Dave's a Success

[marysburg]

We spread decoys all over the lawn and did land retrieves through them to teach the dogs to ignore the decoys before we moved the exercise to the water. Your friend is probably right, just get a pole with a hook on the end to recover your decoys, and let Dave get the live ones. No worries, Dave sounds like a great pup.

[Cass]

marysburg is right. Decoys can be distracting enough. Plus, if you accept him retrieving them if you get into a situation where the dog is unable to locate a downed bird, once he gets frustrated he may just go get a decoy since he has been praised/allowed to do it in the past. Decoys are best left as something to be ignored.

[krakadawn]

So Jeff.....you are just starting to experience what happens when dogs have not been through a sequential training program and their handlers are keen to get them into the real thing...'hunting' before they have the skills.

Google Mike Lardy's training chart and start to look at what the 'Basics' look like and do a little checking with Dave's skills at present compared to the chart. It is certainly the best description of required skills and the order in which to teach them.

So to help here, consider the following:
-go back and teach 'sit'. Sit means sit, don't confuse him with other commands like stay......sit means sit. After he is sitting while you move he may be ready to throw some bumpers for him. You must insist he sit while you do this. Put a rope on him if you have to restrain him but for sure he does not get any reward for breaking(as you know he got rewarded 18 times the first day). A good suggestion is for you to stand between Dave and the bumper so you can stop him(called being the Traffic Cop by Bill Hillman) Sequence is first to sit, then to sit when a bumper is thrown, then sit when a bumper and shot, then sit for a bird thrown, then sit for a bird and shot........No shortcuts here if you are serious about steadying Dave.

-teach here and like sit....here means here! No side trips or around the trees.

-teach him to sit on the whistle...one blast means stop and sit, can be done in conjunction with the above. This is a skill that will allow you to teach some handling skills shortly and provide a skill for Dave's safety.

-get some decoys out as suggested. First on lawn then on water. Bumpers first then birds thrown on the other side of decoys. Get him comfortable going through them and just ignoring them but of course not avoiding them.

-No more decoy retrieving. Find a place where he has to run/swim a fair distance past the decoys to make a retrieve. If you don't he'll only go as far as the decoys and quit his search early. You won't be able to always throw a stone far enough and there is some easy strategies to teach lining .....just ask Cass, his little spaniel has been put through a non slip retriever program and performs those skills very well....lines and handles very well.

Hard work but you have to be on top of the teaching. They don't get these skills without practise. Be fair to the dog, if you think he has potential then be prepared to take him through an organised, solid program.

Good luck.

The above is pretty minimal before I'd have him out hunting

Dare I assume you've taught him entry/exit skills for a boat/canoe such that you don't do some late fall swimming yourself?

[Cass]

Fantastic information here. Lining and handling skills are something that make hunting with your dog way more enjoyable. But those skills start at the most basic which is sit and here. From there you have a good base to build on. Accept only the best. Saying "its good enough" when you're out training, means when you're actually in an exciting/distracting/stressful situation is a guarantee that it won't be anything close to that when hunting. Two quotes I like about dog training - "You own what you condone" and "In the end, we all get the dog we deserve".

[G note]

Thanks for taking the time to post your reply Krakadanw!