Hi Kirsty
Correction from a distance in this instance I believe would be made with an e-collar (electric collar). Force fetch is essentially a precursor to the application of pressure associated with the training of blind retrieves, line running and deliberate disobedience by the dog. An e-collar allows for clear and concise communication between you and your dog provided that it is used in a humane way and you as the handler have the ability to read your dog accurately. However, a thorough collar conditioning training program must be completed before the dog will readily understand a collar correction.
One thing I must say is that the e-collar doesn't make up for any deficiencies in a training program (as I have found out). It simply exposes the dog to pressure and allows the handler to prevent their dog from getting away with anything, thereby decreasing the time taken to train certain concepts.
Mark
Mark
I am more than thoroughly impressed with your assessment. It lacks very little from my own ideas.
Many folks who deride the e-collar do so without the understanding that it does not teach anything and it does not make up for or create any shortcuts in the process of teaching the dog. Simply put... a bad trainer will be a bad trainer with or without the e-collar and a good trainer will be a more efficient trainer with the e-collar.
Kristy
The relationship between force fetch and correction at a distance is strong. It provides the dog with conditioned obedience skills which it can then perform afield with total reliability.
The concept in a bit more depth involves the utilization of indirect pressure and how the dog responds to it while training in the field. (Kind of ironic that one must understand indirect pressure and how dog respond to it in order for you to understand how the direct pressure of force fetch comes into play. The reverse is also true).
I will attempt to make an example of a single training situation if you care to read on...
First, lets assume that we are working with a dog that has been force fetch thoroughly on the bench and in the yard. We are ready to move afield and start some handling drills. We decide the dog is ready for Force To Pile (FTP).
Being the informed trainers that we are...
we already know what FTP involves and are adept at it posessing good timing skills for the correction to follow.
We start by sending the dog to the identified pile from or side and because we have done our force fetch thoroughly the dog breezes through this returning to heel and delivering nicely.
Next session we send the dog from or side but we stop the dog with a whistle half way. Dog responds nicely, turns, sits and waits for further instruction. You then give a left back. Dog turns and goes for pile and retrieves successfully.
The scenario was accomplished as one would hope for early work.
Should the same scenario not gone as well we would have been looking for a couple of different ways to get through the problem with as little and hopefully zero trauma.
The options would be...
1---- Keep sending the dog over and over till it is done right and hope the dog remembers the time he did it right and not the 15 time he got it wrong.
2---- Attempt to correct the dog physically while he is out of pocket and possibly requiring the trainer to run him down only to make the correction late and with the dog out of position aka direct pressure.
3---- Correct the dog with the e-collar in a timely manor at the exact location the sin was committed with the knowledge that the dog will know how to respond to the correction and thus deal with the pressure in a healthy manor.
Well, 3 would be my ideal choice and it works through a combination of indirect pressure and the dogs ability to perform a skill it already knows how to do in order to stop the pressure. The skill he will use to stop the pressure will have been drilled in obedience and the obedience skills were solidified in large part during force fetch.
Example of a scenario using this theory...
Same as above. Dog is sent to pile a stopped half way. Right back is given and dog turns left back and goes for pile. Beeeeep!...Nick....No/sit! Dog will respond at once to the beep and nick by sitting promptly. He has been corrected by giving a sit whistle followed by a nick which he was already in the process of doing anyway well before you said No or Sit. You have accomplished a couple of things here. First you are conditioning a quicker sit as the dog will begin to try and beat the nick by sitting as fast as possible after the sit whistle. You have applied direct pressure to the sit command (whistle) and the dog responded to it because it has had its obedience conditioned during the force fetch process. The dog has no clue you nicked him for the incorrect direction take. He thinks it is for a slow sit.
The real reward her is to be found in the indirect portion of the correction as it pertains to the incorrect back command response. Because you corrected the dog in a manor which conditioned the sit response it knew what to do to stop the pressure. That was good. What also happened is the dog will try much harder the very next back command you give him to resume the trip to the pile. The direct pressure of the sit conditioning nick will have a strong indirect effect on the next command given... whatever that command is.
We have more than anything focused the dog on the job at hand as well as instilled some additional compulsion to perform. Accuracy increases and life becomes all together better.
In essence... we force fetch to give the dog the tools it needs to respond to direct pressure it will get afield and this results in it becoming possible to utilize indirect pressure to its fullest benefit.
Believe it or not... Almost all e-collar correction done remotely and while afield are done with the indirect pressure being the primary benefit. Seldom is the direct pressure portion of a correction the end goal.
I have used the e-collar as an example of a way of correcting a dog. Do know that the form of correction can be of any type and is not limited to the e-collar. That said... the e-collar is most efficient.
Yes, Force Fetch can indeed fix many mouth problems and for some that may be the only reason they go through it. Thing is though it can and is much more than just that and trainers lacking that knowledge will have little idea of what they are doing to other areas of their dogs training in the process. Get it right one time and you will likely become a strong advocate of the idea.
André