| Retrievers … From The Inside, Out-- Chapter SummariesPart One:
Hooked On A Trout Stream
The Breeding Or The Training?
Developed Natural Abilities vs. Trained Abilities
The “Big Three”
Size & Structure
Start With A Good One
Pedigrees: A Family’s Tale
Going Deeper: Beyond Linebreeding & Titles
Hunting Up A Dog Breeder
So, What Do We Look For?
“The breeding and the training of all breeds of hunting dogs are so entwined that to limit one’s self to being only a breeder or to being only a trainer is a disservice to the breeds and to hunters searching for a dog. If all breeders were hunters, I would guarantee that the dogs would be easier to train! Successful training starts with good, well-planned breeding and both must be clearly thought-out if the dog is to be developed into a confident, hard working hunting retriever.”
Part Two:
Home & Security
Outdoor Kennels
Collars, Microchips & Tattoos
Bowls & Buckets
The Crate
Housebreaking
Care & Feeding
“Good kenneling and its relationship to how your pup is raised is a major step toward successful training. Kenneling is more than simply security for your dog, to keep him from being stolen or chasing neighborhood cats or killing the farmer’s chickens. Sure, it keeps him from being poisoned, avoids unwanted breeding, prevents fighting, eliminates the possibility of him getting shot for chasing wildlife or getting run over chasing cars but perhaps just as importantly, confinement is the first step in good training and, how his kenneling is managed is a key aspect in his learning to be attentive to his training lessons. Remember, restriction in the form of kenneling provides security, especially when it prevents your puppy from learning bad habits, protects him from more powerful adult dogs and avoids creating a reason to have to scold him.”
Part Three:
Training Tools & Gear
Whistles, Lanyards, Training Collars & Leads
Dog Bumpers For Dummies
Crops & Bats
Bird Launchers & Throwers
Remote Trainers (Electric Collars)
Guns & Ammo
Birds, Birds And More Birds
Other Stuff
Keeping Training Records
Training The Trainer
“As each dog is an individual, so does each dog and the particular task asked of him, require somewhat individual tools to carry out his training. And, this can make for the possibility of gathering a lot of training gear! But before we dive headlong into a discussion about the variety of training paraphernalia available, it is necessary to begin with unquestionably the most important tool of all – THE TRAINER.”
Part Four:
A Solid Foundation To Build On
The Leader Of The Pack
Bonding & Socialization
Digging The Hole
Pouring The Concrete
Hide The Duck
Teaching Pups To Swim
Gunfire And Avoiding Gunshyness
Silent Signals
Spaying & Neutering, Dew Claws And A Look In The Mirror
“If you expect to gain control of a dog’s mind, he has to find his place in the hierarchy of the
pack. He has to understand the pecking order or the order of domination. And, you must be at the
top of that ladder: the pack leader. You must be the “alpha dog.” I get many dogs in my kennel
for training, and I characterized the training that the owners expect of me, as physical control
or physical discipline. “Putting the control in them” is what they want me to do. And, I honestly
believe that, although genetics always figure into the equation, the majority of dogs with which
I have problems throughout their training process, are dogs that have grown up with owners who
have not established a clear understanding of the human leadership role.”
Part Five:
Starting To Build On The Foundation
“Yard Work” Training
All Control Starts Within Six Feet
Choices Of Training Collars
Everything Starts With “Heel”
“Sit” & “Whistle Sit”
Programming The “Sit-Stay” Behavior
The “Here” Command
Linking Voice Commands To Whistle Commands
Extending The Distance With The Check Cord
“Heel & Here” For Turns
Putting It To The Test
The “Finish”
The “Pivot Drill”
Escape & Avoidance Responses – The Bugaboos of Training
Maintain “Eye Contact”
Poor “Tired” Dog
The More Obvious “Avoidance” Behaviors
Eliminate The “Facade” Of Avoidance Behavior
Genetic Or Environmental?
Elementary Marking
The “Language” Of Marks
The Foundation Of Steadiness
Teaching Basic Marking Skills
Basic Water Marking
The Slip-Cord
“Watch” For The Marks
Increasing The Distance & More Steadiness
Heavier Cover & Terrain Changes
Training Alone
Multiple Marks
Walking Singles
What Various Marks Teach
“Everything we will do from this point forward will depend on the preparation that you have done and on the basic training we are about to do. Just like a house, everything above is dependant on everything below; the strength of the structure depends on the foundation.”
Part Six:
Mouth Conditioning & The Forced Retrieve
Mouth Conditioning
The Forced Retrieve (Force Fetch, Force Breaking)
The Ear Pinch
The Walking Fetch Drill
Fetching Birds And Other Objects
The Training Table
The Nerve Hitch (Toe Hitch)
From The Table To The Ground
The Walking Fetch Drill Revisited
Fetch, No-Fetch (Leave It) Drill
“How much forcing or intensifying of the fetching or retrieving abilities should be necessary for a dog from one of the retriever breeds? Retriever trainers were among the last to embrace any form of force fetch training. Many of the old time retriever men, even today, will still echo the beliefs of the past, that if a retriever needs to be forced to retrieve, he is worthless to begin with! Likewise, many long-time retriever enthusiasts and trainers were slow to accept (or maybe didn’t recognize) the reality that the spin-offs of force fetch training include strengthening the dominant position of the trainer, reinforcing pecking order and boosting the dog’s self-confidence. Not to mention the resultant positive influences on the dog’s future training, causing him to perform many tasks without question and with enthusiasm and style.”
