the way from Germany.

Kai had prepared some easy exercises that the dogs got to try one by one. We had also prepared an exercise they could try. I hope they got some tools they can use in their training.

Besides all the “serious” stuff, we had time to talk, eat and not least compare the pups from the litter. I haven’t seen several of them since the puppy meeting in mid-June. Whau, they have really developed nicely. We are so proud of this litter and of their great owners.

The next planned get-together will be in February for a club show, a x-ray event in februar/march/april and a mentality test in autumn of next year. Hopefully, there will also be a lot of spontaneous visits and trainings

The result of the DE testing from OFA has finally arrived. Well, it really didn't take that long, but when you are waiting impatiently for the result, the 8 days from the recieved my sample to the announcment of the result, is a very long time.

As her mother and those of her siblings that have been tested, Vixen was clear. So I am very happy and relieved. Due to her mother being clear the worst result Vixen could have had was carrier. "Carriers" are clinically normal, but may transmit either a normalgene or a mutated/affected gene to potential offspring.

Frick has not been tested, so the pups from the Ben & Jerry litter may be either clear or carriers. None of them will ever produce this disease.

This Saturday the 10 October Vixen and I went to the Northern part of Jutland. The reason was the fact that I have entered us to a this years last working test in the Danish Toller Club.

I wavered between entering her to the hunt test (on cold game) or a working test (on dummies). I chose the working test as Vixen still lacks a bit of spontaneity when picking up cold game.

As usual it was a small intimate test with only a few participants - from Denmark and Norway.

Vixen was no. 4 or 5 in the novice class which gave me the possibility to Watch a few of the other dogs.

First station was the tolling. I overheard the judge tell one of the other participants that he wanted her to throw the ball much longer. So I hurled my ball. However, as I am a lousy thrower I was not in control of where it landed. Luckily, I didn't throw it into the Water :-) and the judge was happy with my throwing. Vixen did very well - directly out and home and calm between the tollings.

Next station was a water mark. Again she was calm during the throw and the shot. She went directly into the Water and she came directly back. Unfortunately, I dropped the dummy. The nice judge said that the dog shouldn't be blamed for having a clumsy handler :-)

We then walked a few meters and got ready for a mark on land. The dummy landed on a slope with heather. Vixen ran to the area of fall but had some difficulty finding the dummy. However, she was very persistent in keeping the area where the scent was and she kept coming back and worked from there. She found the dummy, returned and delivered to hand.

Then another water mark. This time I sent her from the top of a slope. Again directly out and back and deliver to hand.

Then a long walk - heeling - to the search. Well, not so good. We have a lot of work ahead of us when it comes to heeling. However, we reached the search area more or less in a body :-)

I was a bit nervous about the search. It was located in a small wooded area at the foot of a hilly area. The first dogs had had to work hard as there was almost no scent. And I have had problems with Vixen and her lack of perserverance and asks for my help. Well, I sent her. First she ran up a slope where the thrower at the next station was standing. I called her down and send her in the direction of the search area. And wow, she was working. She had so much speed and still used her nose. When she picked up a scent, she put the brakes on so hard that the dirt flew around her. It didn't take her long to find the four dummies that the judge required.

The last station was another land mark and again up a slope covered in Heather. This time she went directly to the dummy, returned and delivered to hand.

And then the test was done. I was so satiesfied with Vixen - except from the heel work. She solved the tasks very well, she was calm and quiet and I was so happy about her search. I got a really nice critique from the judge but had to wait for the scoring until the test was finished.

It was a long wait :-) I was not quite sure how the judge would evaluate the poor heel work. I would be very happy with a 2. prize. So when he awared us a 1. prize, I was so happy. He then said that had our heel work been better, Vixen would have become best dog of the novice class. Then I was stunned. We really need to work on the heel work!

Needless to say that I had a wonderful day.

We have been pretty busy with training, Vixen and I.

Pernille Lillevang has finally started a training business so that others than her own pups can enjoy from her knowledge. Read more on www.potepower.dk.

I immediately entered two of her courses: Direction 2 and Hunting obedience 2. When I read the description of both courses I thought that the level would fit Vixen and I. Pernille then by mistake sent me a confirmation of entering into Hunting obedience 1. I thought a moment if I should be on 1 or 2 and decided for level 1. I was fairly confident that we would do well on level 1. Should it be a Little too easy for us, we would be able to focus on our cooperation.

