Decoy Blinds

For a brief description of a valuable handling drill, see this post on what I call "decoy blinds".

Strengthening Memory for Triples

Laddie has had significant experience with triples in his three years. He has his GRCA WCX, which requires a land triple, and also sometimes runs triples in HT and FT training groups.

However, recently, I noticed that his marking on the final memory-bird of a triple has become consistently weaker than his normal marking, which is typically very good. In these recent triples, sometimes he would get so far off line trying to retrieve the third mark that he'd need help from the thrower, or handling from me. Even when that wasn't the case, he would repeatedly need long hunts. That was a far cry from the dead-on marking I've often seen from Laddie, and inconsistent with the many comments experienced trainers have given me over the years about Laddie's excellent marking.

I thought that what might be happening was that Laddie had developed a low expectation of more than two marks in a series, so I decided to take a day or so to work on very simple, poorman triples, quads, and quintuple series. [By "poorman" marks, I mean leaving Laddie at the start line while I go out to throw, then returning to the line to run Laddie on the marks.] Then I would gradually raise criteria.

That plan had excellent results, so here are links to our training journal describing the process:

• Background and foundation work
• Transition
• Interrupted triples
• Interrupted out-of-order indent triples
• Group training

By the end of the process, any problem Laddie may have had with his memory for more than two marks seemed to have been taken care of.

Bumpers

When I first started some informal field work with Lumi, I got her some 2" white bumpers, and added my own throw ropes cut from nylon cord purchased at the hardware store. We still have some of them, which I use with Lumi and Laddie when we go out hiking or to a pond for fun retrieves. I call them our "puppy bumpers".

Later, when we started to focus on field training, I got a bunch of 3" white and 3" orange bumpers. I bought an inexpensive brand that was harder than the 2" puppy bumpers. I vaguely noticed that Lumi and Laddie always preferred the puppy bumpers, but I never thought much about it.

This makes me wonder exactly how stupid I must be. Why in the world would I have my dogs retrieving hard bumpers, day in and day out, trying my best to build high reinforcement value for retrieving, trying my best to maximize their daily and long-term motivation for retrieving, when somewhere inside I knew that they preferred soft bumpers?

After three years of training them with hard bumpers, it finally dawned on me one day that I should replace them with soft bumpers. I've discarded the hard bumpers, along with a variety of colors of canvas bumpers I had also picked up along the way. We now train exclusively with soft bumpers, the kind with valves at the top.

I don't really understand what the valves are for, so I pay no attention to them. The valves have a removable part that has fallen out of some of our bumpers. I don't see it as making any difference, though a more experienced trainer might.

I purchased throwing ropes for all our bumpers, even though the brand I purchased came with ropes. Despite being knotted, those thin ropes easily came out thru the eyelets in the bumpers, while the ones I purchased don't have that problem.

I also attached streamers to the bumpers I use for marks, but not to the bumpers I use for blinds. I believe that streamers improve a dog's marking on marks that are thrown with them, and also on the dog's long-term marking ability. I have no science to back me up, but anecdotally, both of my dogs are excellent markers. By the way, you have to crimp the hook that you use for attaching the streamer to the bumper with pliers, or the streamers fall off.

Even though I don't put streamers on the bumpers I use for blinds, I do put throw ropes on them. It makes them easier to carry, and it makes them easier to throw as happy bumpers.

As for size and color, I purchased a dozen 3" white bumpers for marks, and a dozen 2" orange bumpers for blinds. I also purchased half a dozen 3" black bumpers for marks, because I was told that in some regions, field trainers prefer black bumpers for marks over white ones. However, except for occasional experiments, I never use the black ones, and I've noticed that at the training groups in our region, nearly everyone uses white bumpers for marks when we're not using birds. I suspect it has to do with what kind of backdrops are most probable in a particular region.

If I ever get another puppy, I'll also get some more 2" white bumpers, like our old puppy bumpers, only I'll add streamers and use them for early puppy marks.

Soft bumpers are available in other color options besides white, orange, and black, but I don't consider them a good choice. For example, bumpers that are half black and half white are only half as visible in flight no matter what the backdrop. And colors other than orange are difficult to see in a dog's mouth when she's out on a long blind. I remember a friend whistling a dog in on a blind, since the dog had reached the right area and it looked from the distance as though the dog had found the dark-colored bumper and picked it up, but when the dog got close, my friend could see that the dog wasn't carrying a bumper after all.

My dogs and I are very happy with our new bumpers. I'm just sorry that it took me so long to switch to the softer ones.

[Note: The terms "bumper" and "dummy" are synonymous. Historically, it seems the old name was "bumper" and the newer name is "dummy". Although some of the product companies use the term "dummy", I've noticed that virtually all trainers use the term "bumper".]

Practicing with Singles versus Multiples

[From a post in our training journal blog, "Field Training Test Series"]

In today's practice, I ran Laddie on John's set-up as three singles, as did Patty with some of her young dogs. For her more advanced dogs, Patty ran the set-up as a double and a single, or as a delayed triple.

I might mention that running a dog on singles in a multiple-gun set-up is not a strategy limited to young dogs. I know of several trainers who believe that once a dog "understands" what a multiple is, the dog should be run primarily on singles.

However, Patty does not follow that practice, and I'm under the impression that Alice does not, either.

I think the primary advantage of running singles is that it strengthens the dog's marking, which will be the primary consideration in scoring.

On the other hand, even if the dog has a good memory, there's more of a challenge to running multiples than simple memory. For example, when multiple marks are down, they can act as diversions for one another, which can be especially challenging if the go-bird is longer than one of more of the memory-birds, or if a flyer is used as a memory-bird while the g0-bird is a dead bird. As another example, the dog may see one picture when a multiple is thrown, but then if one or more guns retire, the dog sees an entirely different picture when she's lining up to run the memory-birds after she's returned with the go-bird.

I suppose that here, as in other areas of dog training, maintaining a balance is best. I guess my goal with Laddie will be plenty of singles, balanced by plenty of multiples.

The De-flaring Drill

[This is an advanced drill, intended for a dog with considerable experience running single and multiple marks.]

Sometimes the judges for an advanced event, and training day "judges" preparing for such events, set up a retrieve that requires the dog to run close to the gun station for a mark that was retrieved earlier in order to take a straight line to a longer mark.

One example of such a set-up is a reverse hip-pocket double, also known as "off the heels". Another example is an indent triple in which one of the outside marks is tight to the center mark. Typically both marks have been thrown in the same direction, so that the dog is running "behind" the shorter gun. Another possibility is a blind whose line runs behind a gunner, or even in front of the gunner in a configuration called "under the arc", since the line to the blind runs under the arc of the gunner's throw.

Many dogs tend to "flare" or "push off" the short gun when running a line that passes close to that station. That is, the dog veers away from the gunner, then attempts to veer back on target once past the gunner.

For a mark that is not too difficult for the dog, that strategy is often successful, which unfortunately tends to make it self-reinforcing for the dog. Meanwhile, the trainer might not realize that a problem is developing.

However, letting a dog push off has the same objection that applies to any factor that can cause the dog to veer off a direct line to the fall: On a difficult mark, the dog may not be able to find her way back on target by herself, and may then require a long hunt, may need to be handled, or may even need to be picked up.

I have never seen a traditional trainer run his dog on extensive drills to teach the dog not to push off, and perhaps it is not necessary to do much teaching for dogs being trained with an ecollar. However, for the 2Q dog, breaking down the skill enables the dog to learn the concept without the need for aversives.

