| Archive for The Brittany Forum For all friends of the versatile Brittany |
| Mugi |
MugiOk, here goes with a synopsis of where we are .
Mugi was not interested with ANY retrieving when he arrived a year ago. I was pretty despairing but on the other hand he was old, it didn't matter and when he saw his first pheasant he hunted and pointed soooooo steadily. I sparked my interest in what this breed can do. Liz encouraged me to attend the Feb club training day and by the end of it Mugi was starting to carry a fur dummy. I attended a clicker gundog day and Mugi was running out, picking up and returning his dummy at speed - what he wasn't doing was returning to hand cos for him fur = sex  he is so aroused. I have been given exercises to do with him to reduce his arousal and help his self-control which we are making slow progress with. This mainly involves him being exposed to rabbit fur flicked around on a driving whip, he only gets to put it in his mouth when he is not throwing himself around after the fur. Oddly he has such good control on live rabbits, I can recall him off a chase and if a bunny crosses his path when he is hunting a pheasant then the bunny doesn't get acknowledged at all.
The june training day got him swimming and now he is happy to retrieve a canvas dummy from water and in this instance he will deliver to hand and come a fair way out of water to deliver before he shakes. One thing I can't do is get Mugi to discriminate whistle commands - he can differentiate between my whistle and my friends as we use different whistles but whatever I blow Mugi hears it as a recall. In the grand scheme of things this is not an issue BUT I can't get him to quarter when game is absent. For him hunting is a purposeful thing when the stimuli is present, he can not be turned on a whistle as he recalls straight to me. Game there and he moves well - he knows his job and I have decided just to let him do his thing and not try to direct him. He is 11 years old and this is all a fun thing for him. Through play he will do some pretty difficult memory retrieves and now he will do these on a plain dummy, on a dummy dressed with fur and a dummy dressed with feather. He will do long seen retrieves but he still struggles with delivery and he won't do a blind - he just doesn't understand. His next stage is cold game - in april he was interested but not prepared to pop phessie in his gob. I am waiting till the end of this month for trying cold game when I am on my course as I may need help and I would rather have a third party watching to give advice as this is all so new to both Mugi and I. Mugi is such a keen dog, he is helping me learn so much and the mistakes I make will help Chase tremendously. As long as Mugi enjoys it and I don't confuse him I will continue to use him as my testing ground. |
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| Mugi |
Chase on the otherhand is just over 6 months.
He will pick up and carry a full size canvas dummy - his run out on a thrown retrieve or pretty simple memory is fast and true, his pick up and carry is tidy but his return is truly awful. He parades his dummy as a trophy!! I have been told on some levels to ignore him, some to put him on a long line and insist and in reality I am doing a combi of both. I do not want this to become a confrontation so if he runs off I will ignore, when he gets bored I recall him or I ask for a sit where I approach him, ask for the dummy and he will release to hand. He is treated each time after being stroked or petted insitu as I don't want him to spit his dummy. I have also done some retrieves on a line but he is easily bored and I find it hard to get him in straight without tripping him up. At this stage I want him to be keen and happy so will work on control as he ages - one thing Mugi has taught me is that there is time to achieve things, better wait and have a happy dog than stress him out and achieve nothing. (As I have no idea where our final destination is anyway I need time to see what we can do ).
Hunting, well we haven't done any!!!! I have a puppy with a fast recall who is just starting to follow Mugi's natural pattern when in a field where phessies have been out. I am more interested in relationship building at this point as I know he has been bred to hunt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When the Avon was in flood Chase scared himself so water is a little difficult, after a little specific work where Chase has been watching Mugi and Dexter (me friends young ESS) in the water I am at the point he will wade into water chest deep to pick up his dummy. I am happy with this and anything deeper will come in time. I am undecided whether to use a hydrotherapy pool to start him swimming, it worked for Mugi but Freddy my WSS has to swim for his arthritis, the pool has not helped him love water although he is a strong swimmer - think I will work Chase on natural water a little longer before making things artificial. (Not expecting a young pup to be a strong swimmer btw and now water is getting so cold I will not expect him to go in unless he wants to). So now you have my ramblings of where we are in our fumbling attempts at gundog work. I am really keen to see what we can do - I would like to see if we can be credible but even if we never aspire high I do want my boys to be able to use their natural talents so they live a fulfilled live. ps. For 'we' read 'ME' 
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| Annie as admin |
Wonderful stuff, Sue. Isn't it fun? I'm kind of stuck in easy fields and boring pigeon retrieves at the mo, but have been promised outings with guns as soon as the shoulder can cope with rough ground. You wouldn't believe how a bad shoulder affects every other part of your body - even one hand typing.  Anyway, enough ramblings, don't want to steal your spot - well done to both your boys!
Annie |
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| Mugi |
It is great Annie. A nice feeling too the other week when I had my (brittany) dogs up near pheasant pens - each time the gamekeeper came past on his quad bike I called the dogs to me and both came and sat nicely to be on the lead as he passed. There were no birds actually about at the time.
Some pics taken on that session to bore you all with .
Mugi Why did you have to hide it in here mum? 
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Click to see full size image and Chase 
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| Liz |
Sue I have the same problem with Sherry that you have with Mugi - and so far nobody's come up with an answer for me.
She too regards any command at a distance as a recall - and rushes back to me "here I am mum, what do you want?". I've tried nearly everything anyone's suggested - don't use her name, just a quiet command (?) to not get her too excited (?). I had a terrible job doing the distance control for the Gold Good Citizens. Since then I've more or less given up on getting her to stay away from me - and to be honest knowing what she's like for bogging off, I do concentrate on making sure I'm the most interesting thing in her world, as she does go deaf if she switches into self-hunting mood. Any suggestions? |
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| johnhod |
Don't know if you've already tried this, sorry for wating your time if you have, but how about putting your dog on a long lead (with someone else holding it) then giving commands from a distance. If they are not obeyed the person holding the lead can stop the return to you (if you're doing directional work perhaps even runnig in the right direction with the dog). I haven't tried this myself but it may work if all else seems to fail. | ||
| Liz |
Unfortunately I'm on my own for most of my walking / training. Lizzie no mates 
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| Mugi |
Retrieve on a line.
When Mugi was last doing some water retrieving Chase was very very keen to have the dummy. Although the venue was not good I decided to do some very short thrown retrieves and I decided to use his hi-viz line so he couldn't run off. Although these pics weren't exactly in sequence (I apparently kept moving the wrong was according to my friend!!) they show little one and how keen he is for his dummy. I didn't trip either of us up either - I really don't find it easy having a line on him. Throw the dummy Mum! 
Click to see full size image You don't need to point - I CAN SEE IT!!! 
Click to see full size image Got it 
Click to see full size image Is this what you want? 
Click to see full size image We are currently working on very simple retrieves in a narrow passageway where he has to bring me the dummy back and once I have his delivery more reliable I will be going back to memory retrieves in hedges etc. He finds his dummy quickly then but I want him to learn to mind me more so we are concentrating on exercises where he has to interact with me until he is more compliant. |
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| Mugi |
Mugi in the water
Swimming nicely for the float dummy 
Click to see full size image Retrieving the dummy the ESS dropped
Click to see full size image Proud of himself 
Click to see full size image Please don't let me drop it!!!!!!! 
Click to see full size image Mugi has a really nice delivery to hand too when he comes out of the water, he waits to shake till he has presented but you do have to move out of his way quickly
Mugi didn't really start swimming till the June Club Training Day. He was started by attaching a light line to his collar and being held on one side of a small river while I legged it to the other bank. I then recalled him over the water and although he wasn't keen he swam nicely. He repeated that twice and I was set to call it a day. The trainer was keen for him to try his first water retrieve though and he did it nicely although he swam across the water and recalled over the bridge to present to hand . I have found that he swims out well, collects the dummy really nicely but he finds the turn quite hard and he seems to have to think it through while paddling further away from the bank.
