Training and swimming and treats oh my
Posted by jake on Apr 28 2010 | Comment now »
Wow!!! I can’t believe it has been a month since my last post. I also can’t believe that Reed is 16-weeks old, 32 Lbs, and just as solid temperamentally as he is structurally; two attributes that will help in developing a strong field dog.
To update on my previous post, Reed has much improved on his bite inhibition, well mostly. On a day-to-day basis if he starts to bite my hands or arms he will either just bite down and then back off or bite down and hold. Other times he will bite down, still not breaking the skin, but then he will start to thrash his head from side-to-side and, rather than leaving a bite mark, his puppy teeth shred my skin just enough to bleed. I realize he is still a puppy, albeit a very high drive puppy, and I can tell he is learning and getting the idea. When he does bite down I can feel him changing the amount of pressure trying to figure out how much is too much. Overall progress is being made and I am no worse for wear. I also now completely disengage any play with him when he starts biting. I will standup and walk away from him until he settles down. When I reengage it is usually with a toy or some other training activity. We have been working hard on our basic obedience training. In fact without the help, guidance and support of my wife I know I would not be able to train this dog.
Training Reed is made easier simply because he is extremely food motivated. This alone makes training much easier. If a dog is not food motivated you have to find some other reinforcer to keep him interested. I know he is starting to understand his obedience training because he is now offering behaviors to get the treat. If I put him in a sit, he might go into a down or vice-versa. It really is wonderful to see his expression when he understands what I want, or more importantly that I have conveyed correctly what I want. I need to make a very important point here. Since I work full time, Reed does not get the personalized, one-on-one training that he should at this age. To my wife Kathie, thank you. I have been told by many people that this is the single best time in a dog’s life to give him the tools that will support him throughout the rest of his life. Yes, you can do it with older dogs, but bad habits will be very hard to overcome and continual training will be necessary. Not to say that when you train a young dog that you can stop the lessons once he understands, you will need to reinforce your training for as long as you have your dog. Besides, he will work for you because he wants to, and his reward is you more than the treat. Well enough of me waxing philosophic, especially since I am the neophyte when discussing dog training.
Reed and I are headed to Grass Valley, California on Sunday for his introduction to swimming lessons. I am really excited about this, because I remember the time I took my other Golden, Kayla, for her first swim. She was a little hesitant at first, but within 10 minutes she was a natural water dog. So I am expecting Reed to have a great day, and the weather should be great. I was told to bring plenty of Charlee Bear treats. These are baked dog treats. They look like little biscuits and the idea is to throw them into the water and the dogs will go in after them. You see, Charlee Bears float and are easy to see. Great training tip.
On May 10th Reed will finally get to start puppy field training in Suisun, California. His trainer is also his breeder. Well, until next time, keep your powder dry and your dog wet.
Biting the hand that feeds
Posted by jake on Mar 28 2010 | Comment now »
One of the hardest things I have experienced with raising this puppy [Reed], is controlling his biting. As my hands and arms will attest, Reed’s bite inhibition needs serious work. My two previous goldens were very controlled with their biting. Both were less dominate in behavior, but just as outgoing and playful as Reed. I think the biggest difference is their bite control. Reed also has a very high prey drive compared to the other two. From the day I brought him home he displayed much more independence than my other dogs, and more willing to investigate new environments. Now, in all fairness to my other Golden’s I did not expose them to the same stimulus. The sole purpose of these two Golden’s was as companions and pets, not as field dogs. Although my first Golden, [Gage] was an exceptional agility dog for a very large Golden, and my little Golden girl [Kayla] has done some agility she is mainly my lap dog, they were not bred for a specific job. Reed however, is a different story. I wanted a field line Golden, one that has the instinct, drive, determination and solid foundation required for field training. Boy did I get all of that in spades. At this point I started reading articles on bite inhibition, and ways to control it.