Here is a drill I call the De-flaring Drill, for training the dog not to flare around short guns. Other skills, such as practice with retired guns and practice with out-of-order triples, are incorporated in order to fully develop the dog's understanding not to flare around short guns.

Step 1. Singles

Using a flat field with low cover, set up two singles, one about 50 yards from the start line (SL), the other 100 yards or more from the SL. If you're going to use one thrower and one Bumper Boy (BB), use the BB at the short gun, and place a chair with a white coat behind the BB in neutral position (facing the SL).

It's not practical to run this drill with two BBs, because a BB is not consistent enough in throwing distance for the long gun.

You'll practice this and all steps from both sides in different sessions. For this description, we'll have the dog run on the right side of the short gun.

Therefore, have both gunners throw right to left. Use orange tape or something similar to mark the exact placement where the long gunner's throw is to land. The line from the SL to the tape should pass within a few feet to the right of the short gunner's chair, which is facing the SL.

The long gunner will need several white bumpers (or birds, if desired). He may wish to practice his throws to make sure he can land his throws right on the tape. The short gun will only be making one throw for Step 1.

For the first set of retrieves, the handler and dog set up halfway between the SL and the short gun, on the same line as if running from the SL. The long thrower should stand on the tape and make sure that the dog will be taking a line right next to the short gun's chair when the dog runs to the long mark.

Now run the set-up as two singles, starting with the short gun. The only purpose of this throw is to make it clear to the dog that next, she'll be running behind the short gun. It's unnecessary for her to run the short retrieve in Step 1 again.

Once the dog has picked up the short mark, have her run the long mark. The purpose of this mark is not merely for the dog to have a successful retrieve, not even for her to home straight in on the mark for the last fifty yards. Instead, the purpose of this mark is for the dog to take a straight line past the short gun, without pushing off. If she runs it correctly without veering either before or after the short gun, she'll run a perfect line to the fall.

The handler should not run this drill expecting such a perfect line. Rather, he should be expecting the dog to flare, and if so, when the dog does, the handler calls, "No, here," and brings the dog back to the handler without allowing the dog to complete the retrieve. Call "No, here" as soon as the dog begins to veer, since it is difficult and unpleasant to stop the dog once she's past the short gun, and also because "No, here" acts as a No Reward Marker (NRM) and should therefore occur at the moment of the infraction in order for the dog to understand why she's being called back.

Once the dog is back at the handler after "No, here," line the dog up and run her again. Again be prepared to stop her and bring her back. However, don't keep repeating failure. If necessary, have the long gun throw another bumper before sending the dog again, and also if necessary, move even closer to the tape that marks where the long throw falls.

Once the dog runs the mark correctly, the handler and dog reposition closer to the SL, the long gun re-throws the mark, and the dog runs the mark as before. Again the handler needs to be prepared to stop the dog and bring her back if she veers off line.

Finally, the handler and dog run the long mark from the original SL, with the handler again calling "No, here," and re-running if necessary. Again, don't practice failure. If the dog isn't successful after two tries at a particular distance, move closer to the tape and have the mark re-thrown as necessary, until the dog is able to run the mark correctly.

Practice Step 1 in as many sessions as are needed, eventually running the first pair of singles at the original SL, until the dog is able to run the long retrieve from the original SL without flaring on the first run of the session. Move the set-up to different locations and different orientations, and vary the distances of the marks somewhat. Practice both sides.

Step 2. Reverse hip-pocket double

Steps 2 thru 9 continue to use a flat field with low cover and similar distances.

Once the dog is able to run Step 1 correctly from the original SL on the first run of the set-up with the throws in either direction, the same set-up can be run as a reverse hip-pocket double, or "off the heels". That is, as the dog waits at the SL, first the long gun throws, then the short gun. The dog picks up the short mark, then the long one. As in Step 1, the handler should consider it likely that the dog will attempt to push off the short gun when retrieving the long mark as the memory-bird. Use the same strategies as before to help the dog learn to run the line without flaring.

Practice Step 2 over a number of sessions until the dog can run the double without flaring the first run of the session. Practice both sides.

Step 3. Retire the short gun

Step 3 is like Step 2, but for Step 3, have the short gun use a large, camouflage umbrella to hide behind as the dog is running back from picking up the short mark. If using a BB for the short gun, place an umbrella in front of the BB and chair. This is not ideal for a Field Trial dog, since the dog is not able to see the short gun while setting up to run the double, but dogs can't see the gunners in Master Hunt Tests, either, so it's not an unreasonable skill.

Step 4. Retire the long gun

For Step 4, have the long gun use an umbrella to hide behind as the dog is running back from picking up the short mark. Although this might be a difficult set-up for a dog that had not been thru earlier steps, by now the dog is learning to use the short gun (or the umbrella) as a sort of "gun sight" to remember the line to the long mark. Eventually, such a mark is actually easier for the dog than one with a wider angle from the shorter mark.

Step 5. Indent triple

For Step 5, add another long mark on the other side of the short gun, at a wide angle to the short mark. Throw the new long mark first, then the original long mark, and finally the short mark. Send the dog to the tight original long mark right after the short mark go-bird, which is the sequence the dog has been practicing with her doubles. Then the dog can pick up the new long mark.

Step 6. Out-of-order indent triple

For Step 6, use the same configuration as for Step 5, but throw the original, tight long mark first, then the short mark, then the new long mark. Send the dog to the last bird down first, then the short bird, then the original long mark. If the dog hasn't practiced out-of-order triples, she may try to run the short mark first. If so, call her back with "No, here," line her up on the long go-bird, and send her again. If necessary, move up to make it easier.

Even if the dog runs the correct direction on the go-bird, she might not have gotten a good look at the throw, since she was expecting to be sent after the short throw, may have lost focus, and may require a long hunt or help from thrower or handler. With additional practice on Step 6 in a variety of locations, she'll learn to stay focused on each throw until actually sent.

Step 7. Retire the short gun

For Step 7, again throw an out-of-order indent triple, but this time have the short gun retire (hide behind an umbrella) while the dog is returning from the go-bird. This is considered a difficult configuration, but given the dog's earlier experience with the De-flaring Drill, the dog should have less difficulty with this set-up than a dog who has not been thru this training.

Step 8. Retire the tight long gun

Step 8 is another out-of-order indent triple, but this time the tight long gun retires while the dog is returning from the go-bird.

Step 9. Retire two and then all three guns

Step 9 practices out-of-order indent triples with any two, and finally all three, guns retired. To retire the go-bird, the handler throws a short fourth "mark" to the side after the triple has been thrown, and while the dog is picking up that short throw, the guns can retire.

Step 10. Increase factors

Once the dog is successful on all preceding steps on a flat field in low cover, begin to practice various steps with additional factors: hills, throws into cover, terrain changes, strips of high cover, water, a cross wind, mounds, longer distances, and so forth. In an event, one or more of the throws may be a flyers, so that, too, needs to be practiced.

During Step 10, it is neither necessary nor desirable that set-ups keep getting more and more difficult from day to day, though over time you will continue to advance the dog. But in the process, keep the dog's confidence and motivation up by using easier set-ups for some sessions. Keep the dog's success rate -- the ability to nail every mark without help -- in the range of 70-85%.

Competing Instincts and Instinctive Drift

[This article is currently in draft. My intent is that when completed, it will introduce and provide a link to the Keller's 1951 article, "Misbehavior of Organisms". It will then discuss the concepts of competing instincts and instinctive drift, and relate them to the problem of training recall to a retriever.]