The course started 22 September and runs for six weeks. We start and end each course with some obedience. We have been working with directions to a known obejct, hunt the area and markings. And every week we receive a mail with our homework for next week. The homework is on an individual basis. It is so good and I am looking forward to the trip to Hedensted once a week.

Direction 2 startson 10 October. Sadly, I have to skip the first lessons as I have entered Vixen to a test in the Toller Club.

I have also been participating in a lecture followed by some training with Marianne Pedersen. The lecture was with Conni Hansen - a DKK instructor. It was about how to control the butterflies in your stomach when you are competing. This is not a big issue for med. However, I would like to be able to control my butterflies when I train with Vixen. I am constantly nervous that she will whine and my nervousness alone is enough to make her whine. It was a good lecture and it gave me some tools to use. Then we trained the dogs for a few hours. We had to chose two exercises that we thought we would do well and then show them to the other participants. This alone could make the butterflies fly as you of course would like to do well.

Marianne also has a course called "Training of calmness" which I will also attend. This is really something that we will be able to use.

Finally, I had a really nice Saturday where I trained with Helle and Cookie. We trained in turns. We went through several different exercises and Helle is so good at noticing things that I don't notice. And then - it is always really nice to be with Helle and Cookie.

Week 36

We are training the search – without and without cold game

Since we came back from the Toller Specialty in Sweden I have been focusing on two things: Vixen’s perseverance in the search and the game work. I would like that both things are OK before the next test in October.

As I had no mallards in my freezer I have primarily used rabbits, pheasants, pigeons, craws and a velvet scooter. In the novice class in the Retriever Club and in the Danish Toller Club we might meet all these different kinds of game, so it makes sense to train with it. Actually, it is only on Toller tests in Sweden where they only use mallards and geese (and geese only in Open and Winner). The work with game has been beyond expectations a positive experience. She wasn’t that keen in the beginning but by showing her the “reward ball” I made her retrieve it all. She still lacks some spontaneity, but I am blown away by how such a f…… ball can change things to the positive.

I also introduced her to quite a big rabbit – about 4 kg. The reason is that she at some point – hopefully – will have to retrieve geese and they are quite big. She didn’t care a bit about the size. She carried it nicely. However, her spontaneity could be better.

This Saturday we went to Haunstrup to train with Martin and his two black labs. Martin had brought two crows – and as a surprise he had also brought a cormorant. We don’t often get the opportunity to retrieve cormorant as it is a preserved species in Denmark. However, you might be allowed to hunt it in special cases. A cormorant doesn’t smell nice and a lot of dogs are hesitant retrieving them. Vixen was no exception. She sniffed it and looked like she was about to throw up. But then I showed her the “reward ball”. It took a few tries and then she retrieved it and delivered to hand!

When we later that day sat on the grass relaxing, Martin’s pup, Chinook, and Vixen were allowed to potter about. Vixen was so focused on getting the “reward ball” that she voluntarily retrieved the rabbit and delivered it to me. Of course, she was rewarded!

I have also been traing her endurance in the search – on dummies. A few times I trained on my own with her and even though she was better, she still reached the point where she “asked” me for help. I have tried to be a Little rough to “persuade” her to continue - but not with much success. Then one day when Leif and the two other dogs joined us, I placed Chili next to me. This proved to be very effective! Vixen sought vigorously for a long time and retrieved a lot of dummies. When she finally gave up – and I knew that there were still a few dummies left - I recalled her and sent Chili. That did not suit the young lady. So when Chili had retrieved one dummy, I sent Vixen again – and what speed and energy! So maybe this is the way to go?

The other day our little training group met with Iben Pytlich. We have trained with her for some time now and it is always a pleasure and very instructive. This time the lesson was walk-up. We “walked” and “walked”. Markings were retrieved, blinds were retrieved and memories were retrieved. Vixen is not good at walk-ups. She gets over-excited and has a hard time relaxing with all the other dogs working so closely. So now I have entered us to a course with Pernille Lillevang where there will be a lot of walk-up. I hope this will teach her to keep her cool even though other dogs are working closely to her. I also entered her to a direction work course at a medium level. I am really looking forward to this. I hope that the level is not too difficult for us. We have been working with long, straight lines for a long time, she stops on the whistle and I can send her left, right and back. We have also been working with “hunting the area”. So on paper she should be able to manage at this level but you never know what happens with Vixen.

