How
important is Obedience?
by Joe Law
12 December 2011
It
is sometimes said that basic obedience training is not all that
important when teaching your dog about retrieving. Nothing
could
be further from the truth! The instinct to retrieve is a natural
attribute in many gundogs and while it is desirable to foster
retrieving drive in a young dog, care should be taken not to do this at
the expense of basic obedience training. If obedience is neglected it
will soon result in the breakdown of control, sloppy responses and the
formation of bad habits all of which will jeopardise further training.
The
best natural attributes that a good gundog can show you is a desire to
please and a willingness to accept you as its leader.
Treasure
this in your dog and don’t disappoint by not holding up your side of
the deal. Dogs and humans have been able to enjoy a connection from day
one so your whole approach should be to enjoy the journey. Obviously,
your young dog does not arrive with knowledge of what is expected of
him and much of his future behaviour will need to be learnt. Your job
is to teach your dog what your expectations are and to be consistent in
maintaining these standards. There should be absolutely no need for a
trainer to adopt a martinetish and uncompromising approach when in most
cases this attitude will only result in a dog becoming fearful and
untrusting. Dogs respond well to praise and reward when these methods
are combined with good judgement and timing ensuring that only
desirable responses are rewarded. A good trainer will be able to
maintain an even and consistent approach. Kindness, patience and
perseverance are the trademarks of a successful trainer while harshness
and punitive measures rarely result in a good outcome. It is most
important that as a trainer you get your attitude and approach in order
right from the start.
For a retriever, a
foremost behaviour to
be learnt is to come when called and to do this directly and without
hesitation. Unless a dog can be recalled promptly and reliably there is
little a trainer can do to remedy problems as they occur. The “HERE” or
“COME” command must first be taught and consistently enforced. Begin
with your dog on lead and only give the command “Here” when you can
follow through and make it happen. When you get a good response it is
important to remember to reward your dog. A good response would be when
the dog comes immediately without having to enforce the response with
the lead. Gradually increase the length of lead or rope and use various
terrain as your dog improves his response. Several other commands are
going to combine with your recall in general usefulness the most
obvious being “Sit” and “Stay”. In the early stages of your dog’s
training it is important to maintain these basic obedience commands
with your dog on a lead until each command is understood and the right
response has become habitual. It is a common mistake of inexperienced
trainers to want to test the dog’s response off lead when there is
little chance of success and the training immediately goes backwards.
Another experience that can hinder a good recall response occurs when a
dog has committed an indiscretion such as chewing on a child’s toy or
piece of furniture and is immediately called and then reprimanded or
punished. This reaction is likely to confuse the dog and his next
response may well be to not come when called. Unfortunately, this same
mistake can be carried on in more advanced training
situations
and should be considered poor training technique.
Using
praise
and reward inappropriately can also be counter-productive resulting in
the dog tuning out to the trainer in the belief that nothing matters
and anything goes! These dogs can then appear hard-headed and defiant
when really the trainer has caused the problem with his or her own
inappropriate and badly timed actions. It is of paramount importance
that basic obedience commands are understood and an immediate correct
response is maintained. Get this right and disobedience will not stand
in the way of other more advanced training.
A good trainer also
knows how to make good things that a dog desires contingent on a proper
response. Many have taught their dogs to sit and wait before allowing
them eat their dinner making the dinner the reward for sitting and
waiting. These dogs learn quickly and none starve to death. If we
assume that a dog desires to retrieve then in the same way the retrieve
becomes the reward for being steady and waiting to be sent. This is
good training but only when any unsteadiness results in the dog not
being allowed to retrieve. Before a dog is allowed to retrieve a dog
showing any inclination to retrieve without being sent should be kept
on a short lead and led away without any opportunity to retrieve. This
whole exercise can then be repeated until Bozo shows the required
steadiness. Dogs can learn quickly from these situations yet we
continue to see chronic breakers being entered in trials.
Points
are awarded for specific obedience requirements in both Retrieving
Trials and Retrieving Ability Tests for gundogs. Furthermore, when dogs
run into trouble completing a retrieve in trials the root cause of the
problem is often a failure to meet a basic obedience command. A dog
that runs out of control when hunting is threat to its own safety and
the safety of others. We should never underestimate the importance of
basic obedience when training a gundog.
This is an edited
version of an article that first appeared in the March 2012 issue of Dogs
NSW magazine.
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This
page is provided by Working Gundog Club Inc.
(Affiliated with Dogs NSW)