Gangster in Training

[maugh]

Here is a short video of Gangster doing water work. This is an example of Evan Graham's "Work with what you find around you" in this case a flooded wooded area on edge of the property. Working with this kind of terrain helps strengthen the dog's commitment to good lines.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qRIpLIGDBU
Regards,
Maugh

[markbaldassarre]

Did you HAVE to post that now? I barely got over waterfowl season and you got me all worked up again! Nice work. I can't wait to get out again already!

[Summit Forge]

Good drill Maugh. Gangster looks quite comfortable with the scenario. As you probably know, NAHRA and the HRC clubs love to include flooded timber or swampy, lunging water in their retrieving tests. I believe it makes everyone feel "ducky".

Ron

[maugh]

Ron and Mark,
Thanks for your replies. Ron I went to one HRC test (the Inducky one) where there was very little water and we ended up retrieving in a kind of ditch with a tree fallen. (I forgot to mention that when Gangster went to the line a tree blew down and totalled the van next to mine - a very interesting day all around....). One test had us in knee deep water for the land series and muck for the water series. Expect anything, but then isn't that how hunting really is, and the worse it gets the more fun we have???
Regards,
Maugh

[jackie]

Maugh, I watched your video several times but haven't had time to make a reply until now. Really good drill, you and Gangster are going to be winners for sure and make the Airedale proud once again. Thanks for all the time you put into training your dogs. I'm beginning to see how much time it does take, but also, like you said, it can be one heck of lot of fun, even the worse it gets. Have you been able to train Gangster to "shake" on command yet...Dobbs has a method for it, I saw you get a little wet at the end...Smile. Jackie

[maugh]

Jackie,
Thanks for your note. Just one thing, I do not have as a goal to "do the Airedale proud". In fact I am at odds with 99.9999% per cent of the Airedale community in the USA.
I do not have as my goal the "3 in 1" dog that is a jack of all trades but master of none. That sets me apart from both ATCA and HWA.

I have as my goal to develop a retriever that can compete well in the UKC retriever test program.

My next dog might not even be an Airedale, it might be a black Lab or a Chessie. If it is an Airedale it will definitely come out of German established working lines.

When I train Gangster or Madonna I think of them as retrievers, I really don't think of them as Airedales. They have been force conditioned in an established retriever training program with no exceptions or excuses.

Madonna has an upland background and that is causing us some problems in our retriever work. When confronted with cover on a blind, she wants to quarter upland style, not run in a straight line. She takes casts well, but lining a blind is not going to happen with her. The more casts you have to give, the more likely the dog is to refuse a cast and then you are out of the test.

People just don't believe me when I say that upland training confilicts with retriever work and vice versa. That says to me that their standards are are not very high, definitely not high enough to pass a seasoned HRC retriever test and that's okay if that is not your goal, as Hal says, "Mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter!"
But . . . .I for one do mind......
Regards,
Maugh

[jackie]

Maugh,
I hear what you are saying, you have a certain goal and you want to attain it with whatever dog works. You are giving the Airedale a shot at it right now.
Are there established German Airedale lines that are retriever bred?
And yes, it is hard to beat the labs for retriever work, they are so specialized for it and they can run like bullets. I've heard that the Chessie's have a similar temperment to the Airedale. All the best, Jackie

[maugh]

Hi Jackie,
Thanks for your reply. About the German Airedales. They are bred for Schutzhund work if they come out of German working lines. In Germany the breed is split, you can get an Airedale with "Performance Breeding" (Leistungszucht) or conformation breeding (Auslesezucht) or out of both (Koerungszucht).
They are really a different breed, it is hard to realize because they look like an ordinary Airedale except lower tail carriage and darker in color and a few other minor differences. But they are a world apart. They have none of the avoidance so prevalent in American show lines. When I went over to Germany to pick out Madonna's parents, I went to several Schutzhund clubs, watched them work, watched some trials and tournaments. Then I went walking with my friend Hiltrud and a couple of Laubenhaid dogs and we came to a river. They both jumped in, swam under water, worked a root loose from a willow tree and brought me the root to throw in for retrieves. I said, "I want one of those".
For 100 years Germans have had their own breeding program parallel to the US and Britain and a few other countries. But only Germany has developed a working line.
The thing about retriever training is that it takes a lot of pressure. You need a dog that has little avoidance and that can respond to pressure as an energizer.
That is what I value in the German working Airedales.
Even with labs or chessies, you have to be very careful about where they come from.
Good to hear from you Jackie,
Maugh

[Ryan]

Maugh -

Could you please contact me at

tacnician @ gmail dot com

I have some questions - thanks

Ryan

[maugh]

Ryan I tried to contact you, the email address didn't go through. Why don't you contact me at [e-mail]
Regards,
Maugh