Training Day Post

Date: 12/30/12
Weather: 38 F, Wind NNW 20-25 mph, Partly Cloudy
Training: Strider - Simulated Senior Hunt Test – Land
Fowler – Simulated Junior Hunt Test – Land


There is a simple truth that we all must live with, and that truth is that not everything is always going to go to plan. Whether it's work or play, we always have an expectation of how we want things to go, and the fact is that it doesn't always go that way.

As you can probably guess, this post is about one of those days.

I have recently agreed to help a buddy of mine, Rhett, train his young dog, Fowler, for duck hunting and retriever games. He has been following Tom Dokken's book on training, but needed a bit of hands-on help with Force Fetch. Something just wasn't quite getting through to the dog, and I have had experience with the Force Fetch process, so he gave me a call to come take a look at him. It wasn't anything at all from Mr. Dokken's book that was the problem; it was just the inexperience of the trainer. Everyone who has trained a gun dog knows what I'm talking about, and we've all been there at one point or another. A lot of dogs will never reach their owner's expectations because they are too proud to ask for help, and one of the several things that I've learned about the hunting retriever world is that there is always somebody who is willing to give you a hand. Luckily, Fowler's problem laid mostly in the Hold stage. Rhett just didn't know how to reinforce the standard that he wanted in that phase of training. It wasn't hard to show him what he needed to do. It was obvious that he had been working very hard with Fowler leading up to that point, and it was a simple matter of showing the dog what the correct behavior was. We can never expect our dogs to do what we want if we don't first show them what we want.

 
I met up with my training partner at 9:00 am to work out Strider and Fowler. The pup has just gotten through the initial stages of Force Fetch (through Force to Pile and Pattern Blinds) and we are working him through collar conditioning and transition while preparing him for his first Junior Hunt Tests. We sent him off first, as Strider's simulated Senior Test would take a bit longer.

Fowler ran a Junior Land Test and did beautifully. We ran him through it twice in a wheat field that Rhett's uncle lets us use for training. The line was placed just off a dirt road that runs the edge of the field and I set the test as two singles to be thrown first to his left, then to his right. I blew the duck call, threw the bumper about 15 yards to my right (dog's left just north of 45 degrees) and fired a blank. Fowler, who had had some trouble staying steady earlier in the week, gave a small flinch at the shot, but kept his rear end glued to the mat. Rhett sent him for the mark and he absolutely nailed it! A few days before, he had an issue with following marks to the ground, but not today! He held the bumper perfectly and ran back to Rhett's side; an excellent retrieve from beginning to end and proof that the Force Fetch process is vital to a retriever's success. As he returned to Rhett, I jogged about 40 yards to my left to end up at 60 yards to the dog's right and repeated throwing to my left once he was ready. Rhett was extremely happy with how he performed, as he should have been.

Strider was a little different.

I set up a Senior Land Test for him with a double and a blind retrieve. The first bird was thrown to the right at about 90 yards, the left bird was from a dummy launcher and ended up at about 70 yards, and the blind was right between the two of them at 110 yards. Since we don't have holding blinds, I took him behind my truck and had him sit at heel for a minute before bringing him to the line (at heel, no leash). When we hit the mat, I signaled for Rhett to throw the first bird. He blew a duck call, threw the mark and fired a .22 blank shot. The second was launched across to the left. I moved him off the second bird (which he was SHAKING to get to), and after a bit of a battle of wills, got him to line for the first mark. I lowered my hand over his head and sent him for it. His initial line was a bit to the right since the field sloped ever so slightly that way, but not far enough for me to worry about needing to handle him. As long as he's within the general hunt area, I tend to let him do his thing.

When we're out hunting, I don't want to be blowing a whistle every two seconds just because he's not directly on a bird, so I like him to be able to figure things like that out for himself.

After about 5 seconds, he got in position and scented the mark; picking it up and bringing it back to me for a perfect delivery. The second bird was a bit of a challenge for him, as the launcher doesn't provide him a thrower to target for the mark. He took about 30 seconds to find it once he reached the fall area, and one again faithfully brought it back to me.

