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DesO'Neile · Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 5:00 pm Post subject: The Glencuan Training Diary

I started a training diary which I host on the Gundog & Bird Dog Forum. My idea was to raise the profile of pointing dogs in general and Pointers in particular. Some of it's repetitive but that only goes to show the sustained effort required to train a dog and some of it covers the best and most satisfying aspect of dog training, when it all goes right. It covers my spaniels as well. I'll post a few from the beginning and if anybody seems to be looking at it I'll continue.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 5:04 pm Post subject:

01:07:04 16:20
Black Mountain
Wet, thunder & lightening,close atmosphere.
Colder than the 15c on the thermometer.
Jump 2 X 5mins. Solo. Hard Running.
Misty & Breeze. 2 X 5mins together. Breeze quite good Misty cutting short.
Misty 20min down wind. Lots of dropping, picking up and casting off.
Breeze 5mins few drops.
Got to start somewhere.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 5:07 pm Post subject:

03.07.04 09.30
Cold wet and windy. Beechfield.
Jilad Excellent,every time, but only 10 yd max
Jet Close by O.K. any distance no reaction
Misty Good, now dropping at 25Yds +
Lexi Spent all time chasing larks, but good
up close
Whole lesson spent dropping, recalling, picking up.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 5:09 pm Post subject:

04:07:04 11:20
15C Overcast. Black Mountain.
Breeze & Misty. 2X20mins. Ist into wind. Good running from both, together. 2nd Down wind. Bit of dropping, picking up, and casting off. They had a non-productive on a snipe haunt. Breeze backed Misty.
Jump 1X30mins. Good hard run handled well. Had two good finds one on a snipe and another unusually on a wood pigeon. This is the first time in nearly thirty years a dog of mine has produced a pigeon from heather.
This was an unusual day there were two firsts. The pigeon and for a time a raven followed Jump, probably hoping he would flush something.No sign of grouse.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 10:04 am Post subject:

04:07:04 15:00
Beechfield
Weather same as last post.
Jalad. 15mins of calling in and dropping. Dropped every time and I even managed to stop him on a butterfly he was chasing. He is so like his great grandfather. If he is half as good...........
He is six months old today.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 10:06 am Post subject:

08:07:04
17C Force 2
Bright but not sunny.
Black Mountain.
Jump: 30mins 20mins. Really wanted 2X30 but he found plenty of water in one of Hitler's Holes and drank too much. Good pace, 250 yds either side, didn't respond at first then didn't need whistle.No game.
Misty: 25mins 20mins. First down wind. I learned something today. She can really push herself when she is under pressure, This is the first time she has had a hard run. Well pleased. She also had a drink from Hitler's Hole and I had to wait half an hour to run her again.
Breeze: 30mins 15mins. This dog is a real bollocks. He was nothing short of magnificent in his second run, having played wackey races in his first. His running today could have won any open stake. Why won't he do it every time?I can't wait to get him to grouse in Scotland.
Gave them 10mins free running at the end. All in all a good day even allowing for the visit from the U.S.P.C.A. They missed their Tuesday run and it showed. Still some progress made with general fitness.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 10:08 am Post subject:

10:07:04 11:30 15.5C
black Mountain
Bright but not sunny. Force 1-2. Just about perfect conditions.
Jump & Breeze. 1hr 15mins together.
Original idea was to run them separately but Breeze runs better in a brace. I said in an earlier post that I had never before seen a dog of mine produce a pigeon from heather. Well it happened six or seven times today. I lost count. Jump had the better running but as is nearly always the case it was the dog piddling about in the middle that found the grouse. A barren pair. Maybe "the" barren pair would be more correct.
Not exactly continuous running as I had to pick up a couple of times to avoid bulls. Jump was more or less flat out all the time but he tailed off for the last 10mins. Breeze had good pace as well but he is easily distracted as he tires and messes about a good bit. I still can't wait to see him on grouse again if he gets a few runs. I hear entries are high this year, 71 dogs for a 40 dog stake. so I fear at least my share of the disappointments.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:33 am Post subject:

12:07:04 11:10
17C Wind fresh 2-3. NNW.
Black Mountain
Misty & Breeze. 55mins. Mostly down wind. Misty had a find on a single cock but wasn't steady. She really has a great engine but doesn't use the wind correctly even though she quarters all the time. I suppose you can't expect much when she has no scent to teach her how to use the wind.
Jump. 2X30mins. No joy with game and didn't turn every time but he is probably looking for scent. Nice and flat and good pace.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:34 am Post subject:

13:07:04
Its a bank holiday over here so I had planned to take some dogs to the hill. At 11:00 it was 21c and when I gave them a skip in the fields thay were so hot they were only fit to drink about a half a bucket of water each. Best laid plans.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:36 am Post subject:

15:07:04 17:30
15c Foggy slight breeze.
Black Mountain.
Jump:- 25mins. This was a loosener for Saturday. He will be rested up tomorrow and fed light. If this was hard for Jump to perform it was equally hard to watch. The area we use is a rectangle. The short side at the bottom is the road and is between .25 &.3 of a mile. He crossed me quite a few times in his run but there was none of his usual drive. Maybe he felt it should have been tea time, or maybe it was the fog , I really don’t know. I reckon he did about four miles. I had waited to this time in hope of it being cooler. It’s our first trial on Saturday. Maybe the smell of some grouse will get his dander up.
Breeze & Misty. 20mins down wind. They did really well. I have so few grouse to work with that I can’t push my dogs on at what I believe to be a point on a lark in case it is a grouse. It might be a week till we saw another. The dog would be well confused. Both dogs ran nicely, and Breeze backed a few of Misty’s lark points. She is really intense on point and he is just all style. I really do wish I was in Yorkshire as Misty is really birdy just now. It is really nice to see them doing so well even if outside pressures mean I may have to make a big decrease in my kennel come the Autumn.