The Kellers give several examples from their own observation of instinctive drift in non-canine species. Melissa Alexander, posting on the PGD list, gave this example of canine instinctive drift:

Bloodhounds are bred to sniff. If you want to train "head up" for the ring, you're going to have to reinforce it regularly for the entire working life of the dog, because nature is constantly trying to undo that lesson. No amount of reinforcement will create a permanent change in that lesson.

Although Melissa did not go on to describe instinctive drift with respect to training recall to a retriever, the problem is every bit as difficult. Retrievers are bred for independence, and in the field, they have powerful instincts to explore, sniff, follow scent, swim. When wet, Goldens, and perhaps other breeds, instinctively roll in the grass. Having completed the outrun to the article, whether bumper or bird, some or all retrievers have instincts to keep the prey, parade the prey, even eat the prey.

All of those instincts follow the pattern that the Keller's described for instinctive drift. The young puppy may only be vaguely aware of such, so the competing instinct to return to the handler predominates, and can be readily reinforced and further strengthened by rewards offered by the trainer. But as the puppy matures, and especially if she is being trained for field work, she becomes ever more aware of her many instincts not to return, all compounding on one another. In time, those instincts overwhelm the instinct to rejoin the handler, easily exceeding in influence any amount of positive reinforcement the puppy might have accumulated for returning on the retrieve.

All the behaviors mentioned above are unconditioned responses to stimuli the dog encounters in the field. While not instinctive, a similar and equally powerful influence comes from factors that might have made the dog's outrun difficult and therefore trigger an instinct to avoid, or at least postpone, an equally difficult return — a confusing water entry, a long swim, a headwind, a hill, a patch of high cover.

In MoO, the Kellers offered no solution to the problem of instinctive drift. The modern 4Q trainer has a superb solution: the ecollar, which the young dog is trained to view as an aversive stimulus that it is within her power to turn off. Typically, even a retriever that has not exhibited a refusal in months or years still wears her ecollar, and if ever a reminder is needed, the trainer need only refresh the dog's memory with a here-nick-here.

The 2Q trainer, new on the scene, has no such tool. As with the Bloodhound's head-down sniffing, the retriever's reluctance to return on a retrieve is a constant factor. I've developed some methods that I've found helpful: the Walking Recall (WR), the Walk Out (WO), and the Assisted Walk Out (AWO). Even more important than those, I think, is a policy of management every moment of the dog's life never to allow self-reinforcement by refusing a recall, even when training around 4Q trainers who are comfortable with early transgressions, knowing that later, they'll be able to easily repair the problem.

Shore-handling Toolkit

In April 2008, I invented the shore-handling toolkit as a catalog of the practical transitions between land and water that might occur in a retriever field event.

– Tool #1. Here-WTL-W (no WS)
– Tool #2. Here-LTW-W (no WS)
– Tool #3. Back-LTW-W/O (no WS)
– Tool #4. Back-WTL-W/O
– Tool #5. Back-WTL-W
– Tool #6. Over-WTL-W/O
– Tool #7. Over-LTW-W/O (no WS)
– Tool #8. Over-LTW-W
– Tool #9. Over-WTL-W

where

– WTL=water-to-land
– LTW=land-to-water
– W=with dummy
– W/O=without dummy

These tools are each trained thru the following stages, except that for some of them, no whistle sit (WS) is used:

• – Stage 1. Without stopping the dog
  
• – Stage 2. WS, then cueing the behavior
• – Stage 3. Distance extended for startline-to-shoreline and shoreline-to-article
• – Stage 4. Cued behaviors thoroughly proofed for multiple locations and distractions

Click here to view diagrams for the shore-handling toolkit.

A Note on the Swim-by Drill. Some of the tools in the shore-handling toolkit have traditionally been trained by means of the swim-by drill, a procedure that revolutionized how retrievers could be trained for water retrieves in field events when the drill was invented years ago. A dog who has learned the shore-handling toolkit is also able to perform the swim-by — using the tool chain #3-#6-#8-#9 — as well as other practical combinations of these tools.

Cool-off Drill

When a dog is hot, the dog's desire for comfort, and perhaps even her instinct for self-preservation, can draw her to a pool or pond where she can lie in the water and cool off. For some dogs, this can occur in during a land retrieve that happens to be in the vicinity of water, interrupting the return and possibly getting the dog disqualified from the event.

The purpose of the Cool-off Drill is to condition the dog to have a preference for completing the retrieve, rather than interrupting the retrieve to go for a swim, even when she's hot and the nearby water looks highly tempting.

The Cool-off Drill can be done as part of a regular private or group training session, as long as land work comes first.

Here's what the first session of the Cool-off drill looks like:

1. Train on land enough to get the dog reasonably hot. Allow the dog all the water she wants to drink, but don't let her go swimming.
2. Place an LP and WB a few yards from the corner of a pond.
3. Place the SL so that the line to the LP skirts the pond within a few yards. For the first session, make the distance from the SL to LP short enough that the dog will recall without fail on the retrieve.
4. Using normal line mechanics, send the dog to pick up the bumper, then call her back.
5. As soon as she returns, take the bumper as quickly as possible and throw it as far into the pond as possible, sending her the instant it touches water, or even while it's still in the air. This step is the dog's reinforcement for completing the retrieve, and you want to make it more desirable than a detour to cool off on the way back would have been, so make this step as exciting and valuable to the dog as possible.
6. Since the dog is now cooled off, repeating the drill during this session may not be particularly productive, so continue the training session with whatever other training objectives you and the group have planned.

In future sessions, gradually increase the distance from the SL to the LP, and vary how much of the time the dog is near the water, since the dog could face either situation in an event: a retrieve where she's near water most of the run, or a retrieve where she's only near water for a short part of the run.

As with any raising in criteria, it's neither necessary nor desirable for each trial to be harder than the last. Preferably, some trials will be easier than the last, some will be harder, but the trend will be toward more and more difficult trials, which in this case means longer and longer distances from the SL to the LP.

The goal would be to build to a high degree of difficulty, for example: In warm weather, the dog runs a triple, quad, or quintuple retrieve near water but without getting wet, the last retrieve featuring a line of 200 yards or more that comes within a few feet of a pond or runs beside a pond the entire way.

In an event, you probably won't actually be able to swim the dog immediately after completing a Cool-off type retrieve, but hopefully you will have an opportunity to swim the dog, perhaps in the water series, soon afterwards.

Building Motivation for "Back" into Water

Few sights are more chilling to a field trainer than a "no-go", when you send the dog and she just stands there, maybe glancing up at you, maybe just staring forlornly out into the field or pond.

One way for this to start happening is to raise criteria on a particular drill too fast, resulting in a high percentage of unreinforced or corrected attempts. The dog can lose confidence, perhaps begin to pop even when performing correctly, and maybe even refuse to take a chance on going out when sent. That's not the only way to get a no-go, but it's one of them.

For that particular problem, one antidote is a rousing session of highly reinforced "Back" send-outs. Here's the water version:

1. Carrying a bumper, take the dog to water's edge at a favorite pond and cue "Sit".
2. Position your hand over the dog's forehead as when sending out on a blind.
3. Cue "Back".
4. After the dog has launched and begun her swim straight out, throw the bumper high and far beyond her, so that she will reach it if she simply keeps swimming straight.
5. Repeat several times, but end immediately if you see any sign that her interest begins to flag, or preferably, as your experience with your dog makes it easier to predict her endurance, stop before that happens.

