I took Tur Bo out of the kennel with the non-working e-collar on his neck using the piggin’ string. He’s getting better on heel. I heeled him to the retrieving bench, when he started to jump I gave him the “up” command and helped him onto the bench. He is getting more comfortable on the bench. I let him run up and down the bench, then I rolled a tennis ball down the bench and he retrieved it. I only rolled it 3 or 4 times but he enjoyed retrieving. Then I put him on the ground with a check cord on and threw the tennis ball 5 or 6 times. Most times he brought it straight back. When he came to me I petted him without reaching for the ball. He never tried to hold on to the ball. When I reached for the ball he gave it to me. I put him on the chain gang before he got tired of retrieving.
I brought Whitey to the bench with a Sport Dog e-collar. I always make the dogs heel with the piggin’ string. She jumped to the bench and I petted her as she walked up and down. I held a retrieving buck for her and told her to fetch and she refused. She has been through the trained retrieve but sometimes the dog will say no. This makes a teachable moment. I held the buck in front of her mouth and hit the button on the e-collar. I didn’t say retrieve again. I only tell them 1 time. She still refused so I turned the collar to a higher setting. She refused again so I turned it up again. She took the retrieving buck. After I took the buck from her I had her fetch again and she did it with no problem. I put her on the ground and she did a good job retrieving the tennis ball so I put her on the chain gang.
I brought Blaze to the bench and walked her up and down, then held the buck in front of her and told her to fetch and she did. I put her on the ground and threw the tennis ball and she did a good job retrieving. Usually it’s Blaze that gives me a problem on the bench but she is a better retriever than Whitey on birds. I think dogs get bored with doing the same thing all the time and they try you to make sure you’re really in charge. They know what they are supposed to do, but they are not sure you know what they are supposed to do.
My training grounds is divided by a small ditch. My neighbors, Dave and Debbie, own the side south of the ditch and I own the north side. They let me work dogs on their side and we mow part of it but leave strips for me to hide birds in. On my side I mow most. This morning I drove around on my neighbors side then crossed the ditch and hid the birds on my side.
I heeled Tur Bo to my neighbors side like I usually do. When I turned him loose he started hunting and checking every place I had hid birds before. He wasn’t getting any scent but he just knew that there had to be a bird somewhere. So he went on point. I didn’t say anything, just kept walking. Pretty soon he was back in front of me but he was frantic to find a bird. When he went back to hunting the way I thought he should I crossed over to my side where the birds were. He pointed the first bird but didn’t hold it very long and I flushed the bird. The bird came out low and flew right over his head. He chased this bird further than he has ever chased before.
The second bird he pointed then started moving in so I flushed it. He didn’t chase very far then came back. He hunted back to the chain gang.
I heeled Whitey over to the edge of the neighbor’s side and turned her loose. She hunted it all but she also went on point in almost the same spot that Tur Bo had pointed. I walked on by without saying anything and pretty soon she was in front of me. On her first bird she pointed from about 15 yards away. After I kicked the cover close to the bird, I released it. This was a real young bird and it landed on the ground about 10 yards away. Whitey didn’t move. I threw a glove near the bird and it flew a few feet. Whitey still didn’t move. Then I started chasing the pigeon and Whitey came to help. I whoaed her and she stopped. I picked her up and carried her to the spot where she had originally pointed. Finally I got the bird to fly into a tree. I released Whitey.
On her second bird she pointed then decided to move closer and I released the bird and she stopped to flush. I picked her up and carried her back to the spot she had originally pointed. I made her stand there while I kicked around where the bird had been. I finally released her and put her on the chain gang.
I heeled Blaze over to the neighbor’s side and when I turned her loose she hunted it out real well without pointing. When we went over to my side she pointed her bird and when I released the bird she chased like a young puppy. I didn’t say anything I just hit the button on the e-collar. She stopped and looked at me like, “oh yeah, we don’t chase anymore, do we.” I picked her up and carried her back to her original spot. I made her stand there while I kicked around, then released her.
Blaze pointed her second bird with a lot of style. She let me walk in and kick the cover and when I released the bird she didn’t move. I tapped her on the head and she hunted back to the chain gang where I released all 3 dogs to run. After training I usually let them have a short run. It’s like a recess for young kids.
When you train young dogs they will try you in several ways to see what they can get by with. You must stay consistent. Staying consistent and repetition is what gets your dog where you want him to be.