By the time Molly arrived in the Love Creek valley I had assembled a small library of books,Tapes and publications on every subject relating to training and Upland Hunting. None of them impacted me more than a book titled ' The Power Of Positive Dog Training' by Pat Miller.
Having read everything I could get my hands on, attending workshops,enlisting the help of a trainer and joining the local NAVHDA chapter nothing really resonated with me like the philosophy put forth in this book. I had seen the heavy handed techniques used by the folks with the versatile breeds in action heavily dependent on shock and pinch collars but knowing my dog's knew this wasn't for us. However I benefited from the NAVHDA emphasis on a structured approach to developing the dog's potential and was amazed at what I saw as I watched the hunt test's and what these dog's could do.
This was a turning point for me in that I now had come to a place where I would no longer search for and second guess my course of action with the development of my crew. A field and obedience regimen was adapted and kept as basic as possible. The things that were important were basic manners in the house and field, commands being, here,heel,down,whoa,A whistle for attention and one for here, hand signals for changing direction. Phrases I use are "This way"and "Bird in Here" for recovering down birds. Everything else including backing and retrieving was just instinctive and came naturally with time.
I had been told many of these things but not having worked through the development cycle with Setters before didn't have the confidence to rely on someone else's' Here's what a guy oughta do advice" from a self proclaimed expert. I was making a major investment in a team of bird dog's I was going to live and hunt with for the next decade so I needed to get it right for me and my crew! Now I have spoken about using experts several times but I believe the role they play is helping you get to your end goal of developing your own plan based on knowing your particular dogs as you are the one who's going to live and hunt with them. Hunt is the operative word here as I had no intention of training my dogs to execute a series of detailed maneuvers in hunt tests having little to do with what actually happens when hunting wild birds. So having someone handle your dogs in a way that works for them but won't be used or followed up by you is useless and a waste of time and money that could be used getting your dogs on wild birds where they could really learn something!
Molly was so much fun to take through the training I was really surprised how much she wanted to please and respond to my direction. She was very food oriented so I used treats to reinforce the positive training methods.This really helped keep it all fun but once again as she grew and became more confidant which she didn't have much problem with from day one I had to slow down a little and think about how to get her to the end goal as she was very head strong and strong willed but that's the dog I picked! I quickly learned gentle persuasion and patience worked with her. She very much wanted to please me but I had to give her time to get there as again the pace for development is determined by the dog's maturity and it was easy to think I could go faster with her because she was such a willing student. I was shooting birds for her very early on and she loved it but retrieving took a while. She would find the birds no problem but connecting the event with bringing the bird to me took a little finesse. I'd turn away and let her follow me and carry the bird for a while then let her come close and praise coaxing the bird from her mouth. This didn't always work the coaxing the bird out of her mouth I mean but eventually she understood and would release the bird. I will tell you that I am not rigid in my expectations on retrieving as I simply want the bird located quickly and recovered. I recall early on I was hunting with Molly in Montana in the foothills of the Big Horn mountains and had shot a Sharptail over her that had fallen on the other side of a rise out of my line of sight and she instinctively with no command followed up the bird and came back over the rise to me with the bird in her mouth. A beautiful moment where we were "one" hunting together without a spoken word. The same scenario has been repeated time and again without the need for a command. Then a friend I hunted with had recently acquired a new German shorthair and had attended the breeders training seminar where he demonstrated forced retrieving. Bernie became a disciple of all the methods this trainer used and adapted the whole program. At the point where he was at retrieving he called me and invited me to come down to his farm and watch how this technique worked as he had taken his dog through it and was now taking his English Pointer through it. I must say it was one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen done to an animal using shock treatment to get them to open their mouth due to the response to the pain then shoving a dummy into their mouth and saying" Fetch!". He just didn't understand why I said there was no way in hell I'd do that to my dog..ever!.
Many people have different visions of what they want out of they're dog's and how to go about getting it. We also have different styles of hunting. The important thing is that you define the expectations for you and your dog's. I do not believe in any universal application for anything.The reason is that the breeds are different the terrain varies and we are different as well as each species we hunt. Personally I want my dog's to cover ground in an unrestricted manner. Hunting naturally using their instincts not constantly looking over their shoulder for my direction and permission. I love watching them hunt finding the birds in the big open country we all love however I do not love controlling them that's not my objective. But I do know that "Keeping It Positive" is what's right for me and my Setter's.
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