Upland Retriever - Page Three
Page Three: Super Cooper
Like any athlete, dogs can have good days and bad. I’m not a golfer but I would give Cooper a “mulligan” for our last round. Putting it all behind us, we press on!
You may recall that Cooper has a few quirks; his dropping an object during the retrieve, being easily distracted, and possessing unpredictably explosive enthusiasm are high on the list. Working with a young dog exhibiting all these issues may sound overwhelming to some of us. Is it possible to address - and get past - all of these issues? Well, that’s what we are visiting today.
Some of what appears as enthusiasm is actually Cooper’s attempt to escape unwanted pressure. By wriggling and dancing about, he tries very hard to convert the training into play. It is an on-going effort to show Cooper that there’s no escape and, indeed, training can be fun!
Distraction, at this stage in life, can be expected. Cooper isn’t even a year old and, therefore, we have to consider all of the fantastic new things that constantly collide with his senses. I decided to train Cooper in multiple venues that offer varying levels of distraction. One is a large park next to a small town airport with high (vehicle) traffic and barking dogs in the nearby neighborhood. My want was to find something that would hold Cooper’s attention while being bombarded by so much stimuli. It would be Cooper that would provide that divice - a stick!
During one of our sessions in the fields here, Cooper brought me a stick. We were almost finished with training anyway, so I thought I would play a little fetch to make his day. He would dutifully retrieve the stick back to my feet, drop it, sit and wait for the next toss. I tucked that information away. Since that session, I have been using a training bumper with a pheasant wing taped to it and Cooper has learned to enjoy that item more than anything. Therefore, I just took that along into the park!
With a bit of teasing, Cooper developed a laser-like focus on his prize!
Soon Cooper learned, to get a toss of the bumper, he had to sit quickly to the single-blast whistle. Next, he learned that if he didn’t wait until he was told to “Fetch”, he would get jerked back by the leash/check cord, replaced, and I would pick up the bumper. His focus got to be so laser-like that even fire engine sirens coming to the aide of a plane that made an emergency landing nearby couldn’t break his concentration! (Yeah, that really happened!)
To meet the client’s want for Cooper to bring the bumper all of the way back and hold on to it included a few dance steps - literally.
As he picks up the bumper I give his 3-blast return whistle and, as he approaches, I back up a few steps. This encourages him to continue towards me, then I step forward, toward him, before he decides to drop the bumper. I made no command, nor did I make a move to take the bumper away. Instead, I just calmly stroked his flank, told him he was good, and he began to settle without dropping the bumper - just held it. To finish off, I asked him to “Give”, take the bumper, tease him a bit, then allow him to take it back.
Cooper reaches for the bumper while being commanded, “Fetch”!
The bumper is accepted and, in time, should be retained - along with his seated position. Notice that my foot is on the leash to prevent Cooper taking-off with the bumper.
Soon, Cooper was reaching for the bumper while I simultaneously, yet calmly, stated, “Fetch”. When he takes it I pet him under his chin to encourage his holding the bumper. Next thing you know, he’s sitting calmly, holding the bumper, to take in the moment. I give no command to “Hold” because he has developed a stubborn reaction to that due to incomplete “Hold” training. Eventually, the hope is that Cooper will enjoy the act of holding the object for the praise and the process of it evolving into a command can follow.
It’s a long way to where we are headed but closer than where we used to be!
So, enthusiasm and distraction while working on retrieve can be, in some ways, delt with simultaneously. That is not to say that training new skills can, or should, be combined. Only one of these (retrieve) was a skill, one was the manner in which the training was delivered and the other was dealing with the surroundings. As Cooper displays better control, we begin to develop the hunt-related aspects of training. Control must be first!
Can Cooper be calm? And can he ever be trusted to walk at heel without constant restraint?
For the answers to these and other questions - Please, Stay Tuned!
