Then come back to pup at the starting point,
and line him up, and send him. He will tend to take the same
route our that he returned on. Thus you can avoid a lot of the
punishment required to do it by trial and error.
After you've taught pup a particular water test, he will not
forget it. You should take him back periodically and run that
test to develop the habit of doing it the field trial way, instead
of the way pup's natural tendencies tell him to do it. A major
hurdle in training for field trial water tests is finding the
right ponds and lakes to teach pup the different "pictures"
of water lines he must learn. To make pup competitive, you will
have to teach him to line confidently in a number of complex
scenarios.
You must also go to a lot of field trials and see what judges
are currently emphasizing. Then train pup to do the current tests.
You will also probably have to spend some time with a professional
trainer.
Training the water portion of field trial behavior is very complicated
and very time consuming. It only has value if you are planning
to compete in field trials. Conversely, field trial water training
has a negative value for a hunting dog. To win field trials a
dog must stay in the water longer. In the typical cold water
of duck hunting, the dog that takes the all water route will
lose too much body heat to the water, and |
be greatly limited in the number of retrieves he can
make before succumbing to hypothermia.
Robert Milner hails from Memphis, TN. Visit his website www.fetchpup.com
for great retriever stuff.
Advertising deadline for the April/May issue is March 1st.
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