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.