Windrows

right click on icons for larger photos

Windrows are made when raking cut hay into rows. The fresh, cut hay is wet and needs to be dried quickly to conserve nutrients and prevent mold (spoiling). Raking sets the rows up off the ground so that wind can dry them....thus the name windrow. The size of rows can vary to some extent depending of what kind of grasses are present, the quantity and farming equipment.

When training retrievers, changes in surroundings can have an effect on momentum in that "factors" can alter speed and/or direction. Teaching a dog to deal with factors which influence momentum is an ongoing process which includes exposure. Recently, a large park district must have decided that mowing grass often was too expensive. Therefore, one area not in great use was "let go" to grow. Very soon the grass was tall enough to cut and rake it into windrows for baling.

Rain has delayed the drying process which means we've had several days to train (five days so far). The following are a series of photos revealing what Pounce has been working through. The windrows have been "turned" and "fluffed up".

Pounce was a year old June 5th and has been following Bill Hillmann's RetrieverTraining Program. She has enjoyed the work and is an excellent student. The first five "pics" were taken in an exceptional, nearby "stand" of windrows fit to test the meddle of any young retriever. They were just a "tad" higher than a "white chalk line".

The sixth photo is a marking setup with four "stand alone/send back" singles ranging from 140 to 160 yards with the "area of the falls" on the other side of a gravel road bordering the treeline. The last is Pounce's first "walkout" blind.

Pounce leaping "windrows"