Advanced Work Group handlers are asked to provide a training plan for their dog. This plan should briefly state what you want to work on and specifically how you want to go about it.
The plan doesn’t have to be long and detailed. Instead, keep it short enough that other handlers (all plans are shared with all attendees) can whip out their phone and understand what you want to work on and how they might help. In particular, the day’s gunners and bird planters should be able to quickly set up to support your goal for that run.
Here are some excerpts from training plans (not using real dog’s names):
- Junior needs to work on steadiness in the field. We will have him sit to shots, sit to whistles, sit to thrown birds, and sit to flush.
- We are introducing Rex to steadiness to help with chasing flyaways. He will be run on a checkcord and only be allowed to get a bird after showing steadiness. We are also enforcing steadiness at water.
- Bozo needs to work on course coverage. Plant live birds down the field and start with three-man drill before getting to the first bird.
- I’d like to practice quartering and responding to turning and come-in whistles, including rolling in birds or clips close to me to reward coming in.
- Working on steady to fall, lengthening the time she sits before being released to retrieve.
- Remy has a strong propensity to trap. Either I or the gunners will roll in all birds very close to me so I can see where the bird is and can more easily catch her in the act of flushing. I want to whistle sit her as she goes in to make the flush, not wait until she gets to the bird.
- On water blind, plant three dead birds so anything found is a direct line from the start with minimum handling.
- Rosie needs to improve field coverage. She needs to stay closer and go out farther to left and right. Have gunners toss in dead birds near side boundaries of field. I’ll toss one in front of me when she gets too far out. Plant live birds farther out so she finds the dead ones first.
- Trigger is reluctant to go all the way across the pond for water blind work. I would like a helper to show him birds to encourage him across.
- Briar is testing next weekend. I would like to just do a straight run-through of a hunt test.