What is bite inhibition? Well just turn to the Internet for any number of definitions. I found one that really sums it up. “Bite inhibition is the ability of a dog to control the strength of a bite; a sense which is formed as a puppy with play-biting.” [Source: http://www.thedogpark.com/dictionary/aggression-euthanasia.php]. Bite control is extremely important in retrieving ducks and other game. This is often referred to as having a soft mouth. This ensures the dog does not damage the game upon retrieving it.
Again, I turned to the Internet for more information on bite inhibition and found a great article titled, “Angel days and devil days: teaching bite inhibition to puppies.” [Source: http://www.canismajor.com/dog/bite2.html] This article described exactly what I was experiencing with Reed. It also sounded exactly like the words my wife was telling me in just how to handle this problem. As an expert source of anything dog, I often refer to my wife. Without listing her qualifications here I would just suggest going to her website and read her bio and other qualifications, http://www.touchngoagility.com .
The biggest problem I have with the author’s technique and with what my wife tells me has nothing to do with being too macho, but rather not being able to get my voice to sound high pitched and squeaky and make a frightened little dog sound when Reed bites me. I am glad to report however that I am making progress in this area of bite control, and some in the area of squeaky.
Reed will now avoid putting any pressure on my skin and when he does he immediately pulls back and now looks for treats. Every time he places his mouth on my skin and pulls back I reward him and praise him, and it seems to be working. However, if I get him all revved up and rough-house with him all bets are off. His high prey drive kicks in and my hands and arms become the prey. So, for now no rough-house. Also, I was only having limited success with the rewards for not biting my hands, so my wife and my breeder both suggested applying pressure to the inside bottom of his mouth. Place your thumb under the dogs tongue and apply pressure. Now that sounds easier than it really is, especially when your puppy is actively biting you, but if you can make that happen, it has an immediate affect. As soon as he feels the pressure he will stop biting. I then hold him in place for a couple of seconds, then release and get up and turn my back to him and not interact with him for about 20 to 30 seconds. Then we try it again. Once he gets the idea that biting results in some discomfort for him he will hopefully stop the behavior. More to follow.
Reeds First Live Shot Flyer Day
Posted by jake on Mar 21 2010 | 1 Comment »
Success!!! I could not have been happier with Reed’s first live duck retrieve. Several of the other dog owners told me how impressed they were with Reed’s performance. He was never bothered by the sound of the guns, which was a big concern for me, but he handled it as he should.
We started the morning with dead ducks and pheasants, then tethered pigeons. At this point the birds were thrown about ten feet directly in front of him. I had him on a long line, held him by the front shoulders, telling him ready, ready, get-it and released him. He would go at full speed and grab the bird and start to try and eat it or run off in the tall grass. As soon as he would get the bird in his mouth I would blow my whistle for him to return to me. At this point in his training all the whistle is for is to get him used to the sound. Eventually that will be his queue to retrieve the bird to me. So until then the long line is so all important.
Next we did several more dead and live throws, but this time into more of the grassy areas about one foot tall. It was interesting to notice just how visual they are at this point. Reed saw the direction the bird was thrown, but as soon as he couldn’t see it, it was a little more difficult to locate. He did find the bird. It appeared to me that his natural instinct kicked in as he immediately started casting left and right [in very short distances] and was able to locate the bird.
Next, came the hobbled live duck, again, thrown about ten feet in front of him. Reed displayed the same intensity for the live bird as the dead. Apparently you can never be quite sure how a new dog will react to retrieving live or dead birds. I have been told some dogs are a little intimidated by the movement and others with a strong prey drive have no problems.
At this point we took about a 20 minute break for me to heal my wounds and get Reed some water. I was so concerned after removing the duck that I wanted to give him some treats as a reward, so I inadvertently let my arm drop as I got the treats and he nailed the bird and my finger. That was just the first of several bloody hand/finger incidents during the morning session. I guess I am a slower learner then Reed.