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| Mugi |
First retrieve was a bit of a disaster in one sense this evening. Chase was tethered to watch only as he is having some major manners lessons. My friend threw me a seen retrieve for Mugi at about 25m, Mugi saw it but seemed reluctant to run out to it, I called him back and set him up again and he ran the distance but although he acknowledged the dummy he ran away from it. I called him back and didn't insist again - I was pleased he had run out the distance the second time without me having gone nearer myself. When I asked my friend if she had any idea why he refused the dummy it seems a spaniel and owner were waiting on the other side of the hedge and this dog had growled as Mugi went to pick his dummy.
A little further along I tethered Chase again and decided to throw the dummy myself making an easy retrieve so we could end on a high. Being a girl my throw went into crop (and not very far distance wise either ) but as Mugi was keen to go I let him run. He obviously has so much more faith in my throwing ability and he overshot by about 10m, he was confused and started to recall, he ended nearer to me than the dummy but he went back when asked. Again he overshot the dummy but this time his nose went down and he worked the crop line back towards me. It was very obvious when he found his dummy and he was really keen to bring it back although as usual his delivery left a fair bit to be desired, I did eventually get him to carry it to me.
He is gaining in confidence that being sent out will yield a dummy and although his actual retrieving was not great I was really pleased with the progress we have made tonight. |
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| Mugi |
Being kind to Chase and mentioning where he is.
On Sunday we went to the WCGB Open Show to spectate and cheer on some friends, the venue is lovely and adjacent to some fields. During lunch I took Mugi and Chase for a run as they were 'hidden' in the car park as not entered NFC. Chase was really good - he was pushing along the hedge line fast but in such a manner I was 99% certain there was no game scent (would have been rabbit possibly). I decided to do recall training and he was great, really fast and keen. Heading back towards the show I recalled him as soon as he was aware of the dogs but before he had chance to want them more than me. After the show I decided to stop off on some ground adjacent to a pheasant shoot. I never normally exercise my WSS with the pup as Freddy has a very unreliable recall. It took some juggling to manage 2 keen brittanys and a grumpy spaniel. Once on the land Mugi was free and Chase did some nice lead work while Freddy walked at the end of a loose lead. Once we passed some working spaniels I let Chase off and he and Mugi were really working hard and fast on the game scent. Both boys were working the wind and pushing into the cover to run wide on the grass ride. When we got to the point I knew the road comes close to the hedge line I put Chase back on the lead -I couldn't trust he wouldn't work too close to the road and perhaps forget his recall whistle. Mugi was working very hard through the cover and I was following by ear rather than sight. When it went quiet I tried to spot Mugi and as I was peering into the cover out popped a hen pheasant. I heard a dog rustle and a few seconds later 5 more pheasants flew out. Mugi came when called and had obviously been very steady although he had moved from point to flush on his own initiative. Chase sat as soon as the birds flew so I praised him quietly and reinforced the sit command. As we finished the walk we rounded the final stonewall and had a spectacular view of about two dozen pheasants pottering back to the woodland in the base of the valley. Mugi was off lead but when I stopped him he stood rock solid (apart from the quiver), both Chase and Freddy sat watching the birds - all three trembling like mad .
Today I planned to walk him exclusively on the lead as I felt he needs to earn his right to run. He did push the boundaries but by the end of the walk he was doing some really nice loose lead heelwork and was checking in with me. While he was tethered I did some sit at a distance and his bum hit the ground as soon as he was cue'd so perhaps this week of hard graft on manners is rubbing off. Tomorrow morning we are going out early to have a good run before heading off to Malvern to show (where I hope his behaviour in the ring reflects the work we have done this last week too). |
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| Mugi |
The first day of our weeks clicker gundog training course. There are 14 dogs on the course, 2 labs, 2 working cockers and then the others all HPR. Chase is not quite the youngest there either as three of the HV's are 5 days younger (siblings).
Mugi is doing the bulk of the work as I want to push myself to learn more, at 7 months Chase is just too young to be rushed and so he is doing a select amount of training. So today we have been working on stimulus (distraction) control, we are looking at were the dogs are as opposed to where we think they are . We picked the behaviour we thought was our dogs strongest and have repeated the same exercise indoors with high reward, indoors with distraction, outside on the car park and then outside in a field. We were working through how we had to lower criteria as distraction increased so we worked closer or had shorter duration for our sit as we initially moved outside into game areas. Mugi has worked very hard and by the end of the day he had his sit on a whistle cue (a huge breakthrough), he is stopping to sit without creeping forward (ok only about 5m so far but that is better than previously) and he was recalling in really well.
Chase was 'assessed' and Helen our trainer feels I should not be looking to teach him new skills this week. She feels just consolidating his sit, recall and trying to teach him to relax in the presence of the other dogs will be well worthwhile. She feels that any of the intensive repitition work will just blow his brain as he is so quickly aroused and so he and another pup are just coming out for short bursts of training away from the distraction of the the other youngsters. Chase did really well with what we were working on, he was sitting really quickly, minding me well and his recall was good - all his work was on a long line on the car park rather than adding in the extra stimulation of the field. He is deemed a lovely pup with a great working attitude who could go far as long as he his nutured. Tomorrow we have an early start and will be hunting, all the dogs will be run on fresh ground and there are plenty of birds out. While each dog is hunting we will be doing other work with the gallery dogs to help control and building foundation skills. Mugi and Chase will both have the opportunity to hunt and if needed Chase will be given tasks away from the gallery as we know he finds hanging about watching very hard. The rest of the week has a variety of opportunity. Cold Game, live birds, dummy work with and without a remote dummy launcher, water work and the dogs being shot over. We finish with some of the dogs being allowed to go on a shoot, this all depends on control and attitude of the dog. Mugi will get to try everything, Chase will not - the young pups are not going to be pushed beyond their limits and I do not want to risk spoiling him. Using the clicker for gundog work may not suit all people, there is an awful lot of foundation work to put in place before we are 'allowed' to try out working the dogs for real but I can see how things are slotting together. For Mugi as an older and steadier dog I see him benefitting from the teeny steps, Chase is less easy to determine if this it the best training method but as long as I don't mess up it can't hurt his training at this point. |
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| Mugi |
Today we started with hunting .
Mugi was out for the morning and we got the opportunity to run on fresh ground for each dog. We initially worked a newly planted arboretum and although he followed my walking pattern you could hardly say he was quartering. We moved into a coppice and initially he looked keener then he reverted back into bimbling mode  . Helen was in communication via a walkie talkie and was moving me to try to get Mugi keen. Just as we were about to call it a day Mugi switched on, his ears were 'up', his tail was up and his whole demeanour changed. He started moving very fast running along a narrow strip of land, then he slammed on point and when spoken to he flushed a lovely big cock pheasant. We gave him the opportunity to continue hunting but the body language was back to bimble so we finished our run. It is so obvious he has no desire to hunt for the sake of, he knows if there are birds out and only then does he see a point to the exercise.
Next we were doing some control work again, I was working on refining Mugi's sit to whistle and found two things quickly. 1) He was still worked up by finding the bird and found relaxing hard and 2) he literally can't sit to flush although he remains rock solid in a stand. I need to do a lot more work before I can rely on his sit although he was off lead and remaining close with me so at least he is remaining under good control. It was great watching all the dogs working, some have good natural hunting and need control, some have too much control and no real idea what hunting is. The afternoon was playing hunting games to start them building the skill of quartering. I decided to use Chase for this  .
We were called up first and Chase was let free to find his toy and food pile, initially he wanted to play with the other dogs and then he got confused and overshot his target. He was recalled back and set off again, he found his toy quickly and was very pleased with himself. The point of this exercise is to reward quartering without any of the other pressures of pointing and flushing and so somewhat of a challenge as I am sure Chase was initially looking for birds not a yellow fluffy squeaky duck .
