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abirddogmoment · 2 months ago

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I love seeing Rory run in the field!! Bird dog doing bird dog things!! You said in the tags you had different training and priorities with her vs Mav re: offleash running like that. What kinds of things did you do differently with Rory to be comfortable having her offleash at a distance with reliable recall?

I was writing a whole novel but really it boils down to this chart. Under the cut because it's (vertically) long.

In short, it's just as much about what I didn't do with Maverick as what I did do with Aurora.

(Edited to add: I am extremely fortunate to live in the prairies where the kind of visibility I need is easy to find. Use my experience to inspire your own training if you like, but don't use it as a recipe. I have my own goals and my own priorities and those are likely different than yours.)

Maverick:

🔵 Supremely confident from day 1

🔵 Came home in August (extremely good and exciting time for outdoor adventures)

🔵 Prioritized specific sports behaviours over foundational building blocks like engagement and cooperation

🔵 Learned bad habits from my older dog at the time (prey drive > recall)

🔵 Was indiscriminately prey driven. If it moved, he wanted to kill it.

🔵 I phased out treats too fast and didn't want to use an ecollar or long line

🔵 I focused on "social media dog behaviours" (think like walking extremely close to me on trails) and got frustrated when we couldn't meet these rather than meeting my dog where he was at. This created a lot of frustration in our dog adventures.

🔵 I practiced recalls constantly when I didn't have to, making them a tedious behaviour for him. I would recall him 20-50 times a hike for everything from "you're too far away from me" to "I want to take a photo".

Aurora

🟣 Came to me a little insecure and looked to me for reassurance

🟣 Came home in December (a cold and relatively boring time for outdoor adventures)

🟣 I prioritized engagement, cooperation, and name recognition from day 1

🟣 Practiced good habits by walking offleash in the snow either alone or with Pike (amazing recall)

🟣 Is extremely birdy, but is very very focused. She easily calls off deer or people/dogs in the distance because she mostly cares about birds.

🟣 Literally always gets offered a high value snack for recalling or voluntary check ins (I will never phase this out, I will carry chunks of cheese on offleash walks for the rest of her life)

🟣 I never practice recalls if I don't need them. This one is hard to explain, but once Rory understood that long whistle = come back as fast as you can, I don't whistle unless I really need to. I recall her an average of 0-3 times per hike (*based on visibility or wildlife*) and trust her to make good decisions otherwise. I keep my eyeballs on her 100% of the time and choose areas with good visibility, but I don't recall her just for being far away.

🟣 I limit hikes where I have to nag her often (think, in the woods where I dont have a great line of sight and have to remind her to stay close to me) to a few times a month or less so she doesn't start getting frustrated about it.

🟣 I trust the training I put into her and choose to run her in areas with (relatively) reduced risk if she makes the "wrong" choice. I don't nitpick everything she does and I let her make her own choices, within reason.

🟣 I have an interrupter cue to ask her to stop doing something before I call her back (if she's digging a hole and I want her to move on, I use "Rory, enough! Here!") instead of whistling at her.

🟣 I don't force her attention on check ins. If she runs back to me and doesn't want a snack and wants to run straight back out, I let her run back out.

🟣 I have anticipatory cues for the end of a walk so I don't have to recall her when we get to the end of the field.

I want to say that it's nerve wracking to watch my dog sprint at full speed hundreds of yards away from me. I have to fight the impulse to recall her just because she's far away. It's an exercise in trust because I'm always worried about her going over the horizon, or running into a wildlife, or falling into a hole, but it's an important thing to work on if you have a dog that needs that trust to thrive.

Mav and I were a good team, but I never fully trusted him outdoors. I always had my finger on the ecollar buttons ready for him to do an evil and need to be vibrated. It was exhilarating to watch him in the field, but it wasn't really fun or relaxing.

Rory and I built a much stronger foundation of trust (I personally never would have been able to do this if I had more than one dog). She doesn't know any tricks yet, but I'm super confident in her recall and ability to take direction in the field, even when she's sprinting as fast as possible.

