Ulla - the funny thing is, that the retrieving problems with my present cockers come from the fact that my last show cocker was a excellent retriever. I started to train her at about 18 months. After some time she retrieved crow, seagull... any bird just like that. When I was out training and had no dummy, I used to threw my cell phone into the the high grass as a blind retrive. I just KNEW that she would manage - she could find and retrieve anything. BUT - I did NOT know that she was a retrieving talent. I thought that ANY cocker could do this, so I did not start to train my present cockers until the same age (18 months) - and they are not as spontanous when it comes to retrieving as Phaedra was. Therefore, I have had to put time and time into the retrieving training. BUT - they have other talents, which in the long run (I believe) will make them easier to train.
Actually, I could have made this mistake with a working cocker as well. I created this problem myself byn not making training a habit at a young age. I saw Andy Robinson demonstrate som puppy training about a month ago. And he was talking about a couple of tennisballs 2-3 times a week. I never did that with my present dogs. At this time, I have 8 puppies of three weeks at home. And you bet - this time I am going to start them early - but gentle. I have also used the 'puppy training' on my three year old bitch, who was pretty spontanous as a pup, but then lost it. And actually - she has improved after just a few weeks of training.
Winewood - gametracking is when the dog follow a track of blood to find a part of an anmimal (foot of a deer). It origins in a hunting situation when an animal is hit, but does not die but takes off. Then a tracking dog is needed to help the hunters to find the animal to be able to shoot it. In Sweden (and Norway) the trial tracks are 600 m. 3 dl of blood is used. There are difficulties, such as angles, areas without blood etc. The judge follows the dog and the handler and the quality prizes are awareded depending on how good the dog is.
In Finland, I know the tracks are longer - c. 1200 m. Mabye Ulla know more?
If you want to show 'working' cockers of show type to people who think that cockers are nothing byt pets, I suggest this (Danish) site:
www.boban.dk Check the video clips. There you find examples of dogs on the track (Schweiss) and also some VERY good agility. The Blenkarn dog (red) has competed in the world games!
Regards
Anneli
