Missy Skeeter
Elite Refuge Member
Bumpers...They typically will last for many years
Plastic or canvas, orange, white or black & white?
Here are some thoughts on bumpers.
I like canvas for quick training sessions in the yard when its super cold.
The canvas bumpers are warm from being inside and I think are a better
reward than plastic bumpers that can quickly cool to below freezing.
A couple disadvantages of canvas are they get muddy with water training
and they are typically more expensive than plastic bumpers.
An alternative to canvas for cold winter training is to encase plastic
bumpers with thick black socks. Canvas bumpers will shed snow better though.
Plastic bumpers and Blind Retrieve Training.
Canines have di-chromatic vision so they do not perceive orange as well as humans.
We use orange bumpers for blinds because we want to develop a heads-up run to the end of the field attitude.
With white bumpers, a youngster may be confused the first time he runs a water blind
in a pond full of white water lilly blossoms or a field with white rocks.
We typically don't use birds in blind because we don't want drag-back scent
which would promote a youngster to go into "hunt mode" instead of thinking
run long to a distant destination at the end of the field.
Also it is easier to see a floating orange bumper in weedy water so the handler
sometimes knows the exact line to the blind.
For walking baseball, I like to use 3 inch orange bumpers because the handler
needs to know the location of several bumpers and casts are typically long.
Marks.
Our club typically uses dead ducks for marks in group training because they are a better canine reward than bumpers.
For youngsters, I like to run last so there is lots of duck scent in the area of the fall from previous throws...
that way when the youngster achieves the area of the fall, lots of duck scent to keep him persistently hunting until success.
For youngsters we also typically walk up closer to the thrower so the retriever
learns to focus and run to the mark location and not to simply run to the thrower and hunt.
The biggest problem with birds is expense...they cost over $30 per frozen duck up here in Alaska.
So we typically use-freeze-reuse many times and a duck can last for many training sessions
if wrapped in newspaper before freezing and used in land marks.
I use a cardboard beer 12-pack box which fits 4 ducks perfectly.
That way they stack in the freezer nicely and a quick count of cardboard boxes times 4 = total ducks left.
Plus I enjoy beer during the warm endless summer days of interior Alaska.
On non-club training days, we typically use black & white bumpers for marks because the black portion
contrasts with the bright sky while the white portion contrasts with the dark forest backgrounds.
For super long marks we typically use 3 inch black & white bumpers with black & white
ribbons that flutter as the bumper is falling.
For super long marks, when the challenge is the line getting to the area of the fall,
we will often "salt" the area of the fall by pre-planting several bumpers in the area.
That way when the retriever gets to the destination there is quick success in finding a bumper.
A trick I learned from Mike Lardy: To help teach a retriever not to head swing to a shorter thrower,
we will have the super long thrower throw a mark, and at the handlers hand signal repeat throwing
a second bumper to the same area of the fall.
That promotes prolonged focus on that super long thrower instead of quickly head-swinging to a shorter thrower.
I will use an orange bumper for a very short "check-down" mark where the lesson is
to hunt carefully and with great persistence.
Plastic or canvas, orange, white or black & white?
Here are some thoughts on bumpers.
I like canvas for quick training sessions in the yard when its super cold.
The canvas bumpers are warm from being inside and I think are a better
reward than plastic bumpers that can quickly cool to below freezing.
A couple disadvantages of canvas are they get muddy with water training
and they are typically more expensive than plastic bumpers.
An alternative to canvas for cold winter training is to encase plastic
bumpers with thick black socks. Canvas bumpers will shed snow better though.
Plastic bumpers and Blind Retrieve Training.
Canines have di-chromatic vision so they do not perceive orange as well as humans.
We use orange bumpers for blinds because we want to develop a heads-up run to the end of the field attitude.
With white bumpers, a youngster may be confused the first time he runs a water blind
in a pond full of white water lilly blossoms or a field with white rocks.
We typically don't use birds in blind because we don't want drag-back scent
which would promote a youngster to go into "hunt mode" instead of thinking
run long to a distant destination at the end of the field.
Also it is easier to see a floating orange bumper in weedy water so the handler
sometimes knows the exact line to the blind.
For walking baseball, I like to use 3 inch orange bumpers because the handler
needs to know the location of several bumpers and casts are typically long.
Marks.
Our club typically uses dead ducks for marks in group training because they are a better canine reward than bumpers.
For youngsters, I like to run last so there is lots of duck scent in the area of the fall from previous throws...
that way when the youngster achieves the area of the fall, lots of duck scent to keep him persistently hunting until success.
For youngsters we also typically walk up closer to the thrower so the retriever
learns to focus and run to the mark location and not to simply run to the thrower and hunt.
The biggest problem with birds is expense...they cost over $30 per frozen duck up here in Alaska.
So we typically use-freeze-reuse many times and a duck can last for many training sessions
if wrapped in newspaper before freezing and used in land marks.
I use a cardboard beer 12-pack box which fits 4 ducks perfectly.
That way they stack in the freezer nicely and a quick count of cardboard boxes times 4 = total ducks left.
Plus I enjoy beer during the warm endless summer days of interior Alaska.
On non-club training days, we typically use black & white bumpers for marks because the black portion
contrasts with the bright sky while the white portion contrasts with the dark forest backgrounds.
For super long marks we typically use 3 inch black & white bumpers with black & white
ribbons that flutter as the bumper is falling.
For super long marks, when the challenge is the line getting to the area of the fall,
we will often "salt" the area of the fall by pre-planting several bumpers in the area.
That way when the retriever gets to the destination there is quick success in finding a bumper.
A trick I learned from Mike Lardy: To help teach a retriever not to head swing to a shorter thrower,
we will have the super long thrower throw a mark, and at the handlers hand signal repeat throwing
a second bumper to the same area of the fall.
That promotes prolonged focus on that super long thrower instead of quickly head-swinging to a shorter thrower.
I will use an orange bumper for a very short "check-down" mark where the lesson is
to hunt carefully and with great persistence.
