Merry Christmas All!
Wishing you and yours Health and Prosperity in the New Year
Enjoy
Keep Training
In all training the dog’s best effort comes when the he is highly motivated both internally and externally to perform. It is easier to make him do what he wants to do.
The best working dogs and hunting/competition retrievers have high retrieve or tug drive. To make the most effective use of this drive for reward we need a way for the dog to connect his actions with his pursuit of the tug or retrieve.
The Reward Marker
Pick a word or short sound that you will reserve for this marker. We will use classical conditioning to pair this cue with the tug or retrieve. I use “OK.”
Start your training session with your tug or retrieve item in your pocket. Give the dog one command he knows well and can complete quickly, for instance “Sit.” When he sits give your marker “OK” and then reach for the tug and give him a short tug or throw his toy for a retrieve.
Repeat this until he shows by his immediate and excited response that he knows the marker word “OK” means the tug/retrieve is coming.
When conditioning the dog with e-collar to new commands it is a good idea to supply mechanical guidance to “get” the correct response. You want to make it as easy as possible to do the right thing and almost impossible to do the wrong thing. You don’t want to allow the dog to flounder around guessing what is required in this new situation.
Additionally you don’t want to overwhelm the dog with the mechanical aid to the point that he is not responding to the e-collar only the aid.
So when introducing a new command with e-collar the rule is:
Use as much guidance as necessary, as little as possible, fade the guidance as fast as possible but keep the leash or line on for a backup for a time even after the dog shows he will respond appropriately.
This is an older clip posted as a reference for the seminar this weekend at Frederick Md
Good to go!
I learned this from training dogs to run blinds for the field but the principal applies to all dog training.
When starting blind retrieves:
It is better to go wrong right than right wrong because if you go wrong right long enough soon enough the dog will go right right.
When you first start to do blind retrieves with dogs there is a tension or balance required between working to get the correct initial line before you send and keeping the dog’s attitude positive about the project. I have found over the years if you work hard to get the perfect initial line on the blind the dog is often very unsure when you finally send him. How does that happen?
Let’s look at the set up to send the dog on the blind.
You heel up and sit the dog looking out in the field. He has some idea you are going to send for a blind but no idea where it is. He is looking to the left so you pull him to the right, telling him in effect not to go where he was looking. Now he is looking too far to the right so you push him left, telling him not to go where he was looking and so on until you have him lined up just where you want him and then you send him. The trouble is now you have told him many places “not to go” in the field.
Many young dogs loose confidence right there. When sent they leave tentatively, unsure of where they are supposed to go, but very sure there are many places in the field they are not supposed to go.
Which brings me to my axiom
It is better to go wrong right than right wrong because if you go wrong right long enough soon enough the dog will go right right.
It is better to send the dog with the wrong initial line but still possessing the right attitude than to insist on getting the right line and end up getting the wrong attitude.
When your dog is learning to run blinds if he has the wrong line but right attitude the lines will improve over time.
The day will come when you have the right initial line and the right attitude.
I have not found the reverse to be true. If your dog is learning to run blinds and you work very hard to get the perfect initial line and in so doing ruin his initial attitude about blinds the attitude does not improve with practice In fact with practice your dog becomes more and more convinced that he doesn’t like blinds.
This same axiom applies to dogs when learning new actions/commands/behaviors in other venues. Attitude is almost paramount.
Pat Nolan Seminar
Oct 20 & 21 2012
Mid-Atlantic D.O.G.S. will be hosting a one and a half day long seminar on Scent Imprinting Puppies, some of the latest scent research, and an introduction to his methods of remote collar training. Pat Nolan is a professional dog trainer who is currently training field trial dogs and military working dogs. Recently Pat has written articles for various LE K9 magazines and given lectures and seminars in England and S. Korea.
Pat has taught courses for units of the US Special Operations Command, State and Federal Law Enforcement.
Space is limited to only working dog handlers and the cost is being absorbed by Mid-Atlantic D.O.G.S.
The seminar will be located at the conference room at the Frederick County LE Center from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm Saturday and 9:00 am until 1 PM Sunday.
110 Airport Drive East
Frederick, Maryland 21701
Frederick, Maryland 21701
Contact Allen Rossi
arossisearchdog@gmail.com
One of the main focuses of this blog will be Retriever Training in Drive. This is an example of doing a “yard drill”a dog working in retrieve drive.
This clip demonstrates a high level of control in the presence of available reward and distraction from a dog that is a willing participant in the training.
I will break out an list a variety of skills from this clip and explain how they were taught with drive rather than through pressure.
This dog is working “in drive” with an electronic training collar. He is working with a two fold expectation. He knows that he can by his actions make “retrieve happen” and he can turn off the e-collar.
Good to go!
I am starting a new blog. I plan to post on training dogs for retriever sports, on puppy training and on training working dogs. I will be building the look of the site as I go.
My intention is to post once week on each topic.
Many of the posts will contain video illustrations.
