I did a lot of yard training with the dogs Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday wasn’t bad but Tuesday morning we had somewhere between 2 and 4 inches of snow. All of the snow was gone by noon so I worked the dogs in the afternoon. Turkey season is open and we have hunters to the west of us. The season closes at 1:00 pm so I train in the afternoon. I don’t know if my neighbor turkey hunts or not but the hunters to the west of me are strangers. I’m afraid they may shoot a dog if one ran their turkey off.
Mann with a pigeon in the tree above him.
Boss pointing a pigeon.
Abby pointing a pigeon.
Each day I have just let Luke run for a little while then petted him at the wall around the water faucet. Most of the time he doesn’t even go very far before coming back close to the kennels. I don’t try to train him, I just let him run. He’s old, retired and always ready to go back into his kennel, pretty quickly.
Mann is the next one I bring out. He’s the only one still doing the whoa posts. After I worked him a couple of times on the whoa post he would make me drag him to them. After a few times he would walk to them but his tail was tightly tucked under his belly. Mann always likes to smell my breath but on the whoa post, for a while, he wouldn’t even look at me. Today he raised his tail between whoa posts and smelled my breath at each one. After the third whoa post I let him run for a few minutes.
I waited at the retrieving bench for him. When he came back and saw me at the bench he jumped onto it. I walked him down the bench and back petting him every few feet. This week I have started putting 3 retrieving dummies on the end of the bench after putting Mann on whoa. I then send him to retrieve each one. As he brings them to me I pet him a lot. He seems to enjoy this.
I petted him some more, then set him on the ground on whoa. I walked around him to where the check cord isn’t going to wrap around my feet, tapped him on the head and said, “okay”. He took off but by the time I got to the wall around the water faucet, he’s was close. I sat and petted him for a couple of minutes. I think he would stand there all day. I put him in the kennel.
Boss is next. I put the GPS collar around his neck and an e-collar around his flanks with a check cord snapped to his regular collar and led him out of the kennel area. I had the e-collar on momentary and I held the transmitter down on 2 medium then said, “whoa”. I wasn’t sure he even felt the momentary stimulus but he stopped on my whoa. I tapped his head and we went a little farther. I hit the transmitter again and said, “whoa”. The third time I tapped the transmitter he stopped before I could say, “whoa”. I knew then he knew what the short shock was for. I tapped his head and let him run.
Sally honoring Mann.
I walked to the back with him. As he ran close to me I hit the transmitter, held up my hand like a traffic cop and said, “whoa”. He stopped. I went to him, stroked his sides then tapped his head to release him. I let him run for a few minutes then hit the transmitter on momentary, held up my hand and said, “whoa”. He stopped. I walked to him, stroked his sides then tapped his head to release him.
When we came close to the retrieving bench he jumped onto it. I petted him as we walked up and down the bench. I took a retrieving dummy and placed it behind his canine teeth and said, “hold” over and over. I stroked his head then said, “give”. I held the dummy still and had him move his head off the dummy. I had him hold and give 6 times then set him on the ground. Just before he hit the ground I said, “whoa”. I got untangled from the check cord then tapped his head to release him.
Mann pointing a pigeon.
When I sat down on the wall around the water faucet Boss was checking on the pigeons. When I called him he came in a hurry. All of the dogs like the petting and me sitting down gets them to me in a hurry. After a couple of minutes I put him in his kennel.
Abby was next but I wasn’t real happy with the way she reacted to the flank e-collar on momentary. I decided to use the e-collar on constant but on a low setting. I had tried the momentary a couple of times then tried the constant. Abby took a couple of steps with the constant the first time but after the first time she was quick to stop with just a short, low level shock. I tapped her head and let her run.
Abby pointing a pigeon.
I went toward the back with her. I hit the transmitter on medium 2, held up my hand like a traffic cop and said, “whoa”. She stopped. I walked to her, stroked her sides then tapped her head to let her run. I did that one more time then we went to the retrieving bench.
Sometimes she jumps onto the retrieving bench but today she wanted help. I walked her back and forth petting her every few feet. I opened her mouth and placed a dummy behind her canine teeth saying, “hold” over and over. When I told her to give I held the dummy and had her move her head away. I had her hold and give 6 times then set her on the ground on whoa. I moved away from the check cord, tapped her on the head and said, “okay”.
Boss pointing a pigeon.
When I sat down on the rock wall Abby was eating grass at the other end of the kennel. I called her and she came in a rush. They all like the petting. I petted her for a couple of minutes then put her in her kennel.
Sally knows all of this but since I put her through the whoa posts with the other dogs I will work her the same on whoa. She would whoa whenever or wherever I wanted her to before. This may make her better. I kept the e-collar on constant and led her toward the back. I hit the e-collar on medium 2 and she stopped. I stopped her twice then tapped her head to let her run.
Sally on point.
As she ran I hit the e-collar on medium 2, held my hand up and said, “whoa”. She stopped. I did that two times then headed to the retrieving bench. Yesterday she jumped on the bench with no help but today she wanted help. I petted her as we walked up and down. I put three dummies on the other end and had her retrieve them. I petted her between retrieves. I set her on the ground.
I didn’t have to call her to me at the rock wall. She was waiting for me to get seated. I petted her for a couple of minutes then put her in her kennel.
Boss with a pigeon in the tree above him..
Mann and Sally know this but since I’m working with the young dogs, Abby and Boss, I may as well put them through this too. The pups each day are being worked on here, heel, whoa, hold and give. Sally and Mann have both been force broke to retrieve so I have them do a few retrieves. Later, after the pups are holding and giving real well I will force break them.
I sit by the water faucet with each dog and pet them. I think this has made a difference in each one. They all come right to me, when I sit down on the rock wall, to be petted. All of them with exception of Luke would just stay all day, it seems. Luke is old and he doesn’t seem to want or like that much petting. Just a few seconds and he’s ready for the kennel. Dogs are like people, they are all different.