Bernie-is-on-the-board 🙌🙌🙌🙌
Woooooo-eeeeee. His mind was blown. Lightbulbs exploded 💡💥 The beast is unleashed. 👹
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This was Bernie's third walk of the trip. It's his first time really hunting, and he frankly wasn't quite sure why we were stomping through the desert with our over-unders in hand.
Until...the wind picked up and he started following his nose. He tracked into a handful of quail, they flushed, and somehow I managed to knock one down. It fell about 30 yards away, and Bernie marked it, then retrieved it. It.was.awesome 🤩
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We celebrated Bernie's first bird, then it was game on. Bernie started to move with purpose and conviction. Soon after a quail flushed wild behind me, but up-wind from Bern. I hollered to Nate to turn around, and he sealed the deal. Bernie marked and retrieved that bird too. He was not keen on relinquishing the prized possession, but FF will clean that up.
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A dog's first wild bird is always special, but when it's a pup from your kennel that you've loved since their first breath, there's an extra layer of joy and excitement.
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It appears my @gundogityourself hat is my good luck charm 🍀
[Briggs v.d. Wildblumen - 9 mos old]
Until now we've been shaping the retrieve using +R,
and if he quit we'd simply end the session (his remaining portion of food would be forfeited.)
Now it's time to layer in some pressure using a slip collar. He is becoming more focused and controlled, and by the end of this session he was calmly holding the pipe, while I pet him, for 20 seconds or so.
Toad is about 5 months old, growing like a weed, and bidding farewell to his puppy teeth 👹
Toad (Alric) and Rainer (Asher) are 15 weeks old now! We're celebrating in MT/ND 🎉
They haven't gotten any wild bird feathers in their face yet, but we just got here so we'll do our darnedest to make it happen!
We've seen each of them follow their nose and confidently move away from us, both on solo walks and walks with a big kid.
We hope to get them on some rabbits too 🤞
First time using an actual box since they're (kind of) big enough now.
They were introduced to box feeding early on with a rubber feed bowl, but we're just getting back into it now!
Little dog, little duck
Big dog, big duck
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'Toad' (Alric from the A litter vd Eiseneiche) and Archer vd Wildblumen
I'll have a line on him next time...I was a little concerned it would get caught on something. But besides the death shake, not bad for his first (not fox)-in-the-box retrieve 🦆
Here we're shaping getting onto a training table with Alric ('Toad'). This is the second session, and as you can see he's not getting rewarded by me, but rather a manners minder.
We're doing this for a couple of reasons...
1. The setup allows for him to be the inventor of the behavior, and therefore he'll be more willing to commit to it.
2. It prevents me from influencing his choices unintentionally (subtle body cues, etc).
3. He's pretty inwardly focused, meaning he is very handler focused, so I want to get reps in of him receiving reward away from me.
At about the 18 second mark he has all 4 up there, but I don't mark...he was simply looking for a piece of kibble that rolled over there. Initially I may have paid him for that, but my criteria has increased. The behavior must be intentional, and all 4 feet must be on the table to earn those dollas!
HUGE shoutout to both Linda of Lionheart K9, Dog Training in Maryland and Sandy of Red Barn Ranch & Labradors for spearheading another litter eval, and Justin Link for assisting!
I've said it before and I'll say it again... It takes a village!
Pups turn 8 weeks tomorrow and will be starting on their new adventures!
We have a winner! I thought he did a great job staying focused, and pushing through quickly but thoughtfully.
Now, the nerdy stuff... Even though I was happy to see how quickly Green navigated the most challenging course to date, I was more thrilled to see how a couple of his litter mates have improved. I'll post some of those separately.
Mr Chonk going through the course (double speed).
Here's a clip from our most recent Iron Oak Dog Company YouTube puppy rearing video...
Using obstacle courses to build confidence, resiliency, physical strength/proprioception, and allow them to discover that struggle leads to great things!
(Link in comments)
Having an armful of puppies come barreling towards you is not the worst way to spend the morning. 🤗
Recalls are coming right along!
Iron Oak Dog Company Kleine Münsterländer -Group North America Potomac NAVHDA
We are a KlM-GNA registered breeder of Kleine Munsterlander in York County, Pennsylvania. 
