Post by oksaradt on Jun 26, 2012 13:46:12 GMT -5
I got to spend two weeks of my vacation time just training dogs in Wyoming and Colorado. It was time well spent. I'd gone with the intent that the 2 year old might be the one to test next with NAPWDA and migrating Murphy to just historic. Instead, Thorpe, the show dog/hunt dog experiment hasn't matured yet and Murphy rocked.
This post is titled Water Work III because of two days spent on a lake at 10,000-plus feet working water with the dogs. Thorpe is now 2 years 5 months and this was his first time on a boat. He's had multiple training on shoreline problems. If my philosophies are correct, then this won't be a big issue. Thorpe did me proud and took to the 9 foot baby bass boat like a natural. I had no problem getting him to jump into the boat. As we got close to scent sources, he's walking the boat, whining, barking, biting at materials in the boat when we leave scent, etc. Thorpe, the dog that can sometimes get too excited on a find to work his vocal cords correctly, was barking excitedly at the strongest scent. As he became more the experienced boat hand, his alerts became a touch when he felt we were at the strongest scent.
Thorpe has never been exposed to scent machines or bouncing buoys yet had no trouble working the oil slick of a submerged HRs scent source. The second day I used drop buoys to mark scent because one of the scent sources got its line cut and moved by accident. Rather than try to talk my dog into where the source was supposed to be, I started droping buoys where he told me scent stopped to define my slick. Only after we worked out where the scent was at did I get informed that a previous run cut the line to the source with the prop. Thorpe got all excited by the buoys, so I had the driver pull up beside each one. He'd check it and worked out that scent wasn't coming from it.
So, while I was prepared to eat crow with what Thorpe might do on water, he did all the right things because he had a proper foundation already set down.
I got to watch some of the "pros" in historic work at Leadville and saw an awesome border collie confirm Murphy's graves that had no depressions to show where they are. Only someone that does this all the time can be impressed by a dog team that makes finding century-plus hidden graves look like blase' routine. It was a treat to watch. I realize though that I enjoy the repartee that comes with working Airedales with Attitude. Growing up, I worked in conditions that most teenagers would walk away from now. We got through it because we were always giving each other nuts such that the time blazed by. Looking back on that, working with my 'dales is not much different. We're often in miserable circumstances, but we manage to get through it by yanking each others chains on a regular basis.
I'd asked not to be put in a teaching role as I just wanted to focus on my dogs for a change. I had a great time because most of the dog handlers around us were all about the dogs' performance and the egoes were not on display. Leadville has an awesome rubble pile to work on and a great resource in their county search manager with decades of search dog experience.
So, to summarize on water, if your HRD dog can do buried bones/teeth on a routine basis, then migrating to shoreline shouldn't be an issue. Once the dog understands shoreline, boatwork is simply fun as you're moving the dog through scent rather than searching. The dog just has to choose where the scent is strongest to locate closest point to source.
Later,
Jim
This post is titled Water Work III because of two days spent on a lake at 10,000-plus feet working water with the dogs. Thorpe is now 2 years 5 months and this was his first time on a boat. He's had multiple training on shoreline problems. If my philosophies are correct, then this won't be a big issue. Thorpe did me proud and took to the 9 foot baby bass boat like a natural. I had no problem getting him to jump into the boat. As we got close to scent sources, he's walking the boat, whining, barking, biting at materials in the boat when we leave scent, etc. Thorpe, the dog that can sometimes get too excited on a find to work his vocal cords correctly, was barking excitedly at the strongest scent. As he became more the experienced boat hand, his alerts became a touch when he felt we were at the strongest scent.
Thorpe has never been exposed to scent machines or bouncing buoys yet had no trouble working the oil slick of a submerged HRs scent source. The second day I used drop buoys to mark scent because one of the scent sources got its line cut and moved by accident. Rather than try to talk my dog into where the source was supposed to be, I started droping buoys where he told me scent stopped to define my slick. Only after we worked out where the scent was at did I get informed that a previous run cut the line to the source with the prop. Thorpe got all excited by the buoys, so I had the driver pull up beside each one. He'd check it and worked out that scent wasn't coming from it.
So, while I was prepared to eat crow with what Thorpe might do on water, he did all the right things because he had a proper foundation already set down.
I got to watch some of the "pros" in historic work at Leadville and saw an awesome border collie confirm Murphy's graves that had no depressions to show where they are. Only someone that does this all the time can be impressed by a dog team that makes finding century-plus hidden graves look like blase' routine. It was a treat to watch. I realize though that I enjoy the repartee that comes with working Airedales with Attitude. Growing up, I worked in conditions that most teenagers would walk away from now. We got through it because we were always giving each other nuts such that the time blazed by. Looking back on that, working with my 'dales is not much different. We're often in miserable circumstances, but we manage to get through it by yanking each others chains on a regular basis.
I'd asked not to be put in a teaching role as I just wanted to focus on my dogs for a change. I had a great time because most of the dog handlers around us were all about the dogs' performance and the egoes were not on display. Leadville has an awesome rubble pile to work on and a great resource in their county search manager with decades of search dog experience.
So, to summarize on water, if your HRD dog can do buried bones/teeth on a routine basis, then migrating to shoreline shouldn't be an issue. Once the dog understands shoreline, boatwork is simply fun as you're moving the dog through scent rather than searching. The dog just has to choose where the scent is strongest to locate closest point to source.
Later,
Jim