Gun Dog Forum

EvanG

I've been collar conditioning my english cocker for the past week and it has worked wonders. He is a very hard charging dog but very soft. Any time I would correct him he'd end up shutting down on me. With the collar he's a completely different dog. Our sessions last longer and he doesn't shut down...

EvanG

It's interesting that for my current dog (1st I've used a collar on) he hates the pager/vibration only setting, and likewise initially would simply drop and refuse to move with a bell on. Talking to other people, apparently this is not uncommon. I can see that another dog might hate the "buzz" feel...

EvanG

gonehuntin' wrote:Everything you stated says to put the dog into a program. Smart Fetch and Fowl Dogs will cure every problem you mentioned.

Be patient and thorough. A full, step-by-step course of FF. Are you seeing a pattern here?

EvanG

EvanG

and my dog I'm sure has a higher pain tolerance. How do you know? If you know how to pressure condition (a central portion of e-collar conditioning) you find out each dog's level of tolerance. That's one of the best benefits of a sequential training program. The process of conditioning dogs to pres...

EvanG

Hi all, I pick up my Brittany pup next weekend. She will be 8 weeks old. When is a good time to introduce her to live quail in the yard on a string for play time? I read somewhere that it will help strengthen the drive to chase/hunt birds and is just fun for the pup. I do not necessarily want to us...

EvanG

Hi all, I am about to pick up a Brittany pup in a couple of weeks and will be training her to do a little hunting. She will be primarily a house pet and not a hard core hunter. My question is are E-Collars really necessary for adequate training? It's hard not to elaborate, but I'll try to be brief....

EvanG

cole.nelson782 wrote:I'll try that this evening at walk time. He does like food.

Great! Keep up a good pace and have some fun!

EvanG

EvanG

Does this dog like to eat?

EvanG

EvanG

What does all age mean for retriever trials? Are the birds or whatever they retrieve just way further out than a normal trial? There are 4 stakes (classes) in retriever field trials. Derby: for dogs under 2 years old. No blind retrieves; only marks. Qualifying: This stake offers no championship poi...

EvanG

DonF wrote:Very nice. Someday I have to go to a retriever trial just to watch. Dogs doing what they were bred to do is a real turn on for me. Doesn't matter if it's pointing dog, flushing dogs, retrieving dogs or even working dogs.

When you go, take your camera!

EvanG

EvanG

The #1 field trial dog & handler team in the US is a Smartwork team! FC-AFC Teal Creek Patton's Saber, owned, trained & handled by Chris Hatch. http://www.evan-graham.net/Saber_doube_leader_2013.jpg Have you wondered if an amateur can beat the pros at the highest level? Take a look! SABER: Top All A...

EvanG

I'd send it back to TT, and tell them exactly what it's doing. Request an adjustment or replacement.

EvanG

EvanG

Abuse? :roll:

EvanG

EvanG

Enough to get results. More specifically, enough to change behavior favorably. That's why we use pressure in dog training. That's how you know enough is enough. If you think you're being humane by using pressure in small amounts just for the sake of being humane, you may only be nagging. Any husban...

EvanG

You should be able to easily, but snugly slide two fingers beneath the collar strap. It should not require extra exertion.

EvanG

EvanG

Swampbilly wrote:
Tooling wrote:Nicking your dog on a low level with an e-collar may inspire cries of brutality and new posts on the subject too so be cautious and choose your words carefully. Comprehension does not run rampant with some.
Thanks for the heads up

"CLICK"

EvanG

EvanG

My 15 mo GWP is a natural retriever.... Would one of the FF programs fix this? It may not even be a problem with actual birds. She has yet to have an opportunity to do a water retrieve of a bird, just dummies and sticks thus far. A thorough and complete one would. That would include Water Force tow...

EvanG

Really? How do you teach a dog to WANT to stop eating birds? Why would any high power retriever WANT to stay steady? Why would a retriever WANT to leave a poison bird or a diversion bird? Why would any pointing dog WANT to not chase a flushed bird? A dog WANTS to perform these tasks only because of...