#dogblr #about mav #about aurora #hahahaha i still wrote a novel #i have a lot of thoughts about recall #i never want to see a four month old puppy with an ecollar and yet i see it all the time in the gundog circles #and i get it i just find it super distasteful #i was team 'never get a dog in winter' !#and i am now team '100% get a dog in winter'#it was sooooo much easier to build good habits when nothing was moving in the winter freeze #my biggest issue with rorys recall is that she struggles to recall off pike #but even that improves each time we go out and thats more an arousal issue than a recall issue #she's a really cool dog #i still choose my offleash locations and time super carefully #i would never go out at noon on a sunday and run her offleash #i go out to quiet areas at quiet times #and i just let her do her thing #trust is a two way street even with dogs #ask #anon #bird dog training #recall training #recall #<- tags so i can find this later #eta: i want to add that i do use her name to get her attention if i need something or want a photo #and i have a specific cue for 'look at me from a distance and decide if you want to come closer'#but im largely quiet in the field when shes running especially if were walking by ourselves #i just let her do her thing #thats why we're out there after all

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iffeelscouldkill · 2 months ago

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Lost in a Familiar Place pt. 6

(Aka the ‘Nicholas never applied to Kings Row’ AU)

A/N: This is the second-to-last instalment of this fic! So the next update will be the final one, although it's shaping up to be twice as long as the other chapters, so... it'll be like a double chapter. But I'll post it as one thing xD

In which Nicholas spends time with Eugene and Bobby, and Harvard works some things out.

Previous chapters: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

“So you were there because Harvard just invited you to watch practice on the spot,” Eugene summarised, as Bobby sipped his smoothie and listened wide-eyed. When Bobby had said ‘get smoothies’, Nicholas had assumed they were going into town – but Kings Row students weren’t allowed off-campus during term-time without special permission.

Instead, they were at a little shop on campus with tables outside that sold “healthy” smoothies. Bobby described them as “not too bad”; Nicholas took one mouthful and didn’t know what to think. Maybe they were an acquired taste.

“And then,” Eugene continued, “you mouthed off at Seiji Katayama-”

“Not mouthed off,” Nicholas objected, laughing. “I was just saying that I saw-”

“-holes in his defence, yeah; I’m pretty sure that counts as mouthing off to someone like Seiji,” Eugene said. “You did that, and then Coach Williams was like, ‘Hey, why not let this random guy borrow some gear and join in?’”

Nicholas grinned and shrugged. “It sounds weird, I know, but I guess she knew me from Regionals? She saw my match against Kyle.” He grimaced and played with his straw. “Not the greatest show of my skills, but I’m getting better all the time.”

“I can’t believe this all happened because you hooked up with Aiden,” Bobby exclaimed, sounding thrilled and a little scandalised. “What was that like, by the way? I’ve always wondered. Is he a good kisser?”

“Uh,” Nicholas thought about it. “Yeah, not bad.” He shrugged one shoulder. “So – does Seiji not hang out with you guys after practice?”

He caught Bobby and Eugene trading a brief look of amusement, although he didn’t know exactly why.

“He’s pretty closed-off,” Bobby said. “We have invited him, but – he’s so driven. It doesn’t seem like he has much time for anything social.” He smiled, apparently wowed by idea of being so dedicated to fencing that it was all you ever did. “Eugene has talked to him, haven’t you, Eugene?”

“Uh, not much,” Eugene said. “Just a few times in practice. He’ll critique your form – whether you want it or not, usually. He did give me some good advice about protein shakes once, though.”

Nicholas thought about Seiji’s laser focus when he fenced, the relentless way that he won point after point. In truth, Nicholas wished he could be more like that. He’d thought that he was motivated to better himself, but compared to Seiji, he wasn’t serious at all. That drive, that sheer determination – it was what made Seiji a champion.

A thoughtful silence descended for a bit before Nicholas cast around for a change of subject. “So – what’s it like, being at Kings Row?” he asked. “I’ve always kind of wondered what boarding school is like. Are they super strict?”

Bobby’s eyes lit up. “It’s great! Sure, it’s kind of formal, but there’s a lot of fun stuff, too. Most of the fencers are in the same dorm…”

Nicholas listened as Bobby and Eugene told tales of assemblies and study hall, sneaking extra food from the canteen, sharing care packages from home and doing makeovers (that one was mostly Bobby).

“The dress code is strict,” Eugene complained. “Plus, you have different types of uniform that you have to wear for different things. Like sports class, or assembly.”

“Why?” Nicholas asked.

Eugene talked about cutting class when he was inducted into the team and sneaking out to the fencing clubhouse for a secret feast and team pledge. He joked about his ‘long road’ to making the team at Kings Row, trying out every year until he achieved his goal. Bobby excitedly explained why he wanted to be a fencer, and talked about his roommate, Dante, who claimed he wasn’t interested in fencing (yet hadn’t missed one of Bobby’s tryout matches).

