Gretchen is a tough, quick, but eager to please girl. She is pointing well, and ready to be steadied up to advance her bird work this fall. She loves to retrieve and is swimming well. I have high hopes for this girl. Would like to put on her SH this fall (though I plan to run JH first even if we are past that level) and work her towards a NAVHDA UPT also.
Gretchen and I had a bad time with introduction to the e-collar. I had a button stick once and she ran "out of range" and escaped it, then had a battery issue with inconsistent stimulation. New e-collar and repairs! SO we spent a lot of time getting past this and learning to work in the field wearing an e-collar, but not using it. She has been here conditioned with it now, but I would like to keep her very confident before any association with birds. She lost all interest in the clicker when outdoors before so I had worked her with slip lead and rewards. She did well and was ready to move to the e-collar at the last session, but I was holding off, as I felt I wanted her to be more mature.
Today we reviewed with the slip lead and I used a clicker for behavior marking as she would focus today and it kept her having fun. She is on voice only command, with short 6 foot leash, and did extremely well. Still she carried her head a little low, and tail low. She was spot on, on every command stopping on a dime, but I would like to see morw confidence before we move on. So we will stay here until I see that head come up and a happy attitude come back.
Family manners, field work, obedience... whatever a gundog needs to work, hunt and live well, with their family.
How We Train
As a trainer, it's my job to find a way to help a dog learn. I enjoy problem solving and have worked with all ages, gun shy, run-off dogs and even bird shy dogs. Of course, the easy natural dogs are fantastic to work with also, and every dog no matter their skill level, has many lessons to teach me as well. I use no set technique; I learn as many techniques and styles as possible to create a mental "library" of techniques. Then the owner and I choose the gentlest most effective method possible for each dog. I use clicker training in young dogs and to help teach concepts quickly, but also use an e-collar later to reinforce, unless the owner prefers to train without. There is no age too old or too young to learn, but the methods we use will vary.
Check out a few video clips below, to see some of our training techniques for all ages.
Check out a few video clips below, to see some of our training techniques for all ages.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
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