Performing with Confidence and
Drive
by Joe Law
13 June 2013
Many
triallers when training young dogs reach a point where their dog
appears to slow and lose interest in retrieving. This can be
a
critical time for both the dog and the handler and requires careful
thought, patience and time to work through this stage in the dog’s
education and development.
The first step will
be to examine the
possible causes and these can be various. There is little doubt that
breeding can be part of the explanation and if your dog has been bred
from sound stock with parents and grand-parents that have displayed
strong retrieving drive then it is more likely that the problem and its
treatment will lie elsewhere. Training faults are often
developed
by putting too much pressure on young dogs to perform perfectly from
the outset. For example, young retrievers will need to be
gently
weaned off tendencies to play with the dummy, putting the dummy down
and not delivering to hand. Dog handlers who lack patience and respond
by placing undue pressure on the dog to perform can easily create both
confusion and uncertainty in the dog’s mind resulting in a no-go
reaction from the dog. Unless this situation is turned around
quickly a young dog can easily lose all interest in
retrieving.
In the above situation it is often better to immediately cease
retrieving games in the field and move to a place not associated with
retrieving, such as your garage or lounge room and gently encourage you
dog to take and hold various objects. The aim would be for the dog to
associate a command such as “fetch” with the act of getting and holding
something in its mouth. The command “hold “ can then be used to extend
the time the dog holds the dummy (or object). Finally, when “fetch” and
“hold” are understood and the dog rewarded with praise for this
achievement a further command such as “give” or “drop” can be
introduced to teach the dog to release into your hand. Only when these
commands are comfortably understood and reliably complied with will it
be time to associate them with even the simplest acts of retrieving.
Good
trainers soon learn the importance of combining patience with the
ability of simplifying tasks into numerous smaller tasks when working
through a problem. Well timed praise handed out at each moment of
compliance is a tried and true formula for success.
Photo by Lara Sedgmen
This is an edited
version of an article that first appeared in the September 2013 issue
of Dogs
NSW magazine.
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