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This weekend  was another hunt test weekend.  This test was hosted by the Irish Setter Club at Grizzly Island in Suisun, CA.  Rain was anticipated for Saturday and we prayed it would come and go quicky.  Roxie was scheduled to be first to run on Sunday so rather than get up extra early on Sunday morning (since she needed to run beforehand to get some energy out) I drove the RV and camped out.  Liz and Lyric also stayed with me so we had a little slumber party. 

After the last test a few weeks ago, and Roxie’s failure to honor the other dog, I have been working with her and as much as I hated to do it, I taught her a command to make her stop, dead in her tracks.  So, even if she doesn’t want to, or doesnt see the other dog, I can get her to stop.  Unfortunately, these tests have rules and we have to play by them, even if they don’t follow our method of training.  So for the last two weeks, we have been working on STOP, and she has been doing well.  We also attended training with Brad last weekend and did some work on honoring so she DOES know what to do.  Whether or not she CHOOSES to do it is another story. 

DAY ONE We arrived early on Saturday morning to run off some energy and to practice our new stop command.  I was confident that if I needed to, I could get her to stop.   The rain had JUST stopped and the clouds were beginning to part but the wind had kicked up so it was cold and very wet.  The fields were extremely wet and soggy and the grass was high.  The 15 minute walk in the back filed was a killer on my legs and I was out of breath before we even reached the bird field.

We were once again braced with the little Brittney from the last two tests.  Unfortunately, she had disqualified herself rather quickly by picking up a bird shortly after entering the bird field.  Roxie was off and hunting and was doing good.  She found her bird, pointed it and held it until I got there to flush it.  Since the fields were wet, so were the birds.  Wet birds don’t fly very well.  I kicked it up and it flew a short distance and the gunners shot and it dropped.  Roxie did great and held until I released her to retrieve.  As she reached the bird, it popped up and flew again… all the way over the hill and into the ditch.  Roxie was hot on its trail and disappeared.  I had no doubt that she would catch the bird and bring it back.   The gunners on the other hand weren’t so sure.  Then after about a minute, she came running over the hill with the bird in her mouth.  The gunners were highly impressed with this retrieve!!   She came back, but then stopped short, really short of actually bringing it back to me.  I called her, praised her, demanded she bring the bird back and she refused to do so.  She started to eat the bird and we tried backing up, walking away, but there was nothing I could do to get her to bring it back.  Finally, the judges called off the retrieve and we were officially disqualified.  But we still had to get the bird back from her.  One of the bird planters brought out a previous bird to try to get her to lose interest in her current bird so we could get a hold of her.  But she’s too smart for that.  As she left the bird she was eating to go get the other bird, I took a dive to get the other bird, but she turn around and raced back and snatched it from under me.  Damn!  After a second attempt, we finally got ahold of her and got the bird.  Very frustrating.  We returned back to the start to get our scores:

Judge #1

Hunting = 8.5
Bird Finding = 8
Pointing = 9
Trainability = 8
Retreiving = 4 (needed to at least be a five to pass)
Honoring = 0 (didn’t get a chance to honor)

Judge #2

Hunting = 8
Bird Finding = 8
Pointing = 9
Trainability = 4
Retreiving = 8 (afterall, she DID retrieve the bird from over the hill)
Honoring = 0 (didn’t get a chance to honor)

In speaking with the judges, they were overall very pleased with her skills and beauty while hunting.  Afterward, I asked for a bird to do some retreiving work with her later in the evening.  Once the test was over and most everyone was gone, those who were camping out for the night let the dogs loose in the fields for some running.  While in the fields, we encountered a couple of left over birds and we worked them and she did great. She honored the other dog, held her own points and everything.  I “planted” the left over bird for her to find and we worked it as if it were live and she did just fine retreiving it and bringing it to me.  Hopefully, it was just a fluke thing.

Below is video of day one:

DAY 2  We were first up on Sunday morning.  Bright and early, 8:00 am.  But today, the sun was out and it was a beautiful morning.   The fields were still sopping wet and by the time I hit the bird field, my pants were soaked.   We entered the bird field and our bracemate, Kacey the gray Weimaraner immediately went on point.  Roxie and I were about 20 yards from her but Roxie had no clue and wasn’t paying attention.  As soon as she turned toward Kacey, I “stopped” her and she immediately stopped facing Kacey and stood.  I got the judges attention and the acknowledged te honor and I went up to hold onto her.  She typically doesn’t need to be held bu we do it to ensure that she doesn’t break and ruin the other dog’s turn.  This is not allowed in Master Hunter.

Once Kacey was finished with her bird, it was Roxie’s turn to find a bird.  And she did.  She did everything perfectly.  She held through the flush, shot and fall.  She waited until I released her to retrieve.  It took her a few seconds to find the bird and when she did… she did exactly the same thing she did the day before.  She ran around with it and began to eat it.  The judge thanked us and we were done.   The only way we got it away from her was to tempt her with another bird.

Judge #1

Hunting = 7
Bird Finding = 8
Pointing = 8
Trainability = 7
Retreiving = 4 (needed to at least be a five to pass)
Honoring = 9 (WOW compared to a couple weeks ago!)

Judge #2

Hunting = 7
Bird Finding = 7
Pointing = 8
Trainability = 7
Retreiving = 4 (afterall, she DID retrieve the bird from over the hill)
Honoring = 9 (WOW compared to a couple weeks ago!)

I’m so dissappointed.  She hasn’t had this kind of retrieving problems in a really long time.  She certainly wasn’t perfect before, but at least she brough it within a few feet so we could get a passing score.  So, it’s back to training we go.  Knowing Roxie’s personality, it has nothing to do with training, it’s pure defiance.  She has somehow gotten the idea that it’s HER bird and that she doesn’t have to give it up.  So, we need to go back to “who’s the boss” training.  This might take some time.  So we may skip the next couple of tests and work on perfecting her skills. 

The thing is, she’s really good.  She’s better than a lot of dogs out there.  She has all of the pieces, it just seems never at the same time.  I’m really discouraged right now.  I don’t want to teach to the test, I want her to learn the right way and then breeze through the  test based on our training method, not one that will just get her through.  Somehow, I think the cost will be the same. Where it’s money spent on additional training or failed tests. 

Well, it’s after 9:30 and I’m exhausted from a long weekend.  I’m sore from the walking in the mud and high grass and I think I’m heading to bed.  Until next time…

Thanks for reading!

Renee & Roxie