Gun Conditioning

I worked Tuvuk today on Gun Conditioning for the first time.  I am still using my glasses to video the training sessions and I have not mastered them yet.  The video is a little bright and there are parts where I thought I was getting Tuvuk in the video, but instead taped the ground.  The first gun shot was done about 150 yards away with no bumper involved.  I made sure he was by my side and being encouraged before the first shot.  To my surprise he did not even flinch.  We continued this drill with another shot (no bumper) and we had the same results.  Then I started working with a shot and a bumper, which you will see in the video that Tuvuk did this very well.  I was pleased with his training today and I hope you like the video.  I will continue working on the video quality and editing just try and be patient with this rookie.

Training Tuvuk in Kentucky

Well Tuvuk and I have traveled now to Kentucky to meet up with my dad and his family.  My dad, Lori, and Brittany bought me sunglasses that have a video camera in them.  This video was taken using the sunglasses, so I will be experimenting the next several videos to see how they work.  We are taking every opportunity to train in open fields and different terrain.  In this video I am introducing Tuvuk to real birds and working single marks.  Tuvuk is now 4 months and 1 week old so I am still reluctant to really focus on strict obedience.  I have moved to a choke collar to start introducing a little pressure to get more of an immediate reaction to commands given.  This is the first time I have used the choke collar and I will be working with him on it for the next couple of weeks.  

AKA: Big Lake Refuge in Arkansas

In this video you will see us just working sit/stay, release, and here commands.  Tuvuk just turned 4 months old which is still a little young to really start forcing strict commands on him.  I still want to keep it as more of a game and not a strict training session.  In the next few weeks we will continue to work on obedience and get him familiar with commands that will be used for further training.  At this point you can tell that the 30' check cord does not bother him anymore.  He has now learned the release command "Tuvuk" which is used to send him when told.  Most trainers start really training a dog starting at 5-6 months old, but with the timing of the Arkansas trip I wanted to make sure and not miss this opportunity.  This video was taken at the Big Lake Refuge in Arkansas.  Tomorrow Tuvuk will be traveling to Kentucky with me to meet my dads' family.  We will be posting more video from that location.  He should be well traveled after this extensive trip. 

Introduction to Water

Tuvuk had his first experience with water today.  Well it was almost water!  I had to break the ice out so that we could get him in.  This is not ideal for training a puppy, but when you live in Nome, AK "what is".  You typically do not want to introduce a puppy into the water unless it is warm and enjoyable.  If we did not do this now, Tuvuk would not see water until June.  As you will see in the video he took it like a champ.  If anyone has any comments or suggestions I would love to hear them.

A Very tough Christmas

Well Christmas day was a tough one. We started off the day with some duck hunting here in Arkansas. After the hunt my best friend Dougs' dog Gage was killed and it just devistated both of us. He will always be in my memories, and today I think he was with us in spirit as we hammered the ducks here in Arkansas. I kept thinking about him the entire hunt and Gage I would like to give you a toast good buddy. Rest In Peace

Tuvuk's Travel from Nome

Well we made it to Arkansas with no problems to speak of.  I captured this picture as we came off the plane in Memphis TN.  Tuvuk had traveled for 14hrs with no potty break.  I sure he was in a little shock going from about 5 degrees to 50 in a matter of a short period of time.  It is pretty funny watching a now village dog get out of his kennel and play on grass that he has not seen since he was about 10 weeks old.  They don't call these dogs retrievers for nothing because every stick, leaf, soda can or anything on the ground has been picked up and brought to me.  This adventure will be fun for him and I will be posting some training sessions as I can between visiting with family and hunting.  

Home For Christmas!!!

Well we will be traveling to Arkansas tonight and the training will be in my own backyard.  It will be the first time in Tuvuk's life that he gets to see water and hopefully gets to be introduced to it.  We will not have open water in Nome until about June.  I will be updating the blog as I can in Arkansas with training that we get to do in open fields, and you may even see a tree in the background.  He has probably been on more planes already in 4 months of his life than most dogs ever do.  He first was flown from Arkansas to meet us here in Nome, which was about a 18 hour flight.  Then he traveled with Bridgett to Fairbanks a couple weeks ago and now he will be going back to Arkansas.  I need to figure out some way to get frequent flyer miles for our pets.

Winter Solstice!!!

Well it is Winter Solstice and it is all uphill from here.  We will start gaining light after today but it is a very slow process.  I just wanted to post a training video from todays session.  I apologize now for the amateur editing and I hope it will get better with time and experience.  The video is a little dark but that is hard to fix when using a Iphone for video.  I have a camera on order and I am sure it will produce better videos.  I hope you enjoy!!

Training to Date!

This is what I have done so far and a quick update to get caught up on this blog.

Tuvuk’s Training Journal

11/30 – 12/05/10

I have been working with him on just getting used to the house and me.  We have worked on basic house manners and some fun hup-hups in the hallway.  He loves to retrieve and shows lots of drive.  It’s nice to have a puppy again.

12/08/10

Worked Tuvuk on the introduction to a bumper.  We played with fun bumpers for about 4-5 retrieves.  Once done I worked obedience for the sit command for about 5 minutes.  Made 2-3 more fun bumper retrieves and finished the session. 

12/09/10

Worked again the same things as the previous day.  Tuvuk is holding the bumpers well on the return and bringing the bumpers back to me well.  He started showing signs of knowing the whistle command for sit.

12/11/10

Worked again the same principals as the previous days nothing new just worked on getting better with sitting on command.

12/12- 12/17

Kept working the same principles with a little more emphasis on the sit command.  He is progressing well and is full of desire at this point to retrieve. 

12/18/10

Went out with Chris Miller and Copper to work both dogs.  We first worked Copper on fun bumpers and then focused on her first marking drill.  I went out about 50-60 yards and threw single marks with no gun.  She did this very well and had no problems with the retrieves.  She did not mind the gunner and retrieved about 6 single marks.  We then worked Tuvuk on fun bumpers from the start.  We made about 2-3 fun bumpers and then worked Tuvuk on his first mark.  Chris went out about 30 yards and we threw 3 single marks.  Tuvuk did very well with this and retrieved all three.  I then took him on about a 5-minute obedience walk working sit and sit/stay.  He did this well and I was able to get about 5ft. from him with sit/stay.  We then got copper back out and I stood at the pitchers mound we did a memory mark and I threw 2 bumpers one at first and one at 3^rd she retrieved the 3rd base mark first and then went to get the 2nd memory mark.  She was successful remembering the memory mark.  We only did this once and it was a successful retrieve. 

12/19/10

Took Tuvuk on a walk tonight down the street.  We worked on socializing with all the distractions that can take place on a road.  We also focused on heeling and sitting on a whistle.  He did well for about 10 minutes and then started losing concentration.  We ended the walk with a few fun hup-hups.

12/20/10

I took Tuvuk and Kiera out behind the Rec center to work some obedience and a few fetches.  The temperature was about 5 degrees so we could not work too long.  I started Tuvuk with about 3 hup-hups and then we worked about 5 fetches with some steadiness.  He did really well and has learned the release command by his name.  We are definitely not working the steady too much right now due to wanting to maintain his drive.  This was the first day he did not want to bring the Avery Training Bumper (ATB) back to me.  Today was also the first day of using the 30’ check cord, which helped a lot with this small problem.  He has tons of drive and we ended on about 3 hup-hups.  Worked him about 10-12 minutes.