Nicholas listened in fascination as he finished his smoothie. Truthfully, apart from the rules and the weird dress code, it sounded… fun. It was clear that the senior fencers were good guys, and that everyone at Kings Row looked out for each other even if there was some friendly competition.

And the fencing facilities… Bobby and Eugene had talked about Kings Row’s terrible track record in major competitions, but Nicholas could only dream of training somewhere like the spacious salle they’d fenced in today. For a moment, he tried to imagine it, picturing himself in a team uniform, standing in the middle of the salle, épée in hand… and a powerful wave of longing swept over him that made his breath catch. God, he wanted that so much.

He realised that Bobby and Eugene had both fallen quiet and were looking at him, although Eugene broke eye contact when Nicholas looked up, tipping his cup to drain his smoothie. Bobby smiled gently.

“You know, I’m pretty sure that Kings Row offers a fencing scholarship,” he said. “Did you ever think about trying out?”

“I don’t… Uh, I’m not really… I dunno,” Nicholas admitted, unable to muster up his usual reasoning. “It’s too late now, I guess.”

“Well, hey, if you’re ever down for getting your ass whooped in a practice match-” Eugene nudged Nicholas’ arm with a fist – “you know where to find me.”

Bobby grinned brightly at him. “Yeah, maybe we could hang out over break!”

Nicholas swallowed and smiled at them both. “That would be cool,” he said.

Harvard paced back and forth in the shadow of the Kings Row library building. He shouldn’t be out past curfew; as team Captain, he had a responsibility to set a good example. (Granted, he and Aiden had done it a few times in the past – more than a few, really).

But he couldn’t go back to his and Aiden’s shared dorm room. Aiden had set him a challenge to figure out what he meant by “it doesn’t do to get too attached”. He’d promised to tell Harvard the answer if Harvard couldn’t work it out, but Harvard instinctively knew that needing Aiden to tell him would be a kind of failure. And this was Aiden. His best friend. Someone he knew better than anyone else in the world, and vice versa. There was no way he wouldn’t be able to figure this out.

So, what had Aiden actually said? Harvard had asked him why he didn’t try properly as part of the team, and Aiden had responded by saying that it wasn’t good to get attached. Harvard knew that Aiden had issues with commitment. His home life had never been stable, and his dad had never offered consistent affection or emotional attention, instead thinking that throwing money around would substitute for a total lack of investment in his son’s life.

So, Aiden rejected people before they could reject him, never getting too close to anyone (except for Harvard, because Harvard refused to act like everyone else. Even when Aiden sometimes made that difficult).

But it couldn’t only be that, because Aiden knew that Harvard knew about his flaky tendencies; that wasn’t a secret. It had to be something more than that. Anyway, Aiden hadn’t always been as inconsistent as he was now – it had been a gradual thing. At the beginning, Harvard remembered, Aiden had been as dedicated as he was: showing up to every practice, doing drills and working at new moves alongside the rest of the team. Harvard recalled how much Elias, the then-captain, had liked him.

Then he’d started skipping out on the odd practice, claiming he couldn’t possibly meet his dates at any other time. When Harvard pressed him on it, Aiden had brushed him off, saying that he didn’t need all those extra practices to wipe the floor with his opponents. This was, admittedly, true (at least at the level that Kings Row competed at), and he still came through for the matches, so Harvard dropped it. But it had stung.

When he was captain, he told himself, he wouldn’t let it slide. But it was Aiden, and so… he had. Harvard sighed at himself, thinking about it. Aiden had always been his weak spot, and he’d always been able to push past the lines that Harvard tried to draw in a way that no-one else could. Whether it was skipping out on team practice… or bringing dates into their room. That one had always got his back up. The dorm room was their space, the place where they lounged around together and ate cupcakes and watched old swordfighting movies side by side.

Harvard had tried to be okay with it, telling himself that Aiden might be serious about one of these guys, and so he should get used to having them around. But Aiden never was. Harvard took Aiden's flings more seriously than Aiden did.

Aiden could never bring himself to be serious about anything, Harvard knew. He’d stopped expecting it ages ago. So, he wasn’t sure why he couldn’t chalk all of this up to Aiden being Aiden and move on.

He wanted Aiden to commit to the team, but… it wasn’t just that. Fencing had always been something that they’d done together. Being on the team, going to matches and commentating on the other fencers, watching old movies and tournament footage… Harvard had been surprised to hear Aiden say that he joined the team for Harvard because he hadn’t thought that Aiden felt the same – but fencing was their thing for Harvard too.