By going first Chase had the dubious pleasure of watching the other runners. I was soooooo pleased as he settled with me and really behaved himself well, he had cuddles, he had a relaxed settle then he either watched quietly or was doing some sit and down training. His second run in the afternoon in the quest for fluffy duck was much better, he was quartering well, he didn't drop his nose to the ground at all and he found his duck easily without correction or being re setup. In particular today I have been very pleased with Chase and his attitude when he wasn't working, he has it hard to spectate and then switch back on. If nothing else this week will help him manage himself in a simulated field environment. |
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| Annie as admin |
Sue, I'm intrigued with this. Two questions
1. How do they set up quartering for the fluffy duck? If I put Al's fave toy out in the middle of my field he'd go straight to it not quarter, then probably he would drop it and go hunting for real. 2. How does clickering figure in this exercise? Sounds like you and the guys are having loads of fun. Annie |
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| Mugi |
I'll answer the first question first Annie......in my case it doesn't cos Chase works ahead of me and is too far away from me for a click to be relevant. I call good when he arrives at the target and the toy or food is a reward in itself. For people who were working closer to their dog then they can click but again the reward comes from either food or a game with the toy.
When using the clicker for gundog work it is more for close working control exercises and building small foundation steps rather than actually in the field. You break down the behaviour chain into small steps that can then be rewarded, some elements of the chain may be self rewarding, others will need to be associated with high value rewards either food or toy etc. With the fluffy duck scenario, remember this is teaching a skill to a young or very inexperienced dog. I am unsure how helpful this will be for Mugi although I am going to try him tomorrow. The premise is that you are setting up a scenario that you can control, certainly with Chase I found that by me moving off at a diagonal he was willing to come with me. We were able to drop into a pattern. The second time he was already understanding the 'game' and in time I can use this to get my verbal or whistle cues up to speed in a safe but relevant manner. HTH a bit, tis easier to explain by talking it through than typing it down!!! |
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| Mugi |
Today has been fab .
We started with training sit to flush, we were asked to do some remedial work on our sit to whistle but being me I had a different idea . After some timely breed specific advice last night I changed my plan to want Mugi to have a solid stand to flush. He has really struggled with a cue'd stand and as I now had to teach a new behaviour to cue in the field we were way behind the other dogs. Mugi worked his little socks off, I decided I needed stand just to a verbal cue as trying to put it to whistle would be rushing him and confusing. (This is why I am using Mugi rather than Chase, I will try make mistakes on my happy old lad).
So we then had dummies and toys going to be launched from a remote bird launcher giving us chance to prove our behaviours and not allow the dogs to run in to flush. Guess which little dog was first off lead and working closest to the stimulus - MUGI  . Some of the dogs found it scary, some just found it too stimulating, I just think Mugi has a natural talent this was taping into.
The next exercise I didn't do as it involves something we have done seperately at home and Mugi is well advanced in the exercise. I helped someone work with their dog further on the launcher. Lunchtime and Chase got the chance to continue the hunting game, he was loving it and the added bonus was the chance to do some distance sitting and also he was willing bringing his toy to me. I didn't take the toy off him at all so hopefully he will learn to trust me when he is retrieving that giving up the object is not the end of fun. Hunting baby 
Click to see full size image Coming past you! 
Click to see full size image Found it 
Click to see full size image Yippee 
Click to see full size image Do you want to see my toy Mum? 
Click to see full size image Proud of my toy 
Click to see full size image After he had had his 'run' he came and sat with all the participants and a couple of dogs and behaved really well  .
We then did some learning theory and the final session was due to be teaching the dogs to mark (not exactly a problem for Mugi). This all changed as we went outside and found the field visited by pheasants. Quick change of plan saw us out with the dogs working the field .
First dog to run was great to watch, a HV pup just younger than Chase who doesn't understand hunting. He got the first birds - all 10 of them and although that blew his brain and he chased he suddenly knows what hunting means .
Next was a GSP who got one flush then Mugi who managed 2 birds, first one was very steady, the second wasn't so he still needs some self control management. Hey, who cares - he knows what he was born to do even if he is finding it a little late. His hunting was really keen and he kept working even when it wasn't his turn. Tomorrow we are working with live birds in a controlled manner to improve control to flush but we will start the day if able hunting again. After a chat with Helen Chase will be out rather than Mugi on the first hunting run, we are not expecting control but she thinks he will acquit himself well. Control work will revert to Mugi as a) I don't want to rush pup and b) using Mugi means I can relax slightly and absorb the learning for me. Chase will get the chance once I know what I am doing. |
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| Annie as admin |
This sounds a fantastic training week, Sue. I wish we couldget something like this up here in Scotland!
Well done, BritBoys
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| Mugi |
Hunting all day today , sadly the day couldn't have been worse for scenting but we did our best.
Chase was out first and had the third run, to say my arm was about 3 ft longer than previously is little exagerration as he was somewhat keen to have his go. When I was ready to loose him I had to first calm him down, then the gallery were too close so Mr Social had to go say hi to the other dogs before committing to his run. He worked really well in frenetic bursts but found the cover difficult and needed to pop back onto the plough for a break at times, sadly this meant I flushed the first cock pheasant and he was in the field looking the other way . Got him set up again and he and I shared the flush on the hen, I think he moved it into my path really and although there was no point he was absolutely frozen in position as the bird flushed. We stopped then as he was clearly tired, at the first opportunity he went back to the car for a nap and I got Mugi out. I was very pleased with him though in difficult conditions and few birds about.
Rather than re-joining the hunting group I decided to take Mugi and see if I could get him working the ground we had previously been over. He was much more committed to hunting and staying in cover than previously and he worked nearly all the field before he tired. Knowing we had a big day ahead I didn't push him and took him for a rest, drink and snack. Next we were going to hunt quail, very similar distance to the Club Weekend TAN but the difference being the quail were in a remote launcher so once we had a point we had a simulated flush too. This was Mugi's exercise and boy did he shine. He had the third run and set off nicely, he is very dependant on me to start his quartering pattern and if I slowed so did he, until he locked onto the scent and then he was stunning, his point was superb and he was rock solid to flush and stood motionless till the quail was caught. We headed back to the top of the woodland to watch the others, all was going well until a quail flushed into the woodland and couldn't be found. As Mugi was so steady Helen suggested I walked him up the perimeter to see if he could find the loose bird. He was a little confused initially as we worked about 100m of scrubby woodland. He found the little bird , actually he found it twice and still it would not be caught. In the end I took him away as being inexperienced he was getting frustrated.
We were almost immediately able to have another run on the launcher, this time he was quartering with purpose from the outset and his point and flush were pretty much perfect .
I am really glad I allowed Mugi to have both runs on this as he so enjoyed himself and he was soooooo good, it is a real shame he hasn't had these opportunities younger but he is certainly excelling now. The afternoon saw me honing my skills as a quail catcher, boy were they feisty little birds. We are all decided we want to do more training tomorrow so we will be working on retrieve, some on the basics and for those with a partial retrieve in place we will be working on cold game. I have also arranged to have some one-to-one training with Chase and I so he will get some basic hunting and foundation skills in place before I look for some more breed specific training. At the moment I think he will benefit more from solo training as he is very social and doggy play gets in the way of concentration. I will need to address this but I think once his drive really gets fixed the single mindedness will over-ride the play. |
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| Mugi |
A lovely day to end the week although it started with some difficulty.