To keep the focus on building high reinforcement history for "Back", avoid working on difficult entries, complex line mechanics, or any other skill that would result in send-outs where you have to correct the dog's line or call her back. An exception would be a dog (like Lumi) who has been taught directions ("left" and "right") as reinforced cues, since using those would add to the goal of building reinforcement history for the original send-out.

By contrast, a WS, no matter how reinforced in training, would be avoided in this game, because it's effect is to delay the dog's forward momentum. Though the ability to respond to a WS is of course necessary for a handling dog, and ultimately supports the dog's desire to complete the retrieve, IMO the break in momentum is not fun for the dog and does not build reinforcement history for the send-out.

Puppy Training Checklist

[Details to be added]

These are skills above and beyond SSS, important for all dogs and not specific to working dogs:

Wearing the dog

Charge clicker

Hand target

Time-in for barking

Comfortable at vets office

Socializing

No-glance game for obsessions (including other dogs)

Relax on cue

House training

Eliminate on cue

Take treats gently

Leave it

Out (give, drop) with no Keep Away

Comfortable having feet, ears, etc. handled

Brushing teeth

Comfortable grooming

Nail trimming

The Trained Retrieve (TR)

[This article is from a post on the PositiveGunDogs list by one of my mentors, Jody Baker, reproduced here with her permission. I've added some notes in italics.]

On May 31, 2010, at 4:55 PM, Jody Baker wrote:

The trained retrieve usually goes as follows

Have the dog hold your finger (use the other fingers and thumb to surround

his muzzle) without mouthing or trying to spit your finger out. Click when

he stops mouthing etc. I use canned cat food on a spoon for the treat for

this.

[I would also work on shaping "hold" before switching to an article. When "hold" is cued, the dog should noticeably tighten her grip. This part of the training may take several days or weeks.]

Then place an object in his mouth - follow above.

With both the first 2 steps build in duration.

Always say "out" when he's to move his head away from your finger or the

object to get it out of his mouth. This is true with all the steps.

You should not take the finger/object from his mouth - ever. He should

always move his head back away from your hand(s), finger or object. Be sure

to be holding the object when you tell him out.

Next by touching his lips with the object see if he will open his mouth for

the object (don't worry about duration at this point). If not, repeat the

previous step. If he does open for the object, do this for a couple or more

sessions, gradually building up duration.

[I would be inclined to clicker-train the "take" of your finger, and later an object, as a default behavior first, so that no force is required to work on mouthing and hold.]

Then start working for distance, 1", 3" 6" etc.

Then start working on reaching up high or down low.

Then for taking a step to get to the object.

Work on gradually putting the object on the floor, one end, then flat while

holding on to the end, then 1 finger, etc.

The dog should always have on a line while doing this.

Now he needs to learn how to get up from a sit and take a step or two.

When he's doing this, I use the line to turn the dog back to me, so he comes

back to a chair/table/bench where I've place the open can of cat food and

the spoon (I keep it there from the beginning so he will learn the way to

get the stinky wonderful cat food is to do something about the retrieve)

[Even before learning to get UP from a sit, the dog needs to learn to get INTO a sit while holding the article. My dogs found that difficult, and it took several sessions before they were comfortable with it.]

Then on to very short tosses with the dog going out picking up the object,

you can call "here" to work on your recall, coming back to you.

If he spits out the object at any time before you've told him "out", then he

doesn't get the cat food.

This is just a rough outline of the steps required. There are many more

complete ones that you should be able to look up on line.

[I think Jody has covered the essential steps, and made clear the idea that this is a back-chaining procedure. I'd like to think about re-arranging some of the early steps.]

The Skimming Drill

The Skimming Drill is an advanced lining drill. It's designed to train a dog to run thru corners and curved sections of obstacles, such as high cover and water, automatically when called for on a mark, rather than running around them ("cheating") unless handled.

Although the Skimming Drill is designed to train the dog to run these lining pictures without handling, handling is used for the training.

First Stage

Here's how the first stage of the Skimming Drill is run:

• Work in an area of mostly low cover, but near a corner section of high cover, so the dog can run thru low cover, then into the high cover near the corner, then out again, all on a straight line.
• Set your start line (SL) on the edge of the high cover, a few yards from the corner.
• Place a lining pole (LP) on the opposite side of the cover from the SL, in a location where the dog can clearly see the LP.
• Place an even number of white bumpers (WBs) at the foot of the LP, not touching one another.
• Run the dog straight thru the cover to pick up a bumper. If the corner points toward your right as in the diagram above, run the dog from your left, and vice versa.
• If the dog veers off line in either direction, either call her back or handle her. Too much calling back or handling can create confidence problems, and symptoms such as popping and no-gos. Therefore, use a set up where the dog can run a good line at least 70% of the time.
• After the first retrieve, run the dog to pick up another bumper, but this time from the other side. For example, if the corner points toward your right, this time run the dog from your right.

Repeat the drill from the same SL until the dog can easily run it from either side.

Increasing Distance

Once the dog can run the retrieve from the edge of the cover, move your SL back two yards along the same line and run the drill again. The dog is to enter the cover at the same point from this new SL as when you were starting at the edge of the cover. This is much more difficult for some dogs. If two yards is too far for the dog to run the line correctly, move closer again.

Developing Fluency

Using a variety of locations, continue to increase criteria during this session and on into subsequent sessions, the ultimate goal being for the dog to be able to run any picture involving a corner of cover correctly without handling, with the corner pointing either right or left, and the dog running from either side.

Gradually increase distance from the SL to the cover, and gradually decrease how far into the cover the line goes, until the dog can take just a small patch of cover without veering too far in and without cheating around the outside.

Once the dog can run good lines with a WB, switch to an orange or black bumper, and once the can run good lines with those, run the drill without an LP.

Ultimately, the dog should automatically take a corner of cover even on long marks. This skill enables the dog to resist being pushed off-line by skimming pictures and improves the dog's chance of arriving at the area of the fall without getting lost.

Other Obstacles

As explained above, start training the Skimming Drill with a corner section of high cover.

In addition, train for the following obstacles as shown in the diagram at the top of this article, starting at the beginning of the training plan for each:

• A curved section of high cover (more difficult than a corner shape because the entry is more angled)
• The corner of a pond
• A curved section of pond

You can wait to train on water until after the dog is trained for high cover, for example if you begin in winter when you're not training in water. Alternatively, if weather permits, you can use two set-ups and train both high cover and water in the same session, simultaneously making progress with both over a period of days.

Summary

The Skimming Drill is an investment in time and effort, and is not needed to be successful in Junior and Senior Hunt Tests. However, for Master Hunt Tests and Field Trials, skimming pictures will appear in a high percentage of events, and the investment may improve the dog's chances for doing well in those situations.

Sequence Sequence Sequence

One of my mentors, Alice Woodyard, believes that one of the most important aspects of retriever field training is not onlyhow each behavior is trained, but the order in which behaviors are trained. Her acronym for this concept is "SSS", for sequence-sequence-sequence. In Alice's experience, getting the sequence wrong can have negative consequences for a field retriever's career.

Unfortunately, no exact SSS for training a retriever exists. The reason is that a second factor, the "it depends" factor, is also in play. Different dogs need information presented to them in different ways, and only an experienced trainer can make the call for a particular dog.