We have also started training in DcH after the summer break. We have done a little tracking and been working on different obedience exercises. Without doubt the hunting training is what I like most but I also like to train the obedience, tracking and search in DcH – and so does Vixen.

I have faith that Vixen and I will succeed. We still have a lot of work ahead of us but that is OK. We will get there at some point.

When Vixen's breeders visited us in Sweden with Vixen's mother, Bella, and Vixen's Brother, Ares, we managed to take a family photo of grandma Bella, mother Vixen, daugther Cookiie and Brother Ares. Indeed a beautiful family.

This year we went to Sweden for summer vacation. The reason being that I again wanted to participate in the Swedish Toller Specialty which this year took place in Sälen in Dalarna. We chose a caravan park in Orsa – approx.. 100 km from Sälen as we wanted to stay in a place that had something to offer for the whole family but also because we were joined by Helle and Kim who wanted to stay in a cabin which fitted their needs.

Dalarna and the area around Orsa is very beautiful as is Sweden in general.

The specialty took place during the end of our stay – Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I had entered Vixen to the hunt test – novice class. The hunt test is on cold game (ducks) and the last couple of weeks before the test I had been training her on ducks. I started training with cold game a little late. When she was quite young she was too hot when game was involved and I decided to wait. Furthermore, she has had a “hard” mouth and I wanted to solve this before starting with cold game.

She quickly learned to retrieve ducks. I did markings and blinds. But I didn’t do searches with cold game. I figured that if she would retrieve the ducks from markings and blinds, she would also retrieve them from a search. I would later learn that this is not necessarily the case!

During the training I encountered some challenges. From being very sharp and willing to work in the search she started “asking” me when she had retrieved 3-4 dummies. Chili did the same at some point. I solved this by not helping her and turning my back on her. I tried to do the same with Vixen, but…….she is a much more patient dog than Chili so when I turned my back to her, she sat down patiently waiting for me to turn around again. If it took too long time she would even walk up to me, sit next to me and stare into the horizon.

During our stay in Sweden, Vixen’s breeders from Kennel Lech-Toller Nest stopped by. They were on their way from a test in Ockelbo to the Specialen in Sälen and chose to spend a night at “our” caravan park and we had some time to train together. They gave me some tools to use for Vixen’s lack of persistence in the search. We didn’t solve the problem here and now, however. We also trained some heel work which everyone knows is not our forte.

Vixen’s test was on Saturday. However, I choose to drive the 100 km to Sälen on Friday morning to see Vixen’s mother, Bella, and her brother, Ares, compete in the Elite class. Bella has excelled in the Elite class many times and last year she became Swedish Tolling Champion. It was Ares’ second time in this class. The first time was the previous weekend where he got a 3rd prize.

The tests were held in an amazing area in the hills of Sälen. The ground was very waterlogged and moorlike and your feet was permanently under water, so good boots were a must.

Again Bella and Ares did really well. Both worked beautifully; Bella worked with a lot of confident and she won the class! Ares was not quite as confident but still he worked very well for a young dog that has just entered the elite class and he got a very nice 3. prize.

I also managed to see the last three dogs in my class, before returning to Orsa. Only one of the dogs completed the test and overall the work was not impressive.

Next day it was Vixen’s turn. As we were one of the last in the class I had time to check out the competition. I saw good and not so good dogs. None of the dogs entered the water directly. They either stopped at the edge to think about how to get in or – and this was true for most of the dogs – they ran alone the edge to find somewhere to enter. To my taste the also lacked energy and speed, but this is a matter of taste.

Finally it was our turn. I had just told Helle that I haven’t really trained the search with ducks. However, in my mind it was OK as Vixen picks up ducks from markings and blinds. Helle, however, was a bit chocked – and I was to become a lot wiser!

The tasks of the novice class was sneaking to the blind with the dog off leash. Then tolling and then two single marks on water. Next was the search and the test was finished with a single mark on land. Only ducks were used. None of the tasks were difficult on their own. However, the area gave some challenges. The search was placed so close to the tolling area that it would be easy to throw your tolling ball into the search filled with ducks. All in all, you could stay witin a few square meters and do all tasks. This meant that the ducks retrieved was placed in the tolling area and left a lot of scent. The ducks in the search were not placed in the same spot every time, so there was a lot of empty scents. However, the area was very exciting and very realistic.

My worries about the test was primarely about the heel work, her ability to be calm during the tolling and then the search.

