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Dog Training: Bike exercise and fetch with Sam

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Charles tuned up his bike and hooked up “The Springer” over the weekend.

Wirehaird Pointing Griffon

On their way

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Down the street

The roading harness that is on the dog was purchased separately.  “The Springer” required a slight modification, because a small plastic piece that attached the rope to the breakaway device (the part that detaches from the metal arm in case a post gets between the bike and the dog) snapped.  Charles resolved the issue by simply tying the rope to the breakaway device.

The Springer

The dog rope tied directly to the breakaway piece

After the modification, Charles took a nice long ride with Sam.  He even tested the breakaway device post-modification and it was still effective.  Both Charles and the dog seem to be satisfied with the product.  I think this is the first time we have ever purchased anything made in Norway, so good job Norwegians:)

Charles also worked on the commands “fetch” and “out” with Sam.  The fetching part was easy and smooth, but we still need to work a little more on “out”.  He should automatically release the dummy on the “out” command, but we still have to pry on his mouth a little.  We’ll just keep practicing.

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

He first tossed the bumper

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Out with the bumper

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

They also worked with a pheasant dummy

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Sam fetches pheasant dummy

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Sam retrieves pheasant dummy

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Out with the pheasant dummy

Sam fetching pheasant dummy on another throw

Sam is only two-years old, so we are working on polishing him up on commands now that his natural abilities have been tested in the field.  We are also working toward the NAVHDA Utility Preparatory Test and hoping he will be ready for it in the fall.  We’ll keep you updated on his progress.

Observing NAVHDA Training Day

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This morning we made the trek to Thurman, Iowa to observe the Heartland NAVHDA Chapter’s June Training Day.  Up to this point in our dog training/child-rearing adventure that is life, we never had the time to explore NAVHDA in-depth.  Charles was always actively involved in the Pheasant’s Forever Chapter and skeet league; that always seemed to be enough.  He seems to be interested in getting Sam into doing some NAVDHA training after observing today.  I don’t think I will be getting involved (outside of working with Sam at home) until we add a new female pup to the pack within the next couple of years.

The training session was split into two groups, puppy and adult dog.  NAVDHA training at the pup level is the same as the instinctive hunting method we’ve been using to train our dogs when they were pups.  I met this adorable 9 week old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon puppy from Grand Island, Nebraska and it was love at first sight!

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon puppy

Cute 9 week old pup from Grand Island, NE

The first thing the trainer did was give the dog the scent.

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon puppy

Griff pup getting the quail scent

He turned the quail loose and she was after it!

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon puppy

Giving chase

Meanwhile, the adult dog group was practicing their field skills.

NAVHDA Training Day

A brace of German Shorthair Pointers

Bracco Italiano NAVHDA

Bracco Italiano taking the field

Charles observed the adult dog group for the entire two hours, while I only made a brief foray into this crowd.  I mainly observed the puppy training and tried to keep my three kids out of the way of the whole scene.   Overall, it was a good experience and something we feel will make a good addition to our training regimen.

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