Working with a local retriever guy, I have learned a valuable lesson that is really helping us out. Helping us out so much, I thought I would share it. A new guy giving advice, this ought to be interesting.
Using both the Carrot and the Stick
I use an e-collar on a regular basis. E-collars are effective, I truly believe in their use, especially when used properly. Yet, I have found another tool or technique that seems to get better results (he responds quicker, with more spirit) with my dog. This technique seems to get “inside his head” and I think will help us out hunting, but also at hunt tests.
The technique is to withhold his reward (and NO, not food treats) when he performs below my standard. The key is to know what my dog truly values (retrieving, his toy, relieving himself, some freedom, etc.) and luckily the coveted prize for him is retrieving and finding birds. Once you know the reward, withhold it or take it away until he performs to the standard of excellence. In other words, I get what I want first, then he gets what he wants!
Example 1:
Zeke does not get freedom unless it is supervised. He is either crated or in an outside kennel – his fun is always with me. Before he is let out, I demand the sit command, then a perfect heeling position. I will heel him around for a minute, then let him relieve himself on command or just let him run around for a minute or two. If the initial heel is not perfect, he goes back in the kennel. If he starts creeping ahead in his healing, he goes back to his kennel (he wants freedom and to go the bathroom!). In the early days, he went back in his kennel a lot! Now, even though he may be wired to get out, he will maintain his control. I have had him actually correct himself – twice he has delivered a jumping initial heel, when he did it he actually went back to his kennel and sat, waiting to try again.
Example 2:
Zeke is very birdy, I mean birdy! In his seasoned HRC tests, he was developing “very happy feet” at the line. Because this is my first dog, I let it go for too long. I thought, he is not breaking, he is just jumping around a lot – he’ll grow out of it. Also, I didn’t know how to correct it. Being a young pup, I did not want keep shocking him with the e-collar and take away his spirit. I did some of that, but it didn’t really seem to work anyhow with him.
Solution: I had my two nephews, my bird boys, throw short single marks with frozen birds. Being an HRC competitor, I was using the gun with primers. When he heard the duck call, saw the mark, and heard the gun, he starting pumping his front feet, creeping, and showing what bad line manners are all about. As soon as he did that, I let him vocally (not yelling) know of my disappointment, then I sent him his kennel for a minute or two. After that, we tried it again. The next mark, the same thing happened, this time my bird boy picked up the mark and Zeke couldn’t believe I did that to him. In short, we did this for about 20 marks, he finally picked up the 21st mark. Each mark got better and better, and I was holding him to a high standard, especially for a high drive young dog. Since that day, his line manners have held because he knows that he will not get the bird unless he behaves.
Example 3:
2 months ago, Zeke slipped his first whistle in a long time while going on a blind retrieve. After sending him on blind retrieves, his sits were becoming very slow and sloppy. I first used the e-collar, but it just wasn’t working and was actually taking away from his blind retrieve desire.
So, I then used this new technique. I sent him for a blind retrieve, hit the sit whistle, and he didn’t want to stop. I chased after him, yelled at him, and instantly sent him to his kennel in my truck 70 yards away. We did this 2 times. On the 3rd blind retrieve, he sat crisply. In his mind, he knew in order to get the bird, he had to sit, so he sat.
Conclusion:
I am a true believer in this method – getting what I want first, then giving him what he wants (and NO, not a food treat). I am trying to use this technique in every aspect of my training, which sometimes takes some real creativity. For me and Zeke, his performance to a high standard is much better and he is doing it with more style than ever before.
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