Looking back and forth

There remains an afterglow of Larsen's accomplishment earlier this month.  The backdrop for this accomplishment is the months of healing from Larsen's iliopsoas strain, and the consequential, but in hindsight mistaken, exploratory surgery.  The veterinary claim is that after 6 weeks, the healing is done with.  However, as with  humans, it seems that age reveals again all manner of injuries that in youth were healed and done with.  So I keep an eye on him and coddle him a bit by lifting him in and out of the car, for example.

I've had some successful outings with quail.  I'll try him on chukar, with the e-collar as a reminder that sitting is an absolute precondition to being released for a fetch.  

February provides for the ESS and Bokin tests.   Joe has said that it's not until the 2nd master leg that the dog can be said to be hunting at the master level.  Let's see if we can move in that direction.     

Why this picture is worth looking at again

This photo is beautiful in its own right, reminiscent of an oil painting.  Aki took the picture in early December in middle Georgia during the waning afternoon hours of a hunt test.

Larsen has come ashore after a water retrieve, the last event of the day.  The broom straw and pine provide a soft, abstract background.  Water from the wet dog glitters in the afternoon's light.  A catchlight in Larsen's eye brings him to life and attracts you to the warm, loving look on face, despite being partly obscured by the bird.  It's not unusual for a spaniel to let the bird's wing cover his nose.   He gets bird scent with every breath.  Larsen's eyes and tilt of his head show that he is retrieving because he loves me.  The wing over his nose tells him that the bird is his.  Larsen's face has a touch of grey.  He will be 8 in March.  This is a dog that knows what he is doing.  There is a confident set in his body that belies the soft look in his face.  Larsen's tail is up and cocked slightly to his right, in keeping with his trot, like a metronome.  The confident gait is shown in the backward sweep of his left forefoot. His eyes may be loving, but that tail and stride displays his feeling of pride in his work.

In the upland dog world, a hunt test is a singular activity.  The finding and capture of game calls forth centuries of breed characteristics.  You can look at this picture and go back a 100 or more years and see another Welsh Springer in another place and time bringing a perfect end to a perfect day.

Master Hunter leg

On Sunday, Larsen and I earned our first Master Hunter leg.  I've seen some photos that prove that our land work wasn't pretty, but in the end, Larsen sat for the birds - - a fly-off, and a retrieve - - and I stayed out of the way, and that was that.

Larsen had some trouble finding the bird on the hunt dead.  It may have been in a hole, since he seemed to pass over it a few times.  On the water blind, it took some coaxing to get him focused on the far shore, but once he made up his mind, he found the bird and brought it back.  On the water retrieve, he swam right to the bird, but decided to take the land route back.  Aki's photo shows him rounding third and heading for home, bird in mouth, and a soft look in his eyes.  He knew he was at work and loved every minute.

Three important takeaways from Joe's seminar, and one important pointer from Susan:

1. I healed Larsen to the line with the english lead up high on his head.  I noticed that he did not tug or fool around;
2. On his fly-away, Larsen challenged me twice (as Joe said he would) to break off the hunt and dash for the bird.  I was ready, and pipped him back to the task at hand just as those wayward thoughts formed in his head;
3. I forced myself to focus and not daydream.  When Larsen got birdy, I moved right up on him and was positioned to give him a pip.
4. On the water, I did not let Larsen veer even a degree from straight to the opposite shore.  Susan had warned me that Larsen, like his mom Mazie, would start to circle or swim somewhere pointless if given even a slight deviation.  

Time to exhale

Larsen's lameness brought about an X-ray that showed a dark spot on the left rear leg.  Possible cancer.  The dog underwent a biopsy to scrape away some bone for lab analysis.  That procedure alone left Larsen sore and dazed.  The biopsy came back negative or perhaps inconclusive, which gave us all a chance to exhale.

The vet said that she was able to scrape only a small bit of bone for lab analysis.  The good news is that his bones are rock-hard and did not display the coral-like crenelations that typify bone cancer.  The inconclusiveness is a result of the small sample.

