The last few weeks have been pretty busy for Skye as I have been preparing her for her obedience test and stock test which we did yesterday.
1- Dog to walk to heel on and off the lead. Remains next to heel with the minimum of commands.
This was fine, we did not manage a Crufts special with the dog glued to my hip but she did walk to heel on and off the lead.
2- Dog stay 10 minute, handler to walk up to Dog to remain at stay position until recalled. 25m from dog 5 minutes with handler out of sight of dog.
This was the part of the test that I was dreading most of all and we had practiced every day for a month. Once the first minute had gone by I knew she would be fine. To be out of sight I went and hid behind a wall. Some of the other handlers joined me and giggled with me at the longest 10 minutes of the year!
3- Dog recalled whilst mixing with other dogs /handlers. Dog returns on recall.
I have trained Skyes recall using a whistle as well as voice commands and for this part of the test I used the whistle. We did this element twice and she came straight back both times.
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4- Dog put into down position away from handler. Dog responds to commands, and remains stationary until recalled.
To do this test one of the other handlers ran off calling Skye. She ran off towards him whilst another handler stood next to me and told me when to drop the dog. Again I had trained Skye on the whistle for this and she dropped straight on command from full flight so I was chuffed!
Skye passed and so we then moved into a field of sheep to do the stock test which has two main elements:
1- Dog will be recalled through a number of sheep in a controlled area. Dog returns on recall showing no interest in sheep
2- Dog will be given a stay command and Dog to remain at stay position until recalled showing no interest in sheep. Sheep are herded within 5m of the dog
Dogs will fail if they attack or show interest in sheep during the test. It is quite acceptable for dogs to break their stay if subjected to pressure provided they retreat or go to their handler. The assessor must be satisfied that each dog can be controlled in the presence of stock.
Skye broke her stay on the second part of the test but came straight to me so all was well. I was also asked to let her run freely near the sheep and walk close to me into the sheep to make sure she showed no interest.
Again Skye did really well and so was accepted as a trainee search dog! The hard work starts here!
Today we did our first day of search dog training in Beddgelert Forest in the rain. As well as helping other people with their dogs I did lots of short training bursts with Skye. To start with we are working on "run aways". This involves a "body" running away with her toy, shouting and then hiding. I let Skye go and she runs into the body. I run in after her and then she gets a game with her toy. A good excuse for being a big kid and playing with my dog!
I am really pleased to start search dog training and many thanks to all of the other handlers that have given up free time to offer advice and training to get us off to a good start.