Well, the sneaking was very good. Vixen was very aware of both the shooter and the thrower but she was even more aware of me and followed me really well. The tolling also went very well. However, we were also lucky that the judge was not a fan of long pauses in the tolling. She had a lot of speed and returned willingly with the tolling ball.

She also followed me very nicely when I got ready for the two single marks on water. The judge told me that I could send her when the duck had landed on water. However, I usually let her wait 4-5 secunds extra as she is a candidate for running in. She waited patiently without a sound and waited for me to cast her. She had a lot of speed, ran in a straight line to the water and entered the water directly. She swam very well, picked up and returned immediately. When she came up of the water with the first duck she put it on the ground to change her grip. This is fully accepted. She did not deliver any of the ducks to hand. This is accepted in the novice class. However, if all the duck are placed on the ground, it will cost you a prize.

Second water marking was just as fine as the first: Lots of speed and directly out and back.

Then, however, the party was over. In the search she marked the ducks and then left them! There was nothing I could do to persuade her to pick up. And then the test ended for us. Up until then she was one of the best dogs. Damn it!

I am very satisfied with Vixen and the way she worked. I am, however, less satisfied with the handler who has not prepared her dog well enough for the test. And I am so frustrated as I am sure that she would had received a 1st or 2nd prize had she completed the search.

My focus in the future is to introduce game to the search. She will have to get used to other game than ducks as we in Denmark use a lot of different game on tests (primarily ducks, rabbits, pheasants, pigeons in the novice class). She has tried most types of game but she is not 100% spontaneous when she picks up. In October there is a tolling test in Denmark and I want to try my luck. Furthermore, I would like to enter her into a few of the Danish Retriever Club’s test this year.

19 June 2015

Puppy meeting

What an amazing weekend!

Since the pups left to live with their new families late February, Leif and I have been looking forward to the puppy meeting on 14 June. We have seen some of the pups since they moved but some of them we have only seen on pictures. All pups had promised to show up and daddy Frick came from Germany with Kai, Katrin and their lovely bitch, Awinita, (which by the way had a litter with Vixen’s brother, Ares, a few weeks before the Ben & Jerry litter was born).

We had invited Kai and Katrin to train with us in Haunstrup on Saturday. Leif and I had prepared a few exercises. Again, Frick confirmed that he was the right choise. He is a lovely dog with a nice temperament and a fantastic will to work and joy of working. We had never seen their bitch, Awinita, working. She impressed both Leif and me. What a dog!

On Saturday evening the German puppy buyers – Vanessa and Dejan and Karin and Henrik - joined us. Leif had started the barbecue and we had a nice evening with a lot of dog talk.

On Sunday we met a 10.00 in Haunstup. After having said hello to both people and dogs it was time for some breakfast. After that I had persuaded Gitte to tell a little about clicker training and we had prepared a clicker exercise for them. We had decided that hand target (where the dog touches the palm of your hand with its nose) would be a good exercise as it is part of the retrieving exercise (delivery to hand). Several of the dogs are already clicker trained and they were totally on top of it. Those, who had not tried clicker training, were quick to learn and the dogs got the idea quite quickly. We don’t want to force anyone to click. I have just found that it is a fantastic way to train – especially when learning new exercises - and I wanted people to know what it is all about.

After lunch the dogs were allowed to play around. Some showed what their dogs were able to do and some saw how Kai works with Frick and Awinita. There is something to live up to, but I think most people like to see what targeted training can lead to. There were also time for a lot of talk and everyone got a chance to take a good look at the other puppies and compare them – “Oh, mine does exactly the same” etc.

All in all this is a very homogeneous litter. One of the males has shorter legs than the others. Instead his body is more full. It will be so exciting to follow them.

It was so nice to see them all. They all thrive and everyone is doing some kind of training with them. The feedback is that they are very trainable and they are fast learners. It is such a pleasure.

Vixen spend the whole day shuffling around. Some of the pups got a little cheeky; they were told off immediately (by growling). Frick was VERY happy to see Vixen again; Vixen was not that happy to see him. Well, when you think of it, it is actually understandably. A short love meeting in Kai’s garden resulted in a long and hard pregnancy and eight weeks raising puppies which got cheekier and cheekier day by day. All this time Frick has been enjoying life totally unaware of Vixen’s hard work.

In February/March the Danish puppies will be invited for an x-ray of hips and elbows and during fall 2016 I will invite the whole litter to a mental description. I hope to have all seven pups described at this test. It is usally very exciting for the describers to evaluate a whole litter at the same test – and it is a lot of fun and very educational for the owners to see both their own dog and its siblings.