Next steps are to keep Larsen on leash-only walks for 3 weeks and possibly start some physical therapy.

One of the therapies requires a general anesthetic along with some strong ultrasounds.  I will think long and hard about another general, insofar as that is manifestly hard on these little dogs.

For today, we are giving thanks that the thoughts and prayers of our close friends have worked.

  Larsen models his clear plastic cone after his biopsy.

The more comfortable inflatable collar was easily defeated by a determined spaniel. 

WSS registrations

WSS registrations at the AKC are down to levels not seen since the 1970s.  Only 207 were registered in 2013.  Total welshies in the U.S. depends on the proportion of total dogs born that are registered and, of course, average lifespan.

Lifespan is 12-15 years, so say 13.5 years.

Registrations are trickier.  Not every owner (or breeder) registers his or her dog.  Let's say that 50% are registered.  Then a run-rate of 200 dogs every year would imply an equilibrium of 5,400 total Welsh Springer Spaniels in the U.S.  

Notes on the new era

Tim and I talked about the need for building on a succession of small successes.  We walked Larsen in the field.  Tim said he did not get wound up when Larsen dawdled a bit, and that the dog would soon enough return to the front, which he did.  We toured the yard and periodically Tim threw out a pigeon.

Larsen sat at the fluttering bird, which on some tosses was beating its wings directly into the dog's face.  I did not whistle to sit.  Larsen knew that he was to sit, and he did.  I reinforced with a pip.

Understand, please, that pigeon are not gamebirds and that the dog's reaction to pigeon is not as amped.  However, successful sits to the flush build that sight picture in Larsen, and help him see that I am pleased and happy at his sit.

We later switched to chukar and had a good success with a sucker bird.  Larsen sat at my command, even though the bird was really his.

Some of our work was a bit ragged, with me early or late with the whistle.  But we kept the work very low key, and very simple and earned our successes.

Larsen had a nice hunt-dead on a long-flying shot bird.  The bird got up on its own accord.  I hupped Larsen and Tim shot the bird, which continued to the tree line.  Larsen marked it and hunted it down.

The day was hot, so there was a lot of time in between as we cooled Larsen down.  Lots of ice and misty spray, and, finally, some water work to get him cool down to his skin.

Learning, but slowly

Learning slowly: I'm talking about myself here.  My newly evolving personal mantra is to make sure that Larsen is 100% successful on every contact with a bird, no matter how contrived the exercise has to be.

Here is Springerdude (a/k/a Tim B.) making that point (bolding is mine):

In reference to Josh's comment about bringing dog back and then sending for the retrieve after a break, I guess the process works by teaching the dog that you will send for the retrieve and that it is OK to wait for the command.

I like the suggestion to only set the dog up to be successful.  If you think or know that a problem could occur with particular situation, then don't do the drill in that manner.  

What I have learned in the last two years is to keep things easy and fun with lots of repetition doing things the right way.  Make it easy for the dog to react the correct way.  If the dog does not react the way you would like, then make the drill easier.    Lots of repetitions doesn't mean "many times each day".  It means a few times many days.

Most of my training is in Urban America.  Bumpers mostly, dead birds some, clip wings minimal, flyer's sporatically.   With the right dog, this has worked.   I had one dog that it didn't work with. 

Some comments of my own:

• Let Larsen know that he will get the bird.  Be fair.  If he sits, he gets the bird.  Don't walk up and pat his head or call him to you.  That's more advanced work.  Right now, hup = bird.
• Be successful.  Larsen loves showing off.  He wants to do the right thing.  If he does, he gets the reward.  There is no sense in setting him up with 50:50 chance of getting it right.  Get it right every time and them move to a new challenge.
• Practice doesn't make perfect: Perfect practice makes perfect.  Lots of repetition doing things the right way.  Make it easy for the dog to react the correct way.  If he doesn't react the correct way, make it easier.   