We were supposed to be sharpening up our retrieve so out came Mugi, bless him - he was so tired he was falling asleep standing up in the field. He was so lacking in motivation I decided it was silly to push him to do anything, I was more likely to 'switch him off'. I brought out Freddy and did get him motivated on his toy and he was doing some nice retrieves on a long line (he runs off too often) until he heard gunfire which spooked him, he went back to the car. I then brought Chase out and found he was way too motivated by the other dogs to concentrate. I spent the next hour just sitting in the centre of all the working dogs with him helping him relax. He was doing really nicely and although this is not gundog specific the ability to focus on me with the stimulation of thrown things and running dogs is so worthwhile. Next we did some marking practice, Mugi came out for this and was learning to control himself when either a dummy or subsequently a pheasant flew through the air. I was pleased with him, he was keen to run in but on command managed to sit steady. Then jumping an obstacle, first Freddy demonstrated how to put a straight run up and jump on cue, he was great as he has never been asked to jump a large obstacle covered with camoflage netting before, it was obvious that he jumped on cue as I stood solid and just sent him on with a verbal command. Mugi was not jumped at this point as it wasn't fair. Chase joined the pups to do puppy jumping, basically a low pole covered in camo a few inches off the ground. We were just asking them to go away from us straight and bunny hop over the obstacle. Chase did this exercise really well and didn't run off to play either .
After lunch Mugi did a jump to retrieve and return, he did well but I didn't ask for repeated repitition as he is too old and tired. Then cold game, Mugi was keen but not committed. He did pick up a pheasant but he wasn't thrilled, will have to see how I can increase his desire. The final part of the day was swimming, I took Chase to the pool for this and left Mugi and Freddy behind snoozing in the car. Chase has not swum since he scared himself in the river when it was in flood. As usual he was really keen to get in and get thoroughly wet, he was wading in deep so he was covered but as soon as he couldn't feel the bottom he came back. He was also putting his head completely under water and blowing bubbles so he had great fun . I am confident the swimming will come very soon as he has a great wish to get wet.
I have so much to work on and Mugi is deemed fine to go beating . I am planning on repeating the course next year definitely.
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| Mugi |
I had to work last night adn so this weekend has been a write off from training really. I took Mugi out for a run this afternoon though and have found one benefit of a weeks intensive hunting. He will now enter cover to command even if he is convinced there is no game - a real result for us.
I did not take Chase, he has had garden play, I am so tired that I know we would come to blows if he had decided to play up so line of least reisitance .
Early night after some nice french wine and then we are off out tomorrow with a mutilated pheasant (in a stocking) for Mugi to progress his retrieve training and Chase will be doing some control work, if he does well he will be allowed some hunting too. |
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| guy |
Gosh - who has the greater success drive???
Topaz has had five full days in the in the field in the last eight - unless scent is in the air he is now really rather disengaged. thanks for the daily reports. interesting to the point of being inspiring. Thanks. |
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| Mugi |
Bad week at work so training has gone by the by a bit. Mugi is doing nicely running in the dark but I am afraid I am not happy to let the wee one off lead when I can't see him - roll on the weekend.
One thing I have noticed recently is that Chase is getting spooked by traffic so today I had a load of boring jobs to do in town (bills when I would rather be in the fields) so he went with me. He did pretty well all things considered and coped with some noisy roadworks too. He went in the Post Office and apart from wanting to say hi to everyone he was really good. Best bit though was our visit to the local pet store, I needed some cleaning supplies for Mugi's wee problem, a new feeder for the quail and I decided to buy Chase a couple of toys to practice some of the stuff we learned last week. I let him carry one toy to the till where an old woman bent down, took the end of the toy and invited him to play tuggy. Not wanting to be rude I just asked Chase to sit, HE DID!!!! Hey, she thinks I am miserable but I do not want my pup playing with just anyone, I don't want him playing tuggy and I certainly didn't want these 'toys' to be viewed as anything other than mine to give and take. I was very chuffed that he responded so quickly, these toys have been bought to practice self control exercises and he demonstrated he hadn't forgotten some of the stuff we were doing last week. |
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| Annie as admin |
Sue, how do you manage to get him in the shops with you? I regularly drive 3 miles to our local village shops but have to leave Al in the car as they don't allow dogs in any of the shops.
Annie |
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| Mugi |
Annie, he is 'allowed' in 2 pet shops, the post office, the building society and one cafe - well I have to say he hasn't been in there yet but the others go in regularly, even Brice. I just walk in (again apart from the cafe which has a sign up saying well-behaved dogs welcome) and I have never been asked to leave and the dogs are usually commented on in a positive way. Unless there is a no dogs sign up then I see no reason not to take them and most people are positive about it.
Freddy, Mugi and Brice have all been in cafes, pubs, caves, garden centres, etc etc. They have also all visited Birdland and the Cotswold Zoo so they are well travelled and visited dogs. I just started taking them and as they are all getting used to it their behaviour has been fine and I would always leave before asked if they were a nuisance we seem to do ok. Last New Year Freddy nicked some steak off someones plate in a busy pub, I volunteered to pay for the meal and was told not to be silly, she had been stroking the tyke at the time so felt she had invited him!! |
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| Annie as admin |
Maybe I'm just not assertive enough then - I get frightened by officiladom 
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| guy |
I don't believe that ! |
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| Annie as admin |
Well, I am
Our post Office, Costcutter, and Papershop/chemist would chuck me and Al out straight away and I'd be left with a red face.
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| guy |
When we were in Glasgow we stayed in a Campanile hotel - the dogs were allowed in the room - even in the bar. | ||
| Annie as admin |
That's Glasgow You need a dog in your room - for protection Only joking - I'm allowed to, I'm half Glaswegian
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| guy |
No it's a French hotel chain | ||
| Mugi |
So, Mugi and I are off beating on a large commercial shoot tomorrow. We have been allocated a mentor and I am really looking forward to the day. My dummy belt will be kitted out with water and snacks for Mugi to ensure he can keep going for the day (his liver failure means he needs a pretty easy energy supply) but on his normal activity and advice about the terrain I think he will do fine.
Sunday will be Chase's day . We are planning a full training day while the daylight is out and depending on what game I get my hands on tomorrow will depend on what Chase gets to work with.
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| Mugi |
We have had a great day!!!
Mugi has worked like a little trooper, he was working really well on the first two drives of the day. The last drive before lunch though had us covering a large grass field where I could see the birds ahead, I decided to have him on lead just in case and I only let him off when we went into crop. He was tried with a retrieve on warm game but he just wasn't interested - he wanted to hunt and there were loads of spaniels and labs to do the boring stuff (in his mind) .
After lunch (where he took a distinct dislike to a young male lab who was picking up) he did another drive partly on lead but as soon as we hit cover he was off. He pointed a couple of pheasants and he put up about two dozen partridge so I was well chuffed with him, he was so happy but even when he was on the birds he was reasonably responsive to me. At the end of the drive we were supposed to get our dogs into bramble cover - a certain dog stuck his nose in the bushes from the edge and pointed all the birds for the spaniels. He was not prepared to push through and he wasn't expected to either. Final drive was on a cabbage crop and the field was teeming with partridge, we got hundreds up and Mugi was truly fab, pushing forward, rock steady to flush and really responding to direction well. We are not only invited back but Mugi has had a load of really positive comments about his behaviour and ability. It came as a surprise to the shoot owners son that Mugi was on his first beat. He is the first Brittany anyone had seen, they rarely see HPR's there either. The only disappointment was the fact I had to go before I could get any game cos Freddy is terrified of fireworks and I had to get home before dusk to help him settle. |
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| Lin Dyke |
Well done Mugi Just you show those other dogs exactly what a Brit' can do 
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| Liz |
Great Mugi - just goes to show you CAN an teach an old dog new tricks
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| Mugi |
I decided to just take Mugi and Chase out this afternoon for some hunting practice for pup and a leisurely stretch of the paws for Mugi after yesterdays work.
