DogStar's DogBiz Blog

Retriever Training Video

From Gun Dog Supply

$19.95
This looks like a good deal.
DVD with Tri Tronics Hold and Fetch training, (was a 2 tape series)
With free shipping for a limited time.

Check it out:
http://www.gundogsupply.com/tritpariiiho.html

Eric Lundquist Norwalk CT

...and no I have no interest financially in Gun Dog,
I am just on their mailing list and I just ordered a copy for myself.
I do have the 2 tapes somewhere also.

Retriever Training with Pat Nolan:

Below is a copy and paste of a reply Pat made on an online dog training discussion group. I found it so interesting and relevent I ask him for permission to post it on the Blog. Fortunately for all of us he said "Yes". I am not a hunter nor a competitve venue dog person, but I find great value in listening to trainers that work in other venues. I look forward to meeting Pat in person one day.

This post was in response to a discussion on an email discussion group known as "Balanced Trainers" Mostly but by no means exclusively professional trainers. If interested please take a look, it is a very high volume list but the knowledge level of many of the particpants is not equaled on any other group.

Trained Retriever Contradictions:

The trained retriever is in some ways a combination of
contradictions. When he is hunting a mark the retriever must operate
independently, it is almost always a failure if he stops and asks
for help.  When a situation arises and the dog requires help while
hunting a mark it is almost always a failure if he doesn't
immediately stop hunting, take and follow handler direction.

When hunting in the area of a fall the dog must honor his nose, it
is a failure if he doesn't use his keen sense of smell and find the
bird he is looking for. When sent for a blind it is as failure if he
doesn't ignore his nose when told to run through the feathers or
birds placed along the way and go get the long hidden bird.

The dog must have high drive for birds and retrieving but be
perfectly willing to go 400 yards away for a dead bird rather than
return to close area of the flyer fall.

He must get in the water when told and stay in but must be
comfortable enough to run near by the shore without flaring away or
jumping in until told.

Retriever training progress in two tracks, one part of the work is
to develop the dog's natural skills and his ability to work problems
out on his own. In a very real sense you are teaching the dog that
he doesn't need you and how to operate without you. The second part
of his work is to develop absolute obedience under high levels of
distraction at great distances. You are teaching him that no matter
what he must obey when told even if it contradicts instincts and
good sense (from the dogs point of view)

It is very easy to get this out of balance; it is not uncommon to
see dogs that are too independent and out of control. Occasionally
you will see dogs that are too dependant of handlers input and
haven't been given a chance to fully develop their own skills or
haven't been given the opportunity to demonstrate them.

It's a wonder any of them ever get trained.

Pat Nolan
Ponderosa Kennels

Teaching Your Pup to Swim:

Note from Blog Owner:
A short article on getting your pup used to water and swimming, By Pat Nolan who will be having his own section of articles on the Rational Dog Training resource website before this month is over.

How to teach your Pup to swim for fun and exercise

Introduction to the Water:
Whether your pup is headed to the duck blind or you just want to teach him to swim for fun and exercise the techniques are the same. Dogs are land mammals and are not born knowing how to swim. Occasionally a young dog will wade right in and go, but most need a gentle introduction and some encouragement to swim.

When the weather and water are warm, I start my pups on the water as soon as I bring them home from the breeder. The introductory lessons are the same for pups and grown dogs. The main point to remember when introducing a pup to the water is don’t push or rush him. Give the pup a reason to want to swim — to retrieve, to follow you, or to chase another dog, and then allow him to choose to swim.

Once the pup knows he can swim, be sure to supply sufficient practice so he can learn to swim well. Much later in training you can work on force fetch and obedience to commands on the water. Never throw or force into the water a dog that does not know how to swim. If you rush him he may panic. Once your pup is afraid of the water your job will be much harder. 

Escape and Avoidance in Parable Form:

Here for your enjoyment and edification is a short parable written by another dog trainer I have met online. We "talk" on an email based discussion group (Yahoo group) and in the short time I have known him (Pat Nolan) I have come to respect him as a trainer and enjoy what and how he writes. Pat as told me that he will share some of his dog training related articles for my other dog related resources website www.RationalDogTraining.com in the near future. As a starter here is an excellent parable he wrote in response to some discussions that were going on about 'learning theory". (Thank you Pat!)

An Untitled Parable:

The shepherd's line shack was un-insulated. Dotted along the perimeter of the ranch they were not intended for long term winter use but in an emergency they were life savers. This storm was an emergency.

Twice during the first night as the fire died dog moved closer to the stove from "too cool" seeking "just right". In the morning when the cowpoke loaded the stove, "too warm" sent dog back to the perimeter wall of the little shack.