Something for everyone

The rain held off long enough for our practice on Sunday.  The temperature was an atypical mid-50s at the warmest.  The field was fresh and the dogs were friendly.  Ready for their turns.

• Aubrey began to learn how to hunt.  She moved downwind and then worked her way up.  The beautiful golden may think she is a spaniel!
• Sunny tracked down a nicked chukar, reflushed the bird, kept on it, and brought it back to hand.  A perfect next-hemisphere retrieve.
• Zelda worked for Frank.  Checking for instruction, coming in when called, and then casting in an intelligent direction.  
• Humphrey set aside his own thoughts and ideas long enough to obey Cathy.  Or maybe Humphrey decided that Cathy finally was on the right wavelength.  Either way, the outing was a delight to watch.
• Larsen brought one bird in Humphrey-style: A wing positioned over nose and one eye.  Larsen showed what he could do when he understood the game.  A hunt dead, water blind, and water retrieve ended our fine day.   

Larsen earned his roll in the grass on a rare day when all of the dogs did well.

Training notes

It's been a long while since Larsen and I have had any successes.  Today we had three.  Sunny, Zelda, Aubrey, and even the thinker himself, Humphrey, showed snap, crackle, and pop in the field.  We looked at each other to wonder what had gotten into the dogs, as each seemed to outdo the other.

I told Cathy and Shoni that I needed a success with Larsen.  We set up the simple drill where the bird is practically at your feet and you call your dog toward you for a flush and a sit.  In this case, the bird on its own accord elected to make a break, flying perpendicular to the line.  I asked Shoni to shoot, and she did.  Larsen had not moved an inch, so I told him to get the bird, which he did.  Cathy later confessed that the whole episode happened so quickly she barely understood what had just happened.  The keys in  my mind were:

• I hit a timely stay whistle;
• Shoni was ready and shot as soon as she had a safe shot picture;
• I sent Larsen with all dispatch and did not fool with him.  Fair, firm, fun.  He sat, and he was awarded.  This is fair in his mind.

We had two more turns - - contrived to be sure, but what counts right now is (1) success; and (2) fairness.  Larsen sat and he was sent.  If A then B.  

How grows your field?

Danny bush-hogged his fields in mid-April.  The hog cuts anything smaller than a sapling.  This includes thorns and briers.  Now, a month later, the tender grasses are growing.  The grasses will mature this fall into amber broom straw.

Zelda poses in a spray of daisies that show off the tender fields.

Summertime

At the Publix.  Get on your mark, get set, ahhh!

He's still got it

Larsen took off after a cat at Keswick Park and paid the price.

Off went that dog despite my whistle.  Up into the dense forest.  I tracked him up the vine- and deadfall-covered bank trying to hunt him down.  Larsen doubled back to pick up the cat's trail.  About 10 or 15 yards out, on a crossing pattern, I threw one of the two fetch-dummies I had and popped him in his rear end.  He yelped, I whistled, he sat.

I walked to him, clipped him up and we continued our walk as though nothing at all had happened.  Good dog!

On the way back, I unclipped Larsen and told him to "fetch".  Off he went, into the dark leafy hillside.  Back he came with my missing fetch dummy.

Making lemonade out of lemon, I would say, and our friend Marilyn, with her water bottle, might agree.

Larsen returns with the fetch dummy.

Good dog going bad and then back to good

Here's how a good retrieving dog goes bad and what we did to make it good.

Larsen has become a pretty good retriever, but on his own terms and not yours.  He is not above setting a bird down a foot in front of you rather than bringing it to your side and to your hand.  This is a never-ending issue with Larsen, who either improves or deteriorates but never stands still.

We did a little yard work to overcome this resistance.

We played some fun fetch with a squeaky toy.  Larsen eagerly retrieved, but did not want to give it up. Look at the photos.  You will see that Larsen looks everywhere except eye-to-eye with me.  He loved the chase.  He loved the retrieve.  But he was conflicted on the fetch & give because he wanted to keep the toy for himself.  He sidled up to me, but would not look at me and offer me the gift.  

