Tur Bo
Blaze
Dolly
We had off and on rain yesterday so I waited until today to work the dogs on the retrieving bench. The dogs don’t really care what I do with them as long as I do something. I go into their kennel and when they start to jump on their house I say “up”. I pet them then put the e-collar on and pet them again. I put the piggin’ string around their neck and say “heel” and they jump down. I heel them to the retrieving bench and when they get ready to jump onto the bench I say “up”. Teaching the dogs up gets them to looking up when you give this command. It is really handy when they come to a woven wire fence that I want them to jump. When I say “up” they start looking up and I don’t have to lift them over most fences.
I heeled Tur Bo to the retrieving bench with the e-collar on his neck. He jumped onto the bench and we went up and down it with me stopping him every few feet petting him. He has a pulled muscle in his left rear leg so I can’t let him run although it doesn’t seem to bother him to jump. I have a cable that runs down the bench with a pulley to keep the dogs from jumping off. The older dogs don’t try to jump because I have never let them. I always lift them off. If I let them jump off whenever they wanted they would be in control of how long we work on the bench.
I hooked Tur Bo to the cable then walked him up and down petting him. I opened his mouth and placed a bumper behind his canine teeth. I held his collar keeping his mouth shut with a thumb in the groove below his chin. I led him down the bench. When we got to the end I petted him then removed my thumb from his chin. I held the end of the bumper and said “give”. I didn’t move the bumper out of his mouth. I waited for him to move his mouth off the bumper. I used 3 different bumpers and walked him up and down the bench several times with each before heeling him back to the kennel.
I heeled Blaze to the retrieving bench with the e-collar around her neck. She jumped onto the bench at my “up” command. I walked her up and down the bench petting her every few feet. I whoaed her and put 4 retrieving bumpers on the bench. I told her to fetch and she went to the first one, picked it up and brought it to me and dropped it in my hand. The last time I worked her, her mouth wouldn’t open wide enough to pick up the bumper until I tapped her with the e-collar. Today, she had no trouble. I took pictures as she retrieved the bumpers. I had her retrieve the 4 bumpers 3 times then let her run for awhile before returning to the kennel.
I heeled Dolly to the retrieving bench with the e-collar around her neck. She jumped onto the bench and I walked her up and down petting her every few feet. I put the 4 bumpers on the other end of the bench after whoaing her. I pointed and said fetch. I turned the camera on and was messing with it. Dolly went about 1/2 down and came back without a bumper. I held the button on the e-collar down on level 3 until she went down the bench and took the bumper in her mouth. As soon as she gripped the bumper I let off the button. Dolly has been force broke and she absolutely knew what she was supposed to do. That is the reason that every time I train dogs or hunt, the dogs have an e-collar on. I held the e-collar button down on a low level until she did what she was trained to do. With her having the e-collar on I could correct her immediately. After the first one she retrieved all 4 bumpers 3 times with no problems. I let her run for awhile before returning to the kennel.
I heeled Luke to the retrieving bench with the e-collar on his neck. He jumped onto the bench and we went through our petting routine. Every thing Luke does he does in a hurry. He shakes the retrieving bench when he goes up and down. He sometimes tosses the bumpers when he whirls to bring them back. He looks so apologetic that I just go pick them up. I put 4 bumpers at the other end of the retrieving bench and had him retrieve them 3 times each. I tried to get pictures but he’s so fast it’s hard on a 16 feet long bench. I set him on the ground and let him run for a while before returning to the kennel.
I heeled Lucky to the retrieving bench and he jumped onto it. Lucky will be 11 years old the end of this month and every time I do something with him I think it may be his last time. He’s in good health and his grandmother, Lady, lived to be almost 14 but you never know when they get this age. He still likes to get on the bench and be petted. I put the 4 bumpers on the other end and he retrieved them each 4 times. I took pictures before putting him back on the ground. I let him run before going back to the kennel.
All of the dogs like to get on the bench and have me pet them. I enjoy petting them, also. I’m lucky that I have the time to train my dogs year round. Letting them run after being on the bench keeps them in a little better shape than just lying in their kennel. The closer it gets to hunting season the longer I will run them.
Luke
Lucky
Dolly