labrador training

[gwion wright]

can anyone give me some tips and different ways in which they get their dog to work on blind retrives and work on their directional comands?

[kent]

Pretty much as the book for me with one exception, due to the nature of the shooting I do I allow what a call a "clever run out" ie the dog takes a downwind curve of the line I show. This might score him poor in competition but it sure helps in the field, I concentrated on straight lines and stops to direct with my last and found it slow and tedious and not so effective unless you were dead sure were the bird had landed (which I rarely am).

 

This doesn't mean I cannot say send the dog across a channel, stop him and send him left right or back etc. but just a note on train for what YOU want and what YOU need

 

In answer to the question overall, buy a book on retriever training its pretty much std. few give any radical stuff into the mix

[Fal]

For directional commands get the dog to sit up and stay, make sure he is steady to dummies being thrown before attempting this.

 

So sit him up and stay him, walk about 10-15 yards away from him, but facing him. Throw a single dummy to the left or right, just start with one dummy don't confuse it with two. Raise your left or right arm, whichever direction the dummy is, hold it there for a few seconds two or three at least. Then push your arm towards the dummy, do this three or four times during a training session, Don't rush it, if you work your way up to two, send him for the first one you threw not the last, if he goes towards the last one, not the one you are telling him to, he's not ready for the temptation of the both dummies, step back and go to alternating from left and right until he goes to the one you point out.

 

Running to a blind retrieve in my opinion takes a lot more work, you need to build a lot of trust in your dog for him to believe there is something there, it is important not to let him fail at all during training doing this.

 

Start by healing your dog and walking about 20 yards or so, stop, sit then throw a seen dummy, send him for it, as he is out, throw another dummy behind you, on the path you have taken, keep it short, throw it about 10 yards away, when he has delivered the first dummy, heal him for a short distance, turn him and sit him up, he should see the dummy now, then send him. This is TEDIOUS but does work! Increase the distances slowly. My dog is now almost 18 months and I can now get him to run the length of a football pitch for a blind retrieve, that's how long it can take. This has worked with mine, I still use it when I am training him today, people with have other methods, but this worked with me.

 

Good luck!

[gwion wright]

For directional commands get the dog to sit up and stay, make sure he is steady to dummies being thrown before attempting this.

 

So sit him up and stay him, walk about 10-15 yards away from him, but facing him. Throw a single dummy to the left or right, just start with one dummy don't confuse it with two. Raise your left or right arm, whichever direction the dummy is, hold it there for a few seconds two or three at least. Then push your arm towards the dummy, do this three or four times during a training session, Don't rush it, if you work your way up to two, send him for the first one you threw not the last, if he goes towards the last one, not the one you are telling him to, he's not ready for the temptation of the both dummies, step back and go to alternating from left and right until he goes to the one you point out.

 

Running to a blind retrieve in my opinion takes a lot more work, you need to build a lot of trust in your dog for him to believe there is something there, it is important not to let him fail at all during training doing this.

 

Start by healing your dog and walking about 20 yards or so, stop, sit then throw a seen dummy, send him for it, as he is out, throw another dummy behind you, on the path you have taken, keep it short, throw it about 10 yards away, when he has delivered the first dummy, heal him for a short distance, turn him and sit him up, he should see the dummy now, then send him. This is TEDIOUS but does work! Increase the distances slowly. My dog is now almost 18 months and I can now get him to run the length of a football pitch for a blind retrieve, that's how long it can take. This has worked with mine, I still use it when I am training him today, people with have other methods, but this worked with me.

 

Good luck!

great thatnks for youre reply, i will give this a go,

[fenboy]

Before training direction especially on blinds he will need to be 100 % on the stop.

He will also need to know the "get back command" train this by dropping 3 dummys in a line a few yards apart , sit the dog and send him for the first while giving the get back command , one the retrieve has been made send him for the second and then third if he stops short encourage him with a shout of get back and waving your arm down from where it would be for the stop.

Gradually build up the distance between dummys .

I have been training "get back" this week like this and already the dog is going back a good 100 yards.

[gwion wright]

Before training direction especially on blinds he will need to be 100 % on the stop.

He will also need to know the "get back command" train this by dropping 3 dummys in a line a few yards apart , sit the dog and send him for the first while giving the get back command , one the retrieve has been made send him for the second and then third if he stops short encourage him with a shout of get back and waving your arm down from where it would be for the stop.

Gradually build up the distance between dummys .

I have been training "get back" this week like this and already the dog is going back a good 100 yards.

cheers for that, what distnce do you think i should be looking at first

[kent]

You know I don't always (indeed read I rarely) stop the dog before turning it or re-directing on a get back. The dog runs wide downwind and when I can see he needs to get turned upwind again I just give the two pips for turn (if I wanted him downwind which is rare hit another two pips quick and he does a 180 degree handbrake turn) Heck I don't know what a judge might think but it helps when gathering the game. When I do stop a dog is after putting it across or over an obstacle, in this case its a back or to which ever side I want him to search. You see "get over" is not a command to retrieve something ( though if it was seen go down then I shouldn't need to say anything much as a nod is as good as a wink then ).

 

Train for what you need! Last night I had to put the dog on a wounded Mallard in pretty much pitch black, rushes up to your waist and a flash that was more like a thick soup than water. The dog got a "get in . Fetch" couldn't grip it were it was first found due to the viscosity of the so called water and I missed a gab as it passed me heading up a channel working more by hearing than clean sight of the bird. The dog when he reached me and the location were the duck was last seen he got two quick pips and a close up hand signal on the direction and I just sat down and waited his return. It seemed like half an hour before he came in with it but was likely five mins, lord knows how far it had gone on land but it must have been a good way as he came back from the direction of a stream some 100- 150 yards away , which I then figured the duck had made for on her two good legs.

[scotslad]

U can also use ur feed bowls to get the dog used to the different directional signals.

 

Basically subsituting ur dummy for a feed bowl.

Sit ur dog up on a path/fence /straight line, place feed bowl directly behind the dog, go back in front of it and send it 'back'

 

Can do the exact same for left and rights sit dog against a fence put food to one side or other and send ur dog, further down the line u can put 2 food bowls out 1 either side but only food in 1 (just as with dummies can make it easier/harder in the order u put the bowls out (dogs usually want ot go to last 1 first) in or distance from the dog)

 

The trick with dog training is to get the dog being succesful each time so starting of easy and streching distances but never streching so much they fail and lose confidence atleast with young dogs.

Will depend on ur dog and its confidence, start small and work up.

 

I take it ur dog is doing memory retrieves easily at distance? Also when u do ur basic seen retrieve do u line ur dog up atall? so ur pointing where the dummy is and dog is looking there

[gwion wright]

thanks for the excellent replies, ye i line the dog up and on memory retirves. i just need to touch up on directional intructions when she is out on the field.

[scotslad]

Thats good that should build up her comfidence.

 

And even using the ammount of cover can make a retrieve harder/easier rather than just distance

If ur sending it out for a line to start of with do it in shrot grass/little cover so dog does not have to go that far until it can see the dummy, then u can either advance the distance keeping cover light or keep distance shorter but increase the cover so it has to hunt harder to find it.