ABOUT DELANEY

Delaney is a coveted Massachusetts Wildlife Management Area (WMA), managed jointly by the Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW, known as Mass Wildlife) with other agencies.

Retriever training access to WMA grounds is becoming more and more rare and we are grateful to the DFW and supporting agencines for granting the LRCGB a permit for Tuesday training.

The LRCGB Field Committee has secured Delaney Wildlife Management Area for field training on Tuesdays, from April 2 through October.

We know this lengthy page of 'rules' may seem never-ending - but it all comes from experience. The LRCGB has offered this Delaney training opportunity for nearly 3 decades. Its popular because we use birds and gunfire, and it's accessible to greater Boston. There have been days when we've trained over 50 retrievers! We want to optimize the time you are actually training your dog and have developed these guidelines to address the 'time robbers' -- which is essential when there are many in the group.  

Fees and Registration

• Pre-pay for the season: $50 for first dog
• Pre-pay for the season: $25 each for 2nd and 3rd dog
• Drop In: $15 per dog per day/members
• Drop In: $20 non-members. See below for Guest Policy. Members bringing guests are responsible for paying ahead for the guest. Honor system -- please send your checks to our Field Committee chair Cathy Shea, 49 Sweetwater Ave, Bedford, MA 01730.
• All participants must also complete a worker requirement. See below for details.

Beginners Class participants are encouraged to join the training group after the class is over - even if you're not (yet) a LRCGB member. The participation fee will be waived for those class members new to field work. For repeat clients of the Beginners Class the fee for their first dog will be discounted to $25. 

Organizational Structure

• We will keep 2 group times: morning and afternoon. Morning starts at 9am, afternoon starts at 5pm. When registering for the season, you will select your preferred time. You may switch throughout the year as your schedule evolves. 
• Both morning and afternoon groups are self-organizing. To optimize setup and training efficiency and effectiveness, we request that the groups designate a weekly lead to arrange for the setup. We've learned its most effective for each group to pick a person designated to set up teams and running order. If there are more than 12 people signed up for a group, the group should consider splitting into two training groups.
• New attendees should pair with a mentor for a smooth transition.
• You can always train on your own any time on Tuesdays, but the formal training groups have priority; your setups and whistles cannot interfere with the regular training group(s).  
• Delaney provides Club members a great opportunity to train their dogs AND to improve as handlers. With this goal in mind, help and advice will be offered to all participants by discussion at the beginning of the set-up and during the running of the set-up. If you feel you do not want help, please let us know, but in general help will be offered. 

Work Requirements

We cannot run Club sponsored competition events without the help of our members working. To stay eligible for participation in the training group, members must volunteer to work at a LRCGB sponsored hunt test each year - as directed by the Chairperson or Chief Marshal. This includes drop-ins. Other field events may be considered with PRIOR approval of the Delaney Committee, and only chairing such an event will be considered as fulfilling the work requirements.

These working requirements are waived for graduates of the Beginning Retrievers Class in the year they complete their first class. Repeat Beginners Class participants who continue with the training group after the course is completed are obligated to fulfill the work requirements. 

Guest Policy

The training group is open to LRCGB members, as long as they fulfill the Delaney work requirements defined above. Guests require approval at least one week prior and will depend on space available and if needed, may run at the end. The member inviting the guest is responsible for paying for the guest in advance. 

What to Bring

• Duck call, a working radio, a pistol, and your birds.
• Bring one bird for every dog you run. Tag your birds and at the close of the evening, please take your bird back home – each of us must dispose of our own birds! If you can’t bring a bird offer to pay someone to bring one for you – please don’t make this a regular thing.
• Everybody is expected to contribute to the community training group. Please bring extra equipment such as holding blinds, wingers, bumpers, pistols, decoys, handler & popper guns, canoes, blind poles, radios, duck calls, etc. The club will try to supply boom tubes and possibly wingers.

Weekly Sign-ups

Weekly electronic sign-up helps ensure a smooth experience for all. Whether you’ve paid for the season or a drop-in, please indicate your intent to attend by noon the day prior (Monday). This will be especially important for morning participants. Please plan to be there at the start of the training.  Walk-ins are strongly

discouraged. 

