by Robert Tawton » Wed 06 Aug 2008 12:25 pm
Hi Kirsty,
Like so many questions that appear on this website, it is difficult to offer a definitive response because the question can be likened to “how long is a piece of string?” In posing the question did you have in mind a young dog first starting out where depth perception and line are the primary concerns, or did you have in mind a dog transitioning from single marks to multiple marks, or were you thinking about teaching an advanced dog to fight “factors” such as remote angle entries into water or a holding its line across sloping ground? Each of these scenarios will produce a different answer to your original question.
In general terms, there are two schools of thought about repeating marks where the primary objective is for the dog to “mark the fall” and recover the item of game without handler assistance. By far the biggest body of opinion is that you do not repeat such marks as it may encourage the dog to return to old falls, or alternatively, the dog does not learn how to solve the initial problem since on each repeat it “knows in advance” where to go. If a dog does experience difficulty with a particular “mark”, this body of opinion favours repeating the concept (distance, terrain, wind etc) at a different location.
An alternative view is that you repeat marks until the dog gets it perfect. The supporters of this approach liken it to a marksman repeating the same shot over and over (with minor corrections to his weapon or "hold point" along the way) until he can hit the “bull’s eye” each and every time. In other words, the repetition helps the dog to get “its eye in” for the task at hand.
Now consider teaching the dog to do multiple retrieves. Initially, at least, the primary objective changes from “marking” as such, to a memory exercise for the dog and for the dog to understand the concept of having to retrieve multiple items of game in an order specified by its handler. The most favoured approach is to “build” the concept i.e. in a triple set up each of the “marks” would be undertaken as single retrieves. Then “Marks” Nos 1 & 2 would be repeated as a pair. “Marks” Nos 1 & 3 may be repeated as a pair and similarly Nos 2 & 3 may be repeated as a pair. Finally all three “marks” would be cast and retrieved as a triple. In this scenario the focus is more on developing the dog’s memory and understanding of the concept than it is on “marking” as such. It is interesting to note that the great trainers like Danny Farmer do lots of single “marks” to hone the dog’s “marking” skills and multiple setups are reserved for developing memory and understanding of concepts.
Finally, Danny Farmer et al, will repeat single “marks” if they are teaching a dog to fight factors such as a side hill or wind. Consider the single “mark” across a side hill and the dog starts to “fade” down the hill. In this scenario, as soon as the handler detects the dog “fading with the hill” the handler would stop the dog and then give it the relevant cast to straighten its line. The “mark” would then be repeated to see if the dog learned from the exercise and would now hold its line.
I trust the above provides some insight into the issues and I will be happy to field questions.
Regards, RWT