When training your own dog you will almost always hear-“take it one step at a time”. This is true, you cannot expect a dog that does not know the “sit” to be line steady.
I set up a training program for new dogs plus a refresher for expierienced dogs. The time frame will change as training goes on but this way I will have a reference. I can easily check to see if I am ahead or behind schedule and adjust accordingly.
Here is an example of a 10 week training schedule.
This was setup for dogs that have had introdution to basic obedience, bird and gun training.
Week 1. – Collar training- low level stimulation.
Week 2-5 – trainied retrieve- including ladder, force to pile, baseball.
Week 6-8 – steadying- on the line, steady to shot, wing and flush.
Week 9-10- hunting- putting it all together in the field.
Again I want to make it clear that this schedule was made for dogs that love birds and guns!
Here is a common problem I often see with a handler and their own dog. Lets start with basic obedience. Lets say the handler starts with sit. We are doing a session in the back yard for a few days and the dog starts to respond well to the command. Now we take him out on a walk with lots of distractions. We command “sit” and the dog ignores it. Now we lay on correction get mad and look for a new training method. What mistakes did the handler make here?
First and foremost, the dog quickly understood that in the backyard, he was expected to obey. he didn’t know yet that he was to obey at all times, even whe he was out having fun. When training, make sure you are still getting the dog out for regular exercise. Don’t use a formal training session as a replcement for walks and exercise. In the beginning stages of training, I do short sessions. 10 minutes of yard work followed by the walk and exercise period. Then another short formal session. Since I walk the dog twice daily I now have 4 formal training sessions in. I am going to vary a little bit here from what you may have heard from others. Lots of trainers say they like to “work” the dog first thing when they let it out of the kennel. The energy level is high and the dogs attention span is better. I don’t have a problem with this but I also expect the dog to perform when they are tired or the energy level is lower. That is why I like to do a session after the walk also.
Ok remember the dogs in this example have been introduced to bacis obedience. They know what the command means. Imporant thing to remember, do not correct a dog if he does not know the command. I will first make sure the dog knows what the command means before I add any pressure. Example, say you are teaching a pup to kennel. He has never heard the kennel command and you give him a correction. The pup has no idea why he was corrected.
Ok, lets get to it. Again the dogs I am training know basic obedience. Now I am going to collar training. This will be optional for you, if you decide to use the e-collar or not. the dogs know what the command means, now I am going to apply low levels stimulation. There are different methods of training with a e-collar. the method I prefer is stimulation aviodance. With this method, the dog learns how to shut off then avoid stimulation. Now I can take him out on walks and when he is distracted, I can give the sit command followed by a collar correction. Again the use of a collar is going to be your choice. Your hunting dog will be working sometimes 100’s of yard away from you. They know, from proper e-collar training that you can still reach out and touch them.
Ok Don, maybe I am buying in to your theory but— how can I cheat my way to success?
Remember most training methods say take it step by this. This is true, however there are ways you can get advanced results. Maybe its common sense but I have never seen it or heard it talked about in training. Lets get back to the sit command in our training. We are training with the e-collar and the dog is responding well. You have it on your training schedule in a week or so you are going to be steadying the dog. Now when out for walks or at the end of a trainig session, we toss some fun bumpers. Now when you toss a bumper, give you sit command. What I like to do is place myself between the dog and where I throw the retrieve. I do this the first few times anyway. Soon after, I can heel the dog or have them sit at remote spots. The key here is, even though the dog knows that sit means sit- Don’t give a correction if he doesn’t comply! The reason being, he may relate the correction as a que not to retrieve! That is why I the first few times I place myself between the dog and the bumper. That way I can put up the stop sign before they reach me and then send them on to the bumper. The dog will soon learn that even though he has to stop and sit, he will eventually get the retrieve. So now it is more like a game and instead of just running out for bumpers, he is responding to a command. Now he is doing remote sits and you can start giving “back” and hand signals. Remember, this is all new to him so I am not giving any type of correction at this point.
All in all I now have the dog collar trainied (formal), sitting at heel or remote, and doing backs (non formal).
Now I have a dog that has been introduced to steadyness so when that portion of training comes up, the dog will think- “hey I have done this before”.
The training will be alot more fun for both you and your dog. Nothing wrong with trying advanced training, just don’t expect the dog to be perfect the first few times out.
Keep in mind, although it is a great feeling and acomplishment to have your dog go full out on a retrieve then stop on a dime at your command. Do not stop him everytime or will anticipate that he is going to stop. Take a look back at your training. Say during the “heel”, you trainied your dog to sit when you stopped. It became habit to the dog and soon he was sitting without being told. The same thing will happen if you stop and handle the dog on every retrieve.
Here is What I like to do while in the process of steadying a dog. Once the dog will sit and mark, I will walk out and pick up alot of the retrieves myself. Then when I do send the dog, I will stop them maybe 1 out of 3 retrieves. This way the dog will have to think a little bit and will understand that not every bird down is his. This will go a long ways in future training and when you are hunting with multiple dogs.
Every bird hunting dog owner should read this, learn from it and practice it!