RETRIEVING AUSTRALIA FORUM

Hi folks, looking for some basic drills to teach marking concepts to a novice dog, when training on my own on, both at an oval and in short cover. I don't have a thrower or anything fancy, just my arm, which sometimes doesn't throw where I intend the dummy to go

Thanks

Joanne

Joanne,there is a lot that you can do to teach a dog to mark- without a thrower-and by yourself.Firstly,your dog has to be placed on a (stay) and facing in the direction that you are going to walk.From this position, pick a spot at the distance that you are going to send him to, taking into consideration what the dog is going to see from the position that you are going to leave him at, e.g. background- so as to which colour of dummies to use.Now walk to that position,turn and face your dog,give him your command to (mark)and then throw the dummy,after a pause(so as to keep him steady) give him your (fetch) command.On completion of the retrieve do the same again but from a different position, varying the distances and backgrounds and dummy colourings to suit.Start at VERY SHORT distances untill he gets the idea and then gradually increase the distance and degree of difficulty.I regularly use this method.Kind regards, Jack.

Thanks for that Jack. I had been doing something similar but didn't feel I was making progress - the difference was that I was returning to my dog and then sending her for the retrieve. Today I tried it your way and came away very happy, she was enthusiastic and I was able to increase her marking distance and have her go straight to it, which was excellent. Interesting the difference it made without me returning to her, makes me wonder if all of her formal obedience training has stifled her retrieving enthusiasm somewhat. Thanks again

Joanne