Badger’s Gundog Journey: Marked Retrieves
Hello again! If you read the first post, you’ll have met Badger, our young Labrador Retriever on a pet gundog journey. We’ve already passed our Gundog Club Grade One (Beginner Retriever) test and are now working towards Grade Two (Junior Retriever) test.
Why are we doing the Gundog Grades?
Breed-specific training and gundog activities for pet gundogs like Badger provides a great outlet for your dog’s natural instincts and helps you avoid the long list of problems associated with bored labradors, spaniels, and HPRs. The Gundog Grades provide a clear pathway for those wanting meaningful training and enrichment for their dogs. It gives a structured, non-competitive system to assess and enhance skills based on set standards. Dogs are tested individually and awarded a Pass, Merit, or Distinction by meeting the criteria. It covers everything from basic obedience to advanced field skills for working gundogs. You don’t have to take the tests to benefit from the training, although it’s a nice way to measure your progress, and you don’t even need a gundog as the tests are open to all breeds and crossbreeds.
What we’ve been working on: Marked Retrieves
A marked retrieve is one the dog has seen fall. Accurate marking is an important skill in any retriever and requires focus and memory as well as natural ability. In the shooting field, a good retriever watches intently when he hears a shot and looks to see where the bird falls. He then ‘marks’ the location of fall and memorises it so he can run out and retrieve it efficiently, not wasting time and energy using his nose to search in the wrong location.
Grade Two tests a retriever's ability to confidently mark longer retrieves at 50 yards on land, in clear view or short cover, using its nose when needed. The dog must stay steady until sent, show speed and style, and deliver the dummy to hand. As you can see, there are a few elements to a perfect marked retrieve, and sensible trainers will not work on everything at once!
This week we practised marking. I wanted Badger to mark the dummy as it was being thrown and to run out directly to it with speed and enthusiasm – we will work on style later!
I had a helper throw the dummies so Badger learns that retrieves come from somewhere other than me (and I can't throw a dummy 50 yards). We practised in a secure field with short grass and clear visibility to set him up for success and avoid distractions. The helper stood 50 yards away, made a noise, and waved the dummy to get Badger’s attention before throwing it high into the air in an arc. This mimics a bird falling from the sky and gives Badger more time to track its fall. We used white dummies so he could see them easily. This helps build his confidence, as he can spot the dummy when he gets closer. Later, we’ll switch to green dummies so he starts to use his nose more.
I sat Badger at my left side and watched closely to ensure he was focusing on the dummy as it was thrown. If he watched it all the way down and kept his focus on it for one second after it landed, I sent him. If he looked away, I didn’t send him and we tried again. We only did two or three repetitions per session to keep him keen (it’s tiring work!), prevent unsteadiness (running in before being sent), and avoid too much strain on his joints from sudden stops and tight turns.
How did he do? He was flying out to the dummies and is getting noticeably faster! He located them quickly and confidently, picked them up, and ran straight back. Badger is still learning to control his power and speed at longer distances, which sometimes makes his pick-ups a little clumsy as he brakes a bit late. We’ll work on this separately to achieve a clean, secure pick-up in the middle.
What’s next for Badger?
Badger and I still have plenty of work ahead of us to master his skills, but he’s loving every minute, and so am I. Next time, I’ll share more specifics on how our stop-whistle training is going, and how we’re working on getting those clean pick-ups.
If Badger’s story is giving you ideas for your own dog, why not try gundog training, you might just discover that your dog has hidden talents waiting to be unlocked and loves it as much as we do!