Before you begin to train your Standard Poodle for
field events there are a number of training principles that
you must learn and understand in order to achieve success.
Most people have trained several dogs unsuccessfully before
they actually begin to understand these principless well
enough that they can apply them to training their next
dog.
These principles are no secret. They have been
discussed for years by the more successful retriever field
trainers, but it seems that we each must come to an intimate
realization of these concepts by trial and errorbefore being
able to apply them to actual dog training. I would like to
give credit to all of the books, trainers, dogs and friends
who have helped me to develop an understanding of these
concepts but the list would fill all of the megs available
for this web site. Special appreciation goes to Alice
Woodyard, Mike Lardy, Dennis Voigt, Marilyn Fender, Jack
Gwaltney and Diane Bauman because their words continue to
echo around in my brain and I continue to learn from what
they have said in the past.
1. You must be fair to
your dog. By this I mean, teach the dog an
exercise or concept before you attempt to correct the dog
for doing something that it did wrong. A Poodle is very
unforgiving of a correction that it does not understand. If
the dog understands a concept and then chooses to disobey or
not do the required and well understood action and you give
a correction that is of appropriate degree and timing for
the infraction, your Poodle will accept that correction and
react positively by DOING the action required of it and will
not hold a grudge. On the otherhand, if the dog does not
understand the correction he will be resentful, afraid to
try again, and will develop a decreate in attitude and
motivation. The lack of understanding is usually because the
dog was not adequately taught what was expected of it, but
it may be that the correction was of inappropriate degree
for the infraction, or the timing of the correction was off.
In fact, most dogs who are corrected for not doing something
that they understand in an appropriate degree and time will
react by trying much harder the next time and will react
with joy and relief to realize that in fact, they do not
have a choice in the matter.
Improperly applied corrections result in poor momentum
and poor attitude. Well timed corrections of appropriate
degree given to a dog who understands what is expected
results in increased attitude and momentum.
How do you know that a dog understands an action? If
you have taught the action and then on another day you test
the dog and he does it and then on a second day at a
location different from the training site you test him and
he does it correctly he probably understands. However, don't
forget that if you don't repeat the test for a couple months
he will most likely forget it, as it usually takes about 2
months for an action to get from the short term memory into
the long-term memory of a dog. It is a somewhat shorter time
for people (usually)!
2. Train for momentum.
3.
Establish high standards
of performance. If the
dog has trouble on a concept then you should simplify the
concept, not decrease your standard.
4.
Live by the "go, stop,
come" rule, and
"go as sent
rule". In other words,
early on the dog learned to go out, to stop on a whistle and
to return when called. If they don't do one of these actions
then immediate backtracking of your training and
reestablishment of foundations must be accomplished. This
also applies to going as sent. This means that if you send a
dog North and he decides to go Nowthwest then that requires
a correction and back tracking.
5.
Vary your training
level. If a dog is asked
to perform the most difficult task that you have taught him
every test and every day of training pretty soon he gets
depressed and demotivated. If you have a difficult day of
training with lots of corrections or are working on a
difficult concept for the dog you should spend the next day
to several days on simple marks, easy drills , and lots of
fun and "atta boys" to rebuild confidence and momentum. A
test involving triple or quad marks and a difficult blind
should be followed by 2 or 3 sets of multiple gunner
singles. A test with difficult to find marks in deep cover
should be followed by some singles or simple doubles in
short cover with white bumpers or ducks with white streamers
tied to them.
6.
Continue to train your
dog to use his eyes
rather than his nose. A
retriever is first and foremost a hunting dog who must use
his eyes to mark the falls. It is important to continue to
stimulate this talent. Dogs are primarily scored on their
marking ability at tests and trials.
