Last week, I hosted Danny Farmer for the first webinar in our Expert Insights Forum. We had a great discussion on "Game Day Handling Strategies". After the webinar, we received a few follow-up questions. See Danny's answers below.
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- Pat
Below are some follow-up questions we received, answered by Danny.
Handling Questions:
Q: Can you talk about the use of and communicating with your whistle? When might you change the volume or sharpness of your whistle blast? Do you teach this, or is it intuitive for the dog?
A: Soft whistle when in close and need a directional change - Hard sharp whistle is a more discipline whistle and communicates to the dog - you better sit and go where I cast you to go. I do this in training so the dogs know what I expect from my whistle as it is the only tool I have to communicate what I expect in the trial.
Q: Do you have any suggestions for improving handler depth-perception at the end of long blinds?
A: Practice control at the end of all blinds - box dog around the blind - if depth perception is weak then have to have control.
Q: You said that today’s AA blinds required a tremendous amount of control at the end. What are some strategies you use to maintain precise control at great distances?
A: Pretty much same as above - CONTROL at end of blind - run upwind of the blind so dog doesn’t wind it - Work on boxing them in around the blind - stop them short sometimes and have them deep of it and work on come in.
Q: We talked about breaking momentum on fast dogs, but what are ways you create momentum, at a distance, when the dog starts to break down or give into a factor and you need to push them out of there?
A: Handle - Blow a sit whistle and handle. Correction if needed.
Q: You said Amateurs should take the time to run more drills. If you had 1 dog (Qualifying / AA dog) and 4 days to train each week, what might be your ideal training breakdown (marking set-ups, cold blinds, drills)
A: Half would be marking - 1/4 blinds & 1/4 drills.
General Training Questions:
Q: Talking about intangibles, when is dog is coming out of derby or qualifying, what qualities let you know you may have an AA dog?
A: Marking, trainability, attitude around the water, and intelligence.
Q: What can I do to get my dog to do a tighter sit?
A: Get it right away when teaching the sit in the yard - must be demanding and have a high standard.
Q: Is there a way to always prevent a loopy sit or do you think some dogs will just naturally do that?
A: Definitely prevent loopy sit - must get it in the yard in basics.
Q: If you have a great marker that blows out of the area after a short hunt, how do you improve their tenacity and willingness to stay in the area of the fall?
A: Marking drill, (described and illustrated in Training Champions Vol 1), handle when they leave the area - communicate to the dog get back in the area and let them find the bird - careful with pressure here. Have marks complicated enough if they leave the area they get in another fall area, so black and white to the dog. Marks are tight.
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