I let the demonic one run off his excess energy once we were away from the road and by the time we had got to the maize crop he was ready to concentrate. Well to be fair he had been good all the way to that point too. When we arrived at the crop I gave the command and in went Mugi like a flash with pup in hot pursuit. The scenting conditions were awful but I am trying more to get pup running on well in cover so didn't mind that we were unlikely to find anything. Both boys were eventually working independantly and well. They had a break then for sniffing before the next patch of cover that they both went into well. As we were heading for home little one found a skeleton to carry, which he did very carefully. I am not trying to get anything off him at the mo but I did call him in close, stroke and chat to him and let him continue to carry his trophy. Just when I was deciding my strategy to remove the corpse from him half a dozen partridge flew up by the side of the path. Neither dog had scented them, hey I'm not surprised but both went absolutely rigid and watched them away. Chase had no inclination to chase the birds and at the same time he dropped his skeleton and he came back when pipped for some nice venison heart. A pup in the gloom 
Click to see full size image Running fast and free 
Click to see full size image Mugi looking happy 
Click to see full size image Both boys watching the birds away 
Click to see full size image |
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| Mugi |
ps, in case you are wondering Chase is wearing the harness for no other reason than giving me a fighting chance to see him , he also has a hi-viz orange long line which he will drag if I have him out anywhere I want a little extra security (near to roads etc) although he is very good with recall. As the nights set in further he will have his hunting bell attached to the harness too.
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| Mugi |
.....and to top it all this evening, apart from being "allowed" to trim the pup with minimal fuss we spent half an hour in the garden playing and each and every time he had his toy thrown he brought it straight back and slammed it in my hand .
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| Mugi |
We have been pretty busy but nothing earth shattering to report for either dog, we had a good trip up to scotland for a show and to go out for some training which ended up more as a social walk with tips thrown in.
Today Mugi and I though have been out beating again and he has been so fab. First drive we didn't do a thing , the ducks and geese got up on their own and I think Mugi felt cheated to get out of the van just to go back.
Second drive we were again waiting a while 
Click to see full size image 
Click to see full size image We worked through asparagus and Mugi did well but nothing spectacular. Next drive was on open ground and I kept him off-lead this time, no pushing on just lovely steady hunting. 
Click to see full size image The final drive before lunch saw Mugi encountering upwards of a hundred duck about 15m in front while we had to stand firm approx 10 mins while the guns were moved, he quivered and soooo wanted to move but stood steady (without lead). Once we were released he still managed to stay steady and the birds flew well. Lunch, can I share Mum? 
Click to see full size image Final drive of the day and Mugi and I had to work through a pheasant pen, he was putting up birds so well and working well even into dense cover (I trod on a bunny the ground cover was so thick). We again though had to wait just on the side of the fence....
Click to see full size image 
Click to see full size image He has again worked really well, his hunting is steady but very committed and he is not chasing even when the birds almost take off from his gob (one hit him in the side as it got up )
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| Annie as admin |
Sue, how did you get him steady. Allez still chases on flushing, I'm hoping he'll steady down but other than putting him on a long line and practically killing either him or me with it I don't know how to stop him.
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| Mugi |
I'm afraid Annie I have no tried and tested advice here, Mugi just IS STEADY on flush, he freezes and I let him watch the bird away then peep him in to me and praise him. On the beat I am releasing him by voice to hunt his next birds as we are talking hundreds of birds per drive, we are falling over them almost literally. This driven shoot would be no good for a keen youngster as there is way too much game to be able to finish training steadiness.
Chase is doing exactly the same thing, he watches the birds away frozen in whatever position he is in as they flush, once he has seen them away I either have moved in close enough to slip his lead over his head and will turn him away with a treat and praise or if I am likely to push him to move away as he was too far away from me in the first place (like when he disturbs when we are recreational walking) I will recall him in. One of the games we played on the Clicker Gundog course was tying toys onto a driving whip. You get the dog hyped on the toy (away from the stimulus of game) and play by letting the dog hunt the toy and as it comes to close you flick the toy in the air, if the dog stays steady the toy is returned, if the dog flings itself after the toy you withhold the toy until the dog has chosen to settle and you start again. If the dog isn't steady on the toy you don't give it an additional command like a sit, you wait for it to learn cause and effect over a number of sessions, ideally increasing the attraction of the toy (or fur, wings etc) and still waiting for the dog to chose to be steady. You are needing to teach the dog that self-control will gain the reward (hopefully the shot and retrieve) but that the dog is relying on its own self-control as opposed to you managing the situation for it. Does that make sense??? |
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| Annie as admin |
Yes, makes sense but I have difficulty with reading about how to do something and actually doing it - that's why I really need a trainer. I'm going to try to get to one of Steve Kimberley's training weeks next year, but in the meantime I'll try the wings on the end of a fishing line idea - I was shown how to do that by Pete Green but it was to steady puppies to point not to the flush so I can't quite get my head round this aspect of it. Did Chase become steady to flush because Mugi was doing it?
Annie |
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| Mugi |
I think so, most of the time he is with Mugi when game is about although as he is pushing on ahead he now has to make the decision to stop for himself rather than because he has seen Mugi do it. I am not sure the behaviour in Chase would be strong enough yet to manage himself with the numbers of birds we had today so I am continuing to try to not over-expose him. We do also play the steadiness game but he struggles with self-control in all aspects of his life .
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| Liz |
Glad you had such a good day, Sue. | ||
| Mugi |
Chase's day today, took him for a good run (Mugi as company or if needed to guide the pup) and he was very good.
We started with basic control after he had burned off the first exuberance , and was happy both to lie in a settled down
Click to see full size image and a sit 
Click to see full size image while I was moving around, interacting with Mugi and also feeding Mugi. At the end of that exercise he got a treat and a fuss then allowed to go free play for a while. Next we were wandering by the river where there is still a fair amount of debris post flooding. He first found a litre container of diesel and was proudly carrying it, he sat when asked and I swapped for a treat, threw the container away and carried him on past in an approximation of heelwork. He was very good but imagine my surprise when 20 minutes later we were returning and he immediately ran to the point I had thrown the thing, picked it up and brought it to me. I praised him to the hilt although I really didn't want him carrying it. He did give it up and soon he had found another thing to carry which still wasn't ideal but better than the diesel. 
Click to see full size image 
Click to see full size image The polystyrene was quite awkward for him and when I finally asked for it (after praising him for holding and carrying it) I was pleased to see minimal teeth marks. We then did some hunting practice where he was initially convinced there was something here 
Click to see full size image and then I got him into the crop (and managed to keep Mugi out so Chase was working alone) where you can just spot a b&w thing in the maize almost in the middle of the picture - just slightly to the right and up from middle. This is the first time he has stayed in crop when Mugi or I haven't been in with him and he was pretty systematic. 
Click to see full size image Nothing found today, didn't expect to as the only birds here are the old wildpheasant and partridge and they are pretty wily birds and there was a buzzard up most of our walk. |
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| Mugi |
Yesterday was great , I had a brace of partridge and decided to try the boys on their first cold game (well Mugi has been given the chance but has previously been reluctant to deal with a pheasant so I thought he might be better with the smaller bird).
I decided it made sense to let Chase have a go first, no pressure - all I wanted was him to show interest, his retrieve on a dummy (with or without fur or wings) is still a bit of work in progress. I was prepared for it all to go wrong and was determined I would not stress whatever. 
Click to see full size image 
Click to see full size image Then it was Mugi's turn, not to be outdone (although not initially keen) 
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Click to see full size image Then it was a break while we did some basic control, a bit of hunting and a general sprot around then to the next area that was suitable. Chase again 
Click to see full size image 
Click to see full size image 
Click to see full size image Then Mugi, really keen and in fact he decided to retrieve the bird from over a ditch when I had lobbed it away at the 'end' of the training session. I let him carry his prize nicely and he was so proud , Chase and he did not compete (one was on lead while the other had their bird as I took a 'helper'). Neither dog wanted to strictly retrieve the bird to me but conversely they didn't run away and both were happy when I took their bird so I was happy to leave it at that, I will perfect the present off game to start with anyway as it is the weak point for both dogs.
