We have four new pups to work with this summer so we thought it would be good to share what we’re doing with them.  They’re all coming up on six months old. In addition to the basic commands we use around the kennel (come, kennel, etc) they’ve had a few play retrieving lessons – less than 10 sessions.  Three are from our Iris x Mac litter – Lock, Blue and Thistle. Here are videos of their first retrieve lesson and one from this afternoon for comparison:

Lock

Blue

Thistle

This is Misty from Firelight Setters.

They’re all enthusiastic about bringing the glove and obviously very excited about the game. Keeping it to a minimum prevents having them get bored. This game will give us something to fall back on if they hesitate to pick up shot birds later and is well worth the effort.

We also take them for occasional short walks in the forest near the house so they learn to stay with us and keep track of where we’re going. Everything is an adventure at this point and it’s fun to watch them explore the world. Here are a few photos from this morning’s outing: