Hi Everyone! Here
is the second part of the C-rets article. Now let’s explore each
of the commands that every dog needs to know from the smallest
house pup to the greatest hunting dog. Your first question might
be how young can my pup learn? I am sure you have heard everything
from birth to 1 year of age. There is truth in all ages. Dogs can
learn from a very early age as I said before. Think of children:
how much do they learn in their first year of life? Dogs are the
same way and pups catch on quickly, but sessions must be kept
short because their attention spans are short. Lynne started teaching
me at eight weeks. I learned sit, how to walk on a lead, where
heel position was, and of course to come to her when she called.
All dogs learn by repetition, saying the command and showing the
dog what each one means over and over again. It is very important
to lavish your pup with praise when they get it right, praise with
your voice and your hands, pups will respond to this and will be
eager to learn. You will need a good grasp of the 4 C-crets before
you begin these next steps.
Heel
Heel
means two things, the first is the position of heel, which
is my right shoulder even with Lynne’s left leg. All commands
start from this position no matter if you’re right or left-handed.
Some left-handed hunters will teach their dogs on the right
side instead to keep the gun blast further away from their
dogs' ears instead of right over their heads. So you will have
to decide which will be best for you. If you plan to enter
obedience trails you have to teach pup on your left-hand side,
regardless to your dominant side.
The second is walking
in heel position, when your handler says heel she/he will step
off on their left foot give a pop forward on the collar with
the lead, call your name, and give the command "heel".
It will take a little
time for your dog to get the knack of walking in heel position.
If they get out to far ahead or are lagging give a pop on the
collar with the lead in the direction, that will correct them
back to heel position, when they are there repeat "heel" and
give them a "good dog". Start out walking in a straight
line at a normal pace this will help your dog better understand
what you want. Also understand that "heeling" is not
a way of life. When Lynne takes me on outings where I have to
be on a lead and there are lots of people she tells me to "heel" and
it keeps me and others safe. A good example of this is the trail
we like to walk on in the woods. It is usually clear,
but when we meet people on the trail Lynne will give me the heel
command until we get past. When we are past them she tells me "ok" and
lets me walk where I want within the 6’ lead as long as I don’t
pull her. Again, praise is the most important part of successful
training, we have to know when we are doing it the right way.
Just think how you would like working for someone and they never
tell you that you are doing a good job? Would you know for sure
you were doing everything the right way?
Another form of
heel is when we are doing retriever work, when I bring a bird
or dummy back to Lynne I return to heel position then she takes
the bird from me by telling me "out". As you can see
the "heel" command has many uses that will come in
handy everyday.
Sit
The "sit" command
as I told you before has many uses, we will sit a million times
a day sometimes when we are told and sometimes just to sit
and watch the ducks fly by. This is one of the easiest commands
to teach for your handler and for you to learn. Lynne likes
to teach this command at a very young age as well, pups are
very easy to handle when they are small and believes that this
is one of the most important commands to learn.
The way we teach "sit" is
to put the pup in heel position (their right shoulder should
be even with the handler's left leg). If pup is very small
you can get on your knees and teach this exercise. Heel
position is the same. You will want to put the 6’ lead on their
collar, that way you can control the situation and pup can’t
get away. You will always put the loop of the lead or handle
on you right wrist, you don’t want the lead wrapped around your
hand. You should have already taught your dog not to pull and
you must be able to control her for her to be able to learn to
sit.