Part Seven:
Continuing To Build – The Structure Finally Takes Shape
Single Bumper “Overs”
Single Bumper “Backs”
The “Two Bumper” Drill
Basic Lining & The “Circle Drill” (Wagon Wheel Drill)
“Walking Baseball”
“Sight Blinds” And “Walkouts”
Whistle Stops
The “Single T” Drill
The “Double T”
Angle Casting On The “Double T”
The “Double T” As A 5-Leg Lining Pattern
Water Lining And Casting
Avoiding Bank Running
Water Refusals & Shore Breaking
Water Casting
Suction (Diversions, Distractions)
Cold Blinds & Permanent Blinds (Confidence Blinds)
“Who isn’t impressed by a retriever that can “handle”? Long-range casting is the ultimate in retriever training sophistication. Blind retrieve training is what “separates the men from the boys.” When the shooting gets “hot and heavy,” it is not uncommon to have a dog mismark the fall of a shot bird or watch only one bird out a flight drop and, perhaps, miss the others that are shot. The fact is, in a true hunting situation, most handling occurs when a dog has mismarked a fall or when the bird is seen swimming off or floating down a river. Unlike in trials and hunt tests, there are no ribbons or titles to be won and no gallery of spectators to judge the dog’s performance - the only reward is recovering a dead or crippled bird.”
Part Eight:
The Upland Hunting Retriever
The Debate Rolls On
Reading Your Dog
Planting Live Training Birds
The "Duck Search" & Developing The Bird - Tracking Machine
The Push & Pull
Seeking Objectives
Quartering
A Better Quartering Drill
Developing Bird Sense
Steady To Flush And Shot
The "Whoa" And "Stay" Commands
Pointing Retrievers (And Further Reinforcing "Whoa")
“Before we can proceed with any of the upcoming upland drills, it is imperative that you begin to make yourself aware of the signals and the actions that your dog demonstrates when working a field for birds. You need to learn to concentrate on “reading” your dog. Concentration is the key to control in all training, fieldwork and hunting. A dog working in the field gives off signals and it is up to you to learn to recognize what he is telling you. And, learning to recognize his actions gives you the ability to anticipate a situation before it happens.”
Part Nine:
Coloring Outside the Lines
The "Hunt Dead" Whistle
"Heeling" On Both Sides (And Behind)
A Shot Of Steadiness
Specialized Skills For Waterfowl Dogs
Teaching Retrievers To Crawl
Remote "Drop" And "Kennel"
River Dogs
Boat Work
"Shake" On command
Marking Off Of The Gun
Watch the Sky - That's Where It All Happens
Diving Ducks
“Among the more important aspects that I have tried to convey throughout this course are that training a hunting dog should be fun – both for you and for your dog, that you aren’t necessarily obligated to always follow conventional training “rules” and that not every dog fits into a “prepackaged” or “assembly-line” training regimen. But, the most important advice that I have tried to emphasize throughout is that you should never do anything that will undermine your relationship with your dog. As I have repeated over and over, you are always walking that fine line between maintaining a position of leadership and control, and yet, building a hunting dog’s self-confidence to handle situations where he is out of your immediate control and must think for himself.”
Part Ten:
Electric Collar Training
“If you have followed this course from the outset, I have given you the skills to train your retriever hunting dog to a higher level of ability than most will ever attain. That training expertise is what is most important, not whether you choose to use an electric collar or not. An electric collar is simply another tool - like a lead, check cord, prong collar or a bumper. And, it is a tool that is only as smart as the person pushing the button. The trainer is still the most important tool. In other words, I guess what I am trying to say is that if you can’t train a dog without an electric collar; you sure as hell can’t train a dog with one. Holding a transmitter doesn’t suddenly transform someone into a retriever trainer - he must have a level of dedication, the skills and good judgment, regardless of his choice of using a collar or not. Without this know-how, all of the technologically sophisticated electric collars in production today can’t transform someone into a successful trainer.
Part Eleven:
Training .....From The Inside, Out
“You must learn to train with your head, keep an open mind and try to keep the communication flowing back and forth between you and your dog for each particular situation that arises. Part of keeping an open mind is to stay mentally focused and concentrate during training sessions, closely watch your dog’s actions and learn to anticipate what he will do before he does it; think well ahead of your dog’s actions. To do this you must teach yourself to think from where he is coming from rather than solely from your own perspective as the teacher. And, when the training isn’t working, stop your current line of thinking and try a different approach. Trainers recently, have been sold on step-by-step training programs and, when problems arise, won’t or don’t know how to deviate from the structure of the program; they aren’t capable of seeing the challenge presented by the drill from the dog’s point of view. As a result, trainers are training strictly the outside of the dog while never even considering what’s happening on the inside. And, everything that is bothering a dog on the inside, will eventually, in some form, show itself on the outside!”
Epilogue:
I Remember One Dog.....
All In A Days Work
Time Well Spent
Clipper
“It’s difficult for me to remember just one dog - so many great ones have come and unfortunately, gone. They say a man deserves one good dog in his life, and if that is true, I have lived several lives already. I have been privileged to have known more great dogs than most people should be allowed. The ones you will read about are gone, but will never be forgotten - at least not by me - and, that’s all that counts. One of the lines that you will read from the story about “Clipper” asks the question, “Do you think that dogs understand that they are getting old?” I wonder about this a lot as two of my current dogs are on the downhill side of life and I can begin to see them slowing down, almost on a daily basis. It’s painful to watch. And then, when they are gone, all that we have to remember them are pictures. And memories. Frozen images of their successes don’t allow you to remember the failures. I like having a wall-full of photos because they will always be here with me - as they were, back then.”
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