In the previous post but one, Strengthening simple casting and Walking Fetch, I described my plan to review previous lessons on simple casting and Walking Fetch with Lightning as the PRT version of TRT’s sections on indirect pressure and collar fetch. Lightning has always had great enthusiasm for the casting and Fetch cues, and when we reviewed, I saw that his Walking Fetch was still as good as ever. But following the guidance in TRT’s earlier material, we had not completed simple casting to fluency, so Lightning still needed some work on that, though not with the TRT objective of learning about indirect pressure. A few more simple casting sessions brought Lightning’s work up to the same standard as the dogs learning indirect pressure in the TRT video.

Next we began the multi-step sequence of drills for pile work, starting with the first step, in which Lightning learned to take a Back cue from heel position on either side, while continuing also to be able to turn either direction on Back from a remote Sit.

High daytime temperatures prevented us from our usual training times the last few days, so we’ve been getting up before dawn to train in the early light and relative coolness.

In this morning’s session, I worked with Lightning much the same way as Mike Lardy demonstrates in the TRT video segments on identifying the pile, force to pile, stick force, and collar force. The primary difference for the PRT program is that of course I didn’t use a stick, ecollar, or any other kind of force or pressure with Lightning. I did, however, use food, in the form of bits of roast beef, to reinforce high quality pickups, returns, and deliveries.

Just as Lumi and Laddie had shown years ago when I did pile work with them, also without pressure, Lightning displayed high enthusiasm and after-burner speed on every send cued by Back, from both remote sit and heel positions.

However, Lightning did exhibit some shopping on some of his retrieves from the pile. Therefore, in our next session, I’ll use a long line to gently reel him in as soon as he reaches the pile, requiring him to better learn to grab a bumper as soon as he arrives and return immediately without shopping or other dawdling. Once Lightning can consistently demonstrate that skill even without wearing a line, we’ll go onto the next step of pile work, sit to pile.