Podcast "Golden Nuggets"

[LADucks]

Heard something on a podcast this week that's really stuck with me. I've found these are a great way to pass the time and hear different perspectives and methods from around the world. I've been writing down various golden nuggets I've heard from certain folks. This quote was in reference to taking care in deciding your setup and goals for a particular day...

"You're always teaching your dog something. Your dog is always learning. Make sure it's something you want him to learn."

We have to be very mindful that the dog is interpretting the situation like we think he is, instead of perceiving the events from a completely different perspective.

 

[GulfCoast]

"You own what you condone." Mike Lardy

 

[KwickLabs]

"ALL future training develops from and depends upon the training that you start with the dog at your side.
If you don’t have your dog under control at your side, you will never have him under control at a distance."
Butch Goodwin

 

[LADucks]

I heard something else I had never heard before, but I believe it’s true.

“Dogs learn in the kennel.”

The topic was ending sessions on good notes and putting the dog up, often noticing the dog will come out and smoke the concept you worked toward the day before. The theory was that a dog has time to think and process what was done and what he learned. I’d have to go back and find that one, but I believe it was Lorne Langevin.

 

[LADucks]

"No one goes home from the trial and says... man we didn't get the 300yd retired gun, but we sure centered that puddle at 20yds." The topic was making sure you're worrying about the right things and being careful what you pressure in a large setup. Be careful how many different things you're trying to teach at once and make sure you have a common sense approach to your priorities.

 

[Missy Skeeter]

From Mike Lardy/Dennis Voigt: Training Principles and Guidelines

1. Respect and care for your dog is a primary consideration
   1. Confront your dog’s weaknesses - not your dog!
   2. Respect and understand...never get mad or frustrated at your dog.
   3. Proper care, diet, exercise and watering regimes affect response to training and stress.
   4. Proper nutrition and conditioning reduces injury and improves concentration and health.
2. Effectiveness of training is due to: methods, effort, and resources
   1. Go back to the yard to problem-solve or improve a basic standard.
   2. Use a proven sequential program as a basis for advanced work.
   3. Train for variety and balance.
3. Work to achieve balance in training
   1. Training that enhances one aspect of training often diminishes another.
   2. Remember to maintain the ABCs; Attitude, Balance, and Control.
   3. For success, seek the all-around balanced dog with sound fundamentals.
4. Emphasize communication and teamwork: training retrievers is a “team sport”
   1. Consistency in commands and cues will lead to better communication.
   2. Communicate that a decision was wrong at the instant the dog makes the decision.
   3. Use praise wisely- at the instant of doing well.
5. Establish and Maintain Standards
   1. Dogs deserve and thrive on consistent rules.
   2. It is better to reduce the level of difficulty of the task than to reduce the standard.
   3. Avoid habits that will have to be changed later.
6. Don’t teach with the e-collar
   1. ALWAYS give a command before any correction.
   2. Attrition is a safe and first consideration tool.
   3. Use the collar to enforce the command after the dog has been taught.
7. The approach to using pressure is a critical aspect of training
   1. Correct for a lack of effort not just a flawed decision.
   2. Dogs can thrive with reasonable amounts of pressure if they understand it.
   3. The dog should be capable of giving the correct response after the proper correction. -
8. Design your training for predicted outcomes
   1. Be sure to teach before you test.
   2. Seek success more than failure.
   3. Simplify after repeated failure.
9. Match the training to the nature of the dog
   1. Recognize a dog’s strength and weaknesses and train accordingly.
   2. Basics and fundamentals don’t change but implementation may.
   3. Maintain strengths while working on improving weaknesses.
10. Training is an art as well as science — it involves communication, analysis and interpretation
    1. If the dog has a problem ask if and how you caused it.
    2. Learn to read your dog and respond to what you see.
    3. Exact methods may not be as important as the overall approach.

 

[HNTFSH]

There are a lot of excellent obvious, and lesser obvious points, in that outline. And doesn't begin or end at any dog age, including puppies.

 

[KwickLabs]

This link describes an excellent process to achieve balance. Sometimes it is a challenge to decide what
to do next efficiently. Therefore, finding a structure that describes a plan is helpful. This approach does
not reveal what to do, but a way to categorize what is needed. Because every person is different (in
many ways with the dog also being unique), it is simpler to work on a Five Factor approach. This idea
was designed by pro trainer Julie Knutson.

The trainer must list the skill sets of the dog based on what they see in terms of five factors - retrieving,
"birdiness" focus, control and responsiveness. Too much of one and not enough of another will create an
out of balance retriever which will not be fun. Therefore, training must often be modified and that usually
means the trainer.

It begins by honestly evaluating what you see or don't see in terms of the five factors. In addition, one must
evaluate your teaching skills. That is rather vague, but it is best if one attempts to do so. Write ideas down
in a daily journal. It is difficult to become a different person/trainer without knowing what must change. Small,
well measured steps can be a challenge if one is not honest about where you and the dog are in terms of skills.
Probably the most likely cause of poor results is a failure to develop precise practice in a growing sequence.

Therefore, work on "seeing/measuring" the five factors and then systematically practice them sequentially. This
will not be a two minute guess. Write "stuff" down, keep a journal, forgetting is a powerful drag on progress. If
you are working a program the sequence should be obvious. What may not be so obvious are the five factors.

http://web.archive.org/web/20041221135855/http://gunclub-labs.com/tip_oct01.html

Seminar Spring of 2007

https://www.kwicklabsii.com/five-factor-balance.html

 

[KwickLabs]

Retrievers are much easier to convince that ducks are fun to retrieve. After retrieving skills are enhanced the
next phase is called transition or simply described as running blinds. The idea of running a blind immediately
brings to mind, if you can't or did not see it (like a mark) where/what is the motivation?

http://web.archive.org/web/20190408220252/http://kwicklabs.com/forcetransitionanticipation.htm

 

[LADucks]

From Mike Lardy/Dennis Voigt: Training Principles and Guidelines

1. Respect and care for your dog is a primary consideration
   1. Confront your dog’s weaknesses - not your dog!
   2. Respect and understand...never get mad or frustrated at your dog.
   3. Proper care, diet, exercise and watering regimes affect response to training and stress.
   4. Proper nutrition and conditioning reduces injury and improves concentration and health.

This has probably been my personal biggest flaw over time. I've learned frustration comes from not knowing what to do next or not being able to problem solve what you see in front of you. "I'm doing what the book says and the dang dog ain't getting it". That's a flaw on the trainer's part and the more knowledgable I become, the more calm and collected I find myself able to be.