For two days cowboy and stock dog sat out the storm. While neither said much, both were anxious to get moving beyond the confines of the shack. On the second day the dog knew what to expect and did not wait for "too warm" but moved out from the fire as the man loaded the stove, "a little cool" was better than "too warm."

Both man and dog felt relieved when the wind died and the snow stopped the second night. In the morning they moved on. 

This short story serves to illustrate two terms that are often tossed about when people discuss learning theories. As the dog moves toward and away from the stove he is demonstrating escape behavior. He is moving from some discomfort toward more comfort. On the second day when he moves as the cowboy loads the stove (before he actually gets too warm) he is demonstrating avoidance behavior.

Just like the dog in this story a dog in training does not need to be scared, worried or in great discomfort for escape and avoidance learning to take place.

Pat Nolan
www.ponderosakennels.com
Smithsburg, MD

Desensitizing to loud noises:

Always looking for interesting things for our readers. Here is an easy game that can help a puppy to handle loud noises.

Give it a read.
Link: The Paper Bag Game.

Walking On a Loose Leash?:

Note from Blog Owner: Another post from a professional dog trainer discussion group shared here with her permission. Comments welcome, even if contrary, this blog is all about sharing of information and opinions.
Thank you,
Eric/DogStar

*    *    *    *    *
On one of my many dog training lists, if one speaks up about "no physical consequences ever" methods they risk excoriation. The only other choice is to stay silent and the newbies only learn one way. I'm pulling my hair out about a slew of recent posts on that list. I swear, I almost did not renew my membership, but then I reconsidered because I didn't want to be run off. Plus, newbies need to know that the "no physical consequences ever" way is not the only way. So I renewed.

Anyway, the gist of the recent jaw-dropping posts is that teaching dogs to walk on a loose leash (LLW) is just SOOOO hard, and clients are not getting it, and they aren't practicing, and does anyone have any suggestions for making this easier (using only "positive" methods, of course)?

Teaching a dog to "heel" is obviously too "old-style," so LLW is the goal, and boy, is it ever hard. The trainers admit that their own dogs won't do it. Fancy that: trainers' dogs who pull on leash. Unbelieveable. But I digress.

So all these posts are flying with all these long, convoluted, positive-only ways to try to get dogs to stop pulling, many with multiple steps and fancy acronyms that pet owners really don't care about and which rarely work. When those methods, which commonly call for use of a clicker and treats, don't work (which is most of the time, I'd say, especially with your average boisterous adolescent dogs), do these trainers reexamine their methods and change them to get results?

Of course not. Look at the science! Treats  simply MUST work. Use better treats! Lord knows we can't do anything to make pulling on leash the least bit unpleasant. Why, that would damage our relationship with the dog! So when the methods fail, we resort to head halters and the new craze, Easy Walk Harnesses, for management. That's it: either "positive only" methods work, or you manage the dog. There's no room for discussion.

I'm all for teaching what clients want, and not what we trainers want. Some clients are fine with simply managing the dog. I get that--at least he gets to go for walks, and the owners stay less frustrated about it. But given the choice, owners will choose a trained dog over a managed dog, and they definitely will if they can see that actual training doesn't have to take years.

One esteemed soul even wrote that she had finally accepted the fact that many owners were simply not going to put in the practice time to make LLW happen, and that's their choice. In other words, blame the owner because they don't have time to practice your long, convoluted, positive-only methodology (because they have lives) and since you won't give them any alternatives to it, the dog will never get trained. Brilliant! It's all the owners fault. (Hear the sounds of ripping scalp?)

Then they see their neighbor walking his adolescent Lab on a prong collar, and he's learning how to heel so well, and they say, "but my trainer says that's evil, but boy, it doesn't LOOK like it's hurting him, and he isn't pulling." What are they supposed to think?

What I want to say to them is "get your heads out of your dogma and use tools and methods that work faster, better, smarter, and are still humane (because they work faster, better and smarter and speak to the dog in his language) and help your clients reach their goals instead of blaming them when your one method fails. Stop trying to project your ridiculous constraints about what is truly humane onto their dogs, who, if they could speak English, would beg you to do some real training."

Mostly, what I wonder is "why are you calling yourselves professionals, and taking people's money to help them train their dogs, when you can't even get your methods to work on your own dogs?" True professionals get results.

I'm all about positive reinforcement. Always have been. But when it can't do the job by itself, it's time to think outside the box instead of getting rid of the box. Giving the dog distinct choices is NOT inhumane. I'd be ashamed if all I had in my toolbox was one way to train every dog. Sigh.

Mailey E. McLaughlin, M.Ed.
The Pooch Professor
"Manners for Your Maladjusted Mutt"
Atlanta, GA