The Spaniel Annals
working and living with performance spaniels
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about
I’m a retired English instructor, now devoted full-time to training, showing and enjoying my spaniels in many sports.
- agility
- Behavior
- competition
- conditioning
- dockdiving
- dual champion
- English Cocker
- English Springer Spaniel
- Fetch!
- field work
- Freestyle
- Gordon Setters
- heeling
- heeling journal
- Irish Water Spaniel
- match
- mental preparation
- new freestyle behaviors
- puppy training
- rally obedience
- retrieve
- scent work
- TEAM
- tracking
- training
- Uncategorized
- Utility obedience
Category: retrieve
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Brian’s play retrieve went on hiatus the last few weeks, which I chalked up to teething issues. It’s back this morning! The lighting is awful for this video, but he’s picking it up and bringing it all the way in. Yay! He did 3 of them, and I included the one where he falls over…
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Another new adventure was coming along with the big dogs to the training building, and having Brian’s first little training session. While watching the other dogs train, the first day Brian put up quite a shriek of protest, and I had to just wait him out for a quiet moment in order to give him…
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It’s been a rough summer for Rozzie: a surgical implant in June (not my decision, but her breeder’s), absorption of the puppies by July, a pyometra scare in early August and a course of antibiotics. I scheduled a spay as soon as she recovered, just in case we had any left-over problems. So Rozzie has…
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Not many people would consider a rainy, somewhat cold spring day a “lovely” morning, but for my springer/setter pack, it was perfect. Before an afternoon of grading, I took Reardon, Gael and Kani to some public grounds near North Bend. This particular field isn’t huge, but it’s large enough for one regulation track and one baby…
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Gael continues to surprise me with her versatility and boldness in trying new things. At a recent July field practice in Oregon, I took Gael to the pond. Just to see how she’d respond, and not really expecting much, I tossed out a stick a few feet into the water. Gael promptly dove into the…
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When Susan Desilver described Gael’s litter to me over the phone, one of my first questions was, “which puppy likes to carry things around in her mouth?” What I was looking for were early signs of a natural retrieve. In my earlier posts about the natural retrieve, I talk about how much it reveals in…
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The first week of a new school quarter really slowed my blogging down. I’m catching up with some photos of a wonderful Thursday during spring break spent visiting a local retriever trainer who is the choice of many Irish Water Spaniel folk: Andy Fontenot of Waterdog Kennels. He is respected for his patience and understanding of the…
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The more I’ve worked with different breeds, the easier it’s become to recognize some of the signs of a natural retriever. Unfortunately not all hunting breeds have retained this ability, like the show-bred English Springer Spaniel and many setters. In my recent introduction to the Irish Water Spaniel, I’ve found an intensity for retrieving in…
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I’m plotting a series of articles on the natural retrieve for the Springer Spotlight, the parent club’s national publication, so bits and pieces will be showing up here. Spaniel field trialers speak confidently of their spaniel’s “natural retrieve,” lauding it as a mark of superiority over spaniels that must be taught this seemingly simple task. By “natural,” they mean the retrieve behavior seems to be in-bred, presenting…
The Spaniel Annals 