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Field

Field work is something new to us but since we got Mira from very strong field lines, we thought it would be nice to give her a shot at doing what she was breed to do. One trip out to a training session and I was hooked! You should have seen the look in her eyes when she got her first bird. We started our training in 2008 and try to make at least monthly trips to Prado Recreation to train. We also work on lots of things in the yard and at local fields, but the use of birds is really limited to driving up to Chino Hills.

There are two types of AKC field competition for retrievers, Field Trials and Hunt Tests. Field trials are very competitive and only one dog in each level goes home a winner (can be out of about 60 dogs!) This is what Mira's dad Bart did, and what many of her relatives do. You can find out lots of information about Field Trials on the Golden Retriever Club of America webpage.

Hunt tests are non-competitive, you are simply working to complete the retrieves. Right now I am training Mira for Junior Hunt test. Which is the first level. After Junior comes Senior and then Master. Mira's dad Bart is also a Master Hunter. At the Junior level the dog is doing marked retrieves, which means the dog sees the bird fall. When you get to the more advanced levels you need to run blinds, which means you know where the bird is, but the dog does not. You use hand signals and whistles to guide the dog to the location of the bird. I also plan on teaching Mira how to handle, but we have not begun that training yet.

The Golden Retriever Club of America (GRCA) also offer two hunting events called the WC/WCX (Working Cerificate and Working Certificate Exellent). Mira earned her WC at the GRCA Western Regional in 2009. In the future we plan to continue to train toward our WCX.

Coming from agility, the traditional training methods used in the field are very different than you will encounter in agility. For training Mira I have been educating myself on the tasks and commands used for the field, but going with positive methods to teach them. A great book that I bought that highlights positive training methods is: Motivational Training for the Field by Lorie Jolly. It has lots a great idea in it!

 Recent Field News

IVRC Beginner Class, Field Training 5/23/09
Mira Earns her WC!!! 4/26/2009
Mira at Prado (Jan 09)
New Remote Launcher (Jan 09)

Sammy, Barley and Mira are Owned and Loved by
Jessica and Josh Hecock (click to email Jessica)