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Training a hunting dog for obedience 2

Last week I wrote about a hunter who owns a young Brittney Spaniel called Tio. Following a week with me, he is back with his owners having had the basic or rudimentary training after I found the best and quickest ways in which he learns. Now it is time for the owners to learn those training methods.

I called in the other day and told he was still trying to pick up food but his heelwork on the lead was all right but off the lead, he just ran about. Recall to the clicker was good but not every time. Jumping up was still an occasional error but for all these things it is the owners who must now learn how to correct him in the same way I trained him. It also needs the owners to change some of their ways so they do not let Tio get back into bad habits.

Heel free or simply walking by your side off the lead the dog must wish to do this. You can use enforcement training but your dog is by your side because he must. He will have learned that going away from the owner is not acceptable.

For Tio taking his lead off meant he could run about. How many of you do exactly the same thing. For those of you who can go to a dog training class and the dog will sit perfectly by your side but once outside, training goes out the window. Believe me I have been there.

The situation indicates to your dog when and where it must obey certain rules. Many people do not teach the difference of control within certain areas like training class and the real outside world. Most people do not wish to walk to heel down the Arenal so the dog learns heelwork is in the class and playing off the lead is for outside. There is no casual method of walking by your side on or off the lead taught anywhere else.

With enforcement training or my type of training, I could use the command Heel until I have branded into the dog’s memory so when I take the lead off and say Heel the dog should walk by my side on or off the lead except with Tio; I could not use verbal commands. In addition, the action of taking the lead off was an indicator to the dog that it learns very quickly that it can now have freedom and to play.

The key to stopping this is to retrain the dog that taking off the lead does not mean immediate freedom. You only need the use of a finish command to teach the dog when it is playtime. To re-teach this you need to use two leads.

With Tio his heel work with me was excellent but off the lead he would be too far ahead but he was always checking where I was so this natural survival fear of being left alone I could use.

To start his heel free training we all went for a nice long walk and once they were tiring, I found a gravel track next to a nice big mound of earth that would shade me from the sun. As I walked along, Tio was twenty metres ahead of me so I scuffed my feet and turned round walking in the opposite direction. Within a few seconds, Tio flew past me to a position twenty metres ahead of me again. I just turned round again and Tio came shooting past. As soon as he came along side of me, I turned and walked in the opposite direction, Tio would shoot past me again and again and every time I turned.

We did this for one and a half hours. Even Winston twigged to what was going on and as soon as he saw Tio past him, he began to turn and eventually he gave up and lay at the side of the road whilst I walked these ten metres wearing a track in the road.

As in Newton’s Cradle, gradually Tio did not run so far in front so the momentum began to wane until he came along side expecting me to turn round. Any movement to get ahead of me then that is just what I did.

Two hunters who were training their dogs to retrieve had been watching me walking back and forth with Tio looking as if attached to some bungee line. They came over very impressed with the result but they wanted to know if they could do this not to keep them not by their side but to make their dogs work in front of them but not get to far ahead.

Their normal practice was to use fully trained dogs to train younger dogs to work at a hunters shooting range. I explained that if they turned, their dog will come back to them then and when they are at the right distant turn round again and carry on but with the dog closer. This meant the first act of turning round brings dogs back. This way they become use to working at certain distances.

For Tio I needed something else that would work for off the lead heelwork and working for the hunter without using any verbal commands.

The answer was that Tio always looked back at me. This was the key so we walked on the grassy areas and when I turned, instead of scuffing my boots, I set the clicker to number one and clicked once every time I changed direction. Tio was back like a shot. No reward was necessary as the reward was in his relive of knowing when I was turning so that way he would not accidentally loose site of me and find himself left on his own. I could now make Tio walk next to me or any distance in front of me that I chose.

My instructions to the owner was if Tio is too far ahead then click once, turn round, walk a few paces and as he comes back to him and once close enough click again and walk towards Tio so he learns not to get too far ahead.

As we were walking along the tracks, they would branch off in other directions and whichever one Tio took, I would click once and point with my hands and by turning my body in the direction of the track that I was going to walk. This way he was learning, hear the click and watch me, to know the direction of my intended course. This is only working at close range now but the more he learns to read instead of guessing or doing his own thing then, as he loves hunting and wishes to please.

Once there is an understandable language between dog and owner, he will be a pleasure to work with.

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