by Bill Bailey » Mon 27 Jun 2005 6:00 pm
Dear Val,
Obedience work is relevant to field work as a dog in the field could be working a couple of hundred metres away from you in a swamp or other interesting country. As a result a dog has to learn to concentrate on analyzing the scents and seek to quickly locate the source of the relevant scent that will lead him to the game he has been sent to retrieve. This is not an easy task, as he also has to quickly respond to his handler’s commands. It is important to realize the difficulty of his task. I suggest to new handler’s that they try singing correctly “Mary had a little lamb” while they divide 3,423 by 11.25. It sounds daft but it is a good way to understand what is expected of a field dog.
The main danger of normal club obedience training is that while it can be a fascinating exercise for handlers as they drill their dogs I do not think many dogs share their handler’s enthusiasm. The result can be to gradually diminish the dog’s natural enthusiasm and brightness in his work. This is not to denigrate obedience training, just watch the boredom level in your dog.
In assessing competitive obedience work obedience instructors are only interested in say, whether one dog heels more closely and continuously than another. In fieldwork judges take account of a dog’s ability to take directions from his handler but if obedience is comparable in two dogs the win will usually go to the dog “that does the best work”. That is the dog that demonstrates interest and enthusiasm in working with his handler, use of nose to locate game, ability to cope with difficult or unfriendly terrain etc.
The natural enthusiasm with which a dog does his work should never be diminished; the trick is to gradually build a highly competent and enthusiastic dog that is obedient as well. This takes time, as “Old heads are not often found on young dogs”.
I tried to differentiate between obedience and retrieving work in my dog’s mind. I used to wear different clothes and use different areas for the two types of training. My body language towards my dog was also different. In obedience I was the boss, in the field we worked together but I had the casting vote. I tried to only give a command that would as quickly as possible give my dog a “benefit” like winding the game and so on.
I think obedience training should be done initially when your dog is relaxed and not overly enthusiastic. Especially initially it is a low level of enthusiasm activity. Enthusiasm should only be introduced gradually when willing obedience has been thoroughly absorbed and become a habit. Obedience work for a retriever should include heeling with a dummy or holding dummy and sitting for a little while before delivery was made. Actual retrieving was not practiced until heeling, sitting, staying, picking up dummy (from a standing position) and delivery to hand were all well established. Try to avoid a situation where a fault becomes accepted in the excitement of making a retrieve. Get the individual basics right and then put it all together in a simple retrieve and build on correct habits. Try to avoid faults occurring rather than trying to fix faults, which should never have occurred.
With any training you cannot always accurately diagnose what is causing a particular problem. All you can do is try something gently without hostile body language and watch your dog’s response. Sometimes you will try something and it will apparently fail. Next time you try it works! Nobody can tell you why, I think you have to try and understand your dog and try and build what I call co-operative obedience.
So far as sniffing and loss of interest in you is concerned you may have unwittingly “lighted a spark” of retrieving interest in your dog by introducing retrieving work into its life. As a result it is more interested in hunting than it was before. It may also just be part of its normal development as a dog wi5th retrieving instincts. I would suggest that you relax, your dog is very young, learning is not a process of continuous of success. Level of success will vary; new ideas from you or elsewhere can push earlier ideas out of your dog’s “memory box”. Just return to basics and retrain again. Regular revision is an essential part of training.
Heeling - My way of training to heel might be a good illustration of my way of achieving “co-operative obedience”. I would walk my dog at heel on a strong short lead attached to his check chain. Say “Heel” and step off slowly on my left foot. As I expected my dog would surge forward against the lead. I would then growl as though I really meant it and say “No”. Then I would pull back a little bit on his lead and say “Heel”. I would repeat “nudging my dog in the required direction” until he got the message and moved back to the correct position. Then I would say “Good Dog” with sincerity and give him a pat and then start again. Eventually he would heel, forward, backward, figures of eight, U turns left and right, walking slowly, quickly or running.
Regards Bill Bailey