Stage 8. This is the last of this lesson. At the end of the lesson I give the stop verbal cue, and he stops on his own. The last stage is a recap I do with myself , and/or my students. The recap is the most important part for me. I want to break down what just happened in that lesson. What was the dog telling me. I’m bonding with this dog. He’s learning which is important, but more importantly I’m learning the dog. He told me hundreds of things in those 8 minutes, about himself, and our relationship. #behavioralbirddogs #molliconekennels
Stage 7. We are now 7 minutes into this lesson. This is the transition to the ground. Nothing changes. My verbal , and leash markers do not change. The reason I’m stressing the time frame is to show this is one training session. This dog will never step foot on the box ever again in his training. Why??? He’s now on the ground. There is no reason to go back to the board. These tools we use are to get the behavior we want. All techniques can be overdone. The verbals will also stop soon as well.#behavioralbirddogs #molliconekennels
Stage 6. We are now 6 minutes into this lesson. I need to correct my use of the word “pull”. Resistance is just a constant pull. Not a hard yank.When I actually “pull” the dog of the board, it’s an actual yank with the rope. My intention here is to make the dog come off the board for a correction. “FORCE A MISTAKE “ YES….. I said force a mistake. With the earlier pull I was just looking for resistance. So we have “pull” for resistance”Then an actual “pull” to force a mistake. (Stepping off the board)#behavioralbirddogs #molliconekennels
Stage 5. We are now 5 minutes into this lesson. Both sides of the behavior have been marked with a leash, and verbal cue. Siting, carrying on sometime is just the animal protesting. Work through these little battles calm , relaxed, and with composure. Make sure your hands are relaxed. You don’t want a tight grip on the rope. To clarify the “pull” it’s very light. I’m just looking for the dog to give me resistance. So it’s not a hard yank. #molliconekennels
Stage 4. Communicating the correct behavior is to stay , even if I walk away. #behavioralbirddog #mearnsquail #huntaz #projectupland #germanshorthairedpointer #viszla #englishpointer #onXhunt #quailhunting #uplandhunting #birddog #hunting #outdoors #waterfowl #uplandhuntingdog #coveyrise #pointingdog #huntingdog #gundoghunting #gundog #quailforever #pheasantsforever #pheasanthunting #workingdogs #yeti #birddogoftheday #wildbirdswildbirddogs s #molliconekennels
Stage 3. 3rd minute. Forcing a mistake “self release” to mark it as unacceptable behavior.#behavioralbirddogs #molliconekennels
Stop/Stand until released:Stage 2/minute 2. Rather than putting pressure on the dog to stand, here I work backwards by giving the dog its reward first. Which is moving forward . “Why?” So the dog clearly understands why I want the behavior of standing still.These videos are 9 minutes consecutive. They are unedited.
Stop/Stand until the release cue.When we communicate with dogs in their language they comprehend and learn quickly. This is the first video out of 9, for a total of 9 minutes. From complete scratch. I will communicate to the dog that I want it to stop/stand until released. This is basic obedience that leads to our dogs stopping until released on birds.
Summer camp 2024 Give your dog the Southern Arizona quail country experience.First 6 week program May 27th - July 1st2nd 6 week program July 8th - August 19thWhat to expect in a 6 week program:All dogs will learn:-Shot gun conditioning -Recall and Whoa-Handling off leash with e-collar training-Pointing and holding point-Retrieving live shot birds-Honoring/Backing other dogs point and bird work.-Rattlesnake avoidance Training will take place in Southern Arizona (Mearns, Scaled, and Gambel quail country).Dogs will get the opportunity to train on Bobwhite quail and Chukar as well. DM for pricing and deposits.
Hopefully this clears up any questions as to why I force dogs to make mistakes. Here Luna makes her own decision to hold her birds, wait for the gun, and let me descend down a steep slope. You can clearly see her make decisions to move and stop herself without me making them for her.
I never want to restrain a dog from moving forward. It’s natural for us as handlers to try and restrain the dog from moving forward because we don’t want that behavior. We need to let the bird restrain the dog’s forward movements.
“Best lesson this dog could ever learn” letting the dog make mistakes. Encouraging the dog to make mistakes until it’s there idea to pick the correct behavior. Training situations can be challenging. We always want the classic perfect situation. The bird landed in a tree who cares???Perfect situation to teach the dog. Robert Poor Arizona German Shorthaired Pointers