Click to see full size image 
Click to see full size image A good day (and nice weather). |
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| Mugi |
Not strictly training but Mugi did a half day beating today (I had been on night shift so was getting too clumsy to continue after lunch).
On the second drive we were working mustard towards the guns and as we had finished the drive off Mugi shot. I was a little apprehensive as he has only done yesterdays cold game retrieves but he picked his pricked bird well, again he didn't bring it back but he crept a little nearer me and let me have the bird without a problem. He was possibly a little rough although he hadn't pierced the skin and the shoot owner was happy with the bird when we handed it over. Chase has had a quiet day today with just a couple of dummy retrieves which he was still keen to have. |
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| Mugi |
Not been doing much recently. Mugi is now working twice a week so is getting all the working experience he needs for an old chap. He is developing some really good muscles .
Chase has just been doing a whole load of basic obedience training. He is able to work really well somedays and others the hormones just make everything a battle, on those days I give him more 'easy' tasks but insist on him doing what I want before he is able to suit himself. His next 'task' is learning to concentrate and cope in indoor venues with noisy dogs. His behaviour at the NEC brought it home to me with bells on that he just does not cope in busy indoor places!!!!! He isn't scared but he gets so aroused he is totally unable to maintain his self-control so I need this in place if we are to get anywhere showing, he is letting more people handle him well and his movement on a loose show lead is good but only when it is quiet and there is minimal distraction. I am going to do this slowly, no point rushing him and having a dog that hates showing, I want him to be a willing partner in the game. We may miss some shows as a youngster if he isn't settling but I do not want to go in the ring and see him getting so wound up again, with hindsight I should have given my apologies to the judge and withdrawn gracefully. |
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| Mugi |
A really great day today!!!
Took Mugi and Chase out with some game to play find the birdy!!! At 9 months I want to keep Chase keen and happy to retrieve so am not asking for control, just enthusiasm. We started off just burning off energy 
Click to see full size image Then some recall which was fast and keen 
Click to see full size image Then we got to some ruined crop and I threw a couple of partridge out. Chase was first to find his bird 
Click to see full size image Even when I had tucked it unseen under some cover 
Click to see full size image Then Mugi got into the game and Chase was a willing (and unrestrained) spectator 
Click to see full size image Both boys were happy to pick up the partridge, carry it and give it to me even pushing past each other to come into me. Then we tried a hen pheasant, Chase was confused
Click to see full size image and although he picked it up he wouldn't carry it 
Click to see full size image Mugi on the otherhand was keen to carry the pheasant after an initial struggle to figure how best to pick her up 
Click to see full size image 
Click to see full size image and finally I hid a cock bird in a hedge and sent Mugi to find it, he was very proud when he brought it back 
Click to see full size image The fog was then settling as we were too near the river so we had no more photos. Chase had another good run and was recalling very well each and everytime. He was also being encouraged to run across me although I was not training as such. On one leg he ran fast towards a lump on the ground, up shot a pigeon from under his paws and he stood rock solid and watched it fly, sniffed where it had been and came straight back to a whistle call. I was very chuffed!!! I am running him with the harness and trailing long-line due to road proximity and the possibility of meeting some similar aged pups which have proved too much temptation previously. Today I didn't need the added security at all .
I finished the afternoon with a session of puppy cuddles and Brittany chat. It was nice to cuddle the pups with the knowledge I cannot have one - one 9 month old is more than enough for me!!!!!! |
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| johnhod |
Glad to see thegang are fit and well again Sue, did you find the cause of their illness? | ||
| Mugi |
Nope John - I didn't take them to the vet, just made sure they had fluids and reintroduced food slowly after a minimum (Chase and Mugi) of 24 hr with no food. Fred was longest without food and went nearly 4 days before I had to trick him into eating . I guess it was 'just' a vomiting bug, nasty while it lasted but nothing lasting. It just interferred with me going for puppy cuddles a bit earlier as I wanted to be sure I wasn't taking anything nasty to the babies!!!!!!
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| Mugi |
Pics from todays shoot
Waiting to start 
Look what is happening to my ears!! 
Getting going 
There were loads of partridge in the mustard and he stayed really responsive to me the whole time, even when he put up a hare he only chased for 20m and came straight back in to my whistle. Then in the afternoon we were on pheasant and all dogs had to be on lead but he was very steady watching the birds moving in front of him while we were stood to stop them drop back into the pen. 
We are off again working tomorrow and I hope to get some more/better pics of him. |
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| Mugi |
As I will be starting training in earnest now the season is over does anyone really want to know what we are up to or should I close the thread now????? I am more than happy to document what we are doing as a very novice gundog handler but I don't see the point of writing stuff out if nobody finds anything of interest.
I have no idea where Chase and I will end up, someone told me he will be brilliant or have an ASBO - he is light years ahead of me in many ways, Mugi has spoilt me cos he is so willing to please and I am reaping the benefits of the pet training he has had in the past.
So, please let me know if you want to hear about how I try to fulfill Chase's potential and hear about my naive struggles to allow him to blossom. I love him dearly, he is not 'easy' and I think we are both blessed with stubborness in equal measure so I don't think I will be able to document a perfect way to train, just an amateur fumbler who loves her dog and wants to let him fulfill his potential despite his owner!!! |
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| Annie as admin |
ASue, I for one would love to ehar about Chase - perhaps a training diary like the ones on the HPR forum?
I started one here but I'm not very good at keeping things going and I will be moving soon anyway. I may be able to see more training people after I move so Allez may improve - and me too. So yew, please tell us what you are doing - it doesn't have to be a daily post - weekly would be fine. Annie |
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| guy |
Sue I think some form of 'report' on progress would be most interesting. I would read it.
I think for you it would prove a most interesting document - I often find myself thinking how little progress Topaz and i are making and my training mentor brings me back to reality by pointing out where Topaz and i have come from and how quickly. |
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| Lin Dyke |
Please, keep it coming Sue. Your diary is an inspiration . Your success with Mugi is, well, words fail me. My first Brittany was also easy, he just wanted to please me Rudi is very much a "please myself" kind of chap Copper seems to be somewhere between the two 
Looking forward to reading more of your diary. Best wishes, Lin. |
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| Annie as admin |
Sue, what is the orange baton type thing in the first picture? | ||
| johnhod |
Looks like a rolled up flag to me (otherwise known as a plastic bag on a stick) | ||
| Mugi |
John is right Annie, tis my beating flag/stick.
It is multipurpose , should be used for tapping against trees to move the pheasants forward, unfurled and 'cracked' as we move along a partridge drive, waved in the air to change the flight direction of flying birds, used to help stay upright on slippy mud and finally to elongate the arm when small Brittany is trying to stay out of reach (not for hitting him I hasten to add, he just gets a surprise that I can reach if he is trying to creep away early ).
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| Annie as admin |
So how do you get these things - are they given out to regular beaters or do you buy them yourself? | ||
| Mugi |
On the shoot we have been at there have been enough in the van and so each day you pick on up and leave it at the end, we are usually also issued walkie talkies once we have earned enough brownie points. So we always now where to go, when to start etc even if we can't see each other. | ||
| johnhod |
For anyone intending to work a dog that is even slightly nervous it may be worth introducing them to the flag as the crack and flash of colour, close by can upset some dogs, until they become used to it. They are easily made, just nail a piece of plastic feed bag to a stick. | ||
| Annie as admin |
Are these things used at Field Trials - I've never seen one before. | ||
| guy |
They are favoured for partridge - as you are in the open and have nothing to tap a stick against. Keepers mostly seem to be very intolerant of human voices. Only found on driven shoots. A trial is as a walked up day. You might see one used as a 'stop' at the end of a wood. (dog works te wood and birds run away - meet person with flag and decide it is either time to fly or hunker down) The static alternative is either sewelling - a long chord with plastic bag strips tied to it, hung at about waist height to give a visual barrier or bean poles with whole bags tied with a length of string so they wave about in the breeze (although these are more often used to keep birds within an area, ie not slip away into another area) than make them fly) | ||
| Mugi |
Carrying on from the Feb Training Mugi has today made a complete hash of split retrieves, done a lovely long and complicated memory and has started to show some signs of understanding a Back command.
