adding style

[Hattrick]

Do you guys style up ur dogs presentation when he retrieves something or come`s to heel? I you do can you share the training secretes?I have seen some dogs as they come in from a retrieve do a fast jump an spin in to the heel position (kinda cool)an some just come in an turn slow an others will put there front feet on the handlers chest to surrender the bird..

[gonehuntin']

Do you guys style up ur dogs presentation when he retrieves something or come`s to heel? I you do can you share the training secretes?I have seen some dogs as they come in from a retrieve do a fast jump an spin in to the heel position (kinda cool)an some just come in an turn slow an others will put there front feet on the handlers chest to surrender the bird..

So, since you have dogs that present birds in three different manors, you must not train for it. The correct presentation for a dog is to come in, turn at your side, and present the bird. They shouldn't stop in front, they shouldn't circle behind. They most certainly should not jump on your chest.

There is really no way to speed up a dog's return. What you see is what you get.

[Hattrick]

My girl does not do all three ,just comes an turns slow to the heal position, shes young .i have seen other guys style it up abit.So thats my question, what you guys do, an how crisp do you make it. I`m new to the dog world an curious on different styles, i would like to get Luci to do the quick spin in to the heel, making it sharp an crisp... To train for this if you can, do use a check cord or grab them an spin them quick ? As for chest thing, one dog i seen would heel normal an when on command would gently put his paws on the guys chest to give up the bird so he didn`t have to bend over it was neat ,not for me but neat. The guy might of had a bad back or something. I didn`t get a chance to talk with him

[AHGSP]

The correct presentation for a dog is to come in, turn at your side, and present the bird. They shouldn't stop in front, they shouldn't circle behind. They most certainly should not jump on your chest.

Pokin fun GH, but you used to train Labs primarily didn't you? I had an old Lab guy tell me in the Retriever world this is exactly how it should be done. I have seen Pointing dogs finish from behind, but always felt it was just a matter of Handlers preference.

As for the original question; teach the dog to come to heel in the fashion you wish them to finish a retrieve. If you want them to finish from behind, teach them to come to heel from behind. If you want them to come in from the front and snap to your side, teach them to come to heel in that fashion by bringing them in on a cc and as they get to where they turn to heel, spin their rear into position. You may want to PM Donnie Ebersole(Friedelsheim) and see if he can give you some tips, as I've seen him do this before I believe.

[Hattrick]

You may want to PM Donnie Ebersole(Friedelsheim) and see if he can give you some tips, as I've seen him do this before I believe.

My Luci`s is one his pups, from Cash an Calliy. I might have to give him a call. His dogs are pretty incredible

[AHGSP]

Even better.

[gonehuntin']

The correct presentation for a dog is to come in, turn at your side, and present the bird. They shouldn't stop in front, they shouldn't circle behind. They most certainly should not jump on your chest.

Pokin fun GH, but you used to train Labs primarily didn't you? I had an old Lab guy tell me in the Retriever world this is exactly how it should be done. I have seen Pointing dogs finish from behind, but always felt it was just a matter of Handlers preference.

Ya got me. I specialized in field trial labs for years but before that and even during, I trained all gun dogs, pointers and retrievers.

Seriously, there is a reason we never let a dog go behind, then come to heel. The chances are, if the dog was going to spit out a bird, he did it when he was behind you. That's where that comes from.

Seriously though, as you say, it's preference. Doesn't really matter.

[Hattrick]

My brother has a lab an trained it to go around behind cuz thats what the video said to do. Cant remember the name of the guy that made the video, but he specialized in labs. But i`m defiantly with you, i dont want a dog behind me, i want him in front at all times. You dont know any spin tricks do ya:)

[Hattrick]

AHGSP,
Is there good bird huntin down that way ? I use to bow hunt deer in Romney an around Springfield till well alot of it got sold off. My best friend an hunting buddy(my uncle ) live down there. I would love to take him out bird hunting for a change of pace..
Also i checked out ur site pretty cool:) Tell me more about the block trick, you anit a mason are you?

[AHGSP]

Birds have been spotty at best the past few years and good Grouse hunting became a lot more difficult when all of the paper company holdings were sold off around '02-'03 here locally to Romney/Springfield. Not sure of the correlation, but there was also an extremely steep decline in birds after the blizzard of '03 as well. We got 4' of snow over 3 days and then it melted, froze, melted, re-froze, etc... over the period of about 2 weeks. Prior to the blizzard, one of my pet covers would produce 10-12 birds in an hour or so... after the blizzard in the following year, the same cover only produced 3-4 birds on the best day and that is on an extensively managed farm where cutting is done every year in 25-30 acre blocks. Last year, nary a bird moved.... Lots of cover/habitat, lots of food in soft and hard mast as well as greens, extensive predator management.... but few to no birds. State lands have been sorely lacking in timber management, but for a very few "Grouse Management"(Short and Sleepy Creek) areas and those get pounded out hard. Birds are never in the areas there supposed to be there Those that don't have the management areas, are becoming almost sterile mono-cultures(Edwards Run, Wardensville) if the cover isn't there by natures hand(Nathaniel, Sods, Canaan). Have seen some dispersal birds this Fall in places where they shouldn't have been, so hopefully that bodes well and we've been moving birds so far this year, though shooting has still been tough with the dense foliage yet. Seems when you find pockets of birds, you really find pockets of birds.
Wonder if I might know your Uncle? PM me the next time you venture down this way and if nothing else, ya'll could come over to one of the farms I train on and we could put out some birds and work some dogs from pups up to broke dogs.

No, I'm not a Mason. TG! Masonry is an art that I'll never try to undertake again after my last Masonry project! I actually train professionally, though I don't advertise it. The blocks are just another technique for teaching dogs to stand and not move. Not a whole lot different than the barrel, styling beam or table.

[Rick Hall]

The best definition of "style" I've seen is, "the manefestation of desire". So if you want a dog to finish retrieves with style, give him reason to be anxious to finish the way you want him to.