Nonetheless, here is an outline of what I think might be an appropriate SSS for 2Q retriever field training [this is a draft; each item will eventually be shown as a link to a detailed discussion of the drill]:

• Show Me game (fetch without retrieve to hand). Note: Retrieve to hand (the cues Hold, Out, and Fetch trained in that order) should eventually be trained, but the training of retrieve to hand should be delayed until puppy has strong motivation for pick-up and return from Show Me game. Show Me can be played often, but with only 1-3 reps per session, always ending with the dog wanting more
• Wearing the dog
• Walking recall
• Here and Sit on voice and whistle cues
• Sit to say please
• Loose-lead walking (LLW): Here's a nice Gail Fisher video on how to train this
• Walking at heel and coming to heel
• Trained retrieve: hold, out, and fetch
• Hold-and-out game (dog is sent out for an tug-toy to retrieve; as dog approaches handler with toy, handler calls "hold", then grabs toy for game of tug; then handler cues "out" and immediately throws toy again; this adds high reinforcement history for "hold" and "out")
• Fetch game (dog is placed in short-distance remote sit with nearby bird; handler calls "fetch", waits till dog picks up bird, then leads dog on merry chase; this takes the high-reinforcement prey-chase value normally associated with the send-out, and adds it to the return as well)
• Walking fetch
• Line manners (fine tuned body behaviors such as return to heel, back into heel, one-step heel, pivots L & R, sit vs. down, etc.)
• Pile work
• Wagon wheels
• Bird-foot drill
• Baseball drill
• Double-T drill
• Diversion drill
• Combo picture drill
• Combo mark-blind drill
• Triple blinds
• Entering cover
• Skimming drill with high cover
• Running hillsides
• Hip-pocket and reverse hip-pocket doubles
• Shore-handling toolkit (Note: shore-handling toolkit and swim-by can be moved anywhere after double-T, depending on availability of swim-by pond, but both are of course prerequisite to cheaters)
• Swim-by (see previous Note)
• Cheaters
• On and off a point (be sure swimming past a point is well-established first)
• Skimming drill with curved shoreline
• Up-the-shore and two-up-the-shore
• De-flaring drill

Note that in parallel with the above sequence, the dog would also have on-going experiences with field retrieves, both in private training and also, whenever possible, with groups. Because those experiences would in some cases place the dog in a situation that requires a behavior not yet trained, care must be taken that the dog not have the opportunity to self-reinforce on incorrect behaviors such as not returning with a bird. In some cases, that can be prevented with management devices such as a long line. In others, the situations can be avoided entirely, for example by not running the young dog on a retrieve where the dog is likely to cheat around water even if others in the group are doing so.

But the obvious solution of simply never running the dog in situations the dog isn't trained for is unfortunately not feasible. The reason is that getting the dog completely trained for field retrieves takes months, and for an event retriever, the most important source of motivation is not the extrinsic reinforcers that trainers use while teaching the foundation behaviors, but the intrinsic pleasure of the chase and recovery of real prey in a field setting. As trainers who have attempted a strategy of keeping the dog out of the field until the retrieve is fully trained have learned, that approach risks losing the crucial process of building motivation for the overall game of field work.

Don't Dig Holes

INTRODUCTION

I call my approach to retriever training "discovery training". It's based on the idea that performing a high-quality retrieve is deeply self-reinforcing for a retriever, so training consists of giving the dog ample opportunity to experience that reinforcement. The result is an ever stronger history of reinforcement for the high-quality retrieve, and ever more fluent performance.

A crucial corollary is that the dog NOT experience reinforcement for performing incorrect versions of the retrieve. Doing so would dig holes, actually setting the training back. Unfortunately, executing this corollary is more difficult in field work than in other sports (meaning, other sports that I have experience with).

Several reasons account for the increased difficulty. Most important, because those incorrect behaviors occur in the dog's natural setting — the field, as opposed to, for example, an obedience or agility ring — the intrinsic value of those incorrect behaviors is likely to be extremely high to the dog, compared to the temptations for incorrect behavior in other sports. Secondly, distance erodes control, and field dogs work at greater distances from the handler than in other sports. Thirdly, a phenomenon called "instinctive drift", described by the Kellers in the landmark 1951 article "Misbehavior of Organisms", seems to be more prominent in field work than the other sports. In all sports, the dog has a tendency from the beginning toward certain undesired behaviors, such as flaring at heel in obedience, or leaping over contacts in agility. But in field work, the more the dog retrieves, the more she becomes aware of her instincts to divert from the correct version of the behavior in certain ways, and senses the great pleasure available from such diversions. The result is that a trained behavior that once seemed fluent gradually unravels, because even the intrinsically self-reinforcing correct response is not as valuable as some of the possible alternatives.

Difficult or not, it remains essential that the dog not rehearse self-reinforcing incorrect responses. The dog must learn that any attempt to intentionally divert from a high-quality retrieve will ALWAYS be unsuccessful. Failure to prevent rehearsing such diversions can set your program back months, years, or even permanently. And the problem is more serious for a 2Q dog than one trained with traditional methods, because traditional trainers have powerful +P and -R training tools -- most notably the ecollar -- that the 2Q trainer does not use. The moral: Don't let the dogs learn to perform those incorrect behaviors in the first place.

Let's get to some examples.

DON'T DIG HOLES

The general rule is straightforward: Don't allow the dog to repeatedly self-reinforce on incorrect versions of the retrieve. Here are some specific examples of behaviors that can rapidly become entrenched and a nightmare to correct. I've also included suggestions for how to prevent the dog from rehearsing these undesirable behaviors:

No refused recalls on open land retrieves: Recall may be the single most difficult skill for a 2Q retriever. An open land retrieve is the easiest recall situation. If the dog doesn't immediately pick up the article and come straight back, the retrieve is too difficult for one reason or another. Could be distance, could be distractions, could be the novelty of the article, could be microclimates, could be shadows from trees, could be many other possibilities. Immediately go out and get the dog, take somewhere she can succeed, and throw some marks for her or have someone else throw. Use a gradual, incremental approach to work back to where the problem occurred, in such a way that by the time the dog is asked to perform that retrieve, she's ready to perform it correctly.

No refused recalls in everyday life: Though everyday recalls are generally easier than field recalls, training even an everyday recall is a major challenge. Published programs include Susan Smith's "90 Days to a Rock Solid Recall", Leslie Nelson's "Really Reliable Recall", and Shirley Chong's "Recall Redux". I've had excellent success with my own program, "Walking Recall".

No keep-away: If you can't get the dog by going after her, because she goes into Keep Away mode, have her wear a long line attached to her yard collar. Don't use it to jerk her, just to create a "long dog" that you can catch. Make the line as long as necessary to assure that she won't succeed at Keep Away.

No refused recalls returning thru obstacles such as high cover: Sometimes a dog who can return well on open return path will stall if she needs to go thru high cover, wetland, into a depression, into headwind, etc. If that happens, pick her up immediately (that is, go out to get her), give her some successful easier retrieves, and then work on the issue she had a problem with at shorter distances and without distractions.

