Upland Retriever - Page Two
Page Two: Cooper Capers
(Continued from March, 2023)
We are continuing our journal on Cooper; the dog that made the cut as my first professional attempt at training an upland retriever (flushing) breed of dog. I have come to realize that these are not as much training “stages” as they are experiences and that is why I describe them as “pages”, not stages.
When last we chatted, I believe I mentioned that Cooper’s owners had detailed and demonstrated some of the issues and antics associated with Coop. One important issue was his compliance to a return command; reliable retrieve training was another concern. Ah, but the antics!
Cooper is affectionate and playful but what is worse, he’s cute and knows it. That may have bailed him out more than a few times when training - or discipline - was being applied. Like standing on an ice chest to peer inside the backdoor, Cooper figures ways to please himself. For example, when he finally got around to returning to your call, Cooper came in hot!
Wide-eyed and hell-bent for leather, he would dive through your legs, then bounce and wriggle with ramped-up emotion! That seemed to precipitate behavior which included jumping up to meet those hands made for petting him and finish with a round of “Zoomies”. (Zoomies - a family term - is when a young dog races and dodges around to entice you to give chase. With other dogs, this behavior is often experienced during retrieving practice).
Cooper keeps tabs on my whereabouts by standing on a cooler just outside the backdoor. Preferable to jumping against the door with muddy paws!
Let’s be clear, at ten (nine) months old, Cooper is still very young and, as such, should be trained in a manner that develops happy compliance with consistent yet, steadily advancing insistence. By allowing an (untethered) dog to make the decision whether or when it wishes to return to you can create a tendency for a dog to test every command’s current level of required obedience. Some never get over that.
There are countless techniques used to create a reliably returning dog, some folks use bits of food while others lavish loads of praise - some use both! But, there are some dogs that come to us pre-amped; meaning, that their behavior jumps from zero to 100 MPH with very little happy stimulus from us. Like a kid on caffeine, an over-stimulated young dog is lost to training and must be settled down, without harsh reprimand, before it can focus on a task.
With each extravagantly cheerful reunion, Cooper learned that he could expect loads of fantastic praise whenever he got around to coming to the call/whistle - there was nothing to lose! Being adorable, (or feigning pain), is a sensitive dog’s way of avoiding pressure - I have witnessed this during countless other training efforts. To get us past this I first had to matter to Cooper. In other words, I must earn Cooper’s trust and, therefore, be allowed to lead.
By earning trust and calming down the enthusiasm just a bit, we are able to make steady progress with fewer mistakes. Look at that face!
Once established, I have been able to counter the undesirable behavior by eliminating any praise until Cooper has returned to heel and sitting quietly. Then, instead of ramping him up with a cheerful rub all over and loads of chatter, Cooper now hears, “Good (boy)” and receives a nice rub between the ears. If he jumps up to meet the hand, he gets nothing but a stern “Off!” and “Sit”! No nice pat on the head but no aggression, either. By doing this, I’m revising our relationship from my pleading for his company to his wanting to return and behave.
Oh, and that diving through your legs thing? That was easy! I closed my feet together when he came barreling in. Thank God for strong knees! All to reduce the hyped-up behavior so Cooper could focus on hearing the “Heel” and “Sit” commands that came with his return. Basically, to get his reward of kind words and a pat, he is learning to focus. Thankfully, like most gun dog breeds, Cooper loves to make you happy and seeks positive interactions with people. For them, that’s reinforcement enough.
We will continue with whistle/sit and fun retrieve - Stay Tuned!
