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 Why travel to organized training days?
Organized training days provide a learning experience for the handler as well as the dog. As a handler it provides a training mark for where your dog needs to be, at this time, for the upcoming test. You are there to learn from others and see how others train. As a new handler in 2011 I found organized training days to be a day worth the miles traveled, in order to learn how to train my first Draht and to see where me and my dog was in our training and where we should be at this point in her life. I learned about the mistakes I was making, how to correct, and what I needed to begin working on next. It also boosted my confidence that this dog training thing was something I could defiantly do! With the help of other owner/trainers, my confidence was built up and couldn't wait to get home and get after it! As a dog, I believe Ariana excelled at training days. Some days I swear she knew we were in public and was going to "strut her stuff". Look like a princess, act like angel, and work like the versatile dog she is! When she was a puppy, she was able to get on live game, which I learned I needed to have around. Most of all Ariana learned how to behave around other dogs, other people were going to love her up, and patience is defiantly a virtue! On test days, you are around a lot of people. You have judges touching your dog, counting their teeth, checking their testicles, feeling their coats. You have other dogs and handlers working while you and your dog are waiting patiently for your turn to test. Sounds easy right? NOT! High prey drive and very vocal dogs do not naturally take to having others go after game while they await their turn! Ariana is very vocal and will protest, but thanks to training days, has learned to keep it to a minimum and never get the leash tight as she expresses her discontent at watching others "get the game". These dogs have spunk and need to learn to keep it together and organized training days sets up a platform to which they learn this. In summary, organized training days are not what training you personally do on your dog that day, but what your dog learns from being around other people and other dogs, and what you learn from other handlers/trainers and take home to your back yard, home fields, ponds and apply to your training regiment. Organized training days are a must to maximize your and your dogs experience on test days! If you need help finding organized training days find your state reps for the VDD-GNA, check out the website for GNA and also your chapter, and it is always good to check Facebook. Both the VDD-GNA and Drahthaar Addiction on Facebook are great places to hook up with other Draht owners/trainers in your particular area! These links can be found on the our HOME page.  We had the privilege of hosting our first training day here at Higher Ground Drahthaars. It was like having a family reunion with dogs and people we have trained and visited with so much that they have become like family.
We had unseasonably cool temperature for the day which lead to a very comfortable and productive day for both the dogs and the humans. We started the day out with drags then moved to a small pond for blinds and gun sensitivity. Then we moved to the big pond which sets next to a CRP field and dogs were able to do big searches in both water and field while humans could kick back on the bank of the pond in the shade watching and occasionally cheering. Launchers were set up in the field and marked by flags so at anytime, a person could go work their dog on pointing. Lunch was a picnic on the hood of our old 91 Chevy which was on the pond dam in the shade. What a fun day! My favorite part, (next to watching the dogs), was that we were able to give back to those who had helped us so much by sponsoring training days and helping us through our first Draht, (Ariana). Can't wait to do it again!!!!!!! Great People, Great Dogs, Great Day! Any job worth doing is worth doing right.... It doesn't matter if your man or woman, if there's a job to do it's whom ever has the time to do it and the know how...... |
Jack and Rhonda Wiley |
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