Inga’s 9 Tips to Successful Positive Gundog Training: Positive Gun Dog Training Seminar in MN Part 2

    Inga From, the trainer, leader, instructor for the Positive Gun Dog Training Seminar I went to in MN is a font of valuable information. Much of what she shared with us pertains to all dog training and not just hunting or field dogs. Here are 9 of her main tips for us to have a successful experience, not just at the seminar that weekend, but in our training work in general.

The group from the Positive Gun Dog Training Seminar (courtesy of Positive Gun Dogs of Minnesota fb page) Inga is farthest left in the front row

1 - Set reasonable expectations for your dog’s current level:

We were asked to set expectations and to keep them reasonable, since this was a beginner seminar, our expectations should be kindergarten level… a common mistake with beginning trainers is to set “college” level expectations for a kindergarten dog. For Pippie I was most interested in training her to recognize that the whistle had meaning and hopefully actually learn to respond to at least one whistle command. I also really just wanted her to gain some impulse control by attending to me in this very distracting environment & she was able to soar beyond those expectations & pick up a few other things along the way.

2 - Know when your dog is “done” and stop at or before that point:

Early on in the first day’s workshop Inga told us to keep a close eye on our dogs, looking for signals from them that indicated that they were “done.” It is not uncommon for people working with their dogs in a long session like this seminar to ask too much from their dogs. Especially when it comes to things like training for scent work, it is very easy for a dog to work beyond their threshold if rigorously attending to scenting for more than 5 minutes… We all found rather quickly that frequent breaks, were vastly more effective than attempting to “push” our dogs.

   

Pippie is “done” here, she fell asleep in the middle of class surrounded by other dogs

3 - Don’t put your dog into a situation where you know they’re gonna fail:

    It can often be difficult to know where to begin training, or when it is appropriate to train versus when we need to employ behavior management. If we know our limits and our dog’s limits, we can prevent behaviors we don’t want while we are working on training. You probably, already know many of the things your dog is not ready to do, it is up to you to only ask of her behaviors you are fairly confident that she can already do, and guide her toward new behaviors in a slow enough pace that she can continue to succeed all along the way. Sometimes, despite our best intentions we ask for more than they are ready to give and failures do happen, the most effective way to handle failures is to go back to the last place you had success and move forward very slowly from there.

4 - Keep good training records and refer to them often:

We also got into the importance of keeping good records of training and the circumstances surrounding each training session, such as weather and distractions. A lot of people overlook the importance of humidity and wind speed in dog training, but especially for hunting dogs since this controls the way scents are experienced, it can be the difference between a successful or not so successful day of training. There are also, all kinds of distractions, my favorite example from class, was a random fish carcass discovered in the field… I don’t know any dogs that wouldn’t be distracted by that! Another very important consideration we learned, is to wait to determine the success of a training session until the following day, dogs often need to “sleep on it” and today’s rewards will yield tomorrow's behaviors. How you handle failures can have a huge impact on how positively you & your dog look at training in general, if you always end on a successful note you will both be more eager to come back to training the next day, or session. Good record keeping will aso help to keep you from falling into the common trap of repeating the same training over and over, the success feels good, but success at making strides in the right direction feels even better.

5 - If they do not have solid obedience it is too early to head into the field:

    This tip follows directly from #3, solid obedience is what allows us to trust that our dogs can be safe in the field. If your dog comes when called 90% of the time, responds to a down command remotely, has strong steadiness and can attend to you in very very distracting environments you might be ready. Only you really know, by the relationship you have with your dog, what limits are needed, but err on the side of caution. Before being fully ready for open field work, you can of course use fenced in areas and long line or check cords to ensure that your pup can’t run off. Training for this field work is valuable because it is fun and gives your dog a good foundation for when you do eventually graduate to the field.But it is ultimately more important to focus on getting those obedience behaviours solidly reliable so that you can both focus more completely on field work. It is certainly worth the wait to take your dog out on an actual hunt until you are certain that you and her are fully ready for that challenge, a bad experience hunting could take a long time to recover from, for you both.

6 - Keep your hands off the dog:

This doesn't just mean, don’t hit, push, pinch, etc your dog. It really means, keep your hands off the leash, and the dog. If you control by pulling, modeling, scooting, etc, it gives you a crutch that you will continue to revert to. If you are  forced to use other means you will get more creative, have to get your dog’s attention, begin to think more like a dog and will have to train with voice, whistle, or hand signal commands. This is another way to help ensure that you have voice/signal/whistle controls down and reliable. If your dog knows that you will revert to physically moving them, they may just wait for you to do that, rather than engaging their brain to attend to what you are asking of them.

7- Train with your brain, not with pain:

    Do not be afraid to get creative & have fun. Your best training asset is between your ears. Inga made a point of reminding us that we are supposedly the “higher functioning” creature when it comes to mental functioning. If this is indeed the case we should not feel the need to resort to physical punishment to convince a dog to do what we want or not do what we don’t want. If we cannot think ahead enough to prevent the “bad things” from happening or cannot come up with a compelling reason (in the dog’s eyes) for them to do the “good things” the trouble isn’t with them. It is up to us as the thinkers in this relationship to work smarter, not harder.

8 - Repeating yourself is NOT training:

Repeating the dog’s name (or a command) over and over will not help your dog learn the command, but only teach them to ignore it/you. In fact repetition of this kind is exactly the opposite of training and can go a long way to undermining what training you have done. This is so important, that you may soon realize that you need a new set of commands in order to give them the kind of power they need to have. Dogs do not have an innate understanding of the english language. They do not even begin to understand the meaning of the words we use for their commands, they just learn that they have an association with a given behavior, which has a positive association (if we’ve done our rewarding & fading appropriately).

9 - Know when you are “done” and stop at or before that point:

If you get upset, it is time to take a break. This is uncomplicated, but vitally important. Take a walk, get a cup of coffee, walk away… whatever you do, do NOT take it out on your pup. Know when to call it quits, when either one of you hits the end of your rope.

These tips will give anyone starting out on the hunting journey with a dog companion a great start. They are things I am always trying to remind myself of at every turn.

Pips resting at the hotel after a long day of hard work