So we sat there and enjoyed one another's company.  Me breathing in the spring air, and Larsen being a pistol.  At some point he looked up at me; possibly out of sheer curiosity.  I gently said "good boy - - give" and took the squeaky toy.

I didn't tug at the squeaky toy.  I didn't blow at Larsen's nose, or pinch his cheek.  These actions may all have their places in establishing a nice fetch, but sometimes playing a calming mind game with a spaniel can teach a dog a new trick.  

Field spaniel

It's not your fault if you've never run into a field spaniel.  The AKC rates them as the 140th most popular dog in America.  That's right behind the Xoloitzcuintli at 139.  (Welsh Springer Spaniels are at 124, about where they have been for a while.)

I've now met two in the past two weeks.  They are good looking dogs.  Compact with some substance. Both had beautiful heads and dark brown almond eyes.  Long ears (moreso than the WSS).  Nice sized mitts for a swimming dog.  I can't recall if their tails are docked.  And, like any spaniel, a sweet, quiet disposition.

I look forward to seeing at least one of them in the field.

At the beach

Beachcombing takes on a different meaning when one of the drifters is a red & white dog. 

Replace azure skies with a leaden dome.  Drop the temp from 70 to 50.  Let the wind stiffen the flag and ring the grommets against the pole.  

Now you have a beachcoming day for a spaniel.

 

No fun for Larsen

I drove to Bowman on Saturday to pick up a crate full of birds.  There was nothing to the trip, really: a drive up and a drive back.  Larsen stayed at home, possibly believing that I was off by myself to have fun and chase birds and that I had inadvertently left him behind.

Larsen evaluates the empty crates.

Nothing in here, either!

Lonely dog.  

Washington mud slide

This welsh springer spaniel is serving as a search dog at that mudslide in Washington.  I don’t know this little dog,  but I know her breeder and she is understandably proud of the girl.

Seven-year-old puppy

A man in a homburg politely stepped aside to let me pass with my wheeled suitcase.  The man's small dog stepped aside with him as my suitcase popped over the seams and cracks of the sidewalk.  I walked by and I caught the dog's quick glance up toward the face of the man, who was preoccupied with his thoughts for the day.  It was a quick glance.  Looking for assurance.  The wheeled suitcase might have been vaguely threatening to the dog, who was thus comforted by the total indifference of his master to the contraption.

There was a time when Larsen would have sought the same quick reassurance perhaps for a wheelie suitcase bouncing over an uneven sidewalk.  Not long ago, it seems, he shied from a snowman and would not walk past, until finally he worked up the courage to sniff it and then pee on it.

Today, Larsen would be as indifferent to the snowman as the man in the hat was to my suitcase.

However, here and there puppyhood shows itself.  After dinner, Larsen will pull out the most obnoxious of his squeak toys to gain anyone's attention .  He will bring a shoe from the closet and drop it with a thump to demonstrate how bad he has suddenly become.  Once such behavior has been demonstrated, I'm obligated to drop to the floor and lead him on a merry chase through the house, grabbing at him as he growls and bites me and as we torment one another in joyous play.

Happy birthday to a seven-year-old pup as he tries to instigate evening mahem.

Genuine steady

Maybe it's been my time running Zelda or maybe it is something inside Larsen himself, but there is a genuine connection in our outings.  This connection was electric today when Larsen was steady - - sitting, no less - - to two birds at Tim's.

Tim's plan was as follows:

First, we quartered Larsen on an empty field.  The field turned out to be not empty after all, as two of Tim's pigeons landed and strutted about.  Larsen got wound up as he got closer to the birds, but we continued to quarter.  The birds flushed themselves, so we heeled Larsen off the field.

This led to step two.  Larsen was put onto the place board and we walked around him.  A radio played in the background, and kenneled dogs whined.  The effect was to disturb tranquility.  Tim shot his starter pistol and, on occasion, tossed a pigeon into the mix.  Larsen was interested and eager, but ultimately settled down.  That was important, Tim said.