No refused recalls returning across water: Returning across water can be much more difficult for a dog than other returns. One reason is that the dog may be accustomed to leaping into the water in order to avoid the feeling of having the ground drop away from her as she wades out, and she may not be able to do that when carrying an article, or it may hurt her mouth if she does leap. Even if none of those apply, dogs can be intimated by whatever distance is "big water" for that particular dog's level of experience. This can be significantly more of a problem for 2Q dogs than traditionally trained dogs, because the mental/emotional barrier may be high one, and 2Q training tools are weaker than traditional ones. To avoid this happening, never send the dog on a retrieve where you won't be able to reach her if there is any possibility she will get marooned. If she does maroon, pick her up immediately. One method with which I've had excellent success is to pick the dog up and bring her back to the start line, but leave the article back where the dog stalled. Then send the dog again, and see whether she brings the article back the second time. If not, don't keep trying this. However, it may work. Retrievers do not like to leave the article behind, and if they believe that stalling will cost them the chance to complete the retrieve, they may rapidly learn to stop stalling.

No slow pick-ups: Most retrievers naturally have soft mouths and can carry a live bird without killing it. But some dogs do kill the birds by biting down too hard while carrying it, or even by killing it for sport or out of nervousness before picking the bird up. This cannot necessarily be cured, or it may only apply to certain game. If it can't be cured for your particular dog, don't train with birds the dog cannot carry without killing them. To try curing it, run out behind the dog after sending her, urge her to fetch the bird immediately when she reaches it, and take immediate delivery. Then run back to the start line together. As soon as possible, take the dog and the live bird to a field where you can work and throw it for her a few more times. Give her the opportunity to learn that the fun doesn't stop when she brings the live bird to you, and give her an opportunity to learn how to pick the bird up and carry it without killing it.

No slipped whistles:

No breaking from the start line:

No breaking from honor:

No head swinging:

No running banks:

AN EXCEPTION: Delivery to hand

To wrap up, I'll also mention an exception to the rule of not rehearsing incorrect responses: IMO, it is neither necessary nor even desirable to require the young dog to perform a correct delivery to hand at the end of a retrieve. Instead, the dog should be permitted to keep the article as long as she wants once she has returned to the handler. She must remain fairly close to the handler, and might even crawl up into his lap if he chooses to sit on ground and welcome her. Eventually she will lose interest in the article and drop it, perhaps when called to heel for the next retrieve.

I have the following reasons for this exception. Most important, I believe that delivery to hand is somewhat aversive to at least some young retrievers, and creates the opposite reinforcement history required to train a high-quality pick-up and return. Also, I think that the problem is relatively easy to correct once the dog's habit of returning is well established, so why waste time training it when the dog's not ready? The corrected behavior will be taught during the Trained Retrieve, typically after the dog has finished teething. As the dog comes to associate delivery to hand as predicting the next opportunity to retrieve, it's relatively easy to build higher reinforcement value for the correct response than for dropping the article, and the problem tends to take care of itself.

Walking Recall

Training with the Walking Recall

I've invented many recall programs over the years, in addition to using a variety of published recall training plans.

Recently, I invented a new plan for Laddie, and I'm pleased at how effective it has been in improving Laddie's recall in general, and field recall in particular. I call this plan the "Walking Recall". Here's a description (it's essential that you also read the following section, "Cautions"):

• Equipment: yard collar and long line. I use a 40-foot line in the city, a 100-foot line in parks. (See "How I Made the Long Lines" below.)
• Take the dog for a walk. In my experience, dogs don't like to walk at steady, human pace. They like to run ahead, then sniff and fall behind, then run ahead again. Let the dog do that, continuously looping the line up in your hand when the dog gets closer, letting the line out as distance builds. Dogs love this freedom, and I feel that it opens the dog's mind for the learning that is also taking place (next steps).
• Call the dog as needed. This might happen because the dog is getting too close to a passerby, or you're about to run out of line, or the dog is about to go out in the street, or she's going on the wrong side of a tree and the line will get hung up, etc. Or maybe it's just because you feel like giving her a treat.
• For each call, call exactly once, using your standard recall cue. For field dogs, that's "Here," using the same inflection you use in the field. If the dog comes, big party, whatever the dog loves. If the dog doesn't come, gently (no jerking, no recriminations) reel her in. I think rewards are good in that situation, too: classical conditioning to the effect that coming (even if the dog has no choice) predicts good things. In addition, you might want to reward the dog if she comes to you on her own without being called.
• In my experience, a variety of high-value rewards — one or more treats, petting, a tennis ball tossed a short distance, an enthusiastic, "Yay! Good job!" — in unpredictable sequence from one recall to the next is the most powerful method of reinforcing, because it adds the additional powerful reinforcer of surprise. Even the smaller rewards gain additional value because the dog senses she's "due" for a bigger reward the next time. Unlike some trainers, I believe in reinforcing every time.
• After each recall, as soon as celebration is over, resume walking and, when the situation permits, release the dog with an explicit cue such as "OK", again letting her set her own pace.
• Time your recalls so that at least 70% do not require the dog to feel any pressure from the line. Too much of that will result in the line becoming a necessary context for a successful recall, producing a "line-wise" dog and significantly reducing the value of this training plan. Always responding correctly may mean your dog has fantastic recall, or it may mean you're not taking her into challenging situations often enough.
• Don't lure the dog, for example with treats or a swinging tug toy. If you do, she'll be learning to come for that context rather than the context you want, which is the recall cue. For the same reason, don't reach for the reward until she arrives. You don't want her watching you as she comes and stalling if she doesn't see you reaching for a reward.
• On the other hand, be prepared to reward her instantly when she arrives. If you need extra time opening the wrapper, etc., use happy talk as a conditioned secondary reinforcer, or bridge, so she can recognize the association of her behavior to the reinforcing outcome. Without the bridge, the delayed reward is significantly less effective as a reinforcer for the recall.
• Do not say the dog's name when calling her, because in field work, she will learn that her name is how you release her to retrieve a mark. If you get in the habit of saying, "Princess, here!" one day you may say, "Princess, here!" when you don't mean to and inadvertently send her racing out into the field after a difficult honor or no-bird.
• Handling 40 or 100 foot of line with a dog attached is a learned skill. It may not go smoothly at first. :0)

Cautions

Please take careful note the following:

• Don't let the dog build up speed and suddenly hit the end of the line. That's a lot more dangerous for a dog than you might expect.
• Don't grab the line while the dog is running outward. You'll get a rope burn.
• Don't let the line get underfoot. The dog might flip you if she breaks into a run.

These problems are difficult to avoid. The only solution is to watch closely and try not let dangerous situations arise. When I first started the Walking Recall with Laddie, I needed to pay attention every second.

Mechanics

Here's my experience with the mechanics of the Walking Recall.

I've got two lines, one 40' and one 100'. Some evenings, I use the 100' in Prospect Park, a humongous park in the middle of Brooklyn. I use the 40' line for our mid-day walks every day we're there.

Even the 40' line is unwieldy, but I've gotten more skillful over time. I'll try to describe it:

1. I put my left hand thru the handle at one end so that it's around my wrist as a safety measure. Of course I attach the snap hook at the other end to Laddie's collar.
2. Starting with my right hand at my left wrist, I slide the line over my right thumb as I stretch my hands apart.
3. Lightly holding the line with my right hand, I move it closer to my left hand again and loop the line over the inside of the fingers of my left hand.
4. I repeat steps (2) and (3) over and over again, like an accordion, until I've taken up all the slack.

Now we begin our walk. Of course, when Laddie moves away from me, I let loops of line fall off my left hand one loop at a time. When he moves toward me, or when he stops and I'm catching up with him, I go back to the accordion motion, again taking up the slack. I proceed in this way the entire walk.

The key here is that the line is never slack. I'm essentially a human retractible lead.