Week 23

Vixen’s first Toller working test

This weekend Vixen had her debut in the Toller Club's test system. The club had arranged tests both Saturday and Sunday in Haunstrup and Søby, respectively. As this is more or less in our “backyard” I decided that we should try our luck.

Both days she was entered in the working test as is on dummies. The reason for this is – as described in my last update – that she has been a little too hard on the pigeons. I think that we have almost solved this problem but I didn’t want to push our luck.

Saturday’s test: We started with the tolling. You sneak up to the blind and even if I had practiced the sneaking part with Vixen, the combination of my nerves and the sight of the water was too much for my little fox cub and she ran 1-2 meters in front of me. I shouted at her and she came back. However, this was not the most clever thing to do as the judge said: “Had there been any ducks in the lake, they would have left now!” Well, it stopped Vixen and she returned to my left leg. I heard a little bit of whining on our way to the blind – not much but even a little is too much.

Then we tolled and it went well. We really haven’t practiced this. She was a little unsteady during the breaks – no sound but a little moving around. At some point, I found that she was lying a little too far from me and I signaled that I wanted her to come close. She responded with a single low “impatience whine” but did move closer to me.

Then the thing I had feared the most: The transition from tolling to the water mark and the water mark itself. My knees are not doing well so when I have to get up from sitting to standing, I do it slowly, it doesn’t look elegant at all and I have to focus on getting up. I was quite sure that Vixen would use this to tell me to go to hell and run out into the water. So I asked her to lay down, struggled to get up and then discovered that she was still lying where I had “left” her. She heeled the few steps to the marking spot and sat as glued during the throw and shot – and without a sound! The judge had told me that I could send her when the dummy had landed. I chose – as I always do – to wait 5-6 seconds before I sent her. She entered the water in a nice calm way, swam directly and with a lot of speed out and back and delivered very nicely. She shouldn’t be blamed for me dropping the dummy.

Then we continued to the next blind. She heeled nicely and we solved this task as we did the other water mark. She stayed when I got up. She heeled nicely to the marking spot and didn’t move an inch during the throwing/shot and swam directly out and back. This time the handler managed to hold on to the dummy. :-)

Next exercise was a single mark on land. It wasn’t very long or very difficult, and Vixen retrieved it without any problems.

Then I could put a lead on and walk to the next single mark on land. Again – straight out and back and a nice delivery.

The last exercise was a search and this is when we really failed. The dummies in the search were placed in a hollow and the wind came from the left. At no time had she the speed that I normally see and she had very little independence. She retrieved a few dummies from the left side of the search. And this is when I made my big mistake: I kept sending her to the left thus preventing her from getting the scent of the dummies placed in the right side of the search. After having send her to “empty scents” 3-4 time she started doubting whether I knew what I was doing, and rightly so. I had to handle her a lot to have her retrieve the five dummies that the judge wanted her to retrieved. At some point she was running on the edge of the search. I stopped her and sent her into the middle – and then discovered that one meter from where she was there was a dummy. I really didn’t help her!

I don’t know if some of the lack of independence was due to the fact that I have be doing a lot of direction work with her. When we do that she is so much under control. I just know that I didn’t help her solving this task.

The judge, Sverker Haraldsson from Sweden – had a lot of nice things to say about Vixen. He liked her speed, her focus and her love of working. He praised me for waiting to send her – because she is such a Speedy Gonzales. In summary, he said: “An intensive dog with a lot of willingness to work and which solves all the tasks. A more efficient search and tolling would be needed to get a higher prize”. The result: A 3rd prize.

Sunday’s test: Again we started with the tolling and again the little rascal went ahead of me. Again I managed to get her back by shouting. :-)

The tolling went well. Again a little unsteady during the breaks. On Saturday Sverker had adviced me to put my tolling ball on the ground during breaks instead of holding it in my hand as this makes Vixen think that I will throw it. So this time I put in on the ground. I think it helped a little. However, we need to find a way to do this.

After the tolling it was time for the water marks. Again she stayed while I was getting up. She sat steadily during the throwing and shooting and she retrieved excellently. However, I dropped the first dummy again. The second one I managed to hold on to :-)

Then the land mark which was excellent and then she had to walk to heel all the way to the search. There is room for improvements here.

