I’m still working all 4 of the dogs on retrieving. Sally and Mann, I just throw a few Dokken bumpers for but Abby and Boss are being force broke. As slow as I go with the force fetch it can’t be force broke. It’s more like force bending. Because I don’t force break dogs for other people I can go as fast or as slow as I would like. If I was paying someone to force fetch my dogs I would want them to hurry so it wouldn’t cost a great deal. But I don’t get paid so I can go slow.
Sally waiting for me to take the dummy and give her a treat.
Boss pointing a pigeon.
Abby, also not happy, but holding the dowel.
Mann, when he retrieves, was coming to me but at the last moment would turn where his head was pointed away from me. The last blog I thought I had it figured out. I spread my arms out when he came back and the first day he came straight in and looked at me. The next time, with me holding my arms wide, he came in with his head away.
I’m not sure what he thinks he’s doing by coming in with his side to me but I want to fix it. He’s now taking a treat most of the time when he retrieves so I started asking him to come closer. The first few times he came side ways. I kept calling him until he looked at me. Only then did I take the dummy and give him a treat. That seems to be working. You can’t train each dog in exactly the same way as all of the others. With all of the dogs it’s as much being trained as it is training.
After 5 or 6 retrieves, according to the weather, cool it’s more, warm it’s less, I let all of the dogs run for a while as I follow on the 4-wheeler. Mann and Boss go really fast. For Boss I have to be fairly close when we get to my front yard since he isn’t scared of the highway. I have to be near to call him back and across the front then go toward the back. Boss is the only one that seems unafraid of the highway. The others turn as they pass the house.
My neighbor had a large tree that had died right between my pigeon house and dog pens. We cut it down before it fell on the pigeon coop or dog pens and destroyed them. It left a tall stump and I cut the stump to about the right size to sit on and I use it for a loving spot. After I work each dog and let them run for a while I sit on the stump and pet them. Abby and Sally want treats while they are being petted but Mann and Boss just want the attention.
While I sit on the stump I make Sally, Abby and Mann stand right in front of me while they are being petted. Boss thinks he should be in my lap. He jumps on me every time. I run all of the dogs with e-collar and GPS collars so this gives me time to take the GPS collar off and change their e-collar over to a bark collar, so I don’t have to listen to them bark while I train another. After about a minute of petting I say, “okay” and they all head for their kennel.
I force broke Sally about 3 years ago but she never put it together with retrieving dead birds until last year. She got pretty good but should be better this year. When I throw the Dokken bumpers, usually the quail bumper, she does everything perfect or she doesn’t get a treat. Treats for her are a big deal. And she really likes to retrieve now, too. She runs really fast and spins around to get the bumper. When she gets it she is straight back to me and will stand until I say, “give”. After I give her a treat she’s ready to do it again.
The stump I’ve made into a loving spot.
Abby and Sally both don’t run all out, in front of the 4-wheeler, like the boys do. I put them on whoa near the 4-wheeler, get on and start it then say, “okay”. Their break away is good but they dawdle. They both have to stop and eat grass or smell where a rabbit has been or whatever. The last few times I have been keeping them in front of me. When they stop to eat grass I stop the 4-wheeler until they move.
They both act like, “Oh, okay I’ll run if that’s what you want”. Before I would ride on to the back and turn and start back and they would get in front of me. But they were only running half way. Now I wait and they run all of it. They need the exercise.
I try to alternate on which of the young dogs I work first each time. Most of the time I can remember which one was worked first the last time. One week Boss will be a little ahead of Abby and the next week it’s the other way around. This week Abby has been doing a little better than Boss.
Boss, stretched out, pointing a pigeon.
I heeled her down to the retrieving bench. When she jumps onto the bench I walk her back and forth petting her and feeding treats. I use the Garmin Sports Pro e-collar for the force breaking. So far I have only used level 2 and level 3. This transmitter has 10 levels and they show just a little reaction to the level 3. Now I sometimes go back to level 2 when they are doing good with retrieving. Sometimes I skip the e-collar altogether.
I had her retrieve 6 different dummies that were placed part of the way down the bench. Each time, I would have to turn her around on the bench then say, “fetch” and walk down the bench with her. As soon as she picked up the dummy I would hurry back to the start and call her. When she turned and started toward me I would clap my hands and make a big deal out of it. I wanted her to know she was pleasing me.
Abby pointing a pigeon.
After she retrieved the 6 dummies sometimes twice I petted her on the bench and gave more treats. I set her on the ground and told her to whoa. I took the dowel dummy and held it in front of her and said, “fetch”. She took it and I said, “give”. She dropped it and I placed it at her feet on the ground. I said, “fetch”. She was slower but she picked it up. I said, “hold, then heel” and we walked a circle. The first few times she went a short distance and spit the dowel out. As soon as the dowel left her mouth the stimulation came on.
When I placed my hand close to the dowel she would pick it up. The first few times she would spit the dowel out 2 or 3 times. Each time the stimulation came on when the dowel left her mouth. The only thing that kept the stimulation off was having the dowel in her mouth. The last couple of times we have made a large circle without her dropping the dowel.
I let her run and she’s one I have to stop and wait on several times. But she’s starting to run a lot better. After 2 rounds of the yard I sit on the stump and pet her. Actually, I sit on the stump and feed her treats. She loves and expects her treats.
Sally retrieving the Dokken quail.
Boss is next. He doesn’t like the treats like the girls do so he’s more reluctant to get on the bench. I pet him as we walk both sides of the bench. I try to get him to eat a treat and sometimes he will but it’s not a big deal to him.
I do him the same way I do Abby. I start with the dowel. I hold it right in front to start then about half way down then on the bench top. Then I take it about half way down the bench, lay it down, turn him around and say, “fetch”. He moves really slow. One day this week he moved really slow to the dowel and when he picked it up it just barely cleared the bench and he stopped. I just stood and watched. I was a little behind him and I could see if he let it back down on the bench. We both just stood.
After a minute or longer he let it down and the stimulation came on. I didn’t say anything. He picked it back up and cleared the bench about an inch. I made him raise his head and then I called him to me. When he started to me I made a big deal out of it. He seemed proud to give me the dowel. After that he was slow but he retrieved it several times.
I set him on the ground and said, “whoa”. I had him retrieve the dowel from right in front of his mouth, then about half way down then pick it up from the ground. Once he picked it up from the ground I had him walk in a circle. The first circle for him he never spit it out but after that time he started spitting it out. I watched close and as soon as he spit it out the stimulation came on. The last couple of times, he hasn’t spit it out.
Mann honoring Ally.
I let him run for a while. He and Mann make me go about as fast as the 4-wheeler will go. But if I don’t stay close Boss may either go to the highway or go off to the west and be gone for a long time. Seems like just before I sit on my stump to pet him he finds a good mud hole so he can bring me plenty of mud. But that’s a small price to pay for a dog that wants to sit in your lap.