What's Expected of Participants

• Air your dog away from the setup. Pick up after your dog!
• The Delaney WMA is a multi-use facility – and even with our permit, we are sharing the grounds with other people: anglers, dog walkers, bird watchers, horseback riders, other hunters… We must keep a good relationship between our training group and others that have a right to use the same grounds. If someone complains, be courteous, offer to explain what we are doing, but do NOT get into arguments. We can NOT afford to lose these precious grounds.
• Under our permit participants in the training group are exempt from the Mass Wildlife regulation that requires owners to havea a hunting license or dogs to be leashed.
• Never discharge a firearm in the direction of, or in the vicinity of others using the grounds.
• On the grounds, never drive faster than 5 mph. It feels like a snails pace sometimes, but even 8mph is too fast.
• Do recognize that we dog trainers are an eclectic group, and we cannot please all people all the time. To ensure a good time is had by all, please make an effort to be nice and welcoming, get along and accept the differences amongst each other; critical commentary to these agreed upon processes should be directed to the field committee chair (Cathy Shea). Improvements that are in sync with these philosophies are welcome!

Access and Safety

A few club members will have a key to the property. As a key owner, you also carry a higher level of responsibility to the LRCGB: do NOT copy your key or use your key for anything but the Tuesday training sessions.

Nobody should be left alone at any LRCGB-sponsored training site. One person should remain with the person closing. They should not leave Delaney until the gate is closed, locked, and it is clear all cars are working.

Guiding Principles for Weekly Training Sessions

• The weekly lead -- and the weekly lead ONLY - is in charge of the setup. When no lead is present, the group will agree on a set-up using the training outline included in the Google signup spreadsheet as a guide for ideas and avoiding repeat set-ups.
• Everybody is expected to contribute to the training group: all of us should help set-up equipment, work in the field, and pick up and put things away at the end of the night. Don't expect to just come out and run your dog -- unless the group agrees.
• *Before* you come to the line, have a plan ready for you and your dog. Use your radio to let the bird boys know what you're planning to do when the previous dog is coming back with the last bird!
• Feel free to adjust how you run your dog on a given setup, as long as it doesn't unduly affect the rest of the group or the throwing team. You may choose the order in which you run the marks. You may ask the bird boys to adjust their throws. You may run from a different line. Just make sure to work within the basic setup. If you need advice don't hesitate to ask for help.
• We'll have many dogs to run, and the sun WILL set! Be mindful on how you affect the group, and be efficient. If your dog has never done multiples, running a triple just because everyone else does is a bad idea.
• Know the running order, air your dog in advance, and be in the holding blind ready to run when you're up. Each set-up should have two holding blinds for dogs to wait in, and there should be a dog in each blind at all times. Good training for hunt tests!
• Please let multi-dog owners run every other dog or every second dog, so they are not back to back.
• Everybody is expected to understand bird boy etiquette. Especially, do NOT help a dog unless you are asked to do so by the handler; or, if there is imminent physical danger for the dog. See https://lrcgb.org/bird_boy_notes_2013 for more information.
• Bitches in season are welcome to run. Let others know. You will run at the end of the running order, unless everyone else agrees to let you run earlier.
• While members who pay the seasonal dues can train at Delaney any time during the day (that our permit allows), all should inform the group in case others wish to join. If you don't want to train with the main group that's okay too, as long as you don’t disturb the formal training group with whistles, etc. The formal training group has priority to ground selection, etc.

Training Principles

• This is training, not competition. Think about what you want you and your dog to LEARN. It’s not important that you ‘win’ the training session, you will have ample time to demonstrate your dog's ability at the tests. Another way to think of it: If you didn’t have a teachable moment, you didn’t train. And a teachable moment may well be simplifying to build confidence.
• All dogs learn at different rates and have different problems. Some dogs aren’t ready for a more difficult set-up; and a training approach used by one member may not be the right approach for your dog. Know your dog's skills. If he's less experienced, simplify your run!
• Don't get upset if you or your dog have a bad day. It happens to all of us. Keep a positive attitude, toward your dog, yourself, and your training partners.
• While all dogs have bad days, if your dog appears to consistently struggle, then you may want to consider that the task you’ve asked is beyond the current ability of your dog. That’s okay – just simplify.
• You are encouraged to spend as much time as you need to help your dog deal with a problem you encounter while running a setup. At the same time, please be considerate of your fellow dog trainers - especially as daylight wanes. For example, if you worked 10 minutes on a tough blind, your training partners wouldn't be pleased if you tried to run a second, similarly difficult blind. Know when to quit. A happy bumper may be better for you, your dog, and your training partners than another frustrating mark or blind. Try to end at a pont where your dog is successful with some skill/behavior.
• Check out our website for more training information!! https://lrcgb.org/activities/field/retriever-training-information

Its also worth mentioning that our group is large and varied, and so is our training methods -- the teaching techniques, corrections, and rewards for one situation may not apply to every situation and/or dog-handler team. Please respect this for others and keep it in mind for your own retrievers.