First HT in the books! I had a great time and Kimber did good for her first test and everyone was super nice and friendly as expected. We got the two passes. I learned a lot and learned some things we need to tighten up. I underestimated the excitement factor for sure. I knew she would be amped up but wow! I thought her obedience was good but we need to work on that a bit. I'd say she was better than most though when it came to the obedience. We need to do some holding blind work as well. She also was sloppy on delivery which was unexpected. She's been delivering just about perfect for several weeks if not months.

She ran and swam really really hard and knocked it out. What is funny is you can hear that dog barking in the holding blind and his handler talking to him. I had no idea...lol. My wife asked me if it bothered me and I had no idea what she was talking about. The judges even looked back...but it was no big deal.








My kids also got to run some older dogs which was fun to watch and they were on cloud nine.

Great job to you, the pup and the girls! Good looking group you got there.

Great news. Congrats on the passes!

Congratulations!! You both learned what a test is that weekend. In prep for the next one remember that you only get about 75% of what you get in training, if you're lucky. Practice with holding blinds in training and maintain a high standard. It will pay off big when you get to seasoned.

Thanks! We are going to have our third session on single T this evening. It's all going pretty smoothly.

I gave her a double the other day and we have only done one other true double with ducks from wingers. I made it a little to hard. It was a hip pocket type set up with the first bird coming in right to left at about 60-70 yards and the go bird right to left at about 130 yards.

I set the wingers up behind hay bales which was my first mistake because she couldn't hear the quack on the long bird.

I launched bird one then two but she never saw two because she was so focused on bird one and I couldn't get her to look away.

So I went ahead and sent her on bird one and she nailed that.

For the long bird I walked up about 30-40 yards and went ahead and kicked her off. She took off fast but was fading to the right...,, Whistle, left back.....took it for about 15-20 yards and the faded right again....whistle, left back....took it but ended up about 15 yards straight right of the bird....whistle left over...nailed it.

So that was really her first ever cold blind.

I don't plan on doing that anymore and will start with simpler doubles from now on but it's encouraging that I could handle her to a 100 yard blind (even if it's not very good) with pretty much just a lot of simple casting stuff and a lot of time teaching a good whistle sit.

But from here on out I'm going to try and stick to the script....

T work
Swim by
Pattern blinds
Blind drills....walking baseball etc

Sounds like she has a lot of natural talent. Train, don't test. The solid foundation that you have planned will pay off in the long run.

I think so! She has been a great dog for me as a newbie and seems to overcome my mistakes quickly and get back on track. It sounds like her litter mates are all doing well also. Two are with a pro and were running pattern blinds two weeks ago and another I know of has a SHR title. Her breeder said he has been really impressed with them.

Great. Just remember that it's tempting to look at what other dogs are doing at the same age and level. That is a pitfall. Remember to always train the dog you train.

Good stuff. Wish I had your guts.