Installation Guide

Training should also occur at random times during the day. If you have the
opportunity to be around your dog throughout the day, never miss an opportunity
to train. When you decide to go on a walk, take your dog along on your leash and
do some drill work along the way. After the mailman has filled your box with
catalogs, have your dog walk with you on leash to the mailbox. Practice some
“Here”-“Heel”-“Sit” skills along the way. At suppertime, see how long your dog
will sit in another room while you enjoy your meal. Take a few extra minutes on
your trip to the grocery store so that you and your dog can sit outside while people
walk by you. Think of the opportunities you have during your daily routine that
could include your dog. Use these times to improve obedience and expand your
dog’s horizons.
In taking your dog to these new areas for training, you are presenting it with many
new distractions. These challenges to conditioned responses are the final phase in
the training process. You began with a learning process where you demonstrated
what actions went along with certain commands. When your dog showed you that
it had learned these commands, you proceeded to a conditioning phase with lots
of repetition. Now it's time to see how well conditioned these responses truly
are. You do this by bringing in any distractions that might catch your dog’s eye.
It seems like every dog will have one or two things in their life that they can't
resist. If you can identify these and successfully have your dog perform drills in
the presence of these distractions, then you are doing your job. Some things you
can use for distractions include people, other dogs, birds, cats, children, vehicles,
newspapers, and bicycles. The list is endless.
Upon initial introduction, these distractions can become overwhelming. How do
you communicate to your dog that it must remain attentive and under control at
all times? You condition this into your dog by desensitizing it to these things. Find
any object your dog is attracted to and walk it near this object on leash. Command
“Sit” in front of the object and back away until you reach the end of the leash. If
your dog attempts to go toward the distraction, tell it “No”-“Here” and use leash
pressure when necessary. As your dog comes toward you finish the drill with
“Heel”-“Sit” and a shoulder stroke. Gradually move closer to the distraction and
repeat the drill until your
dog is almost touching
the bait. Don’t expect
your dog to accept this
in one session. Be patient
and allow it to accept
this when it is ready.
If you have done your
homework and prepared
for this with good drill
work on conditioned
responses, it will not take
very long.
The command “No” now takes on far greater power. Your dog has learned that
when you say “No” it can no longer pursue an object. Coming to you provides
security and the comfort of a shoulder stroke. This comfort zone you developed
while your dog learned “Heel” has now become far more comfortable.
You have covered a lot of obedience so far and it must never be forgotten or
overlooked. This training will go on for the duration of the dog’s life, if only in
small doses. The best hunt test and field trial dogs still get a dose of obedience
each day at most kennels. Anytime your dog demonstrates that it’s becoming loose
in responses to your commands, do a little extra obedience. In short order, you
reestablish the alpha role with a method that your dog is comfortable accepting.
All of your work to this point has been with a leash. How do you get your dog to
be just as obedient off leash? Off-leash obedience cannot begin until your dog is
100% in its performance of the drills on leash. When this occurs, drop the leash
from your hand and work on drills while your dog drags the leash. If necessary,
you can quickly pick up the leash and reestablish control. This is where many
people get in too big of a hurry. They feel like the dog knows what to do and
therefore it should be reliable whether it’s on the leash or not. Your dog’s view is
that the leash means control and without the leash, the dog is on its own. So, let
your dog drag the leash around for a week or two until it's bulletproof on its skills.
Your next step will be to take the leash off your dog and hold it in your hand. The
leash is no longer on the dog, but is in view. Spend as much time as necessary
repeating drills until your dog is once again foolproof without the leash. Who
cares if this takes an extra month of training? No one is keeping score, and you
can only proceed when your dog is ready.
The final step prior to starting to use the e-collar is to place the leash in your back
pocket. Now the leash is absent from your dog’s view, which means reliance on
19/20
DON'T OVERDO IT
Obedience can be overdone in some dogs. Those dogs
become stale in their performance and have little energy
when it comes time to play. They are trying to avoid
correction and appear to be walking on eggs.
If you see this in your dog, decrease the number and
duration of obedience drills while spending extra time
playing together. Strict obedience and a good attitude
are two things that can be difficult to keep in balance. Too
much work leads to a bad attitude, while too much playing
leads to poor obedience. Juggle your obedience sessions
and play times so that you keep your dog’s life in balance.
PRESENTING NEW TRAINING CHALLENGES