With your dog at
your left-hand side, you will put your right hand around the
lead with your little finger 2" above the snap. You then
place your left hand with your little finger at the base of pup’s
tail and your hand lying gently on her rump. You will then pop
the collar straight up with your right hand while gently pushing
down on her rump with your left hand. You will call the pup’s
name and give the command to sit..."Night, sit", as
you are guiding pup's rump into sitting position. When pup is
sitting take your left hand away and loosen the lead by putting
your right hand closer to the dog’s neck. If pup gets up tell
her "no" and then pop the collar up and guide the rump
into sitting position again. Do not repeat the command "sit". Did
you know that dogs could count? If you get into the habit of
repeating commands two or three times, pup will learn not to
sit until you say it three times. When pup sits in position for
ten or fifteen seconds let them up. You will need a "release
word" and Lynne uses "OK". When you are ready
for pup to get up put the snap of the lead under her chin and
pop to lead straight forward as you step off on your left foot,
tell her "OK" in a happy voice, and then praise them
wildly with your voice and hands. You will then put them back
into heel position and start the sit process again. Remember
to do each command three times in a row, play for a minute, and
do it again. In the beginning, you will need to keep your training
sessions short 10 minutes or so. Puppies have a short attention
span and will get bored easily so do more playing then training
to begin with. You will also need to set aside training times
during the day. Don’t train at meal time, nap time, or
potty time, and especially potty time. If you start training
when you take your dog to potty they will begin to want to train
and play every time you take them out. Potty time is for one
thing only and nothing else. Your pup will only learn what you
teach them so be careful what you teach.
Stay
Lynne
teaches "Stay" and "Wait". What is
the difference you might be thinking? "Stay," mean
for me to stay where she puts me until she returns which may
be a few seconds or several minutes. "Wait" on the
other hand means for me to stay there until called to her or
sent after a bird or dummy. They are taught the same way and
your handler will need to teach you to "stay" first.
The "stay" command
is taught after pup can sit still in heel position for at least
30 seconds to a minute. You have to have control of pup in a
sitting position or you can not teach the stay command. One word
of advice, do not try to rush pup or teach her more than she
can comprehend in a short period of time. Some pups learn quickly
learning a new command in only a few days, others it may take
weeks or months before they fully understand a command. Patience
is the key.
With pup sitting
in heel position, you will take you left hand and make a gesture
with the palm of your hand in front of their nose (like you would
for a child to stop walking). You will call their name and give
pup the command to "stay" as you give the hand gesture.
You will then step off on your right foot and stand facing pup
right in front of her, your toes will almost be touching hers.
Your snap should be on top of pup’s neck. If she gets up pop
up on the lead with you right hand as you lean over her to place
her rump back into the sitting position. With that done stand
back up straight, stay in this position for 10-15 seconds and
then return yourself to heel position without pup getting up.
Be ready when you begin to move back, pup will want to move as
well to begin with until she understands what you want. Remember
don’t yell at pup if she don’t get it correct the first several
times. This is hard to understand in the beginning, but keep
trying till it comes together.
As pups learn what
you want and will stay in position when you step in front of
her and then return. Lengthen the time you stay in front
of her and do this for a week. The next week when you step
off you will take one large step away from her. If pup obeys
do this for several days and then take two steps away before
you turn to face her. If she starts breaking her stay, simply
start over with standing right in front of her. You have to remember
that we have taught her that close to you is what you want, now
we are teaching her that we want her to stay while we walk off.
It can be confusing, but pup will catch on with time and patience.
Work up your time
and your space away from your dog, three steps away from her
will be 6’ and the end of your lead. It will probably take you
two weeks to a month to teach the "Stay" command. Whatever
you do don’t think she will stay in any situation, she won’t.
Don’t try to push her to stay while you go out of sight, or for
you to leave the room and come back. Pup will learn this in time
and with practice and boosting her confidence she will become
a dog that will stay no matter where you put her without her
breaking.
The "wait" command
can only be taught after pup has "stay" down cold and not
until. The "wait" command is taught as a "wait
until you are told to do another command" such as "come" or
to retrieve.
Lynne taught me
this after I had a firm understanding of all the commands that
we have learned in this article. She will tell me to "heel" and
then give me the command to wait. She then will walk away from
me and I will stay there until she gives me my next command.
I really like it when she gives me the "come" command
and I can run to her where I then sit in front. She always gives
me a treat!
Lynne also uses
the "wait" command when we are doing fieldwork. I sit
in heel position and she will give the command to "wait".