As he had such fun I don't mind. |
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| Mugi |
Mugi is very annoyed that he has been doing very little training so tomorrow he is booked into doing some hunting at the lodge when we return for another session.
I had a phonecall with the land owner today and have now secured permission to go 'anytime' .
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| Mugi |
Just a couple of long seen retrieves for Mugi today and a nice hunting session. He was very keen for his dummies although his perennial problem of stopping short of me reared its head , need to try to get on top of this if he is going to Pick Up next season but he does seem better on game than dummies in this aspect.
He pointed a lovely plump pheasant but a buzzard dropped towards the phezzie and spooked it into flushing before Mugi had moved in, much to his  .
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| Mugi |
Mugi has had a great day today, he hunted a large field of winter wheat and found and flushed a partridge in a very controlled manner, he also ignored a hare totally. As we meandered back to the car he pointed a pheasant in dense cover and pushed her out on command.
After Chase had had his training session Mugi did his blind retrieve training, he was much keener to give it a go and got his dummy easily and he delivered it to me, ok I have to move around a bit and get in reasonably quick but I have dummy to hand .
He then had the joy of flirting with my friends girlie who has just come into season .
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| Mugi |
Mugi had a ball today.
This morning he had a good hunt and found a partridge, he worked very hard for his point as the bird was moving freely but in the end he held it and flushed to command. He also worked on a "Bolting Rabbit" and as expected he was very steady, one of the cockers tried to retrieve it and was fooled by the elastic .
Then on the evening run he was very interested in something in a hedge, he was so determined he worked around (there was wire in the hedge boundary) so he could approach from the other side. Almost immediately he brought me a still warm baby bunny to hand. I don't know if he killed it himself, its ribs were intact and it was obviously very recently dead. Even with Freddy trying to investigate he was willing to give up his find but with two spaniels and Mugi sniffing around I decided to lob bunny in a tree. Mugi was not impressed with how I treated his prize and he stayed near where I threw it. A few minutes later he caught us up with bunny back in his gob . He again handed me his trophy and this time I popped him on his lead before finding a higher up resting place.
I do find it funny that he is so much keener to retrieve nicely to hand when he is working with game than dummies, I would have thought he would view game as a much higher value resource to hold onto. |
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| Annie as admin |
Allez brings dummies back but deposits them on teh ground about 6 inches from my feet, he brings game right to me and puts it in my hand. I don't know why either.
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| Mugi |
Talk about stamina.
The old lad today hunted a large piece of ground while we were out training and kept up a good pace and attitude. Ok, compared to the speed and ground coverage of Chase he looks a sloth but if you watch him work he covers his ground really well and very methodically. He must have been working a good hour and was still up for more. An hour later my neighbour came round to walk the dogs with me and after an altercation between her ESS and Brice yesterday I was going to just take Freddy but a certain Mugi had other ideas and slipped outside. His hunting head was still on and he hunted all the winter wheat fields while the spaniels played in the hedgerows. He produced a hen pheasant and could have had a couple of partridge if the pesky spaniels hadn't bumped them .
All told he will have spent a good two hours of steady hunting today, I don't think he realises his years!!!!! |
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| Mugi |
I am hopeless!!!!!! Today we have been walking on our usual walk in cold wind and pouring rain. As I was cold and wet I was mostly concentrating on getting Chase and Mugi to keep moving. Mugi went on point very nicely in a field of wheat and I didn't believe anything would be there so recalled him, he came very reluctantly then moved back to more or less where he had been, I had moved on by then so recalled him again and in being obedient to me he bumped two partridge as he ran a straight line to me. MUST TRUST BY DOG TO KNOW WHAT I DON'T!!!!! |
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| Annie as admin |
Yup, that is the biggest problem with these dogs - learning to trust them and NOT think we know better. Wer also have to elarn to buy good protection against the inclement weather as they actually like standing in the pouring rain. We have had a beautiful day here in Aberdeenshire - 10 degrees plus, and sunshine with pretty fluffy white clouds - it's darned cold now that the night's in though. | ||
| Mugi |
Mugi is seriously cross, yesterday he pointed beautifully when a crashing ES spaniel came in and flushed his bird. My WSS is now following and quartering with Mugi as he is learning this game is fun and Mugi will find the birdies .
Mugi keeps leading the spaniels into other fields then looping back to hunt the wheat on his own .
I am so clearly seeing what Patricia advised me when I first saw Chase, a spaniel will ruin a Brittany (in respect of holding a point) and a Brittany will pull a spaniel too far thereby ruining both for serious competition at least. Chase does not get to join these mixed breed walks and as we now know where these partridge are favouring we are going to pop the spaniels on a lead as we near the spot as in fact it is an ideal spot for me to strengthen Mugi's pointing as it is a small piece of wheat close to the path where he will be in close contact with me. |
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| Mugi |
Well, even though he may not be training a certain old lad is definitely up for it.
Since his attack he has been definitely less sound esp on the front shoulder that was most badly bruised, as a consequence I have slowly tried to build him back up muscle wise but is a slow business. Today he and Freddy went to run with the mate the ESS, Dex has moved to a village a few miles away and so we went to investigate a river walk. There were a number of anglers on the Avon which in this wind was quite choppy. One angler cast into the river and Mugi, who had been on the bank threw himself in the water - obviously thinking there was a retrieve. Thankfully he responded to my recall and was only swept a little downstream but then came a problem, the bank was a sheer concrete wharf type affair. Poor ricketty Mugi gamely tried to drag himself out to only plop back in at the final moment. In the end I had to wade into some nettles to lure him out and we managed. Being in the water so perked him up though he spent the rest of the run out distancing the spaniels and running freely. Methinks he will be going back to hydrotherapy to help the shoulder - it obviously worked today. |
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| Annie as admin |
Oh the dear soul............. Just think what you could have done with that dog if you'd had him from a pup! Once in a lifetime dog that I think
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| Mugi |
He certainly is a very special dog but I don't think about what might have been. When he was born in 1996 I would have probably not been in a position to take up the opportunities I can now and from his manners and attitude I know that he had a good life prior to needing a new home. What he has done is opened up a new life for me and all I learn with him is being put into use with Chase (ok Chase is a somewhat different proposition ), he has such a zest for life and I am glad we can share such fun together.
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| Mugi |
Mugi has so enjoyed himself today as he got to do a bit of retrieving. It is a while since we have done anything and he needed a bit of a reminder but he was quickly in the swing and he was very happy .
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| Mugi |
Today Chase and I went to a Water Training Day run for the HPR Forum. Mugi came too and although he wasn't training as such there was opportunity for him to swim.
He also went on to retrieve two ducks from the water and found a discarded pigeon and carried it proudly for 50m or so. He has so enjoyed himself. |
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| johnhod |
It certainly looks as if the old fellow is still enjoying himself | ||
| Liz |
Glad to see him looking so happy doing something he really enjoys. You've done wonders with him over the past 2 years, Sue
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| guy |
Hey Sue - any updates on Mugi? last time i read a post he was having a little bit of a breathing problem. Hope he is getting into the 'season' and not being jumped on by a spangle to often. | ||
| Mugi |
Here he is taken yesterday at the end of a 5 mile walk , on Saturday he got a 1st as Best Veteran at a Dog Show in aid of English Springer Welfare and 5th in AV Open in the Pedigree section.
