Hi, I posted for the first time last week. Welly, my adorable black lab just 7 months and I have a some good basic obedience (still working on proofing in all situations/ distance) but he will sit, down, wait, recall, retrieve - mms not so good, well delivery not good. But I'm unsure how to create a 'training plan'. Welly and I go to 'obedience' classes once a week - we've just passed our KC Bronze certificate and start studying for Silver today. I have a gun dog trainer I go to see once in a while and he gives me some exercises to work on but I don't think I'm being very structured and this is where I could do with some help! Any thoughts or good sources of reference anyone can suggest to help me understand what a good training plan would look like Thanks in advance
Re: Help with getting started? Hello there Almost all the "gundog" training, apart from hunting and retrieving is obedience work in very exciting environments. I was rather disappointed when I took my 5 month old Lab to a gundog trainer that we did a couple of fetches but the rest was about walking to heel, being steady, recall, stop, impulse control and so on. The most important thing it seems to me is to get your foundations in place while the dog is young. Pippa's gundog trust training manuals are very good, and do provide a complete early programme - including retrieving - but your obiedience classes will also be very relevant. http://www.thegundogclub.co.uk/?page_id=315
Re: Help with getting started? Specifically on creating a training plan, I think of behaviours I am training, and behaviours I'm proofing. Since proofing is the hard bit (usually) I spend much more time planning that. A few months ago, I started using a matrix, which I still use and find useful: [quote author=JulieT link=topic=7616.msg106320#msg106320 date=1409600332] So, for September, I have a 15 x 15 matrix! Across the top are levels of distraction – from the ones Charlie finds easiest, to the hardest. I’m sure there are levels harder than this, but that’s the limit of what I’m thinking about for now - normally, I guess, harder levels would involve wildlife, but we've never had much problem with that to the extent it barely counts as a distraction for us. A lesson in the benefit of being consistent with required behaviour from 8 weeks! 1 In house 2 In garden 3 In street/pub/café (as appropriate) 4 On the Common 5 In familiar smelly field 6 In strange smelly field 7 Around lots of people 8 With other dogs 9 Near water 10 With other dogs playing 11 With other dogs and balls 12 With other dogs and tennis ball launchers 13 Other dogs retrieving dummies 14 With other dogs, balls and water 15 With other dogs, dummies and water And the 15 behaviours I’m working on this month (and the level of distraction where the behaviour is “complete”) is down the other side. The behaviour "complete" means just that - it's finished. So I have a good recall at level 10, for example, but it's not to a stage where I don't need to do more work: 1 Walking nicely - on lead (7/8) 2 Walking to heel - off lead (2/4) 3 Passive observer of exciting things (3/4) 4 Settle (2/3) 5 Recall (9) 6 Change direction whistle (9) 7 Stop whistle (10) 8 Sit on left (1) 9 Sit and wait (5) 10 Bring back dummy (too complicated to describe in a number!) 11 Target stick (1) 12 Placeboard (1) 13 Tug (2) 14 Whipit (2) 15 Left, right, back cones (0) I have the best progress on recall, change direction, stop – this be because they are so very important to me. But further progress in these areas (into distraction levels of 11 and above) first depends on me tackling Charlie’s nuttiness around balls and things. It also depends on me making progress on things like Whipit that will help Charlie increase his threshold to concentrate when excited. So I’m not trying now to increase any distraction level where I already have a 9 or 10 – instead I’m first working on desensitising Charlie to the next distraction level without asking him to do anything. For the rest of the tasks, I’m trying to move up the distraction level – for as many as possible, and as far as possible. Some tasks, like target cones, I haven’t even really started. Bring back the dummy is a subject in itself, and we found out some interesting things at training yesterday. Like if Charlie can reduce the level of his arousal, he brings back the dummy. I learned all sorts of things, like a barrier he jumps over, makes him think what route he is going to use to get back. This slows him down, makes him think, and he brings back the dummy. But a huge push is just going to be calming him down around dummies. [/quote]
Re: Help with getting started? Thanks so much Julie, I like the matrix and did think I might do something similar but I wasn't sure what to put on it your list helps enormously but I will also check out Pippa's training manuals/the gundog site for a bit more info. Many thanks again Lisa
