In a Perfect World

[flyntwt]

I was looking over my training journal for the dogs this morning and ran some numbers using their most recent marking setups of the last month, to month and a half. I recorded 13 setups for both. Jamma scored an average of 2.2 (like a b-), and lily scored a 2.5. I score them on a A,B,C,D scale with 1 being assigned to A, 2 for B, and so on (no F because they always bring something back ). Jamma had a larger deviation than Lily, which makes sense- she is a puppy and learning the marking game.

But this got me thinking....

Would you rather have a dog that is on a polarized scale- mostly A's and D's...

Or one that is mainly B's and C's...

Slow summer regards,

Warren

[Doc & Nash]

Good idea, but I would rather have neither. I would like to see a dog progressivle get better and go from the low end to consistantly being in the A's & A+'s

[goosebruce]

Dude, you seriously ought to consider some porn or something for that free time on your hands. travis

[GulfCoast]

A's and B's at least 80% of the time, then increase the difficulty, get A's and B's 80% of the time on those, increase the difficulty.....

[JakeS]

I'd rather have B's and C's. If you have A's and A+'s, then your running it to easy. With a B or C, your getting those corrections in, and not making yourself think your dog is better than what it is.

If I got out and ran a triple (longest bird being 75 yards) and he scored a A+, whats the dog or myself get out of it? besides that he can run a simple triple? not very much, maybe a little extra encouragement on multiple marks.

Or instead setup a triple with the long bird retired (150 yards), short bird in a hole and go bird a cheaty SOB. Say he scores a B-, I'd have gotten corrections in and I would have took out of it a lot more than what I would have on a simple easy pooty pop triple.

[flyntwt]

I'd rather have B's and C's. If you have A's and A+'s, then your running it to easy. With a B or C, your getting those corrections in, and not making yourself think your dog is better than what it is.

If I got out and ran a triple (longest bird being 75 yards) and he scored a A+, whats the dog or myself get out of it? besides that he can run a simple triple? not very much, maybe a little extra encouragement on multiple marks.

Or instead setup a triple with the long bird retired (150 yards), short bird in a hole and go bird a cheaty SOB. Say he scores a B-, I'd have gotten corrections in and I would have took out of it a lot more than what I would have on a simple easy pooty pop triple.

Can a challenged dog not do well? Gonna have to disagree here Jake.

[bigbeeducker]

I'd rather have B's and C's. If you have A's and A+'s, then your running it to easy. With a B or C, your getting those corrections in, and not making yourself think your dog is better than what it is.

If I got out and ran a triple (longest bird being 75 yards) and he scored a A+, whats the dog or myself get out of it? besides that he can run a simple triple? not very much, maybe a little extra encouragement on multiple marks.

Or instead setup a triple with the long bird retired (150 yards), short bird in a hole and go bird a cheaty SOB. Say he scores a B-, I'd have gotten corrections in and I would have took out of it a lot more than what I would have on a simple easy pooty pop triple.

Can a challenged dog not do well? Gonna have to disagree here Jake.

Gonna have to disagree here as well.
And Travis Bruce can set up a 75 yard single that many "GOOD" dogs will have some trouble with. Did they learn anything, or was it just a bad day?

[JakeS]

Yea a challenged dog can do well, and it'd be a great day, and time to challenge it more.

[goosebruce]

Balance.... i want a dog relaxed. I want a dog that is marking, and no expectations of whats coming. Do too much of anything, and a dog will expect what coming. So you balance between maintence, set ups, cheaty, hard to get to, hard to find, long, short, exposed, hidden, and so on. Many times when problems surface, people focus on the problems, work on them, and that problem gets better (or worst) but then something else suffers. Balance.

Years ago there was a thread on rtf, that was maybe 5 pages when I saw it. The guy said that when both memory birds are retired, his dog was overrunning the short go bird. 5 pages of people telling him how to burn the dog back, handle, this and that stuff. I just asked a simple question, how in the hell did his dog know the memory birds where going to retire before they did? He had a 'problem', at least a percived problem, and he was working dilgently to fix it, making it worst. Pressure wont fix a pressure problem, and stress is pressure. And then adding physical corrections to stress, welp, it just goes down the tubes.

I don't train for corrections. I train for sucess. I train for lessons. I train for mechanics. Id rather a dog do something correctly 10x, than be corrected for the wrong thing. I think they get more out of learning in a relaxed situation and enjoy the sucess of doing the right thing. At times when you test a dog to see where your at, you have the possiblty to correct... have a plan ahead of time, if this happens, this is what I will do. But tests and potiental corrections are stress, and I want to blance that with good set ups and mechanics.

distance is but one of many things to consider. Anytime you rely on (only or mainly) one aspect, your being one dimensional and your going to have a false impression of what your dog is actually doing.

thanks bbd. Bout the only thing better than setting up a good test, is getting to run one. Sure glad its figgin to be my turn to do that again! release the hounds.... travis