Well we went on a drive out of town to work Tuvuk, but the wind was blowing about 25 mph today. It was much warmer with Temps around 25-30 above. We finally decided just to go back into town and work him in the parking lot that you have seen in previous videos. I mainly worked Tuvuk on obedience and bringing the bumper back to the finishing position. We did not take any video due to the wind and lighting, but we managed to get a couple good pictures.
In this video I show you how to use the leather glove drill. This drill is very good for introducing the following.
1.) Learn how to hold birds.
2.) Gain confidence in what you are asking of them.
3.) Encourage having a soft mouth.
4.) Lead up to future drills for force-fetching.
Sorry for the offset of the camera. I wanted to capture more of Tuvuk but I did not realize that it was set off to the side a little. I will work on this in the future.
This video will show you how to start working the command "Hold". This is a basic command that you will teach your dog before any force fetching is started. This will make the third session of working this drill with Tuvuk. He has picked up on this very well. In upcoming sessions we will phase out the wooden dowel and transfer over to the Avery Training Bumper (ATB).
Well when it is -25 to -30 degrees outside there are other ways that we can train our dogs. I will not explain much about this video, but you will be able to figure it out yourself.
This video illustrates basic obedience training where we work on getting more of an immediate response to the commands. I want to make sure Tuvuk knows all the commands very well before we start introducing him to "pressure". This is done by using an E-Collar which will come in future training sessions. The collar will basically replace the choke chain, which currently is providing some pressure in the training we are doing. You will be able to see in a few weeks how introducing a pup to the E-Collar will provide a more immediate response to the commands. Hope you enjoy this video.
This video was taken yesterday just to let everyone see the old man still has it. Remington is now 11 years old, but still has the heart that he did when he was Tuvuk's age. As the saying goes, "They don't quit playing because they get old, they get old because they quit playing." He is still in pretty good shape for his age and we do plan on hunting him this spring some. Just to let you know what we are doing here the bumpers were thrown in line with each other, and Remington was taught to retrieve the furthest one first. Hope you enjoy!
Today was a beautiful day in Nome. It was about 10 degrees and very light wind so we took advantage of this time and worked Tuvuk again with a gun. In this video Bridgett was our shooter. We mainly focused on single retrieves and working the gun closer. The video was interupted after Tuvuk knocked over the tripod and the camera ended up in the snow. By the end of the session Bridgett was able to shoot the gun right next to me and this did not phase Tuvuk.
Well this week has been a challenging one. I was finally able to get caught up at work and school started back this week. I am sorry for not posting any videos, but I am going to try and get some this weekend. We have been training Tuvuk at night after work, but getting video in these conditions can be a challenge. I plan on taking Tuvuk out tomorrow during the day and hopefully get some video to post to the blog. I did catch some good couch time this week with my two boys. The old man in the video for the people who may not know is Remington. He has been my hunting buddy for 11 years now and deserves every minute of couch time that he wants. Hope you enjoy the video.
I have started working Tuvuk positioning him for future training drills. I will be working on this for the next couple of weeks getting him in this position. You will see in the video what I am talking about. The position is basically sitting in front of me once I give him the HERE command. From this position we will eventually start working the HOLD command, Force Fetch, Casting, and Bird Delivery. For people not familiar with these terms I will break down the definition for you.
Here: This is the command for the dog to come one he/she has retrieved the bumper.
Hold: This is the command for the dog to not release the bumper/bird until commanded to do so.
ForceFetch: This is a drill that we will demand the dog to fetch the bumper on command no matter
where the bumper is laying. This is a "must" if you are planning on running your dog
in any trial situation. You will see lots of video once this training has begun.
Casting: This is a drill that we will do in order to teach Tuvuk directions. I will have him in the
position you will see in the video and then throw the bumper to the left and give the over
command left and right and then the back command.
BirdDelivery: This is also the position that Tuvuk will hold the bird and deliver to my hand when the
release command DROP is given.
I tried to do another video today but it was dark and the video glasses did not capture the lighting that I needed. It will be challenging to get good video for the next couple of months due to the long hours of dark we have right now. I will try and capture video on the weekends and you updated on the training routine.
Bridgett is running the Copper Basin 300 sled dog race this weekend. There are 3 SP Kennel Teams in this race. If you would like to follow the race please visit www.cb300.com. They also have gps trackers on the mushers this year so you can even see what speed and the location they are traveling.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
This is the last video that was taken while on my travels down in Arkansas. This video was taken at my buddy's camp in Stuttgart AR. In this video we continued concentration on single marks and the introduction of running straight lines. You will also see where Tuvuk wanted to break before the release command was given, and this video will show you how to deal with this issue for a young pup. Tuvuk and I are heading back north right now and I am making this post from Chicago. As always we had some wonderful travel problems and Tuvuk had to be put on a plane to Dallas and then meet me in Seattle. When we arrived at the Airport the airline company that he flew down here on from Chicago to Memphis told me that they do not allow pets to fly on their airline. So I talked with American Airlines and booked him as a cargo shipment to Seattle, where I will pick him up and then re-check him onto Alaska Airlines. This will just add another city that Tuvuk gets to visit in his travels. Hope you enjoy the video. I encourage everyone to make comments to let me know if you have questions that I may be able to answer.
In the past few weeks Tuvuk and I have been well traveled. After arriving in Arkansas we traveled to Kentucky and then down to South Arkansas, to hunt with some good friends from college. Tyler Rogers who was the best man at my wedding, has a duck camp just south of Stuttgart AR, which is the duck hunting capital of the world "so they say". We had a great time killing birds and hanging out with friends. I took this opportunity to work Tuvuk on maintaining straight lines. He worked in the timber for the first time. It amazes me how smart and well bred a dog can be. It is hard for viewers to understand that I have only had this dog about 4 weeks and almost everything you will see in the video, Tuvuk has never seen or done. I hope you enjoy the video.
Today we took Tuvuk out to Big Lake and he was able to swim for the first time. The temperature was about 25 degrees, which is really cold for introducing a dog to water. As I have mentioned before, we do not have a choice, due to not having open water until June in Nome. He was a little leery at first but toward the end of the video you will see that he was all about it. I did not concentrate on obedience because I wanted him just to have fun and enjoy getting in the water. I used the glasses again and it turned out pretty well. If you have any questions or comments don't forget about the Q&A section I have posted to the blog.
