Hold the Line

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Today, I talk about the most important qualities for training a blind retrieve:

• Run or confidence
• Maintaining a straight line

And which types of blind retrieve we can use, to ensure we really isolate those components of our chain and work on them - without muddying the waters by ending up handling and casting and stop whistling the dog... 

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In this episode, I chat with Hannah Branigan about:

1. food motivation - and how to work with dogs which lack it (especially in the field or in high arousal situations) and
2. the importance of planning our training sessions

You can find out more about Hannah herself via her own website.  But she also has her own dog sports podcast, called Drinking From the Toilet - which you most definitely want to check out and subscribe to.

Hannah has two competition obedience DVDs available - Obedience FUNdamentals and Beyond FUNdamentals - and the easiest way I've found to access these from the UK, is to subscribe to the TawzerDog streaming service for a month and binge-watch them(!).

Hannah also has a super book on competition obedience, published last year - called Awesome Obedience.  It's available from Amazon UK and probably worldwide(!). 

Hannah is on the faculty for the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy and frequently instructs online courses there, if you'd like to learn more with her.

In the podcast, I mentioned a free planner which Hannah has created - and which you can download from her website.  If you go to this page of her site here, and look in the small box on the right of the screen (on a computer), you will see where it says 'Need help planning your training sessions?'.  Here, you can input your email address to subscribe - and in return get her free planner and video on how to use it :) 

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In this episode, I talk with Ellen Nauman - programme director of OBATs - the Official BAT School. 

We discuss BAT, developed by Grisha Stewart - and how BAT helps dogs to remain under-threshold in the presence of triggers which would previously have put them over-threshold.  These triggers are conventionally other people or other dogs, but can also be game - or anything else animate. 

If you'd like more information about training as a BAT instructor, check out the link above to the Official BAT School.  If you'd like more general info about BAT, see Grisha's website.

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In this episode:

• I do the draw to find out who is going to win the one remaining proof of my book!
• I have a mini-rant about COIs and people disregarding them.
• And (mostly) I talk about blind retrieves, and the difference between a 'hunt everywhere' type of blind retrieve and one where straight lines are expected and upheld.  Where have these differences come from?

The article by Dr Carol Beuchat on COIs can be found here.

If you haven't been lucky enough to win a copy of my book in the draw, you can pick one up from Amazon - or put it on your Xmas list!  Search for Force-Free Gundog Training:  The Fundamentals for Success by Jo Laurens

🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃

This episode covers Phase 7 & 8 of the clicker retrieve process and is the final instalment in this process. 

Do look back at earlier episodes of this podcast to follow the process from the beginning.

You can also check out my book - Force Free Gundog Training:  The Fundamentals for Success, available from Amazon - for full illustrated details of the process.

And, if that's not enough, you can sign up for my online clicker retrieve course - wherever you are in the world!  It's a 5 week course, costing £35.  You can start it any time.  Email me at [email protected] for more information.

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In this episode I answer questions about:

• Why is the clicker retrieve trained in the way it is?
• Should or could we teach dogs to quarter between visible targets like white posts or buckets?
• What is the connection between breeding/genetics and training methods - what are the implications of training dogs using positive reinforcement if they have been bred to be trained using aversives...? 

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In this episode, I talk about what I'm getting up to with Fyr - in terms of both socialisation and training.

And I answer listener questions :)

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In this episode, I answer a question about training the Remote Sit.  And I cover Phase 7 of the clicker retrieve - putting the hand target and pick-up together.

🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃

My book, Force-Free Gundog Training:  The Fundamentals for Success, is now available on Amazon (world-wide!).  If you do pick up a copy, please do leave an Amazon review to give me some click and treats and make it more likely that I will be motivated to get to work on the next book!! 

I have a proof left over - a copy of the book which is exactly the same as those sold, except it says 'Not for resale' across the front.  I'm going to draw a name from a hat for it!  If you'd like to enter the draw, please email me your training question(s) at [email protected]

The article on variable reinforcement referred to in the podcast, is Doesn't Intermittent Reinforcement Create a Stronger Behaviour? by Eileen and the dogs.  

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In this episode, I chat with Anne Taguchi from Touchstone Weimaraners in Los Angeles.

Anne is a seasoned and accomplished field trial competitor and breeder of working Weimaraners for the field and for hunting purposes. 

Anne also runs a popular website called Just Weimaraners - which is about everything-Weimaraner.