Wichita Retriever Training Examiner Ken McNutt

There is a lot more to training your retriever, than just following a set of instructions. As much as you need to understand the behavior you are trying to teach, to be the best trainer you can be, you have to have some idea of how the dog’s mind works and how the dog perceives you as its owner/teacher/master/ friend.  The following is what you may consider the first five of “Ten Commandments of Retriever Training (incidentally, this information can also be applied to raising children).

Ten Commandments:

I. Teach, Then Train – If you were asked to climb a 500-foot rock face, the odds that most of you readers would make it to the top would be pretty slim. If, however, you had completed an intensive rock climbing course, and learned how to traverse the various obstacles, your probability for success would be greatly increased.  So, why is it that we expect our dogs to respond to our commands as expected, when we have failed to first teach them the desired behavior and what the corresponding command means.

Before you start yelling at the dog and trying to use force to get the dog to comply, you need to be sure that the dog understands how to preform the desired behavior.  You cannot rush through the teaching aspect to get to the fun part, which is consistent performance.  You must first teach, then, when you are confident that the dog understands the behavior connected to the command, test your teaching, then correct for flaws.  This cannot be emphasized enough.

II. Be Consistent – Just like children, dogs don’t have the ability to conceptualize reasons why, in one instance, certain behavior is appropriate, while, at other times, it isn’t.  Either the behavior is okay or it isn’t… period.  This means that, just as you always expect a command to be followed, the dog expects that you will respond to his behavior the same way, every time.  If you are correcting errors in behavior, you must consistently make corrections every time a correction is called for.  If you are not consistent, the dog will quickly learn that there are no such things as “always” and “never.”  Inconsistent response to the dog’s behavior, leads to inconsistent performance.  One very important note:  if the dog is expected to perform properly (and consistently), 100% of the time, especially basic obedience, everyone in the household must be just as consistent as the primary handler/trainer, in their expectation of compliance and with the command words they use.  Failure to do so, will simply encourage loose behavior.

III. Be Fair – If you are unsure whether an error in a desired response is due to reluctance of the dog to perform, or simply due to confusion or miscommunication, ere on the side of the dog.  Don’t punish the dog, if you are not sure why he failed to respond properly, unless you are sure punishment is called for.  Now, this may seem contradictory to Commandment II, but, in reality it isn’t, because your failure to punish is intentional and specific to that moment.  When you encounter questionable behavior, repeat the situation in which the error in performance occurred.  Observe the dog closely.  If the undesired behavior occurs again, and it appears to be intentional, then you correct.  If the dog appears uncertain, back up and re-teach the correct response.  If, on the other hand- the dog performs correctly, give positive reinforcement, such as vocal encouragement (Good Dog!!!), because the dog was likely confused or uncertain the first time.

IV. Never Give a Command You Can’t Reinforce – Have you ever been in a grocery store and witnessed a parent threaten a child with bodily harm for not behaving, and the child simply ignored the threat?  Why do you suppose that is?  Probably because the child knows that the parent is not likely to inflict bodily harm in a public place, in front of numerous witnesses.  Dog’s, again like children, learn quickly when they can get away with what ever they want.  In the case of dogs, if they are not fully trained on a specific behavior, they will challenge you to see if they can get away with non-compliance.  If you are teaching your dog to come to you on command, keep them on lead or (if conditioned) keep the e-collar on, so you can force the dog to comply with your command.  One of the biggest and most common mistakes dog owners make, in training is to use the leash, leads, collars, etc. to train with, then get the dog home, put the tools away, and start giving commands around the house, that can’t be reinforced.  Do not do that unless you know the dog will respond without some external means of control. 

V. Don’t Nag – Let’s go back to our grocery store scenario.  Let’s say that the child yielded to the parent’s command to comply.  How many times did the parent say “you better… or I’m gonna…”  before the child yielded?  This is nagging.  Ask yourself, how many times did you say sit, before the dog actually put its rear end on the ground, or how many times did you say “here” or “come” before the dog came to you (if he actually did).  Again, just like children, dogs learn how many times they can hear a command before their owner will actually take some kind of action to reinforce the command.  DON’T NAG!   Be fair.  Be sure that your command was clear.  If you’re not sure, give the command once again, then deliver correction, if there is a second failure to comply. 

This Weeks Group Training Session

We had a good turn-out for our weekly group training at the Kansas Coliseum. There were a wide range of retrievers, from puppies to seasoned veterans, and everything in-between, including a prospective service dog.  The picture at the top is our training set-up.  It was a tough out-of-order triple with a blind, which the less-experienced dogs ran as singles and doubles.

The throwing order was center-right-left, then the blind between the center and right-hand mark was run.  The concepts are:

1. Long center and right-hand marks; short left-hand mark.(long marks tend to cause a dog to overrun and hunt long on short birds, especially in the case of the inverted short left mark with the long center mark behind)

2. Moderate cover on center and left-hand marks (transitional cover heights often present sight barriers to less-experienced dogs; also, heavier cover necessitates good marking and memory, because the birds or bumpers aren’t easy to find by sight, and in this case difficult to find by scent because, conditions were such that scent did not carry)

3. The center mark was uphill and against the wind (rising terrain tends to cause a dog to veer off line to one side or the other;  wind can do the same)

4. The right-hand mark is affected by the ditch the dog must cross and the pull of the center mark, which was thrown first.

5. The blind is difficult because it is between two marks, it’s uphill; there is pull from the left because of the center and left marks;  there is pull to the right because of right mark; it is against the wind; it is across the ditch; and most of all, it is behind the “gun” on the right mark.  Early on, in their training to do marked retrieves, the dogs are taught and reinforced not to hunt behind the gunner.

Unintended factors:

While the position of the sun did not seem to affect marking on the right mark, the dogs seemed to have difficulty seeing the handlers on the blind and on marks, when having to be handled. The right “gun” reported that the handlers were difficult to see because they were standing in the shadows, and were much more visible, when they stepped out into the sunlight.  (lesson learned)

Suggestions: In any set-up, always try to consider every factor (wind, cover, light and shadows, terrain changes and natural barriers.)  Especially with multiple marks, run one or two of the most difficult marks as singles before running the complete double or triple. You can also move the line closer to the marks, then back up when you are confident that the dog understands the concept.  Also consider the affect of marks and blinds upon each other.  If you train in the same general area, repeatedly, take into consideration marks and blinds you have run previously.  Dogs have great memories and may fail today’s set-up because they are thinking about the one they ran a few days before.  Remember, the most important thing is to make the dog successful, even if you have to simplify the set-up, then progressively work up.

Upcoming events:

Monthly meeting of Sunflower Retriever Club – Tuesday, 8/18/09, 7:00pm at Gander Mountain

Sunflower Retriever Club annual fall field trial- Oct. 9, 10. 11, at Hazelton, Ks (detail to follow)

In the next article, we’ll complete the Ten Commandments of Retriever Training