Another key is that the distances I permit are based on the control I have confidence in. Yes, I want Laddie to occasionally need the line for difficult distractions, but I'm not going to let him get 30' from me and 3' from a kid. If I see a kid coming, I call Laddie and take up the slack before there's any risk of him having enough line to get to the kid. Every once in a while, someone will surprise us and step unexpectedly out of a doorway. I just have to hope he's not scared of sweet little Golden Retrievers.

Walking Recall versus Off-lead Walking

A similar approach to the Walking Recall is to walk the dog off-lead, only calling her when you're willing to bet $100 that she'll come. It may seem as though that approach would be similarly effective, but my experience is that the Walking Recall works better.

The advantage of the long line is not only as a safety net when you guess wrong, but more importantly, that you get to practice situations where the dog is not yet ready to come on her own. I didn't realize in advance what a significant effect that would have on the training, but when I thought about it later, it sort of made sense.

For example, the dog sees a squirrel and starts toward it. Without a line, you can't be sure the dog will respond to a recall so, being smart, you don't try, and the dog runs after the squirrel. Here was a golden opportunity to practice a difficult recall, but you had to pass it up. The dog didn't rehearse a failed recall, which is good, but the dog also didn't rehearse a successful recall, which is a missed opportunity. By contrast, with the line attached, the dog does rehearse a successful recall, either by choice or by no choice.

This sort of thing could happen a dozen times in a single walk. It may not sound like it would matter that much, but I'll tell you that just a few sessions of Walking Recall substantially improved Laddie's field recall after years of training recall in other ways.

Benefits of the Walking Recall

I've found that most recall programs produce skill in particular settings, with insufficient generalization to other contexts. By contrast, the Walking Recall seems to improve the dog's overall recall response. Here's what I found with Laddie, and what I'd expect with other dogs as well:

• Naturally the dog will get better and better walking on a long line with practice. For example, she will become less and less likely to approach strangers or other dogs, because every time she does, you'll call her, and either with or without the line, she'll come to you instead. With no pay-off for attempting to approach others, she'll gradually stop trying. Similarly, she'll become increasingly less likely to try chasing a pigeon or going into the street.
• She'll become better at walking on a short lead. Though walking on a long line may be more enjoyable for her, she'll be gaining skills that enable her to walk more comfortably on a short lead as well.
• She'll become better at walking off lead. Again, the same skills will kick in, and her whole style of interacting with you on a walk will change. In fact, I would suggest that you not walk the dog off lead until you can depend on her recall, even in confined space. You don't want to go back to having her learn that she can ignore you.
• Most importantly from my point of view, her field recall will dramatically improve. Granted, a field recall is different from walking on a lead, but my experience is that the dog's responsiveness to "Here", even from hundreds of yards away, improves remarkably after just a few sessions of the Walking Recall, despite years of previous recall training.

How I Made the Long Lines

I'll end with a note on how I made the long lines:

1. I went to an outdoors store and purchased climber's webbing, great stuff for this purpose. I got a little extra length to allow for the sewing.
2. I went to a hardware store and bought a snap hook.
3. I brought the materials to a shoe repair shop, and asked them to attach the snap hook at one end of the webbing, and to make a handle at the other end. I brought along a commercial leash to show them what the stitches looked like.

I'm sure the materials are available online if you don't mind waiting a few days to receive them.

Honoring

[Here's a discussion of training steadiness, especially on the honor, on the PGD list:]

On Apr 19, 2010, at 1:50 PM, Amanda wrote:

Secondly, how do I start training the Honor. I am a newbie to field training, and I have a VERY noisy Toller in the blind, who screams and cries once the calls start. She is not steady on the line (working on this as well.) I have started to stand facing the opposite direction as someone suggested last week, but need to know what else I should be doing. C/T for quiet doesn't seem effective as she is off food once birds are in sight.....

Thanks for the kind words, Amanda.

And congrats on having a Toller. I love Tollers.

Here are my suggestions on the honor:

(1) Never miss an opportunity to honor after running your series. I don't care if you're the only one out there honoring, that's their loss. IMO, the single most important key to learning to honor is having the dog understand that first you run your series, then you honor. You, little miss Toller, will never be sent on those throws a second time, so you may as well relax. Try to arrange to run in front of someone who's going to run an interesting series -- preferably a multiple -- so you get a good honor opportunity.

(2) Yes, use a totally different posture for honoring than for running the dog. That's actually two things: First, develop a nice, consistent set of line mechanics. And second, do something completely different for honoring. This may be more of an issue for 2Q dogs than 4Q dogs. I often see people stand next to an honor dog no differently to my eye than if the dog were marking, yet the dog is completely relaxed and in no danger of breaking. Must be nice, but until my dogs are like that, I do like you do and face backwards, always off the dog's right hip. I also use a special cue -- "Just watch", repeated quietly over and over, with an occasional "Sit" thrown in -- that of course I save exclusively for that context.

(3) I cannot emphasize this enough: The dog must never succeed in breaking. Ever. Either train a controlled break -- good luck doing that with a young 2Q dog, but if you can, great -- or have the dog on a tab in any practice situation where there is even the faintest possibility of her breaking. Do NOT rely on the thrower picking up the bird. The dog's adrenaline-pumping outrun is still too much reinforcement for the break, even if the dog doesn't get to pick up the bird.

A tab is a short line attached to the dog's collar like any lead and with a knot at the other end for traction. L&L's tabs are 9" so they can't catch in the dog's toes when running. Of course you don't want the dog to become tab wise, that is, only being steady when wearing the tab. So put the collar with tab on at the beginning of every practice, and take it off at the end. The dog then has no idea why she's wearing it, and becomes habituated to it. Alice would say the tab becomes "neutral". When honoring (and also at the start line if the dog is at risk of breaking), hold the tab tightly but with a slight amount of slack. The slack is so that (a) the dog has no idea you're holding it and tab awareness doesn't become part of the context for not breaking, and (b) the dog can't build up any momentum and injure herself if she does break and takes up the slack.

(4) If you want to borrow this idea from me, you can give the dog a well-rehearsed pattern of great things happening back at the van after the honor. This is a mixed bag. The good news is that the dog has something to look forward to after the honor, making a break less likely. The bad news is that having a highly excited dog at the end of honor, like I do with my dogs, means you've got to figure out how to keep the dog in control when the judge releases you, instead of the dog racing back to the van before you can get on her leash. I'm thinking I won't do this with my next dog.

LL&L

Alligator Water Entry

Both Lumi and Laddie had problems on and off with water returns. It has perhaps been our single greatest training challenge, and this post is not on that general topic.

But Laddie had another problem that made his training even more difficulty, so I thought I'd highlight that problem here.

Laddie had no trouble with water entries during his first few months, but around the age of a year old, he suddenly became unable to enter water while carrying a retrieval article (training dummy or duck, for example). In a 4Q dog, the problem might have been masked by an ecollar-trained recall, but for Laddie, it became a major barrier.

In fact, it took weeks before I even realized what the problem was. For a long time, I thought it was simply a recall problem. But actually, Laddie had developed a phobia about the water entry itself.