EvanG

whatsnext wrote:jimbo&rooster is right we do this for the joy of watching dog's work not just shooting birds, so just handle your dog and tease your dad when he misses a shot

That's as much fun as watching the dog work!

EvanG

EvanG

The greater point I was trying to make is that behaviors that are ingrained at a very young age will stick with the dog for a longer period of time. Maybe. Maybe not. Not all dogs are the same. But even in the best of cases, dogs do not remain pliable little puppies that think the sun rises and set...

EvanG

birddog1968 wrote:
jimbo&rooster wrote:
Neil wrote:
You have many seasons of hunting her ahead of you. letting your dad shoot this season and handling your dog will be the best thing you can do for Banks.

Jim
+1

That is correct...times tons!

EvanG

EvanG

"Heel" means even with your heels, whether walking, sitting, or standing. But I'm getting the impression that many here are having trouble discerning between "training" and merely "teaching". If we mention training it seems a common perception of forcing or corporal correcting is assumed to be a nec...

EvanG

As much as needed. That may sound simplistic, but that's really the answer. We use pressure in dog training to change behavior; to make a behavior more likely to reoccur, or less likely to reoccur. How do you know when you have used enough? When the dog makes the appropriate behavior change. Teach ...

EvanG

Evan Do you believe that some dogs are easier to train Than others ? Db Without question. But I also believe that the difference is rarely a matter of the dog being stubborn or tough, so much as each one having a different amount of desire to please, and a different degree of intelligence. EvanG

EvanG

Over training a young dog turns it into a machine, or never lets it reach the potential it could have reached had it been given its time to be a pup. I hope you understand that I'm not suggesting over training. The kind of training I propose with pups is very passive and positively enforced. Minima...

EvanG

What kind of pressure do you apply to a hard headed Dog? What kind of pressure do you apply to a timid dog? What kind of pressure do you apply to an "easy trainer"? Db All of that is impossible to answer accurately on the Internet. But I will tell you that a majority of dogs that their trainers say...

EvanG

Clicker training is unique in that it is a system of communication with the dog, separate from the reward, that connects the act of a behavior with the reward. This is how mis-communication begins. A clicker is a tool that can be used to communicate a message, but is not a system of training. It's ...

EvanG

Knowledge I can teach any age dog to heel in a short period of time. I too want a bold, in front dog and the way I teach that is by giving the dog early independence. The man that taught me about bird dogs is 70 years old, and has Been hunting, training, trialing, guiding, and breeding them for 60 ...

EvanG

OP states he wants the dog to the front, its beyond my comprehension why then you would teach sit and heel to a 16 week old pup. So that it will be far easier later on to formally train him to do it. At this point it's just passive teaching as seen in the puppy portion of the video clip shown. Just...

EvanG

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/ZHoMpP9Rubs/mqdefault.jpg Click on the image above and watch what Anne Everett, trainer of many, many Obedience Champions does with the little Golden pup "Luke" to teach 'Heel'. Luke was 9 weeks old at the time. Keep it simple. Use a clicker if you like, but it's not necessar...

EvanG

My sweet wife bought me a black lab puppy trying to do something nice for me... Not really knowing what to look for she found a black lab puppy and went to get him and Surprised me when I got home. He was 4 months old at the time took one look at me and ran the other direction...I'm not that ugly.....

EvanG

If he goes and picks it up why are you recalling him? Is he buggering off? Try to keep quiet and see what he chooses to do. When you call him maybe he just thinks he needs to get back ASAP so the bird is no longer a priority. If he does not come as called and deliver to hand he is not retrieving. H...

EvanG

I start teaching "Heel" at around 8-10 weeks. But I'm not talking about formal training. I'm talking about teaching per operant conditioning; treat training. I start teaching all the fundamental obedience commands as soon as they come home (around 7 weeks). By 3-4 months they are proficient, but st...

EvanG

Tooling, thanks for the responses, I wasn't referring to you in that post. Evan and MG, yes I am running mini pile drills. I was using nicks for most of them the first time, then went to only nicking about 50% of the time. Sorry for calling it force to pile and not mini pile. Apparently I was incor...

