![]() Step One: The defined categories you select become the "headings" for your training plan. Handling (Hand Signals/Whistle Commands).The plan utilized by the Wildrose Basic Retriever course includes six categories (core characteristics for a quality gentleman's gundog, which is our goal): Obviously, this list can be quite extensive. The skills are the individual commands, drills, concepts, responses and abilities the retriever will need to master in each defined subcategory. Subcategories are the component abilities of the dog to fulfill the requirements of the categories. The plan will be composed of three parts:Ĭategories are the overall desirable characteristics of the gun dog. With these outcomes clearly in mind, begin with the construction of a written plan by defining the major components involved in the training process that will best produce your desired results. We now have a realistic picture of the desirable characteristics of our hunting companion. Break down all skills into their individual components. ![]() Employ repetition to the point of habit formation.Now that you have listed your desired outcomes in writing, build your plan with the necessary elements that will enable you to: ![]() Once you have a realistic picture in mind, begin building your model composed of the necessary elements, which will give you the desired outcomes. What do you want from your gundog: competition, upland game, waterfowl, both upland game and waterfowl, companion dog, hunting companion, game tracker, flushing gundog, pointer, etc. Begin with a picture of the desirable qualities and abilities for your pup based on your expected utilization. The first step in the actual plan is for you to carefully define your expect outcome for your training process. They should reflect a teaching approach, not testing. If problems develop, simplify the exercise until success is achieved. Build the pup's confidence through successes. Once success is achieved, begin linking the skills together to form the concept or the desired outcome. Break down all concepts and skills into their simplest parts and teach them separately. How could I improve? Did my actions cause a problem? How was my patience? Did I read the dog correctly? Were my commands clear? Was I consistent? Self-reflection is equally as important as the focus on your dog.Ĥ. Document and evaluate each session from two perspectives: the dog's responses, attitude, success, problems, etc., and yourself as a handler and trainer. ![]() It's tempting to rush or avoid boring drills to "get to the good stuff." Don't! Master each step before moving to the next level.ģ. Moxon, a famous English retriever trainer and author. Then double the repetition to 20 days to insure the pup mastered the command or skill.)Ģ. (Example: If you think it should take five days to teach a skill, it will take 10. Then double that amount of time again to insure habit formation. Drill a command, skill or concept twice, as long as you think it should take to learn. If you randomly apply tips, concepts, drills, exercises or commands, confusion may occur or you may leave holes in your dog's development, which will become evident in later performance. Successful training is progressive learning achieved through consistent repetition of inter-related skills to the point of habit formation. What are you going to achieve? Are today's lessons building on previous exposures/successes? Do we see a natural progression even if we are working on problem areas? This is no place for random jumping about to a variety of drills you read about in your newest training magazine. Training plans must be flexible to account for these variables.Įach training session should be a planned, thought-out event. Dogs, like people, have different aptitudes, maturity, temperaments and attitudes. Also remember, what works for one gundog may not work for another. You may find yourself re-engineering and altering the sequence of things, adding steps, deleting unproductive drills, etc., over time, which is expected and proper procedure. The plan itself must be detailed, flexible and under constant evaluation. This is, of course, the way dogs learn behaviors. A progressive training plan actually promotes the dog's learning chain: sequenced thinking and learning built upon the successes of the former lesson or skill. It encourages the handler to proceed more slowly and not skip mastering important small steps, which may prove problematic later in training. It requires one to think in terms of causal relationships rather than individual drills or exercises. A training plan causes us to remain focused on skill development, to reflect and to document. We have all heard it said, "We don't plan to fail we fail to plan." This is one of those absolute truths that's true of retriever training, as well as life in general.
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