He is off beating tomorrow and later tomorrow I will get his blood and urine results which will determine if he starts meds for his heart failure. The main symptom for Mugi is his cough as his exercise tolerance is still great. Thanks for asking after him , he also quite likes his new spaniel brother as Piper (as he is now known) respects him!
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| doganjo |
I think ALL dogs should respect OUR MUgi - he should be taken on as the Club mascot
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| Mugi |
Another good day for Mugi, beating all day on partridge followed by the good news that his renal and liver failure are no worse than last year so he will be able to start heart meds as soon as I feel he can't manage as he is .
Talking to the keeper we also have a plan to keep him beating through the season as the Range Rover pulling the beaters van has a Lintran Dog Cage. Plan as long as the shoot owner is happy (he was too busy to ask today) is to have Mugi beat Partridge and Duck/Geese but pop him away safely and comfortably crated for the pheasant drives that he won't be able to manage. As an aside Piper beat the last two drives off lead and was absolutely fab, never hunting too far ahead and responsive to whistle even when partridge were running on the ground in front of him. He and Mugi are also working well together so all is going to plan! |
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| Liz |
It would be great if you could get some arrangement for him to do "part time" beating - then he wouldn't feel left out.
Glad the old boy is doing so well - a credit to you, Sue
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| doganjo |
And to his Breeder!
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| Mugi |
Today saw his first retrieve of the season, he was scenting into wind and took off up some beans when we were returning to the beaters van, he brought me a lovely plump partridge that was not a runner so definitely found on scent.
Sadly today has also proved that he is deaf , he moved into a moving vehicle and although not hurt he now needs to stay on lead until he has a recall trained onto a vibrating collar (ordered one this evening from the states as I couldn't find anywhere selling the one I wanted in the UK).
It amazes me that he has hidden his deafness so well, he has obviously been using the other dogs to ensure he was recalling at the right time. |
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| sallie |
Sorry to hear that Sue - Mugi is in the wars a lot at the moment. Oh well, at least he lives life to the full and is enjoying himself. Well done to Mugi too for the partridge - what a good nose he has.
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| Lin Dyke |
Sorry to hear that Mugi is deaf, poor old boy He's such a trooper and loved by us all 
That must have been a heart stopping moment for you Sue. |
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| Liz |
It's scarey how well they adapt to something like deafness, and take their cues from other dogs etc, so we don't realise what's happening.
Hope the vibrator works for him, Sue, so he can continue doing what he loves. Our first Wei went totally deaf - the worst bit was when he would take of in totally the wrong direction as he thought he'd lost us - frightening how fast some of these oldies can run! |
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| Mugi |
Well, I thought I should update how Mugi is doing this season.
After losing him in asparagus he has taken to missing some drives when vegetation means I can't keep track of him and alot of the other time he is on flexi and harness as his interpretation of the vibrating collar is taking some getting used to. He quickly got that vibrate = treat but in the presence of game that is more rewarding than treat so vibrate = err, did I feel something? Birdie ahead anyway and it my job to do this .
Regardless he is having a ball and I am able to let him off at the end of drives so he will sweep for missed game and I also have let him off after a runner which he brought back nicely. He is fit and apart from coughing in the mornings he is not showing other clinical signs of his heart problems so I will hold off meds as long as he is ok. I can't truly believe a dog that can work a day in the field and run with a partridge in his gob is quite ready for meds. |
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| doganjo |
Good old Mugi keeps on surprising us all. Well done old boy! | ||
| Mugi |
The shame.................
Not only did the old man attempt to peg a duck (well he got it but didn't hold and and once it was re-caught by another beater it was injured although not shot), he totally lost all street cred by his current beating outfit..... For this afternoons final drive Mugi had to stay in the vehicle as the terrain is not suitable, so he was bundled into his equafleece pyjamas (all 4 legs are in the suit), had his harness popped back over and he was still wearing his vibra collar. You could barely see a brittany in among his layers . Still he is a warm as toast old man who did 4 full drives today so not bad in the rain and cold.
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| Mugi |
A small Brittany had a ball today. We haven't been beating this week till today (credit crunch?) as for a couple of weeks we are short on sold days.
This morning Piper and Mugi arrived and got out of the car, it has to be said that Piper was wired and wild and sooooo headstrong so he had to go back in the car and he didn't get to beat. We were also short on beaters and I couldn't risk it going wrong. So Mugi went on his own, on the first drive I did try him off lead and he was so unresponsive - I am not sure if this was deafness or stubborness so lead went on. But the rest of the morning he had a great time, he pointed a couple of times and was really happy out with me. We are not stunning but we don't fluff our job and Mugi so comes to life. Tucked into his neoprene jacket, wearing a harness and lead and with a collar highlighting he is now deaf we may be a figure of fun but in many ways he is loved so who cares. Today his vet was shooting and so he had a brief pat and Ken is so pleased he is still getting out, he agrees that for Mugi it would be a crime to stop him getting out even if it does ultimately shorten his days. I am convinced Mugi would be happy to drop in the field rather than 'waste' his days on the rug. We had to miss one drive that is physically too hard for him (I wish I could miss it too to be honest as it is slithering and slipping along a steep bank that has a heap of fallen wood and hanging thorns to negociate) but otherwise he did fine. Next week I believe the one day is partridge only so I am planning on it being Mugi only again - Piper can do some remedial training instead. |
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| Mugi |
Well our day on partridge turned into a very arduous day on pheasant in the woods. He has worked through thick bramble, up hill and down dale slithering through mud and fallen branches and at one point had a fantastic hunt across stubble, turning naturally on the wind and although moderating speed as you would imagine for an old man he was doing great and now he is home he is still raring to go. | ||
| Mugi |
You just can't keep an old dog down. Mugi has again had a fab full day beating, he is sooooo keen and happy to go out working and today there has been no concession to his age - we had plenty of long walks and he just kept on working.
He has figured out how to negociate a way through most cover crops with his harness and lead without tangling - he picks his way and I follow and mostly I rarely need to correct him as he seems to instinctively understand where we are heading. He has had a few free runs and one nice push through cover off lead when we wanted one big flush - while the spaniels flew through Mugi carefully checked the ground to see if any birds had been missed - he found one hen pheasant to flush out. I am home with two plump pheasants and two ducks to breast out and eat over the festive season - yummy!!! More beating on Friday so will try to get some more birdies for the eating of .
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| Mugi |
The boy did good!!
He did some nice off lead work when able (basically where his lack of hearing can't ruin the drives) but his best work was actually when on his flexi lead. Now I know it is 'wrong' but on his harness and flexi I let him work as freely as possible but our options are limited, either he works the shoot this way or he has to retire and I know which he prefers .
So after a decent drive the horn was blown and we were working our way back to the vehicle..... First the tail went into the gentle wag that happens normally when is free to coule properly and he very carefully moved into a tussock - letting him work as he wanted a large cock pheasant shot out of the undergrowth and he just stood rock solid as it flew away. We carried on and he went on point on a teeny grass patch, I was convinced he was on residual scent and tried to move him on - guess which of us was wrong ? In goes Mugi and he is stabbing in his nose to the base of the grass, from the other side emerges a rather irritated partridge!!! He then did the same on yet another partidge - so 3 good birds missed by the other dogs - tis such a shame he is so deaf as he can't work freely now.
He will be beating again next week and then his special treat when he gets to work properly the final week of the season in Norfolk. Whereas Chase will be there for learning I am hoping Mugi will just be there to prove what a good dog he is................. Today he is offically 12.5 yrs old and he spent his day doing what he loves best. |
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| Lin Dyke |
He's a grand old man is our Mugi 
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| doganjo |
I think we should rename this forum -
http://theMUGIforum.myfreeforum.org/ He is our mascot now! Well done Mooj You're a grand old man!
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| Victoria |
Hie is an inspiration...dear Mugi! Thank you for sharing your photographs and tales of him, Sue
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