Interested in winter training ideas. Drills, use of lighted field, water in the winter, etc.

Sorry you haven't gotten any love on this.

Since its gotten dark alot sooner, I went and talked to the pricipal at one of the local high schools and got acess to their football field at night. Its perfect for the TT. For the water, its alot different for us here in GA. We dont have to change anything becasue the water doesn't really get that cold.

But try your local HS, they might hook you up!!

Davin

Yeah I guess no one loves me or no one trains during the dark winter. I do have a few lighted areas. What I don't have is enough innovated ideas and drills other than double T which I don't do since my dog is past that stage. What I do is advanced baseball. This drill was given to me by Paul Young. But always open to other ideas. Thanks for the response.

One idea is a large blind field,consisti9ng of at least 5 and often more. The goal is to handle not to line.Each blind should have several elements to challange the dog.(tight works if all other elements fail, also distance)
5 or more so the dog really doesn't ever get to know all the blinds. rUN EXTREME PRECISION, if 3 handles is good 30 is much better, build handling tolerence. To change the pace send for the middle, give the dog 150 to 200 yards to establish and then handle to a blind far from the one sent for. Wade out and throw marks for the dog short of the blinds. The dog can see these in what we would describe as dark.
have fun

Great idea. Just what I was looking for. Do you think stopping him often could affect drive? But I like the idea O dog getting used to a lot of whistles. Give me more ideas!!

You need to judge the stoping issue for yourself. Some dogs seem to gain confidence from this aproach no whistle also means your doing perfect. I would balance extreme percision with days9or perhaps just some of the blinds) with the idea of using the least possible number of handles to maintain balance. BALANCE is the main issue.
Another ideais to hand throw 4 or more marks within say 100 t0 150 feet. Some from your side and walk out for some. Put problems in for the dog. Through a bush tight to a bush, through a hole or snow bank, shave one by one, ect. Also if you have fresh snow throw a bumper from your side into undesturbed snow. Then shift to a new spot. In the right snow the bumber sinks leaving only an entry hole. This encourages pinpoint marking and they literally have to dig it out. You want to mark these real close yourself or have lots of bumpers since it usually takes a dog some time to get with this.
have fun
steve

Thank you very much for the tips. Will get to work on these new ideas.

Moscowitz,

Let me suggest an "Extended Casting Drill" to compliment Steve's keen suggestions (refer to post in "young dog training"). Somebody asked Rex Carr "when do you go back to drill-work?" to which Rex replied "Right after you WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!" As with ALL dog training, ALWAYS MAINTAIN A HAPPY, HEALTHY WORK ATTITUDE! This positive attitude revolves around a BALANCED TRAINING APPROACH.

Best of Luck in ALL your K-9 endeavors and in the New Year!

Bruce

Walking baseball is a good winter drill. At night, I find a big illuminated parking lot at an industrial park. It's relaxing for me, and the dogs love to do it. It helps their handling,lining and marking. It's an easy drill to do, but tough to explain on the internet. DL Walters explains it in is book,"Training Retrievers to Handle".

Happy New Year,
Bill

Moscowitz,
I just re-read your earlier posts. I had previously missed your post about advanced baseball. I suppose that is the same as walking baseball, so it sounds like you are already doing it. Good Luck,
Bill