Blitz and I went for a little impromptu field work training session today. Now that our NAVHDA Natural Ability test is out of the way, I don’t feel the pressure that I did before. So today we just had fun!
I was on my own today, so I decided to leave the check cord behind and just let her run. I had been using the check cord for most of the year to remind her to be steady if she tried to creep. I used a half hitch and this worked really well! Prior to our NA tests, she had gotten steady enough that I was barely using the cord at all. With the wild time she had at our recent NA test, I wasn’t sure what that did to her steadiness so today was just about seeing where we left off.
I put out two sets of two pigeons with a big break in between, then one final pigeon to wrap up. I am super proud of how she did on all 5! Her steadiness was significantly better that I expected. She even remained steady through me kicking around before popping the bird, which has previously been difficult for her. I was thrilled! At this point I am still allowing her to chase, but I think today was a good indication that she is ready for more formal steadiness work!
I managed to video the last bird of the day. Video quality isn’t great; I was on my own so I was juggling Blitz, the phone, the bird and the launcher. I also love how quickly she recalled and the fact that she didn’t chase when the pigeon circled back around (she thought about it though). We had such a fun time today, I am thrilled!