I know its been a while since I've posted anything so I'll try to get a little caught up about the last four months.
Through the summer we worked on training as we were able to and I feel like we're making some progress through probably 6-7 small group training sessions and 2 training days with the Pinelands retriever club.
However as of the last session we had a relapse in obedience and I have to take steps back to get to where we need to be. She's picking it up quick though and I guess I just need to work harder on finishing each step as I go, although I don't exactly know when I'm finished since this is the first time I'm doing all this. I did collar condition her but from what I understand this is an aspect of re-working obedience that I'll have to work on as she will blow through commands when she gets focused on something.
Right before the relapse I was working on force fetch and finishing her with birds. I had gone through buck, bumper, and stick force fetch and she had done pretty well, but she has a horrible hold and I'm finding correcting that very frustrating. She'll hold, but she'll continually play with whatever is in her mouth while she's sitting next to me. I guess that its just a matter of time and work.
The other big ticket issue that will likely take time to correct is her vocalization. Its going to be hard to correct because I don't have a lot of opportunity to work with her on it. The good part is she doesn't do it all the time. The bad part is the more dogs or people that are present (like at the Pinelands training session or a future hunt test) she gets amped up and when she hears the duck call or hears the shot she often starts whining and crying. The good part of her not doing it in other situations is that it will likely not affect our hunting together. She learns well enough so I'll just have to take advantage of opportunities in group training to work on this when other dogs are running, which I think will also improve her honor.
Sophie is now weighing in at 64 pounds and I'm wondering how big she'll get. She has a lanky appearance to her and I'm guessing that over the next 6 months she'll finish filling in. But likely she won't become much taller at 11 1/2 months now.
I've had her out a few times now for hunting. Once for ducks and twice for pheasants. I'll post some pictures after this entry and do my best to stay a little more up to date.
A question for anyone who is reading. At what age did you switch your dog from puppy to adult food. We're about to do it now, but I've read that many people switch much earlier. What do you do?
