Steps 1 and 3

We ran Larsen, Humphrey, Zelda, and Sunny on a relatively cool, but very humid morning at Circle W.

We put Larsen on chukar and tried to ride herd on him, but I was far too slow on the uptake and as a result, he was able to break and capture two birds.  This is definitely moving us backward at a time when we need to show progress.

Before we even put Larsen in the field, we sat him and tossed birds about him - - right, left, and right overhead.  He sat, tail wagging, understanding this fundamental game completely.  Larsen understood step 1.  It was step 3 - - birds in the field - - that was coming apart.

Later, and on a call that evening, Cathy determined that we had forgotten step 2.

In an earlier step 2, with pigeons, Cathy planted a pigeon right on the dirt road.  Then we sent Larsen for the flush.  Larsen would flush, and I'd hit the whistle and tell him to sit.  Cathy, right at the flush, would act as the enforcer to get between the dog and the flushed bird, if need be.  If Larsen broke, he would get a pull either on a check cord or e-collar.

We did not do step 2 with chukar.  We had tried step 3 and then determined we would have to go back to step 1, which we did.  But then we skipped over step 2, much to Larsen and my detriment.