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At last, the clocks have
gone forwards and the lighter evenings are here.
For me this means more time for training the dogs
after work, instead of snatched moments during the
working day. I have never before had a pup born as
late in the year as Tess, and it has fitted quite
nicely into my schedule as she is now six months old
and ready to start some more ‘formal’ training right
at the beginning of the training year. However,
despite all the signs of spring with some lovely
warm days last week, Tess was very surprised to
find her garden transformed this morning, into a
snow filled playground (see right).
Today I am going to
summarise what Tess has learnt so far, before
moving on to describe the training sessions we are
now beginning.
What we have achieved
so far
This is what Tess had
learnt by the end of March through our yard training
sessions at home, and brief outings exploring the
countryside.
Stay close outdoors
At any time when Tess is
off the lead, as soon as she gets more than 10 yards
away from me, I turn and run away from her. She has
learnt that I am unpredictable, and that she needs
to stay close to me a keep a watchful eye on me.
She has never been for a ‘walk’ in the traditional
sense of the word, has never seen me walking in a
straight line for more than a few moments. To her,
exercise revolves around me, and keeping up with
me, which is how I want it to be.
Chase and pick up
I have established that
Tess loves to chase and fetch a dummy in the field.
She varied in her willingness to bring it back,
from quite and early age, so once I was confident
she was keen to retrieve, I stopped all retrieving
sessions outdoors and began to train a clicker hold
and delivery (see below)
Sit indoors
Tess has been clicker
trained to briefly sit, and also to lie down. I
don’t normally teach ‘down’ to my retrievers unless
and until they are introduced to deer stalking, but
Tess lives in the house and down is a useful command
indoors.
Tess has never yet been
asked to sit for more than a few seconds, but has
learnt not to move until I say ‘get on’ This
release command has now replaced the ‘click’ though
I still often give her a ‘treat’ after releasing
her.
Recalls are fun
Outdoors, I play the recall game, blowing the
recall whistle each time Tess runs towards me and
often rewarding her with a treat when she arrives.
Just recently, I have asked her to ‘sit’ for this
treat. Indoors, I have begun to make the recall
more challenging, calling her when she is in
another room etc, calling her in from the garden
and so on. She has never yet refused a recall,
and often still gets a tasty treat when she
arrives.
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