Training the Pointing Labrador

In the 3rd in the series of Building Your Dog, this episode breaks down the importance to teaching your dog to take responsibility for its' actions.  Dogs can and should learn to understand common situations in their lives and adjust their behavior appropriately.  This is a skill however, not something that always comes naturally.  Often we allow them to learn to exert their will to get what they want, and not how to be a productive and pleasant team member.  It is not a hard thing to do, but it does take thought in all your interactions.

 

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Today, information about training note taking in a book made especially for doing that in any kind of weather (Rite in the Rain), a G update on what she's doing and why, and then into more of the ways to build up a robust, passionate, focused and adaptable training and life buddy.  We impart our perspective, attitudes and personality traits to our canine buddies.  It's good to understand how that works and what it can do to your training success.

 

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In today's episode, after bringing everyone up to date with G and her activities at just over a year of age now... we begin the discussion of "Building a dog" from 8 weeks to successful life.  Often there are aspects to puppy upbringing people don't think much about.  Puppy breath and adorable eyes can erase the best of intentions, but just as it is with children, looking at the long-term goals and big picture is always the best way to approach this 10–15-year adventure.

The third in a series about getting to be a little bit better of a trainer than you are today.  Today the discussion revolves around bringing more awareness of yourself into your training session, and understanding your dog is always reflecting back to you the energy and focus you've brought into your interactions.  Awareness of what you bring in, what you've taught them whether intentional or not and what the dog is telling you - is key to a more successful team activity.

 

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In today's episode, we have one question regarding getting a dog to hold a bumper without dropping, even on a retrieve.  Following that is a discussion of ways to document your training efforts, organize your thoughts, your daily objective, your activities and your conclusions about your training program.  Often, committing plans, activities and outcomes to writing makes them far more useful, easier to stick to and helps you hold to a program that works for you and your dog.  Even if you're not a 'journaler', you may be surprised how useful documenting your ideas and progress can be.

In today's episode, a brief and happy G update, followed by 2 listener questions.   

1.  How do you correct a dog taking the wrong cast, using the electric collar and 2. Do you train a competitive retriever the same way you would a hunting dog?

Finally, the initial approach to setting yourself up for a more successful competitive dog season.  Before outlining the skills you want to establish and develop on your dog, or your training program for the next 6 months, you need to look closely at the instructor (you).  How prepared are you to genuinely advance the dog and your season goals?  How do you go about making sure you're the best you can be, so you can ask the same thing of your dog?  It is an interesting if not occasionally uncomfortable inquiry.

In this episode, I break down the pieces of the training process through which the flushing and the pointing dog learn that the only birds they go after are the ones that are shot for them or the ones they are sent to get.  The dechase process results in a dog that is confident about locating birds in the upland field, but also clearly understands that flying birds are not fair game.  Birds flying over that can't be shot or are too far to shoot - are not fair game.  It makes the upland hunt far more of a pleasant endeavor and greatly adds to the safety of the hunting dog in the field.  

This is the last podcast of the year, hoping that 2022 is a great year for all of us.  The next podcasts will be  a series of making us all better dog trainers and handlers.  Until then  - a happy new year to you all!   Julie

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In this Before-Christmas episode, after bringing the latest G news, we break down the steps used to teach a dog that is upland hunting, flushing or pointing, hiking or just walking off leash with you - to stay within a prescribed range.  This involves several critical steps, each requiring a full understanding of the prior step:  basic obedience with mechanical enforcement, wherein a dog learns it controls all training pressure by responding to instructions; basic here and sit with collar enforcement in place of mechanical enforcement.  Finally, appropriate teaching of range and having the dog take the responsibility for doing the work, and you don't have to constantly remind or correct them.  This skill makes a dog a great pleasure to hunt (or hike) with, without frustration or constant nagging.

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In this episode, I address two listener questions:

1.  In electric collar conditioning, do you condition with the vibrate mode as well as the stimulation mode? 

2. What is your actual perspective on dogs; what are they to you, how do they make you feel and what is it you get from having and working with them?  Fascinating topic and I go into a little detail on the subject.

www.Batesworks.net