Training Tips

Piney Run Kennel

2180 Hutcheson Rd.

Baskerville, VA 23915

434-774-2763

TRAINING TIPS

June 2010---Knowing When Not to Train

As many of you begin summer training and teaching young dogs to be steady-to-wing-and-shot, try to remember that knowing when NOT to train is as important as knowing when to train. If conditions are not good, training will almost always go south, and instead of progressing, you will find that both you and your dog are going backwards.

What constitutes good conditions? Good conditions are all about scent. For example, you want at least a light breeze so scent is carried in the air horizontally and not vertically. Even more important, you want to train when the ground is dry. Wet ground holds scent and if you train your dog on wet ground, he learns to drop his head and trail whatever scent is there including your footsteps. A pointing dog should learn to work scent with his head up and the best way for him to learn is to avoid conditions where he is rewarded for dropping his head. As tempting as it may be to train early in the morning, if dew is on the ground, your dog is going to learn bad habits. It takes a lot of discipline to train a pointing dog, and making the commitment to get out there three times a week is a big deal. Be patient and make sure your time counts. If you wait for good conditions, you and your dog will enjoy your time afield.

July 2010---Reading Your Dog

Do you pay attention to your dog during formal training? Do you look at your dog's body language for clues to understand what is going on with him? Learning to read your dog will make you a better trainer. For example, do you notice your dog's tail? If the tail is tucked, something may be bothering him. His tail should be up and happy. Do you notice if he is pulling on the check-cord? While you don't want him dragging you through the field, you want him pulling enough to show his enthusiasm during training.

Sometimes you may find yourself in situations where your dog points but you are unsure if he has scent of the bird. If he doesn't have scent and you walk in to flush, you are rewarding him for false-pointing and he will false-point more often. By paying attention to your dog, you can learn to read him and tell if he has scent or not. For example, does he move his head when you start to walk in front? Some dogs will turn their heads when they don't have scent. What about the mouth? A dog will usually close the mouth when he has scent. The lips tighten and sometimes the cheeks puff in and out. Pro-trainers call this "smoking a pipe."

These clues are just some of the small things you may notice to help you read your dog. Every dog is different and if you pay attention to the small things when you train, you will build a bond with your dog that is as powerful as any force in nature. You and your dog are a team.

August 2010---Keeping Your Dog Calm

The calmer you keep your dog during training the less intensity is required to train him. Intensity refers to the level of pressure you need and includes how hard you tug with the check-cord and how much stimulation you use with the e-collar. The more excited the dog the higher the intensity needs to be. The calmer the dog, the better he pays attention and the less intensity you need to use.

In the West method of training, we try to keep the dog calm so the intensity of tugs and nicks stay low. For example, if your dog gets amped up after working on a launcher, you can work him on the stand command to get him calmed down before going to the next bird set-up.

While we talk about tugs and nicks as cues, more importantly they can act to change the dog's focus. A properly timed tug or nick will distract a dog just enough and lower his excitement level before it escalates. Dogs are like kids. They need to be taught while sitting at their desks and not when they are running around the playground. Taking time to keep your dog in the right frame of mind goes a long way to having a happy dog in training.

September 2010---Training your Dog to Come to You

A good way to get your dog to come to you is to ask him to go with you. You begin when the dog is young. At about 5 months old many pups stop coming to you. It is something that happens in their development and is a normal sign of your pup maturing and becoming independent from his dam. Pups may stop coming to you, but they still have a natural desire to go with you.

Let’s say you’ve taken your pup for a run and you want to pick him up. First, try to avoid calling him to you if you think he isn’t going to come. Instead, ask him to go with you. Start walking in a new direction. He doesn’t want to be left behind or miss anything, so when he sees you leaving, he runs to get in front. As he gets close, turn towards him, bend down, and call his name. If your timing is right, he should almost runs into you. Pet him up and let him know how happy you are with him. You are building cooperation.

As your pup matures there may come a time when he no longer wants to go with you. At this stage, you need to stop running him until you introduce the e-collar so you can stay in control. Once the e-collar has been introduced, try to avoid using it to make him come to you. Anyone can make a dog come to them with enough stimulation but the dog will never be happy about it. Instead, ask him to go with you. Use stimulation if necessary to ask him to come around, and as he runs to catch-up, turn, bend down and call him. You will find him becoming more and more cooperative, and eventually you will be able to call him to you and he will come running. By going slowly and working with your dog’s natural desires you are building cooperation, and you and your dog are becoming a team.