I've been taking Jett to gundog training since he was about 3 months old. He is now 21 months and i've finally seen a complete change in him. A few months back he was a little monster and would do anything to be a pain in the backside. There were times when I was going to quit gundog training, but i'm now so pleased I stuck with it.
Last weekend I decided to finally enter him in to a gun dog competition. I was very nervous as there were a lot of people watching and lots of scary judges, but I thought to myself what's the worst thing that could happen
.
The day was split over 4 different assessments and there were 3 classes (puppy, middle and advanced). I entered Jett in to the middle one. This is how he got on:
Assessment 1: Walk to heel (off lead), walk around marked up area and then get your dog to sit. Walk away from your dog and wait until being told to call your dog over.
I knew this was Jetts weakness (walk to heel off lead) so I was a bit nervous. I unhooked the slip lead and got him to wait until I was told to start. In the past as soon as I started to walk Jett would run off and have a laugh. Not this time, Jett actually stuck to my side as I walked around
I kept looking down to see if he was still there, just couldn't believe it. I then blew my whistle to get him to sit, he did it perfectly. I told him to wait as I walked away, I then told him to 'come' and blew my whistle. In the past he ran off, but this time he ran to me and sat directly in front waiting for the next command
- great start for Jett
Assessment 2: Blind retrieval
This has always been one of Jetts favourite tasks. A dummy was hidden in some overgrown area. I was told to send Jett and get him to quarter, he seems to do this naturally so it was an easy task for him. He found the dummy and ran back to me. In the past he would normally drop it at my feet, but we have been working on him holding it. To my surprise he sat in front of me with the dummy firmly in his mouth
Assessment 3: Straight retrieve
This one was a tricky one for many of the cockers as they seemed to not want to bring the dummy back to the owner, not sure why but many had a bit of difficulty with this.
I got Jett to wait whilst the guy threw the dummy, Jett waited patiently. I then sent him to fetch the dummy, he picked it up and slowly ran back to me. He came back and dropped it at my feet. Unfortunately not the best return but was happy that he gave it to me.
Assessment 4: Blind retrieval in forest
Finally assessment was similar to assessment 2 but in a wooded/forest area. So lots of nice smells and things that would normally distract Jett.
Although he took a little bit of time, Jett found the dummy and he did return it to me in his mouth.
I was so impressed with Jett, it was like he knew he was being tested and he really rose to the occasion.
Once the marks were all in we found out the top 5 dogs. I was amazed to hear that Jett won the whole thing, he came 1st!!
Not only that, the judges had to pick a dog that they felt was a 'special dog'. There were over 50 dogs of all abilities and Jett only went and one that as well
I was so proud of him as I just got the feeling that he knew what was going on and he really did want to please me (which he did).
This is him after a full days work with his trophies:
My advice to anyone out there getting frustrated, hang in there and don't give up, the training/work will eventually pay off.