EvanG

I start teaching "Heel" at around 8-10 weeks. But I'm not talking about formal training. I'm talking about teaching per operant conditioning; treat training. I start teaching all the fundamental obedience commands as soon as they come home (around 7 weeks). By 3-4 months they are proficient, but sti...

EvanG

For force to pile I am having the dog sit at my heel, putting a pile of 4 bumpers at 10 yards, commanding back/nick/back as he runs to the pile, he picks up the bumper, runs to me, sits at my heel then I get the bumper from him. Please tell me where I am wrong instead of just saying I'm wrong. Prec...

EvanG

Evan, so are you recommending going back and just working on walking fetch with a nick? I had no problem just using a nick with ground fetch or walking fetch, I just figured it made sense to do continuous to the pile, then backing off to a nick after they understand whats expected. Thats how we did...

EvanG

If he goes and picks it up why are you recalling him? Is he buggering off? Try to keep quiet and see what he chooses to do. When you call him maybe he just thinks he needs to get back ASAP so the bird is no longer a priority. If he does not come as called and deliver to hand he is not retrieving. H...

EvanG

I have a question my 5 1/2 month old lab has been doing really good with dove hunting and retrieving but I have still been doing a lot of obedience training Come,Heel,Sit,Stay,Down,Blind-place, so yesterday I did the 15 min of training in the back yard and decided take him out to the farm see if we...

EvanG

I'm just wanting an explanation of why they do it like that vs using continuous then transitioning to a nick. Because an overwhelming majority of dogs will bug being forced to pile with continuous. That kind of conditioning should have been done much earlier in the FF process so that you can now si...

EvanG

Legband wrote:On the contrary it oblagtes me to act in the best interest of the boy.
God forbid when hunters start raising the rights and concerns of animals over people, for when we do that we have just joined PETA and our hunting and the dogs hunting is over.

? :roll:

EvanG

EvanG

Donnytpburge wrote:So which smart work package do you suggest for this situation ?

DB

With two 5 month old Lab pups at minimum the Bonus Basics Pack, plus the first book; Smartwork volume one. That will thoroughly cover his next full year's training, and give them both a foundation for a lifetime.

EvanG

EvanG

I prefer the prong collar for the simple reason that I seem to be able to get the point across to the dog with less pressure. Oh, and not all prong collars are created equal, The smaller sized prong collar with the smaller diameter prongs are actually a lot harder on a dog that the oversized prong ...

EvanG

...now I'm not saying that technically its not good advise for someone to study up on training a Dog before they get one , but in all honesty who starts out that way. Smart people. But I obviously agree that when most of us start out we don't know better. Once you do know better, doesn't it obligat...

EvanG

You may want to read the Aversives thread. That's all an e-collar is. How you use it is dependent on the dog; does he change behavior at a chosen level? Then why turn it up?

EvanG

EvanG

I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around it. I am trying to think of positive reinforcement with an aversive stimulus to make a behaviour more likely. But, pinching or forcing, or what not is by Skinner's definition, negative reinforcement. The removal of unpleasant stimulus to strengt...

EvanG

As was recently discussed on this forum, it is very risky to take under-trained retrievers hunting. This is one of the risks. Too young to force fetch, and doves encourage rough handling more than any other game bird. This pup should be going through formal Basics right now, and hunt next year. Ther...

EvanG

In psychology, aversives are unpleasant stimuli that induce changes in behavior through punishment; by applying an aversive immediately following a behavior, the likelihood of the behavior occurring in the future is reduced. That is mostly true in dog training, but a significant exception is forcing...

EvanG

Hunting Husker: You have not done anything wrong so don't let the negative comments get you down. You can go buy all the manuals and programs you want, but none of it is going to be as beneficial as your hunting experience. As any job nothing beats boots on the ground getting it done. In my opinion...

EvanG

Neil wrote:Or a good FFing.

Agree. One and the same!

EvanG

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