07 01 05 930 W, 1 I - + 122 - 113

Timetables for Success


Photo taken at Lincoln Fall Trial where Moots won Qual, Ace won Am, Buffy won Derby, and Britt took 4th in the Qual. I think it is dangerous to establish set time lines for anything so variable as dog training is.

First, there are wide variances in the dogs themselves. A dog’s progress to a large extent is dictated by its maturity. Some dogs are mature as puppies; others never grow up. A dog’s progress is also dictated by its compliance. Some dogs are born team players, some become team players, still others remain renegades all their lives.

For me, I am patient with those dogs that can mark. It is a competitive world out there in the All Age Stakes. The dogs and handlers get better all the time, and the tests have become correspondingly more difficult. To be competitive today, you must have a good marking dog.

If they can’t mark, they are gone - no matter how much I like the personality of the dog. I am willing to work through a lot of problems if I think I have a marking dog.

For example, we knew very early on that Zowie would be a big time dog. He followed the standard track ... 16 derby points ... qual placements at 2.5 years of age ... All Age placements at three.

His litter mate, Ace, was a different story. Ace was not placed with Cherylon until he was a year old, so he was 6 months behind Zowie in training. In addition, where Zowie was serious about his work as a puppy, Ace was more of a party boy. Ace ran no derbies. Ace ran no Q’s. Ace had done little until he turned 3.5 years of age, when he won an Am and jammed in the Open at the same trial. The following year, he did nothing. I stayed with him, because he could mark in training. But, he remained a party boy ... he would break in the fourth series when he had won the trial ... he would run all over god’s green acre then pounce on the bird, when he had run enough.

I was beginning to despair about Ace’s ever growing up. Although his marking in training remained superb, he continued to screw up in competition. After Zowie finished the 2003 National Amateur, I had decided to run Ace the remainder of the season, and sell him if he didn’t improve. Ace must have known he was on the bubble because the summer and fall of 2003, Ace got an Open win, Open 2nd, and an Amateur 1st, plus a bunch of Jams. Since then, Ace and I have gone 7 series in the 2003 National Open, 7 series in the 2004 National Am, and 8 series in the 2005 National Am.

If I had followed the time table that some propose, I would not have kept Ace, who is the most competitive dog on my truck.

In contrast, both of my young bitches, Mootsie and Buffy, got derby points (17 and 5 respectively) and acquired their Q wins shortly after their second birthday.

The common denominator for Ace, Zowie, Mootsie, and Buffy is that they can all mark.

You start with marking. That is the foundation. And when you have a good marking dog, you need to have patience .... and trust that the rest will come with time and continued training.

Second, time lines assume that not only are all dogs alike (which we know is untrue), but that all trainers have similar facilities and grounds (which is similarly untrue). Here in Colorado, the weather limits our ability to train in the water during the winter. My pro goes to Texas in March, but from November through February, our dogs get limited water work. This is a huge disadvantage to us, but one that we have learned to accept. Our limited water access means that we need to be more patient with our dogs that people who have year round water access.

Third, I disagree with those who say that you should only run a dog in a stake when you are capable of winning that stake.

I think you run for a number of reasons:

1) You want to get a read on how your dog reacts to the excitement of a field trial. Some dogs perform worse in field trials than in training. Other dogs perform better. Still others compete like they train. I don’t have any dogs that do worse in competition. Ace comes up for game day, he also runs better in competition than in training. Zowie stays the same, he runs in competition as he does in training. You find out by running your dog in competition.

2) You want to give your dog a break from training. I think sometimes we need to let the dogs have some fun. I find that the dogs often train better after they have been to a field trial. It relieves the pressure that they undergo in training.

3) You simply want to chart where your dog needs improvement. For example, I ran Mootsie early this year in some Open and Amateur stakes. Her marking was spot on, but she had problems with drag back in the land blinds. And her line manners were not where I wanted them to be. So, she will remain in training until some time in August, when I will run her to get a feel for where she stands. If things look good, I will continue to run her. If not, she will go back into training.

Ted, you forgot to mention that you run them because it’s fun! Fun for you and fun for the dogs.
Howard (Email) - 01 07 05 - 19:12


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