Food & Feeding

Retriever Training Articles

Cinnstar Accomplishments

Breeder Ethics

At Cinnstar we try to introduce our Tollers to as many different grounds of varying cover, terrain and complexity as we can. Retrievers are place sensitive and rotating where one trains helps to alleviate this. Also no one place will have everything. We are always on the lookout for new places to train.

We always enjoy sharing our property with friends and puppy people, and have a private upstairs bedroom for overnight long distance friends. While we do utilize "The Balanced Method" as discribed in our articles, we do NOT condone or allow Abusive or Harsh training. I was once told that those terms were a matter of opinion. Well, it is my land, so my Opinion. Dog Abuse is Not Tolerated Here. If the retriever requires a correction, that's fine, but one should be fair.

The Back 40 Training Area

The Back 40 Training Area is actually about 40 acres! It includes a large land area with a complex technical pond system. The smaller pond called the Back 40 Pond, is the orginal pond. It was cleaned out and made substantially deeper, enlarged and then a long channel added. The dirt removed from digging the ponds was used to create hills on the relativly flat land. The hills give excellent vantage points to run long and or complex marks and blinds. There are also two small ditches that run East and West. You can see their outlines by the greener lines running to the Back 40 pond and into Technical Pond, and creates an outflow for the Technical Pond as well. Plans are to enlarge and deepen thease ditches. The curving outflow of the large technical pond that empties into the Back 40 Pond, also adds a lot to the complexity of the area. Cover varies from short and thick, to sparse to tall depending on the time of year, and when it was last cut. The pond is fed by run off and is almost Always full. The trees in the middle and South end add interest along with much needed shade. Seasonal flooding makes a UTV or ATV necessary in the wetter months, but also interesting for the dogs to run through the flooded areas.

The Cinnstar Technical Pond Complex

The Cinnstar Technical Pond Complex located in the South East area of the back 40 Includes the Large Technical Pond, The Back 40 Pond, including its long channel, undulating terrain that in season is marshy, and several man made hills. While marks can be simple for beginning dogs, or more advanced for Any hunt test venue, it is also well suited and designed for All Age Marks and Blinds by utilizing angles though both ponds, terrain and ability to run long distances. Through the year the "look" of the land surrounding the complex changes, and also depends on when the cover was cut.

Cinnstar Main Technical Pond Phase 1, October 2017


Cinnstar Main Technical Pond Compleated. Photos dated 2018 and 2019







     

     

  To get a larger view, you can click on the smaller photos

The Back 40 Pond and Channel

The back 40 pond and channel lies close to the Technical Pond. Many interesting and advanced marks and blinds can be run across the two, and on to the land surrounding the pond complex. "Hills" give elevation to watch the retrievers as they work or to give direction on a blind. For beginning dogs one can run simple marks to teach in and outs, and then step back incrementally to increase difficulty.

   
  To get a larger view, you can click on the smaller photos

Land Features of the Tech Pond Complex and Back 40 Pond and Channel

     
To get a larger view, you can click on the smaller photos

It is also interesting to look and run the same mark or blind from opposite ends. Completely Different! While it is No "piece of cake" from either direction, running the complex part first certainly is "easier". Running from the "mound" you can easily get 300 yards of All Age challenge! I often run marks with the less advanced dogs to the right (in the first photo) of this treachery. It to can be run in both directions. From the mound (East side, first photo) once though the water there is a marshy/covered area, and then the bird can land on a flat simpler area. And I have taught the complex part with the ability to place a "friendly" white bumper just visible in the water beyond.

Don's Pond

Don's Pond is situated on the North side of the Back 40, near the center, in front of the center treed area. Don had wanted a pond that he could have fish. While we now have some native "minnows" that "magically" show up after a pond is dug and fills, LOL, Don had wanted something a "Little Bigger"! It is believed that shore birds eat the small fish in a pond, and then go to another pond and a few eggs survive to be deposited in that pond. Plans are to drag a dead tree and strategically place it in the pond to provide shade and cover for the fish. While we have not decided on a species, we do plan to introduce larger fish into Don's Pond.

The Pond does have one willow tree growing, and it appears to be in a good place, so we will leave it. The problem with willows is that they "drink" a HUGE amount of water in the summer. And for a pond that receives all it's water from the winter rains, the amount is limited. It is also believed that if growing on a dam, a willow can weaken it when a root dies and rots. The Technical pond has a Ten's of these willow slappings. They will have to be removed or they will take over in no time.

This rectangular pond is great for teaching so many important concepts and drills to young dogs as well as it is well positioned for advanced marks and blinds. The trees also add interest to the marks. Along with the two mounds on the East and West sides of the pond, at the North fenceline there is another rise, adding the ability to run marks or blinds from there with good visibility .

     
       

Trees and Small Pond next to Don's Pond

Near the middle of the Back 40, is a group of trees that presents all kinds of interesting hunt test type marks and blinds. The marks and blinds can be made more challenging when Don's Pond is also incorporated, and certainly one can use the land to make the distance as long as desired.

There is also a small seasonal pond that in the summer when it dries out Don enjoys taking a break from shredding (mowing) the back 40. I have enlarged and deepened this small pond, though normally it is only wading water. This summer one of the trees fell down. Plans are to drag this tree to Don's Pond.

     
     

The South Treeline and Ditch

Looking at the South Treeline face on, it appears uninteresting, a mass of trees. However as one gets into the area the trees are actually widely spaced. There is a treed seasonal creek, but at that point the trees get too dense to really utilize that area currently. Maybe one day.......

Yes, we even have a good sized ditch, and another one that in its current state is too short to utilize as it is very short.

     
     

   

The Homested Training Area

Our Homestead Area is about 25 acres, where our home, shop and barn are located.

Originally I had planned to train professionally on a small basis and thus there is a spacious 8 indoor/outdoor kennel with exercise/training yard. We do a lot of rescue work, so it is convenient to use the kennels and rotate the dogs in the house. There is also a large metal building that eventually will be a grooming and puppy area. This building is very close to our home, and while I will always whelp my litters in the house, this heated/air-conditioned building with attached outside play area, will give the pups a lot more room to run and play as they get older.

A very short walk from the kennel is our “Puppy Pond”, and behind in back about 10 acres of training area.

The Homestead area also includes a 7 acre sheep pasture and loafing/shelter area at the front of our property, and two smaller sheep and ram enclosures, and an area for raising a couple of pigs every year.

     
     

   

Cinnstar Retrievers Laura and Don White 903.335.3806 laurawhite1957@gmail.com

This site designed and maintained by Laura White