Well last week Don and I headed down to Maryland to see Drake and how he was doing with his training at Ponderosa Kennels.
Drake holding the dumb-bell in his force fetch exercise. Holding until given the command “out”
I contacted Pat the day before we were to head down and he gave me directions to yet another location they would be training. Now I am not complaining, I am amazed. This is such an important element of dog training. Exposure to different locations and Pat certainly has that! I have been down there 4 times and have never been to the same place twice. So we pulled into the driveway of a nice little pond and wooded area and Drake was already outside the truck sitting beside Annie. It was nice to see him notice our vehicle and he was definitely happy to see us when we got out and walked up! He looked great and was sitting very patiently and well behaved may I add while we greeted him. Not the usual body slamming we were so accustomed too. That was a relief.
Picture of the pond.
We accompanied Annie to an area up from the pond so she could show us what Drake has been learning and how he is doing on his force fetch. Annie also gave me instruction on how to use the dogtra collar on Drake and how to work him on what they have been teaching him. This will help me know what I am doing when he comes home. Annie was a very good instructor and I felt very comfortable in what I needed to do.
Drake has been continuing with his obedience and has been being taught to force fetch. Some of you who have retrievers or hunting dogs have heard and possibly done this training before. Force fetch is training a dog to fetch or pick up on command, a dummy, bird, or any other object. The purpose of force fetch training is to accomplish the following goals:
- Cure the fault of either not delivering to hand and/or dropping birds
- Cure the fault of having a hard mouth
- As the behavioral basis for forcing a dog on lines
It all boils down to a simple concept. The idea is to train, through the use of some form of compulsion, a dog to pick up an object in his mouth, carry it firmly but gently and deliver it to the handler’s hand. Many people fail to understand why a dog that already retrieves naturally should be trained to retrieve. The truth is that the forced retrieve is more about control than it is about retrieving. Most dogs that complete a force retrieve program are more flexible and obedient than dogs that still control how and when birds are retrieved. A dog that is properly force trained will retrieve items that you want him to retrieve, in the order you want them retrieved and will carry and deliver them in the manner that you expect. The retrieve is completed on your terms, not the dog's. Otherwise the dog is free to drop the bird, sniff around, take the long way back, go for another swim... or dictate anything else he may wish during a retrieve. That was Drake’s problem. He would retrieve excellent 8 times out of 10. But the other 1 or 2...were on his terms. And that 1 or 2 that he doesn’t had proven last year to either be a danger to him or just a pain for us. So he needs to be more consistent. The force fetch is helping with this.
We then got the pleasure to meet a few other people who had their dogs training with Pat and it is always such a delight to see dogs so effortlessly doing what they were born to do. One such dog was Lucy. Her new Owner had purchased Lucy in her own words, “cheap”. Lucy was not working the way she should do to another trainer over correcting her. She was very collar shy and lacked any confidence. So her new Owner took her to Pat and told us that after 4 sessions with him Lucy went to an Amateur Field competition and placed first. We got to see her first hand work on some placed birds and dummies and she was remarkable.
Drake then had his opportunity to retrieve a live bird. The first go around wasn’t bad...better than the last time but not perfect. Pat then changed the direction and handled him on the last attempt and he did very well.
Again, we were quite impressed with Drake’s progress and all the training Pat’s operation was doing. Being Don’s first time down he felt very good about Drake’s advancement. He especially liked how every thing Pat did he explained as to what they were doing, why he did it like that, and how it helped or taught the dog.
It was another great trip and learning experience for us as well as Drake. We were glad Drake was as happy to see us as we were to see him! He still has his wonderful personality and although I miss him I am so glad he is doing well. I look forward to more progress the next time down. Time is sure going faster than I thought. Before we know it...Drake will be putting his new skills to the test for goose season!
Until next time!
Teresa
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