I'm guessing that these were the steps that led to the problem:

1. Like most puppies, Laddie was uncomfortable from the beginning at crossing what I call the "swim-line", the transition when wading out when the dog is no longer able to touch bottom and must begin to swim.
2. Also like some puppies, Laddie apparently came to a solution: He would leap over the swim line as he entered the water. At the time, I thought it was exuberance, and it is a joy to watch. But I now believe that it was also an avoidance behavior.
3. That worked fine until one day Laddie must have been carrying an article in his mouth when he made one of those leaps, and it hurt. I'd guess it must have hurt quite bad because of the effect it had on him, or it must happened several times. I was not aware of the incidents at the time they happened, I only speculate that they occurred.
4. As a result, Laddie became afraid of those leaping water entries. But he had never learned to "alligator" into the water, simply pushing off when he reached the swimline. And his recall was not strong enough to pull him back to me despite the phobia.

[more to be added, on how I addressed the problem and how I'd avoid it in future]

Notes on RRR for Training Recall

[Another reply to a PGD post:]

On Jan 26, 2010, at 10:06 PM, another poster wrote:

You might try the book "really reliable recall" if you're having recall issues. The trick is to be more rewarding than whatever else is going on, so the dog wants to return to you.

I'm sorry, this is incorrect. Nearly every dog trainer -- and this doesn't just apply to field trainers -- soon realizes that if you have to be more rewarding than "whatever else is going on," it will be impossible to create a reliable recall in many dogs.

Some points about RRR in particular:

* The RRR program is wonderful for pet dogs and dogs in other sports. I used it with Lumi and it once saved her life, as documented in an article on recall by September Morn in Dog Fancy magazine some years ago.

* RRR does NOT depend upon you being more rewarding than whatever else is going on, nor does any other high-quality recall training program.

* RRR is unfortunately not adequate for training a field recall.

* Even if it were, RRR is explicitly NOT for everyday recall. According to Leslie Nelson, the woman who designed RRR, it will fall apart if you use it for routine recall. It continues to work ONLY if you save it for emergencies.

* An interesting phenomenon has been recorded by some people who've train RRR: It can actually cause undesirable responses to increase! The reason for this is that the RRR recall cue is highly reinforced, which turns it into a conditioned reinforcer, much like a clicker. For some dogs, the cue then actually acts like a clicker. For example, the dog is chasing a bicycle and the trainer calls "DARLING" (or whatever the RRR cue is). Yes, the dog puts on the brakes and comes running for treats, but in addition, the dog has just been reinforced ("clicked") for chasing the bicycle. Each time a bicycle goes by, the handler calls "DARLING" and the dog in effect gets clicked and treated again. This is called "shaping" (though of course it's inadvertent). One day, the dog catches the bicycle.

We can discuss the mechanisms of how a recall can be trained WITHOUT being more rewarding than whatever else is going on at some point in the future, but for now, I just want to clarify that nothing you can do can make you more rewarding than the things a field retriever discovers as alternatives in the field.

LL&L

The Field Recall

[This began as a reply I wrote on the PGD list; it's been heavily edited to add content I thought of after I posted it, and in this version bears little resemblance to the original post:]

On Jan 26, 2010, at 4:28 PM, another poster wrote:

One burning question for you. Do you have a reliable recall? If so what is your secret?

Hi. I'm not the person you addressed your question to, but I'd like to offer my own answer because it's such an important question.

First, a disclaimer: Both of my 2Q Goldens had failures in their most recent Senior Hunt Tests because of recall, so I have not yet proven that I have a complete solution.

On the other hand, they both have JH titles, one has a WC and a WCX, both have won First placements in club trials, they both have several Senior ribbons, and they both have excellent, though not yet perfect, recall.

I won't be so presumptuous as to tell you what I think you should do. But I will give you the instructions I intend to follow with my next puppy, whom I will also train exclusively with 2Q methods:

(1) Use a standard, high-powered recall program designed for general trainers, and get as much benefit out of that program as possible. I invented a program I call the Walking Recall in 2010. I've had more success with the Walking Recall than any other program I've ever used, and I've used many.

(2) Minimize retrieves in the first few months of the dog's introduction to field work. She should be hungry to retrieve at all times, including at the end of a session. I want that hunger to grow and grow. For starters, it might be a single retrieve per session. After a week, maybe two. After a month, maybe three. That might be it for the first six months. (You can train several sessions a day, so the puppy could get perhaps nine retrieves in a day, but only a small number per session, and only if the hunger level stays high.)

(3) Do not train retrieve-to-hand until you begin formal retrieve training, which might be after six months of earlier field work. I believe that retrieve-to-hand works against the field recall and should be delayed until the pup's recall is really field-hardened.

(4) Never put the dog in a situation where she can self-reinforce by refusing a retrieve unless you are 100% certain that she won't do it. If that means you must sit out some of the retrieves other people in your group are running, so be it. This is a huge psychological barrier.

(5) Having the dog on a long line may allow you to run her in situations where her return could otherwise not be fully trusted. Don't use the long line to punish a failed return by jerking on it, just use it for management. A long line is at the heart of the Walking Recall program mentioned above.

(6) If the dog does not return on cue, do NOT let her complete the retrieve, but DO cue her to sit/stay, walk out, quietly and gently slip on her lead, bring her back to the start line (no training, just walk her back quietly), and give her another chance to do the retrieve correctly.

(7) If the dog does not return after a single recall cue (whistle or voice), do not continue to use additional recall cues, but rather use the Walk Out described in the previous paragraph. Repeated recall cues may work initially, but they quickly deteriorate for an interesting reason: The recall cue is a highly reinforced stimulus, both by the act of completing the retrieve (the retriever's most powerful intrinsic reinforcer other than sex) and by the trainer's many and varied methods of extrinsic reinforcement for a successful retrieve. A highly reinforced stimulus gradually becomes a conditioned reinforcer (a clicker is an example). This means that if the dog dawdles, and you use your recall cue, you are reinforcing the dawdling. If the dog continues to dawdle, and you continue to call the dog, you are further strengthening the dawdling. In fact, you are in effect shaping the behavior of dawdling. It's a vicious cycle that only gets worse over time.

(8) As in your recall program, develop a graded set of distractions and locations for which the dog's recall is to be proofed. Here's a hard one: a retrieve across a channel where there's no way for you to reach her. When she can do each location, add diversions like someone playing with another dog on the far side, or a training partner throwing a dummy on the ground nearby just as she's picking up the bird. No matter how many locations and diversions she's been proofed for, realize that if a novel one occurs, there's a good chance she'll fail with it. So keep coming up with newer and more difficult ones.

(9) Do not get lulled into a false sense of security by how well your puppy's recall is coming along, and by how easy it is for your buddies to train a high-quality 4Q recall to their dogs. That is not useful information to a 2Q field trainer if it leads you to take shortcuts with your own puppy's recall training. It IS fairly easy for them. It will NOT be easy for you.

(10) The declining field recall is a great example of what the Kellers called "instinctive drift" in their landmark article "Misbehavior of Organisms". The subject learns a desired behavior, gets huge reinforcement for it, is never once reinforced by the trainer for an undesired behavior, and yet begins to perform the undesired behavior more and more as the subject continues to practice. The more your pup retrieves, the more her instincts will beckon to her to fail on the recall, so even as you reinforce her success, she is still increasingly exposed to the suction of the undesired behavior. If you don't want that to defeat you (it DID in fact defeat the Kellers), keep up your guard and EXPECT a once-reliable and highly reinforced recall to start failing.

That's my list for now. It's not my complete training program, it just addresses the one subject of field recall.

Best of luck with your dog! I hope you keep us up-to-date with your adventures together.

Lindsay, with Lumi & Laddie (Goldens)