Intro
Most of us feel like we do not have the time to train our dogs on a consistent basis throughout the summer. We let life get in the way and tell ourselves that we will start training in September.. Before we know it the early season opens and our dog shows us just how ill prepared they are. Fear not, all is not lost! There is still time to get your dog enough training to improve on the early season’s failings and here’s how.
Start With Obedience
A disobedient dog is frustrating and increases the chances of your hunting buddies not wanting you to bring your dog on the next hunt. Recall is essential when talking about obedience. We are looking for a dog that knows to come back when called and to do so with gusto. Work on your dog’s recall between retrieving drills during your training sessions. Even getting just a few reps in multiple times a day will lead to improvement in the field.
Second to having a solid recall is having a dog that is steady. Once again your dog should want to be steady, because it knows that patience leads to reward. Work on your dog’s steadiness by using a combination of Delayed Marks (making a dog wait before sending it to pick up the mark) and Denials (the act of walking out and picking up a mark yourself). Using a ratio of 1 denial for every 3 marks thrown can help you increase your dog’s steadiness without hampering its desire.
Building Memory and Straight Lines
The next aspect we need to focus on is teaching our dog to use its memory for when multiple birds fall in a single volley. Simple 180 Degree Memories are great for this. With your dog at heel, walk out and toss a bumper. Heel the dog 30+ yards away from the bumper and toss out a second. Turn the dog away from the last bumper and send it for the original. Repeat and continue progressing to greater distances throughout the session/week.
Trailing Memories and Sight Memories can also help teach our dogs to hold a straight line over great distances. Start short (30 - 50 yards) and use a natural edge (treeline, fencerow, etc.) to help the dog stay on course. For a Sight Memory, leave your dog at sit and walk out and toss a bumper 40+ yards out. Return to your dog, line them for the retrieve and send them to pick up the bird. Progress this drill by first increasing distance (you can stretch these out to over 200 yards if you so choose) and then shorten the distance and move into open fields.
Casting
The final piece to any good pre-season tune-up is reconditioning your dog to hand signals. Start with a simple Walking Baseball Drill. With your dog facing you toss out 2 bumpers in opposite directions. Cast your dog to the first bumper, recall them into a position that forces them to face in a different direction than they were originally. Now toss out another bumper, but cast them to the second bumper you threw out earlier. Rinse and repeat.
Once that has proven easy for your dog, move on to the 5 Option Drill. With a bumper already tossed out perform one of these options: sit your dog and cast it to the bumper (similar to Walking Baseball), send your dog to pick up the bumper (Sight Memory), send your dog and stop and recall it (Denial), send your dog and stop and cast it back to the bumper, or send your dog and stop it while tossing out a second bumper and then cast the dog to whichever bumper you choose. The sky’s the limit with this drill, so be creative and keep your dog focused on the task at hand.
Recap
Carving out enough time to feel like you are making headway in your dog’s training can be hard in the summer. The weather is nice and most of us just want to enjoy time with family and friends relaxing around a pool or hanging out in our backyards. Luckily dogs are very resilient and can retain a lot of the training you already have instilled in them. That being said, a preseason tune-up is vital to not only polish up on neglected skills, but also to get our dog into shape to help avoid unnecessary injury. Put together a game plan focused around obedience, memories, and casting and in no time you will have a dog that will perform in the field and leave your friends thinking that you spent all summer leveling Fido up.
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