Preparation equals Success in Events and Hunting
Ryder and Stan at the World Championships

Ryder and Stan at the World Championships

Marley Sporting Dog Supplies spent the weekend of October 23 – 25, 2009 at the Bird Dog Challenge World Championships and did not do as well as we wanted. It came down to a lack of preparation with the dogs and their endurance level. I needed to do more work on their endurance and get their heads right for the game. Just because the dogs did well the last time they ran does not mean they will be able to do it again after a full 6 month layoff.

So, what could I as a trainer have done different? Well, the first thing that I would do different would be to train a little harder on their cardio-vascular system and then work to build their endurance by doing 15 minute hunts without birds in the field. That would help them work hard enough to get their endurance level up. Once their endurance level has been built up, I will then work to increase their speed by planting 10 birds in the field to see how fast they can find all ten.

Finally, basic training cannot be forgotten because of the need to have complete control and work the dog in order to put them in the best position to win. The issues from the weekend include Ryder not hunting like he should and Bella just running out of gas. Neither problem leads to a good outcome. Vince Lombardi is quoted as saying, “Perfect Practice makes Perfect Execution.” We needed the perfect execution this weekend to advance.

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Written on October 29th, 2009 , Training Tags: , , , , , , ,
Training Consistency to bring Consistent Results

Training consistent obedience means enforcing every command every time. This will lead to a more consistent dog.  All dogs, not just sporting dogs, need to have a job in order to become a great dog.
SC's Hunt'em Up Ryder

Well after several recent training sessions, it was pointed out by a training partner that I was not consistently enforcing my obedience commands.  I would tell Ryder to “sit”, he would quickly comply.  I would walk away expecting him to remain in the sitting position, but after about 30 seconds, he was walking up to the heel position.  I did not reinforce the command and take him back to the spot where the infraction occurred.  He did this on a couple of occasions and I did not enforce.  This will start this dog down a path of disregarding my commands because I have let him have what is known as “command creep”.  With Ryder being 4 years old, he knows all the rules but I have not maintained the command discipline to demand compliance at all times.  With Ryder it only takes about 15 minutes and consistent discipline to get him back in line.  As a trainer, I know better than to relinquish the alpha role with a young dog who is just learning the rules, but I need to maintain the discipline and alpha role with the older dogs as well.

Working with a dog named Sullivan, my expectation is a lot tougher because he needs to know that he cannot get away with creep.  I enforce every command to the letter with plenty of praise because he will learn better when is confidence is the highest.  He will constantly try to get away with not immediately obeying because he is still an 8 month old puppy who is learning his place in the pack.

In these two dogs there are two different issues, Ryder does not have a problem with the command itself and Sullivan does have a problem with the command.  Ryder will give instant command compliance, but Sullivan will not.  Ryder needs to maintain the command for the duration and Sullivan needs to complete the initial command.  So how do we accomplish this, by consistently enforcing the training aspect that is required for the dog.  With Sullivan, I must make sure compliance occurs instantly.  With Ryder, I must make sure that he complies with the command until released.  Praise and enforcement will tighten up both of these training issues.

Remember that consistency will help your dog become the best they can be

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Written on October 17th, 2009 , Training Tags: , , , , , ,
Basic Obedience Training Using the Delmar Smith Wonder Lead

We are demonstrating with a 6 month old Labrador Retriever the proper use of the Delmar Smith Wonder Lead to teach the basic obedience commands of here, heel, and sit.  This dog is in day 3 of our basic obedience training and has been doing very well.  The goal with any training session is to keep the dog upbeat and focused and doing exactly what you’re telling him to do.  The DS Wonder Lead keeps the dog focused and allows for instant correction.  The instant correction is also instantly released once compliance is met.  This goes back to showing the dog how to turn pressure off with compliance to commands.  But, there is a fine line between proper pressure and excessive pressure.  If you are constantly exerting excessive pressure, you are more apt to end up with a dog that looks robotic in how it goes about a training session, hunt test, field trial, etc.  I would rather use just enough pressure to get the dog to comply with exactly what I am telling him to do.  This also maintains the “happy tail” which makes my day when a dog is happy about working.

Check out this Video and Please feel free to leave your comments

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Written on July 21st, 2009 , Sporting Dog Humor, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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