The search was in a undulating, wooden area. The dogs had to pass a ditch approx. 1/3 into the search. Even if I didn’t have to handle her as much as the day before, I still handled her way too much. Some times she passed the ditch without problems; other times she ran back and forth and had trouble passing it. After having retrieved four dummies we were done.

The judge, Chr. Brix Søndergaard, could see many positive things about Vixen. He was, however, not impressed with the search but did praise her for being able to pick up scent from far away and to follow up on it. He praised her ability to mark and her running directly to the dummy and back. He was not impressed by our heelwork. In summary, he said: “A good marker on both land and water. Lacks a lot in the search”. The result: A 3rd prize.

The judge from the day before, Sverker Haraldsson, had seen this test and his opinion was the this was a lot better than the one on Saturday. A nice comment from him.

Both tests had very few participants – nevertheless it took all day. But it was two nice days and the atmosphere of a small test is very different from that of a test with a lot of participants. We all took turns throwing etc.

It is not the last time that I participate in one of the Toller club’s tests. Next time, though, I hope to be able to enter her in the hunting test. It will, however, depend on Vixen being able to retrieve game with a gentle mouth.

Vixen has for a long time had trouble with a hard mouth. The first time I experienced it was during at working test at the Specialen i Sweden in 2014. Both the judge and I could her when her canines went through the canvas dummy. Oh no…. Later I experienced it several times. If she didn’t squeeze the dummy, she had an unsteady mouth. For me a hard mouth has always been a nightmare scenario as you often hear, that there is nothing you can do to fix it.

Then, last autumn when I was on a training weekend at Kennel Lech-Toller Nest, I had Doris and Thomas take a look what was happening. Their solution was that I call Vixen home with a firm voice as soon as she had picked up – even if she would come anyhow. The reason for this is that she needed to be reminded that she was on a mission for me. All in all, I had to be more strickt towards her and not try to be her best friend! This had an effect immediately! There still was a little “rolling” and a little squeezing but no more holes in the dummy that weekend.

I have used this “trick” ever since and it has proven to be effective. However, if her stress level was high enough she could put a tooth through the canvas of the dummy. Fortunately, this did not happen often.

Some time ago I started again using cold game. I haven’t used cold game since she was a pup and it really turned her on. My thought was that I needed to have more control of her before we continued using game. However, as I would really like to participate in C and B tests we have to start using game. And actually it went well. She was not spontaneous but this is just a matter of training. But……..suddenly she crushed a few pigeons. Then my heart sank.

I had entered her to a C test on 30 May; I chose to cancel this, and then I sat down and cried. Having dried my eyes, I contacted Sanne Ammitsbøl from Sanne’s Hundecenter. She is really good at spotting what is going on with you and the dog and she is always able to come up with good – and sometimes alternative – solutions.

So this Saturday we went to see Sanne. I had brought a pigeon and a duck. Sanne suggested that we start with the pigeon; she would love to see Vixen crush a dove  I sent her to retrieve the dove – and the little rascal returns it without any problems. She had a bit of an unsteady mouth, though. Well, Sanne is not one to give up easily so we tried a couple of more times. The pigeon still escaped with all bones undamaged. Then we tried with markings with dummies while Sanne was shooting (to add more stress). Again no problems. However, Sanne did notice that Vixen’s unsteady mouth were more noticeable when she returned to me to sit at my left side. I have always had my dogs deliver in front of me. But recently, I was given the advice to have her deliver at my left side to avoid some of the unsteadiness around me when I receive the dummy and prepare to send her again. It is a good advice as I saw that the unsteadiness around became less. However, Sanne noticed that the fact that I required this from Vixen made her mouth more unsteady. So now we are back to delivering in front of me.

Sanne also noticed that Vixen – when returning to me – added some extra steps – meaning that she had too much time to think about what kind of trouble she could do on her way back. I have always found that she was very fast in returning, but Sanne wanted it to be even faster. The remedy for this is what Philippa Williams calls “ballie out the backdoor”. This means that when she has delivered I should throw a ball behind me. It didn’t take long before she found out that she would be rewarded with a ball so she speeded up – and her mouth loosened.

The next day I went to Haunstrup where we went for a walk. She walked to heel the whole walk. I had brought the duck and the pigeon and made a lot of sending back and she did so well. The reward was the ball and that worked so well. It didn’t seem to stress her to be rewarded with the ball. Now that I was in Haunstrup I wanted to try some watermarks. I am not able to throw to the other side so it has to be markings with a splash. Before I sent her, we was sent back to pick up a dummy that I had left on our way to the lake. Normally, when I turn her away from a marking and want her to retrieve memory she has a little bit “frustration sound”. This time she was total quiet. What a breakthrough. The deliveries from water could be a bit more stable but we will work on that.