She will then blow the duck call, shoot her shotgun, and I will "mark" (watch)
where the bird will fall. She will then give me the "back" command
and I will go retrieve the bird and bring it back to her. I can’t
go get the bird or dummy until she gives me the "back" command.
Lynne taught me all these exercises on lead, again she had to
have my attention and had to be able to control me for me to
learn.
Come
The "come" command
seems to be the main command that everyone wants their dog
to do first and best. I see pups come to obedience class and
their handlers will beg to learn this first. Lynne tells them
that it is the easiest command to teach and the easiest for
a pup to learn. Her students always reply, "If it is so
easy, why won’t my dog come to me"? That is easy, the
handler had not given their dog any incentive to come.
What usually happens
if our handler lets us out to potty and we decide to go on a
little exploring adventure? The handler usually yells and screams
and threatens us with our very life if we don’t come back. We
don’t care if it’s 12 degrees and our owner has on their nightgown. Matter
of fact, this is usually when we decide our adventure is more
important. Well, shame on them and shame on us for not obeying.
The come command
is taught with food, always, always, always! Not just dog food
either, something we can’t resist, treats, hot dogs, cheese,
anything that we love. It will be used sparingly so don’t think
you will ruin pup's appetite with these.
Now one thing your
handler has to understand is that "treats" are
used for training not because we are cute. Do not shove food
down your dog every waking moment of the day, instead use
it to your advantage. Example: if you give a child candy everyday
it will get to where they expect if and it won’t mean anything
to them. If you only give them candy for something they have
done well, they will think it is really special and they will
feel proud of their accomplishment that was rewarded with the
candy. Dogs are the same way.
O.K. here goes the
super easy "come command". You will start this as soon
as you get pup, the very first day you bring them home. If you
have an older pup, it’s all the same regardless of age. When
you feed your pup his regular meal you are going to make a huge
deal out of this event. (We have already went over meals for
your pup and not free feeding in a previous article) You are
going to bang the bowl with you hand you are going to really
talk it up that they are going to eat. You will then say, "Night,
Come"!
Make it loud and
make it proud, only say come once, if you dog is sitting under
your feet during this whole ordeal that is fine as well. When
you say "pup come", sit the bowl down and let them
have at it. Pet them a few times while they eat to teach them
to not be possessive over their food and leave them with it.
Do this every day for a week, the only time during your day you
can say come is when they eat.
If you want pup
to go with you say "lets go" instead of "come",
this will teach them quick that when you say come it’s time for
food. After they catch on that the command "come" is
associated with food then we can take the command to the next
level.
With your dog on
lead you will have treats in your pocket. Please don’t
use their dog food for treats, get them something special, remember
the candy? Now with you dog on lead you can just go for a walk,
while you are walking give your dog a pop on the collar toward
you, hold the treat in front of her nose, call her name and give
the command to come. As she starts for the food guide her in
front of you so she is facing you. You will have to take a few
steps back, it’s a game of chase in a way. When she comes in
front of you give her the treat and then step into her and continue
on your walk. Do this exercise as many time as day as humanly
possible. Never, ever, ever, think that you can do this off lead
for the first few weeks unless you are doing the "food bowl
recall" which is taught off lead. Pups are smart and they
will learn if they are off lead that they don’t have to come
to you. Coming to you off lead will come in time don’t rush this
command. If you take your time and teach them correctly with
the pop of the collar, pup will learn to beat the pop and come
to you as if she was on the end of a fishing line and your were
reeling her in.
When properly taught
you will never have to worry about your pup going on an adventure
at 5:30 a.m. when you are not looking your best in your faded
nightgown. Nothing says, "I am not coming to you" like
screaming at the top of your lungs through the neighborhood at
a very early hour of the morning.
I know these commands
will get you stated on the road to some wonderful adventures
and memories that you and your handler will make. If you take
your time and teach each command with love and patience you will
have a wonderful pup that everyone want to be with and have next
to them in a duck blind or couch.
Until next time
Keep your Nose in
the Wind,
Fowlcreeks TF Black
as Night