Now for step three.  I kenneled Larsen in the car.  Tim and I visited with Tim's little boy, Carsen, and we let Larsen cogitate on everything that had occurred.  Tim said that spaniels are thinking dogs and that Larsen would consider the events of the day.

Finally: step four.  Tim put out a bird and I quartered Larsen.  The wind was at our back, so Larsen found the bird coming in to me, not far off.  Tim shot and missed and I pipped the dog in.

On the second bird, Larsen flushed the bird and sat, as he had done on the first.  I kept my eye on Larsen and Tim shot the bird, which came down a good 40 yards off.  Larsen lost sight of the bird, so we enjoyed a hunt-dead.

This was an outing with two genuine sits-to-wing-and-shot, a hunt dead, and a successful retrieve.  This is real progress.

Yes and No

Zelda and I had good success at the ESS Hunt Test in Bowman, Georgia, but not so at the Bokin Spaniel Test this past weekend in Batesville, SC.

We hunted a thorny, close area on Saturday at the Boykin test.  The field provided a good test of a clumber spaniel's steady, nose-oriented hunting style.  Zelda was steady to her birds, but had the misfortune to flush a sucker bird - - a 20-foot flier that landed on a line between me and the dog.  As Zelda sat, I hesitated to send her for the bird or even call her back because I did not want to be flunked due to "encouragement."   In the few seconds this goes through your head, Zelda resolved the condition by pouncing after the bird.  The bird flushed, Zelda sat, and then was sent for a nice retrieve.  After deliberation the judges determined that the self-dismissal was a break.

On Sunday, Zelda flushed three birds that flew in directions that precluded a shot.  She was steady on each and was passed on her land effort.  We did not fair well on the water blind, which was set at a very obtuse angle of about 140 degrees.  This primed the dog for bank-running.  Worse still, was that a bucket of birds was positioned on the bank (180 degrees) about 20 yards from the dog.  Confused, Zelda entered the water but would come ashore.  She finally ambled to the bird bucket and fetched a bird for me.  Amusing, but not what was wanted, so we were dismissed.

At both the Boykin test and the prior-week's ESS test, Zelda hunted with me.  Coming around to my whistles and hand signals.  A genuine hunting experience.  My improved skills are reducing the volume of bees buzzing about my head as I manage the dog in the field.  I am now eager to try my improving capabilities on Larsen, and hope to have him in the field this coming weekend.

Practice notes

Last Sunday, I had Larsen on the long cord.  I successfully sat him to the flush and shot.  His second bird was a nick, and I mistakenly sent him for a dead bird instead of walking up and hunting it.  The generally unharmed bird took flight and Larsen broke.  I can get a steady only in extremely controlled circumstances.  Still, it is a start.

Larsen and I later went to work on water, and while I was there I tossed the bird and pipped him to sit.  He enjoyed that game and on a turn or two sat before the whistle.

Meanwhile, my efforts with Zelda were a little clumsy.  She self-hunted for a while and I had to pull her in (using the whistle) and recast her a few times.  However, both Tim and Cathy have remarked that my own efforts with both Zelda and Larsen are looking better.  Quieter and more authoritative.  That is a tribute to working with an exceptional dog and being able to focus on one's own actions.

Percolator

Someone asked me about a percolator.  I know that some campers still use them, but that's about all I know about them anymore.

I recall having bought a Revere Ware percolator for my college apartment and thinking it was just the best.  I visited home some time later and saw that my own mom had bought this new-fangled contraption called a Mr. Coffee.  It was years before I got a Mr. Coffee of my own.

I wonder if percolator coffee would taste any good today?

Graham

Tricket comforts his pop, Graham.  

Winter's last blow

This is about the time for winter's last blow of the season.  Here's hoping that it does not flatten the grass in the fields.

Valentine's day

Training ideas

Larsen broke at the flush on his first real bird.  Ultimately Tim and I reset the field and I whistled Larsen to a sit in a nicely choreographed setting:

• The bird flushed over my head
• Larsen was only a few feet from me and looking into my eyes as I whistled
• He sat.  Tim swung and hit the bird as it disappeared into the treeline.

