In our rush to start hunting with our gun
dogs, it's easy to forget about basics or delude ourselves into
believing a "once over lightly" treatment will get
a training job done.
For experienced trainers, who take the basic and usually simple
techniques for granted and drill their older dogs over and over,
it is easy to forget that what they assume "everyone knows"
might be magic keys to be used by beginning dog trainers.
It pays to review some basic procedure occasionally, particularly
when its use will result in better-trained dogs and, because
it works, and will encourage trainers to strive for further successes.
It is time wasting and discouraging to fumble around trying to
find "the way" to get a dog to do something you want
done. That can be doubly hard on a dog if a basically eager-to-please
pup is constantly confused by a mix of words and moves, then
shouted at or harshly punished by a frustrated trainer.
Teaching a dog to sit when told to is both simple and elemental,
as far as the mechanics are concerned. The verbal command and
physical manipulation is almost standard. Every book on training
any type of dog responded to basic commands tells how to get
a dog to "park it". So the tried and true technique
offered is nothing unique. |
Too few sportsmen, however, recognize that
there are all kinds of easy-to-do informal "routines"
that will speed up training and keep trained dogs alert and responsive.
In addition, rarely are hunters informed that the timing of "sit
training" is different for different breeds and for some
breeds it may be preferable to forget about, lest it compromise
and complicate more important aspects of training.
Welcome news, particularly for urban residents, is that training
a dog to sit can and should be done in the house or yard. To
accomplish this, you don't have to cart the dog out into the
countryside. But when you do have the opportunity to take your
pup afield, don't just let him run. Spend some of that time accomplishing
something; instilling in him the fact that no matter how strange
or distracting his surroundings you mean it when you give the
home-learned command.
Sit training can be started the day after you bring home the
spaniel or retriever puppy. Whenever you think of it, span the
thumb and forefinger of one hand across a pups hips and gently
press down while simultaneous restraining him with a flat of
your other hand against his |
brisket. As you do this, tell it how to
"Sit!" This gentle coercion could be considered "played
training" because you are taking advantage of things pups
do easily, even naturally, and guide those inclinations into
a conditioned response to a command or situation. But it is also
the basis for formal drilling.
Start "sitting down" spaniel and retriever pups early,
at seven to eight weeks of age. Do it gently but firmly without
corporal punishment or loud shouts but lots of praise when the
proper response to the sit command is solicited. That's the secret
to winning the cooperation and obedience of even a toddler. This
early start applies to spaniels and retrievers, who are constantly
"operated" from a sitting position once their a field
matters are instilled.
In most instances, when pointing breeds are being trained, the
amateur trainer would be better off to scratch, "Sit!"
off his list of commands. Should there be a good reason for teaching
a pointer to sit, it's preferable to delay this drill until the
dog understands and responds virtually without fail the command
"Whoa!" This might not be until a dog is 18 to 24 months
of age. Whoa means, "stop in your tracks and stay there
or you are in trouble" and is vital in staunching and steadying
a pointing dog. 
(A staunch pointer holds an establish point until the bird is
flushed by the hunter. A steady pointer remains stationary while
the bird flushes and until the shooting is over, going in to
retrieve on hits, or moving when the shots are missed, |