Having entered her to her first toller working test I had to try to toll with her. We haven’t really tried this before and I was a bit unsure how she would react. Well, we have something to work on. She is not that patient between the tollings. She starts twitching and even uttered a small sound of impatience. However, I have received some solutions to this and we will be working on this the days.

I fell that we are so much more in control with our training. However, I can’t help being nervous about the test. I usually fail when I really want to do well.

I think Vixen and I are progressing – both in regard to the field trail training and to the obedience training i DcH. However, we are not there yet – but then again that is why we train.

Sometime I am astonished by the fact that a challenge that I thought was huge and maybe almost insoluble, can be solved via small changes. And this is exactly why instructors and training buddies are so important. You get so many valuable input along the way.

On 3 May we were supposed to bring Chili and Dais to training with Marianne Pedersen. Marianne had invited for a training day for the older dogs. A really nice initiative and we were so looking forward to participate. Unfortunately, Chili decided to go into heat so we had to pass. I read on Facebook that it had been a success so I hope that Marianne will repeat it later in the year.

On 10 May Martin had invited Chili and me to hunt rooks in Skive. We went last year and Chili had a ball. Last year was the first time that Chili (then 10 years) had retrieved warm game. It was quite a challenge. Not that she didn’t want to retrieve it, but hook rook chicks that are half dead are quite aggressive and will fight for their lives. The have really long and sharp claws and long and pointed beeks so you have to know how to pick them up if you don’t want to get hurt. Last year she found it a little problematic and out of shear frustration she was jumping around and barking at them. Well………….

This year was a bit different. First and foremost she clearly remembered what was going on. She was so hyped and very attentive to what was in the tree tops. When Martin took aim she could almost not bear it. The first bird was actually not one that Martin had shot. We suddenly saw it on the ground flapping around and then it disappeared into the undergrowth. Chili was sent to the place where we had seen it. She rapidly got the scent of it and found the bird. After having fumbled a bit with the retrieve she got a hold on it and proudly delivered it to me.

The other birds were all some that Martin had shot and she got better and better retrieving them.

It was such a nice evening. All in all, Chili got to retrieve seks rooks – less that the year before, but I think that Chili was satisfied. She had a ball and she was so focused on Martin as he was the one that made those grumpy birds fall to the ground. On Thuesday Leif and Daisy are going hunting rooks. Daisy did so well last year and Leif has high hopes.

Four of the rooks ended in our freezer. This year we’re not going to eat them. Instead they will be presented to Vixen’s pups when we meet in June.

Vixen has started her season so no more training in the Retriever Club the next 3 weeks – and then the course ends. Maybe I will bring Chili – she would love go.

Finally, I was able to attend training with the girls and the sissies on Tuesday evening. They had found a new, exciting place near Sjørup. When I arrived, they were already working so I took Vixen out of the car and went straight to the first exercise (almost like a test). This exercise was a series of single marks. The marks fell in different terrain inside a wood. The dogs had to go through brush and scrub, across paths and over tree trunks and stubs. There were three throwers who each had to throw two single marks. At the first mark Vixen gave a tiny whine. I let her wait until I felt that she was more relaxed (she will never be totally relaxed). At the other five marks there wasn’t the slightest sound. She worked really well and focused. She went straight to some of the marks; others needed a bit more work. However, she stayed in the area and she was very good at using the wind. She didn’t have to work long before finding the dummy. I think she did very well and I was so proud of her.

The next exercise was a search with cold game. It was quite a big area with a lot of scrub and cut down trees. We have just started working with cold game again, so I wasn’t too optimistic. She retrieves the game that I offer her but she doesn’t do it spontaneously. I still need to play with her. And as expected the search didn’t go well. She found the game but went on searching without picking it up. I really need to focus on working with cold game to make her more spontaneous.

On Saturday Helle and Cookie came to see us. It is so nice to be able to follow her so closely. She grows and grows – and is still just as lovely and delicious. After lunch we went to Haunstrup where I had persuaded Annette Stentsøe to help me with water marks. Of course, Vixen is able to both swim and pick up marks from and across water. However, the stress level is too high and I struggle to control things.