We hunted and recovered the quail in the tree line, as Larsen nosed out the creature.  Tim gave me the following thoughts on our field training:

1. When on long lead, get Larsen patterning.  Keep him close but don't honk on the whistle.  Quiet commands.  If he is not paying attention, page him with the e-collar.
2. Hit the sit whistle a few times to be sure he's in control. 
3. While he is patterning, toss a few deads and have him sit.
4. Pick the deads up myself.
5. On occassion, put down a clip or an actual bird when you pick up the dead.
6. Re-quarter Larsen, and let him flush up the bird.  Make sure the long lead is tight in hand.

Tim thought that this would be more useful than the simple drill.  Tim also thought that it was important to go back to the beginning with Larsen, insofar as he seems to have forgotten or otherwise chosen to ignore what he knows about steady.  

Live practice

Aki's trips around the ring netted her a couple of best-of-breed ribbons in a field of a single, champion dog.  The real benefit of this competition is the invitation to go into the sporting dog "group" ring.  Thus, for a single payment, Aki and Larsen get two trips around the ring in live action.  Larsen loops the ring with aplomb, and Aki gains the practice.

Aki shows off Larsen's best-of-breed ribbon at the Cherokee Rose dog show in Jonesboro, Ga.

The blondes are back in town

These golden retrievers, Conelly and Aubrey, born a few days apart but of separate litters, and still puppies, really, came by for a visit during the latter part of January and lifted everyone's hearts during a trying time in the Welsh Springer Spaniel world.

Retriever v Springer training program

I would say the progress and steps are a lot the same.  

Same Obedience

• Sit
• Stay
• Come

Same on Retrieving

• Hold
• Quick delivery
• Marking

• Handling
• Lining drills
• Blind retrieves

The difference is probably the Distance of the Marks and Blinds and The number of repetitions in a drill

You still need the foundational steps to build on.   For Retriever events, you really need to teach a dog to stay on a straight line even when doing water across the edge of a pond or slough.  Spaniels, not so much.

Dogs will naturally try to use the wind to their advantage when questing for game.  so you just teach them to turn with the whistle in order to not miss ground.   This is not as noticeable in the thickets but more easily seen in the open fields. 

h/t/ SpringerDude

AmSpan 2014

American Spaniel Club is the oldest flushing spaniel club in the U.S.  

Aki took Larsen around the ring.  Team Larsen did pretty well, finishing non-last ( 3^rd of 4) in the Hunting Dog class (i.e., dogs that have earned at least one hunting title) for WSSs. 

Larsen earned a compliment. The judge said he was in good condition.  Aki said that she used a lot of conditioner on him, and the judge said, no I mean he is rock solid.  These judges feel a lot of dogs and so that is a nice compliment, indeed.

Dog and handler float around the ring.

Aki and Larsen enjoy one another and the event.

The big freeze

Temperatures are in double-digit negative numbers in Chicago.  Frozen switches have delayed the Metra trains, and the wheels of the El trains seem to be stuck to the tracks as well.

The freeze has its beautiful side.

But the freeze is also producing headaches like black ice, which appears to be responsible for this broken pedestal at the Davis Street parking deck in Evanston, IL.

Appalachee Plantation

Our WSSCA Hunt Test last November used the chukars from Appalachee Plantation.  The birds were strong flyers.  Few were trapped.  It took a hard hit to bring them down.    The birds were delivered on time and in usable crates.  Todd Howell of AP allowed us to keep the crates for a few weeks until we were able to swing by the storage area again to fetch them and return them.

Back update

Larsen's back seems much better.  He ran with vigor on the beach.  His deer chase brought no aftereffects, other than a coat filled with burrs.  I'll take him out this Sunday to see how he responds on the field.  He will have an appointment after January 9 for an additional round of acupuncture.

Wired-up dog.

This looks like Frankenstein!

Larsen would rather be at the beach.