stepping up ?

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stepping up ?

Postby Tony Rowland » Thu 05 Aug 2010 8:28 pm

Hi all

I was sitting at the trial in canberra and a conversation started about the step between novice and restricted.
People were talking about running blinds being a great problem. My thought was is it the blinds that is the problem or is it that the dogs cant
handle reliably. I got to thinking, should new people concentrate more on the blinds (line running) or handling as if your dog can handle, will you get the blind easier than just starting the dog running lines to known blinds. My young dog was starting to sit to a whistle after two weeks training at 10 weeks of age. When helping out new comers do people feel we should be encouraging them to look at basic handling early in training? Whats the best way to make the introduction of blind work less intimidating?
working with the grey ghost, can be like catching fly with chop stick''
Tony Rowland
 
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Re: stepping up ?

Postby Garrick Bridges » Thu 05 Aug 2010 9:54 pm

Hey Tony,
Good question. I think that the key to making a successful step from novice to restricted is in a balanced training program. I believe that 'warm blinds' or 'known blinds' can help in having a dog go out with good momentum when being sent on blinds but in a test situation or even in training when sending the dog for a 'cold blind' it's neccessary to be able to have the dog stop and take directions should the need arise.

As you have intimated, it's possible to start teaching your dog some of the fundamentals of handling at a young age but these lessons should be taught in such a way that there isn't too much pressure put on the young dog as I believe that is a good way to dampen enthusiasm for training and momentum may be adversley affected.

Balance is the key - you want your dog to have good momentum, be able to mark well, line well and have good manners around the pegs. Oh, and it also helps if your dog has a good memory in the event of multiple marks in all age.

Garrick
Garrick Bridges
 
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