Training Tips

Training can be made very easy or it can be made very hard and frustrating by the choices we make...
A few examples;

Call the pup or dog to you and you shove a pill down it’s throat...if you don’t know how to do it it will be a struggle and that creates pups and dogs that will become Leary and not trust when called to come...and then we get frustrated and make another wrong decision and that starts a cycle that will spiral downhill from there...

Knowing how to position the dog and pet him up good when forcing the pill down it’s throat is quite a bit better and the pup won’t struggle but this is not the best way only a better way...
Crush the pill or empty the capsule in a small amount of food in the bowl with a dash of chicken broth and the pup or dog will see it as a treat and when you call him to you he will gladly come to you because you have good things to give to the pup or dog...they are learning to trust you because we are consistently doing the right things...

When roading the pup or dog pay close attention...if they are interested in a scent stop and let them work on it...if they go into the woods wait until they strike or come back out...their minds will be focused on hunting and not on you leaving them behind...not waiting creates trust issues...when waiting on them they learn to trust that you are always always there...the power of trust makes for better hunting dogs...if they can’t trust they will become half a$$ hunting dogs...they will take a quick look and haul a$$ trying to catch up with you...yep, they will learn to take the hot tracks but they will leave the colder tracks alone...

If you want them to give it their best shot then wait on them...if you see where the game of choice could be hidden get off the wheeler and slowly walk in that direction and this gives the dogs a chance to find the game...same thing with winding...if they loop and keep losing the scent then take a look at the wind and see what is causing the dogs to lose the scent...is it channeling or whipping around? Is it skimming over thick brush? We figure and then we act to help the dogs....not to do the work for them but to guide them towards making better hunting dogs...

Another thing about pups that bark too much at the kennel...step out the back door and the pups bark and cry loudly...if we go to them and pet them up at that time you have just given them their first lesson without you even knowing it...they bark and we come and give attention...the pups figured that out by the third time...and now the pups are raising cane each time we step out and this will come to a head one day and this will create more trust issues again...

Ignore the pups and keep doing what you were fixing to do...I use the red rider to get my point across but it is quite a bit easier to get the results I want...if the pups raise a ruckus with excitement on my way to let them out I turn and walk away...I try to sneak up on them so they can be quiet when I show up...it doesn’t take them long to figure out that quiet is better...

If the pup don’t want to kennel at feeding time I won’t try to run him down nor beg him to come to me...I walk up and pick him up and put him in the pen...no harm done and no real issues..instead the new plan is cut back on feed and the pup will gladly kennel when the command is given...usually by the next day and for sure during the following day...

Training is pretty simple when we set up correctly and or take advantage of a good opportunity to correct or praise...sometimes it is best to ignore giving the command if you know you can’t back it up at that moment...