First Field Training Day
When I sent in the application to get a puppy from Gaylans, field certainly wasn’t one of the things I put down as something we were going to get involved in. Then I found out I was getting a comedian and based on his pedigree, I figured I owed it to him to see what it was all about since it certainly is in his blood.
On Riot’s puppy evaluation, he was described as having a good send, but not so great of a retrieve. I’ve been throwing bumpers a couple of times a week (when it wasn’t freezing cold out) for a few months. And he’s finally getting better at bringing ‘em back when they’re thrown 5-10 feet. He has lots of enthusiasm about the game, but hasn’t quite decided bringing it back is an exciting thing.
Yesterday was the PVGRC’s first field training day of the year, so I figured we’d go and see what this training thing was all about. Playing with him off to the side, we got some good small retrieves but when it came time to take it into the field, there was no interest in bringing it back. He drove out really nicely, would smell the bumpers, and then run back to me. I was relieved he was so willing to come back to me, but it would have been nice if he had brought a bumper with him.
We also introduced him to the ducks, he only had mild interest in them. He was intrigued, but not intrigued enough to pick one up.
I think we have quite a bit of work to do. I was encouraged with how well he was doing bringing the short throws back to me in a new location (well newish, we had been to that location to watch a couple of hunt tests last fall). Hopefully by July, we’ll be able to bring back a bumper.
