Breaking At Nine Months

Indian Head Outlaw - Jessi

Months seven and eight were spent polishing-up the work in the yard which included her recall, heel, and whoa.  New to Jessi was the arch-handle which is shown in the picture.  At first she was heeled around the yard in it and walked onto boards, then she was run dry in the field with it, and finally she was introduced to birds with it.

In the bird field we worked on shortening her chase.  At first I let her chase at will, building her drive but also letting her realize she wasn't going to catch the birds.  After a couple weeks of that I began to nick her with the e-collar, which started to shorten-up her chase but kept her style and intensity up.  After a few weeks of nicking her, the intensity of which was increased to help take out the chase, she began to hold well.  After she started holding well I began to run her with the arch-handle on birds, and she became fairly steady to wing and shot.  If she did decide to chase, I would nick her to a stop, pick her up with the handle, and put her back in place.

Now we go back to the yard to begin the breaking process, no more birdwork in the field until she is perfectly steady in the yard.