He had wanted Aiden to come through not for the team, not really; but for him. And when he hadn’t… Harvard had felt like he was an idiot to care as much as he did.

Harvard stared off into the distance, rubbing absently at his breastbone. He thought about the last time that he and Aiden had fenced a match against each other, during team tryouts. Harvard had enjoyed most of his matches during tryouts, even amidst the pressure. Eugene had improved so much; fencing Seiji had been a refreshing challenge, despite the stress of knowing he’d lose. And he always had fun fencing Kally, who was very tactical – a bit like Aiden.

But fencing Aiden had been… So much better than any of those matches. Harvard remembered the way Aiden tied his hair up before the match, since it was now long enough to go in a ponytail. It was a bit mesmerising, watching him flick it into place. He’d grinned, and Aiden had smiled, and it was like it had always been between them – familiar, but somehow unexpected.

They’d begun, and Aiden had fenced defensively at first, so much so that Harvard had raised an eyebrow at him. “Are we going to really fence, here?” he’d asked, and Aiden had responded with this sharp grin, and then they were fencing.

Harvard was used to this version of Aiden that he saw during fencing matches – particularly during that match against Seiji – who was all sharp edges, quicksilver wit and cutting tongue, never in the same place for too long. He turned into that person, too, when he broke up with someone. Harvard thought of it as Aiden’s defensive strategy – a way of keeping people at a distance. Of punishing them if they got too close. It made sense that this would apply as much to dating as it did to fencing.

But when the two of them fenced, Aiden was just… Aiden. The way that Harvard knew him – funny, quick, clever, his feigned carelessness disguising how much he really did care, deep down. His brow furrowed in thought while he fenced Harvard, and at one point Harvard had made a joke, some dumb reference to one of their old swordfighting movies, and Aiden had laughed openly. And Harvard had thought, There you are.

Aiden gave him a strange look, and for a moment Harvard feared the words had come out of his mouth. “What?” Aiden asked.

“I… nothing. I miss this,” Harvard had said. And then, quieter, “I miss this you.”

Aiden had looked startled, and Harvard hurriedly put his mask back on and took up a stance. They’d fenced the rest of the match, Harvard had won, and things had pretty much been normal between them. But Harvard had thought that Aiden had looked preoccupied, afterwards.

“It doesn’t do to get too attached.” Without realising it, Harvard began pacing again, more quickly. He was suddenly looking at everything in a different light.

It had never just been about fencing – it was about fencing and them. Aiden had pulled away from fencing and pulled away from Harvard because that was what he always did – to keep people at arm’s length, to keep from showing how much he cared. To protect himself. Because– because–

Harvard thought about Aiden’s shocked look when Harvard had said, “I miss this you.” He thought about Aiden running his hands through blond hair to tie it up out of the way, wisps escaping from his ponytail as he fenced, his blue eyes calculating, a knowing smirk dancing around his lips. He thought about Aiden’s laugh when they fenced.

He thought about flopping down next to Aiden on their beds, arms pressed together – about leaning into him during a movie night, trusting that Aiden would be there, solid, next to him. Harvard could vividly picture Aiden’s smile; the angle of his jaw. In his mind’s eye, he turned his head, and–

Oh. “Oh,” Harvard said out loud, staring into the distance. Then he bolted around the side of the building. He needed to find Aiden immediately.

#Fence comic #Haiden #Harvard x Aiden #Harvard Lee #Aiden Kane #Nicholas Cox #Eugene Labao #Bobby Rodriguez #Lost in a Familiar Place #I really wanted to give Harvard an 'oh' moment in this chapter #He needed to work out not just that Aiden has feelings for him but that he has feelings for Aiden #And given that Harvard in canon has realised Neither of those things I knew this would take some doing #For the record: I think that Aiden's flakiness on the team is also part of his ~image where he can't be seen to try too hard #And because he knows it makes people underestimate him #But he must know that he's walking a thin line with Harvard's tolerance and I don't think he enjoys disappointing Harvard all the time #So my headcanon is that he started to pull away when he realised that he had feelings for Harvard #Because he's rationalised that keeping some distance is the only way to keep their friendship intact #Unnnfortunately Harvard didn't get the memo #This works only up until something gives - which in this fic was Harvard's patience - and then the wheels start to come off #And here we are

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