 Home
 Library
(main page)
page 1
page 2
page 3
|
|
Conflicts in Training (page 2)
 |
|
Repetition of "drop" helps a dog understand he is not to let go the dummy until he hears the command to do so. |
Throughout training, setting up
a situation where a dog is faced with conflicting alternatives can be used to clarify the factors on which his choice of action should be based. Perhaps surprisingly, many commands are more readily understood when their opposite is included in training. Incorporating a release command (typically "OK!" or "hie on!") helps with discipline and a dog's attentiveness to responsibility, by clearly defining when he is and is not under command. While training a dog to hold a dummy, frequent short holds and praise for letting go on the "drop" or "leave it" command actually help the dog understand that he is to hold it and not drop it until commanded to do so. Drills where a dog performs both options, such as "over the pointÑpast the point" help the dog learn to be flexible and respond appropriately on a given retrieve, instead of developing a rigid, stereotyped response.
Steadying and Forcing
Considering the number of commands and routines a polished retriever must master, it is easily seen that progressing too rapidly can leave your trainee in a morass of confusion. Steadiness and forcing on back, for example, oppose one another. The command "Sit" or "Stay" is in complete conflict with "Back," the command to retrieve. When we teach sit, or stay (preliminary steadiness) to a youngster, we do not expect him to take full responsibility for his behavior, but restrain him with check cords, a hand on the collar, etc. With a puppy (six months and younger) we are happy if we can get him to sit still and watch the fall without leaping and twisting at the end of the check cord.
Gradually, the young dog begins to understand that he must wait to be sent. If the process is rushed, with many individuals, the result may be quitting. By coming down too hard on our prospect, we convince him that we don't want him to retrieve. Through gradual decrease in restraints over a period of months, we arrive at a nominally steady dogÑthat is, he will sit still for most marks until he is sent, barring fliers shot in his face and so forth. While he is being trained by this gradual and proper method of steadying he is acquiring long term memory that states, No, you don't go until you are sent.
What happens if you jump from steadiness to the assumption that you can now send your dog for a bird, or dummy, that he has not seen thrown? He gives you a no-go and a perplexed look. You know what you want, and you think, with the send command, that you have told him. But the combination of events has not been completeÑno "hey! hey!" or shot from the blank pistol followed by a highly visible throw. If we further aggravate the situation by applying pressure to make the dog go, we may dig a hole it will be hard to get out of. The youngster has not been properly prepared.
This is why we need systematic, step-by-step training of force fetching and forcing on back in the yard. When we do reach the point of saying to the dog, in effect, "When I say 'Sit,' you must not move, and when I say 'Back,' you must go in a positive and direct manner," the dog has enough information to make a correct guess as to what we want. Once he does it right, we can quickly build his confidence in the routine by means of repetition. Without belaboring the details of forcing a dog to go, we assure you that it is done in gradual increments of demand and difficulty, which we hope are clearly understandable to the dog.
|