Not the best he's ever done, but he has most certainly done far worse. The problem began when he had to run the blind. As I said before, it was 110 yards out in front, and the field sloped ever so slightly to the left. He had never run a blind in this field before and the second mark, along with the slope of the field, was pulling him to the left almost immediately after I sent him with a calm "Back" command. I stopped him within 40 yards, which I really don't like to do because I'm afraid of causing a popping problem if I do it too often. On the other hand, I need to get him to the bird, right? He was between the lines for the second mark and the blind, and made a quick stop and sat facing me, awaiting command. I gave him a right "Over" command, and he turned to his left…and kept turning until he had completely wheeled himself (a standing turn that went beyond 180 degrees), and began running toward where the second mark fell. Most retriever owners are probably thinking the same thing that I was at the time…Oh, no you didn't! Another sit whistle immediately followed, and he quickly sat again. Only this time he had his head cocked to the side (everyone knows that look, and Strider has mastered it) as if to say, "WHAT?? I'm working, here!" I gave him another right "Over," and this time he obeyed…kind of. He lazily jogged to his left, but kept his head turned in the direction of where the second mark had fallen. At this point, I'm starting to get annoyed.

He arrived at the line that I wanted him, so I stopped him again, warranting possibly the laziest sit I've ever seen in a working retriever. It must have taken 5 full seconds for his rear-end to hit the ground, all the while his eyes still glancing over to the area that he wanted to go to. I gave him a right "Back," which he enthusiastically took. About 30 yards into the run, he began veering off to the left again. I really don't think he was being influenced by the previous mark at that point; the slope of the field was taking him off the line to the blind. I let him go so that he could get upwind from it, thinking that he would come across the scent and find it.

Nope. Instead, he blew right by it and just kept running. It was windy as hell that morning, and it took me two loud, long whistles before he realized that something wasn't right. He did stop after the second whistle, and obeyed my "Here" whistle until he was even with the bumpers, and I blew the whistle again to make him sit. He didn't stop. The dog just kept running back to me. Two additional whistles and a nick of his e-collar finally got his attention and he sat. Meanwhile, I'm keeping myself as calm as I possibly can. "He's a dog," I kept telling myself, "just keep training."

 

After two more stops and handles, he still hadn't gotten the blind. Several pro trainer's voices kept echoing in my head: "When the dog doesn't get something, simplify, simplify, SIMPLIFY!"
I had to walk out and make the blind 60 yards so that he could find it. We walked back to the line, bumper in mouth, and prepared to run it again. The first mark went well, but then came the dummy launcher mark to the left. I sent him for it, and just as he was reaching it, he suddenly faded to the right and took off for the planted blind. I blew the whistle, but he didn't acknowledge he even heard it. It's entirely possible that with the wind and him running at full speed he really didn't hear it. Nevertheless, he continued his path to the blind.

One thing you should know about Strider: he is fast. Really, really, REALLY FAST! Of course, that's what I wanted (God forbid any wounded geese start running and get away from us in a corn field), so I'm not complaining. In this instance, by the time I blew another sit whistle, he had already arrived at the blind and was bringing it back to me. I turned and gave the bumper bucket a little kick of frustration and awaited Strider's return. Naturally, I don't want to inhibit his desire to do his job, so I didn't scold him at all when he got back. I calmly took the bumper (my agitation having been taken out on the defenseless bucket) and sent him for the second mark…which he nailed and retrieved without a problem.

What's the lesson here? Next time, I'm going to wait until I'm finished running the second round of marks before trying to simplify a blind again. What happened was completely my fault, and I knew it as soon as Strider left the second mark for the blind. By showing him where it was, I had essentially given him the idea that it was more important than picking up the marks in the correct order. That's not what we want to teach our dogs. Yet another lesson that Strider has taught me.

Anyway, until next time…give extra scratches behind the ears and happy training!!