As expected Vixen was quite hot when she found out that she might be able to go for a swim. Apparently, I had exaggerated her stress level as Annette found that it was not as high as I had described it. Well, the learning from Saturday’s training was that I still need to focus on the basis skills as hell work, Vixen’s position when waiting for the mark etc. We did a lot of heel work back and forth to the water and everytime I had to correct her so much before we arrived at the water that the stress level with both of us was elevated. Hmmmm, I guess that heel work is not that overrated after all. The deliveries were – to my surprise – more or less OK. I write this as I expected her to drop it when she came out of the water. However, she delivered to hand. Of course, it can be better but at this point I am quite satisfied.

Annette gave me a lot of good input for my training and she promised that we could do a follow-up at some point. One of Annette’s suggestions was that instead of Vixen delivers in front of me, she should do it when sitting next to me. She thought that this might give us a more calm “delivery situation”. I believe she is right so from now on Vixen will have to sit at my side to deliver. I rather like when a dog delivers in front of the handler but I guess that it would be best for us if Vixen sits next to me.

Cookie was allowed to look at Vixen work and hopefully learn that sometimes you have to settle with watching others work.

Week 15, 2015

Spring and dog training

The pups have left home a long time ago, spring is arriving and training of Vixen has started again.

Training with the girls and the sissies have been moved from weekends to Tuesday no that the evenings are getting longer. At the moment we start at 17.30 which is a challenge for me as I am normally home from work around 17.00. And as I often have to drive ½-1 hour to training I am not able to participate. But as the evenings are getting longer training will be moved to later and hopefully I will be able to join again. But I had the pleasure of training with these nice people both Tuesday before Easter and Saturday during the Easter holidays. There is no reason to dwell on the training Tuesday. Vixen did OK but she was totally stressed and made quite a lot of noise. I was so tired of it all that I seriously decided if I should continue to train her. I do have ambitions as she has the ability to do well – however, she need the right handler! Well, on Saturday Marianne had invited us to Lyngbakkerne on the island of Mors. Now I saw a completely different Vixen. Was she full of fire? Oh yes! But I was able to control her. Before she was allowed to go for a marking, I send her to a dummy that she knew I had placed in the area. She did it all very well. The terrain was very challenging with the steep hils and heather so dry that it raised a cloud of dust when running through it. I had a nice drive back from Mors being a little “high”.

In DcH we have moved up to the C team. I have only participated a few times and I am still waiting for the instructor to tell me that we are not ready for this level. Some of the basic skills are not quite there yet – but we are working on it. On the other hand, I really like to now train with an aim – a DcH obedience test. I am not that competitive but I prefer to train to reach a goal. However, when it comes to the obedience program of DcH I am not quite clear on how this works as I have yet to see a competition

On Wednesday we had the first training on the field trail team (novice) in the Retriever Club. We are seven participants but this first time we were only four. The instructors started by giving us some exercises that would show them the level of the different dogs. We started with some heel work to a place where the dogs had to retrieve a marking. Next exercise was a single mark in the heather and the last one was a search. As Vixen still might switch dummies in the search, I asked one of the instructors to be in the area to be able to intervene if she wanted to switch. However, I did not realize that she has never done a search with a person walking around in the area. So she ran straight out to the instructor, starred at him with anticipation in her eyes. Well, a quick search command made her move. She worked really well and used her nose really well. At one point she looked as if she was going to continue the search with a dummy in her mouth but when I recalled her, she came to me right away.

I have been going to Haunstrup a couple of times alone with Vixen for a walk. She had to walk to heel all the way and I made a lot of “send backs” with her. I send her for some where I stopped her and then send her back and she had some where she was allowed to run all the way without me interfering. We also did some right – left direction work. She is not quite capable of doing this with blinds. Her heel work is OK.

On Easter Sunday we went to Middelfart to visit Cookie – and Helle, Kim, Troja and Delphi. It was so nice to see Cookie again. And I guess that she liked seeing us – she peed on the floor at my feet three times while we greeted. It was also so nice to see her and Vixen together. They were playing so well. We had to separate them in order to let Cookie have her afternoon nap. Helle helped me and Vixen with some of the basic skills that we are still not mastering. We are not quite there but at least now I know how to train it – and we are progressin.

I hope so much that Vixen’s progress is not only temporary. I do realize that I carry most of the blame when things go wrong. My biggest task when I train Vixen is to be calm and balanced – something that is not in my blood :-)