Yes, although he had no problem finding and retrieving the birds, giving them to me was quite a different story. Trying to pry his prey from his mouth proved to be my greatest challenge of the day. Note to self, once you have successfully removed the bird from his mouth make darn sure you put it behind you or hand it off to someone.
Throughout the remainder of the morning and most of the afternoon we watched dogs in various levels of training retrieve live and dead ducks. During this entire time Reed was intently watching. It was very impressive to see him watch the other dogs and you could see the seriousness in his eyes and as I held him you could feel him lean out toward the action. Now it was his turn.
I had paid for one live flyer and one dead bird. This all seems strange to pay for two birds like that, since after they shoot your one live flyer, you now own two dead birds, go figure. Anyway, I approached the staging area and informed the person coordinating the action that I am a green handler with a green dog. She was very helpful and suggested we take Reed around the water and then start. We set him in place and the thrower launched a dead duck [kind of a dead duck trebuchet] and the gunner fired to simulate a shot duck. I released Reed when the bird hit the ground and he went straight for the bird, but apparently it was just too far for him to locate. So I gathered him up and from a shorter distance the thrower simply hand-launched the duck and Reed was able to get it. We then went to the live shot blind and put him real close to the shooters to get a feeling for his reaction to the sound. Again, we got Reed in place, they made duck calls and sent the duck flying and the shooters did their jobs and Reed again had some difficulty but eventually did find it on his own. At this point I was able to get the duck from him with minor difficulty. Again, the duck was thrown into the air and Reed had absolutely no difficulty finding it. So now a proud papa trudges through the muck and mire, dog in one hand and dead duck in the other. We [Reed] received great reviews from the other participants. Everyone was really impressed to see an 11 week old puppy with such a solid positive gun reaction, and determination. Well by this time it was 2pm and although the festivities were going on until 5pm, I could see Reed was starting to get tired. So before we left I stopped at one more hunt station and found his breeder [Cheryl Baca], and she was really glad to see Reed and to hear how well he did. Reed also got to see his mama, and it was obvious that they both remembered each other. Until next time – thanks for reading Reed’s recitation.
Ducks!!!
Posted by jake on Mar 13 2010 | Comment now »
Today Reed and I went to Freedom Park, a baseball field complex at the former McClellan Air Force Base. There were lots of distractions, everything from outside basketball, to football, to parties with lots of kids, and dogs. We encountered several dogs, [off-leash] so I scooped up Reed and walked until they left. Boy he gets heavy fast. We had a great time. Reed loves to dive in the tall weeds/grasses surrounding the ball fields. Which by the way have many marshy areas filled with water and of course today two ducks. Unfortunately I didn’t see them early enough to prepare Reed for the flight, but as soon as they broke ground he was fixated on them and at the end of this leash. He watched them until they were just about out of sight. I jackpotted him with treats. Hopefully that was the right thing to do. Anyway he really likes running and diving in the tall grasses. I discovered that he really gets jazzed when I drag his tug toy through the grass. He would put his head down and push through or bunny hop to catch the toy. Something I hope bodes well for field work. By the time we got back to the truck he was a pooped pup. After we got home I did just a few minutes of downs, sit beside me, and wait at the door. Then to his crate, and as I write I am sure he is dreaming of his next birdie adventure.
Introducing Reed
Posted by jake on Mar 13 2010 | Comment now »
Born January 2, 2010, Reed is my third Golden Retriever. He is also the first dog I have ever attempted to train in any type of field work. Oh, and by the way, I have absolutely no experience in this area either. So this journey is for both of us. I will log our training, trials, and tribulations so others might learn from our experiences.
Starting March 21, 2010 Reed and I are headed to the Northern California Golden Retriever Club Live Shot Flyer Day. This should be a hoot. So check back on our progress. I will also try and post my daily training of clicker training, teaching manners, socialization, and of course that all important potty training. All of this training will be supervised by the very capable and world-renowned agility dog handler/trainer Kathie Leggett, aka my wife.