ravensbank

FIELD TRIAL LABRADOR RETRIEVERS

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Thursday at 16:26: One of the obedience disciplines for the retrieving gundog is what we call "honesty". It means that the dog must focus on the job it is presented with, and shouldn't be opportunistic in selecting other things it considers right. The dog should trust the handler to stop and handle given the the job at hand changes.

Probably the best example of honesty is the retriever that spontaneously picks up a bird, and immediately takes a very fast return to its handler, without considering whatever other game it sees on its way. And the dog should not even consider - once it has picked up a bird - to continue sneaking around for other game. To us, training of "honesty" is a completely integrated part of the training of the young retriever. Too often we see handlers, who as soon as the dog has picked up a bird they, make bells and whistles in order to recall the dog. It can develop into training in disobedience, as the dog gets so used to the recall that it will continue searching once the recall is not given. In trails and tests recalling the dog to make the dog come home will be very expensive.

We have made a youtube playlist, where we show some examples of how you may train the young dog towards being honest. Again it should be said, that these are a few examples, and each drill must be trained several times and proofed separately to reach a firm and honest dog.
Click here to see the playlist.. Thanks to Ms. Pia Christensen and Mr. Mikkel Lyndrup for assisting with both the training and the recording of videos. The dog on the video is Ravensbank Carrie (Carrie), who on the latest videos have just turned 12 months of age.

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Thursday at 14:14: Ravensbank Carrie (Carrie) har received an officiel veterinary panel judgement of X-ray pictures taken, and been given hip status A and elbow status 0. This is the finest result possible, and means that she is completely free of any visible signs of hip- and elbow dysplasia. Carrie is a full sister to the actual litter of puppies, and is 1 year gammel.

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12-05-2025: On Saturday Squareclose Wendy (Nessie) gave birth to a litter of eight puppies. Six black bitches – one yellow dog and one black dog. The average weight at birth is 399 gr. The whelping took less than five hours. All puppies and Nessie herself is doing splendid. She is such a lovely mum – enjoying her last litter. All puppies are reserved for new homes.

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17-04-2025: Today Ms. Pia Christensen with her lovely Ravensbank Lee (Lee) became 5th winner at a large Working Test in Novice Class. A very warm congratulations to Ms. Christensen with an excellent result on one of her three dogs from us.

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05-04-2025: ....and with a positive result - She is indeed in pups - how many we do not know!

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31-03-2025: In order to increase both productivity and efficiency of the training of marks, we have for a long time had the ambition to include a Power Poofer in our training setup. Thanks to a very generous external sponsor, we have now had this dream fulfilled. Click on the video to see the Power Poofer explained and the first couple of shots with it.

The young dog on the video is Ravensbank Carrie (Carrie), 11 months old.

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05-01-2025: The Danish Retriever Club (DRK) Aptitude test is an official test under DKK/FCI, required passed by any dog in order for it to enter the DRK field working system. The test is held for primarily young dogs (minimum of 8 month of age). It is a very simple test, with the purpose of demonstrating basic trainability. The test includes, walking to the lead, walking at heel, steadyness, recall and a retrieve which should be softmouthed, efficient and direct to handlers hand. Finally the dog is testet for gunshyness, which if found prohibits the dog from passing the test. 40 points is available and 35 points is required to pass the test. Points are not disclosed, as this should not be turned into a competition. You either fail or pass.

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05-01-2025: Yesterday, both Ravensbank Charlie (Chuck) with Ms. Pia Christensen and Ravensbank Carrie (Carrie) handled by myself, the Danish Retriever Club aptitude test in best style. The two buggers have just turned 9 months of age.

The Danish Retriever Club Aptitude Test is a very simple test, and does not contain anything you should not expect from a welle trained youngster. Yet still we count it as a milestone. First of all the test provides admission to the entire DRK-test system, and with that starts the career as a working dog. Secondly - this is our first test to see the dog in an environment with a load of other dogs, peope and new external factors. For some dogs this can be a stressful thing, making them insecure. Not here. Both Chuck and Carrie were completely relaxed in the test area, and waited calmly until it became their turn. By these means the aptitude test passed is really good news. Congratulations to Ms. Christensen, who already owns and competently handles Ravensbank Lee (Lee) and Ravensbank Bruce (Bruce) from us.