Gun Dog Forum

I am watching training videos and they are using an elevated training table. I don't have a great table to use for this. Is there a reason a training table needs to be elevated?

thanks

An elevated training table does three things:

First it gets the dog off the ground, which tends to make them a little uncomfortable and more disposed to pay attention to you.

Second it eliminates the need for you to constantly bend down to work with the dog.

Third it puts you at eye level with the dog, so everything you do with the dog is much more up close and personal.

For pointing dog work, any kind of raised platform can work. A pickup truck tailgate works fine. It needs to be about 2 feet long and about 8 inches wide, at a minimum. I have a folding metal sawhorse, to which I attached a piece of plywood. Steadied several dogs with it.

I had a flat topped kennel at one point in time. It worked also.

If you want to use the raised platform to do Navhda type retrieving drills, or force fetching, it needs to be much larger and longer, ideally with ramps on each end and for force fetch, with an overhead wire to secure the dog, so it can't jump off to avoid the lesson.

RayG

birddogger2 wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:56 am

An elevated training table does three things:

First it gets the dog off the ground, which tends to make them a little uncomfortable and more disposed to pay attention to you.

Second it eliminates the need for you to constantly bend down to work with the dog.

Third it puts you at eye level with the dog, so everything you do with the dog is much more up close and personal.

For pointing dog work, any kind of raised platform can work. A pickup truck tailgate works fine. It needs to be about 2 feet long and about 8 inches wide, at a minimum. I have a folding metal sawhorse, to which I attached a piece of plywood. Steadied several dogs with it.

I had a flat topped kennel at one point in time. It worked also.

If you want to use the raised platform to do Navhda type retrieving drills, or force fetching, it needs to be much larger and longer, ideally with ramps on each end and for force fetch, with an overhead wire to secure the dog, so it can't jump off to avoid the lesson.

RayG

Thanks for the response. Very informative. It would be easy for me to do a pickup tailgate. Do you have the dog tethered while on the tailgate? Mind explaining how you have it hooked up?

PSA on using tables or other raised platforms...don't leave the dog unattended while tethered up there, even for a part of a minute. Don't allow the dog to jump up to it, or to jump down; if he misses on the way up he can flip over backwards and be injured and jumping down is not good for dog shoulders. Saw a dog excited to jump off a tailgate but somehow caught a toe where the hinge is, and broke that leg. Use a ramp or lift the dog yourself.

Joe, our work truck has slots in the rails right near the tailgate that accommodate 2X2s. A cable could be strung across those.

Joe -

I typically only use a training table to style up, steady up and eventually proof a dog on point. I do not want the dog to move at all. It is about standing still and not moving so much as a toenail. As such, I don't typically tether the dog. I will have a lead or a pigging string(cheapo version of a wonder lead) on the dog in case it wants to break and jump off. Shags suggestion of using the stake pockets is a good one. I also agree that you do not want to teach a dog to jump up or allow it to jump down off a tailgate. Too high. That is an invitation to injury, especially for a tired or older dog.

On my backyard setup I have a folding metal sawhorse with a plywood platform attached with a single bolt. To tether the dog in place I have used an overhanging branch. I often use a steel shepherd's hook that is meant to hold flower pots. Folks use a barrel in the same way to encourage the dog to remain dead still.
The tether should be set up so that if the dog jumps off the platform or barrel(or gets knocked off by the trainer for moving), that the dog can only put its back feet on the ground and it is sort of "hanging there" with its front feet on the barrel or sawhorse platform. The idea is to make the act of coming off the platform or barrel distinctly uncomfortable for the dog, without being dangerous.

If you don't want to do it that way, then a simple pinch collar, prong collar or looped checkcord around the neck, up behind the ears, will give you the point of contact and control tool needed.

BTW, my folded up sawhorse platform takes up less than one sq. ft. of floorspace when it is stood up on end and I made it about 25 years ago. About 5 years ago I had to replace the plywood platform.

RayG

I like using training table but you certainly don't have to build one. I just lay an 8' strip of 3/4" plywood about a foot wide between two chairs. Accomplishes all that a table will and you don't need a place to store an awkward table. You may only use a table once every 5-10 years so it isn't worth building one.

Thank you all!