Your New Puppy Part 3

Your New Puppy Part 3

By Ryan Eder

In the third article of this series we will continue to focus on basic obedience but also build upon our bird and gun introduction that we discussed in part 2. At this point we have a dog crate trained, well socialized, well started on basic obedience (here, heel, sit or whoa and kennel) and introduced to birds and basic gunfire simulation (primer pistols). Keep in mind this is a four or five month old dog, so by no means are we ready to hunt but our foundation is strong. Our dogs are ready to take obedience to a higher level, showing more deliberate and crisper compliance with our commands.

One lesson we all learn the hard way is to never underestimate the importance of very solid basic obedience. To this point, we have begun initial exposure to commands, and through repetition most dogs by now start to demonstrate a surface level understanding. Our goal now is to raise our standards and truly start to develop our dog’s obedience. The tools I like to use for this include a lead, choke chain, heeling stick and a rubber mat. These tools are very basic; for a rubber mat any door mat at the store works great or even mud flaps from a semi-truck. I like to work on obedience both in the house, as well as out in the yard. To start, we want to put the choke chain on our dog, and attach the lead. The first day or two simply walk around the yard or house with the dog and make sure to make the experience fun. They may not walk next to you correctly or fully understand what to do and that is fine. At this point we are just looking to increase their comfort being on lead and having a choke chain on. A choke chain has a negative image with some folks. The reason it works well is because as a handler you are able to make quick, timely corrections. If a chain is not something you are willing to use, look into a “Wonderlead” offered by Delmar Smith (one of the best known dog trainers). This product is similar in nature, but a wax-coated rope.

Heel and Sit
I like to work on the HEEL command first. The reason is simple; we are asking our dog to walk at our side (heel) while on lead. If the dog charges ahead or pulls, a quick snap of the choke chain or wonder lead and the HEEL command will quickly make sense to them. The dog soon realizes that the pressure releases when they are not ahead or behind you. In fact, being ahead or behind you always results in this pressure from the lead and choke chain. The dog is learning how to turn that pressure “off” by walking at your side. Because dogs are associative learners, they are not only learning that your side is the best place to be, but they are hearing the HEEL command being repeated and praised when done correctly. Naturally, the command begins to resonate with the dog.

As our dog begins to heel better on lead, we want to incorporate the SIT command anytime we stop walking. This simply means that as we are walking and working on the HEEL command, we occasionally stop, give a quick upward snap of the collar and say SIT. At first, your dog will likely not sit quickly. In most cases, the upward snap motion of the collar results in the dog wanting to sit. Your goal is to get a sit, regardless of how the dog is positioned. This is a process, and will get better in time. You will notice that every time you stop, your dog may start to sit on their own because they’re learning quickly and anticipating the command.

It is important now to clarify that when I say “snap” of the chain, I do not mean a strong pull or snap. I am saying the word “snap” because to properly use the choke chain we want a quick correction, so a quick snap is what I am referring to. In terms of how strong to do it largely depends on the dog, but it almost always does not need to be a strong or aggressive move.

Every dog will learn at their own pace, so be patient with those taking longer than you’d prefer. For dogs that are demonstrating a clear understanding of the HEEL and SIT command, you can challenge them by doing this in the house, in the yard and walking figure 8 patterns. The heel command gets more difficult for a dog when you are turning left and right; this is a great opportunity to work on it on lead. Focus on keeping the dog in the heel position, do not let them flare away from you and get far left of you.

For those of you training a pointer, you may prefer to wait on the sit command before your dog has been on birds and has developed a solid point. The simple solution is to replace the SIT command with WHOA. The “whoa” command simply means to stop, freeze and do not move. Of course later in your dog’s training you will use the “whoa” command to steady them on point. The “whoa” command needs to be introduced during basic obedience, so this is the perfect opportunity to do so on lead. The rest of the process would be the same for now.

Remote Sit
While it is a matter of opinion, I like to train my flushing dogs that “sit means sit”. In other words, once my dog is instructed to sit, they are not to move until I either call them to me, or send them away from me. For the sake of keeping my vocabulary simple, I do not use the word “stay” very often. This is why I like to use the remote sit as part of the on-lead obedience program. For you pointer trainers using “whoa” rather than sit right now, you can still use this concept in your regiment. I begin teaching the “sit means sit” concept by giving the dog the sit command, but this time I am going to walk out in front of the dog facing them. Keep your lead and collar taunt, as it is almost certain your dog will try to walk to you because this is new to them. They have been sticking to your side, so when you move, they will naturally try to move with you.

By keeping the lead and collar taunt, we are able to correct the dog’s movement quickly, making it known that “no, you need to sit”. When the dog moves, do another upward snap and say “NO. SIT”. This will take some time, but the dog will clearly see that they are not to move and need to remain sitting. This is called “remote sit” (remote meaning the dog is by themselves). For the pointing dogs using “whoa”, the same concepts apply. You are working towards the ability to walk around your dog while they are in the “whoa” position. You would correct any unwanted movement with a collar snap “NO. WHOA.”

This exercise is to increase the dog’s ability to understand steadiness. It is also the precursor to teaching the HERE command, as well as whistle recall. As your dog improves at this, and will sit or whoa while you are able to walk away, and around the dog, you can start to work on calling the dog to you, and reinforcing the HERE command with a collar snap. Keep in mind that until now, your dog knows how to heel while walking, but from a sit or whoa position, the dog has not had the opportunity to come to you in a frontal motion and heel. This will be new to the dog, so expect this to be choppy for a few days. The sequence would be (while the dog is either in the sit or whoa position) to say “HERE”, snap the collar and repeat “here”. The dog will come towards you, likely to the same side they are used to heeling on. As they do, take a few steps forward towards the dog so that they learn to get to you, turn with you and continue heeling. When the dog turns with you and heels, continue walking as you have been doing previously and repeat your “heel” command. Remember to incorporate praise when the dog does well!

Check Chord
Once our dogs are heeling on lead, sitting or “whoaing” and doing well with the remote sit it is time to incorporate a check chord so that we can increase the distance between ourselves and the dog. An expression to always remember when dog training: “distance erodes control”. I am not sure who said it, but anytime we add more distance a dog tends to mind commands less. Ever wonder why a dog doesn’t come when called when out in the yard or park? This is why. The check chord is a lead that is in excess of 30 feet long. We can do all the same drill work but when our dog is in the sit or whoa position, we can be much further away and work on our HERE command. The idea being that the dog learns the recall command at a greater distance.

Whistle Recall
The idea of using the whistle to call our dogs can be introduced during the on-lead obedience work. I like to wait until the dog clearly understands the “here” command, but then will insert my whistle cadence after the command (example: “Here” followed by toot toot toot – multiple whistle blasts is typically used as a “here” or recall whistle). Make sure to work on this during the on-lead drills, as well as check chord drills. Again, do not use whistles until your dog truly knows the “here” command, or you can confuse them.

Whistle Sit
For anyone wanting to sit their dog on a whistle, this is the time to introduce the whistle sit as well. Once your dog is demonstrating clear understanding of the SIT command, you can start to integrate a single whistle blast into your routine after the SIT command is given (example: tell your dog to SIT, apply proper lead and collar snap and blow a single whistle blast). Over time and attrition the single whistle blast will become synonymous with the sit command, and the multiple whistles will signify the here command.

We are almost ready for some introductory field work! Next article we will cover how to introduce the electronic collar amongst our obedience routine, as well as some field work to introduce quartering, finding birds and of course gunfire. We will also explore some drills to better develop our dogs ability to mark birds for retrieves.

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