Time has passed and your spaniel has progressed
in its training. You should be well on the way to creating a
finely tuned team. Lining and handling on land should be a strong
part of your dog's fieldwork. The time has come to make the transition
from land to water. We are now going to introduce our spaniel
to water blinds.
There are many cases that will arise when you will need your
spaniel to take a line and handle a blind retrieve. Many of these
cases will involve water. Examples abound. Perhaps you shot a
rooster that landed in flowing current. You may wound a duck
that swims to a reedy bank. A crippled duck may dive and resurfaces
fifty yards from where she fell.
These can be common occurrences for the upland hunter and waterfowler
during their average day afield. Also, those of us who enjoy
the sporting games of hunting tests know that the blind retrieve
is the most challenging part of the Master Hunting test. Many
of the water blind tests are becoming increasingly difficult.
The water blind is getting longer in distance, and |
there are more challenging environmental
hazards that are being introduced.
Mastery of the land blind is not, however, the only prerequisite
for our spaniel.
Your spaniel should have a very solid water entry before this
training begins. The spaniel should go straight into the water:
no bank running before entering the water. Any  |
water entry issues must be fully resolved before you begin
the water blind training.
Naturally you will need access to a pond; more than one pond
will be a great advantage. The banks should have a gradual, slopping
entry for the dog. Access around the perimeter of the pond will
definitely help. An ideal pond will have a cove or peninsula.
An island is an outstanding training tool. Naturally, the more
environmental hazards that we can expose the spaniel to, the
better.
You will need white and orange dummies, birds, and in the early
stages a helper. We are going to apply most of the same training
techniques that we have learned while teaching the land blind.
Lining and casting drills will be used both in and out of water.
We will start the introduction to water blinds by the use of
the floating blind. Find an area in the pond that has no moving
current so the dummy will stay in place once it is placed. Keep
your spaniel where they cannot see you set up this drill. Simply
take a large white dummy and toss it
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