Ryder and Stan at the World Championships
Marley Sporting Dog Supplies spent the weekend of October 23 – 25, 2009 at the Bird Dog Challenge World Championships and did not do as well as we wanted. It came down to a lack of preparation with the dogs and their endurance level. I needed to do more work on their endurance and get their heads right for the game. Just because the dogs did well the last time they ran does not mean they will be able to do it again after a full 6 month layoff.
So, what could I as a trainer have done different? Well, the first thing that I would do different would be to train a little harder on their cardio-vascular system and then work to build their endurance by doing 15 minute hunts without birds in the field. That would help them work hard enough to get their endurance level up. Once their endurance level has been built up, I will then work to increase their speed by planting 10 birds in the field to see how fast they can find all ten.
Finally, basic training cannot be forgotten because of the need to have complete control and work the dog in order to put them in the best position to win. The issues from the weekend include Ryder not hunting like he should and Bella just running out of gas. Neither problem leads to a good outcome. Vince Lombardi is quoted as saying, “Perfect Practice makes Perfect Execution.” We needed the perfect execution this weekend to advance.
