Work ethic

Devon and I have done three sessions of field training this week. I decided to reviewing our lining drills to give Devon some variety in her training sessions. I also decided I didn't want to do the same drill 2 days in a row, again for variety. I'm using drills in the Gamekeepers Retrievers Transition Manual, since we train with Mitch White, as well as drills collected in Carol Cassity's Building A Retriever book. Carol's book is extra fun because it has Bizzy's littermate Blitz on the front and photos of him and Bizzy inside.

Tuesday we just beat out the rain and did a wagon wheel. A wagon wheel is a lining drill where you stand in the middle of a circle and there are small piles of bumpers around you at the end of "spokes" on a wheel. You're trying to get the dog to go straight away from you to each pile of bumpers without going to the pile of her choice. This is a drill that helps with going straight for blinds.

We only did "half" a wagon wheel with only five small piles.  They ranged in distance from about 25 yards to 50 yards. We were on a soccer field, so Devon could easily see the bumpers. She struggled a little with this drill since it's probably been last fall when we did it. She got the hang of it and did great after the first 3-4 bumpers. She picked up 20 bumpers in all (four at each station).

This morning, we threw bumpers with Beth and her dogs Reba and Denver. We set up two nice advanced singles for Reba, who has two legs on her JH, and shortened them up for Denver who is still a 1-year-old puppy in training. Both of her dogs returned to heel and held the bumpers like pros!

The singles transitioned nicely into a double for Devon. She wanted to focus in on Beth instead of her memory mark, but she turned and nailed her double and held steady until I sent her. We repeated it and she did even better, jumping some ruts she stepped through earlier. I liked seeing this drive.

Then I remembered I was supposed to do a blind after throwing marks, so I put Devon back into the van and set up a blind. I tried a walk up for the double and Devon did really well. I probably should have warned my gunner what I was going to do, though! The blind didn't go as well. Devon went out well, but curved to the right with the pressure of the hill. Once she winded the bumper she would handle and she forgot her sit. It was ugly but she got them. I think I'm going to do a sight blind next time.

This afternoon, I set up a Three In a Row drill in my side yard.  This is three buckets in a line and I put about 15 yards between them. Then you stand at angles to the buckets and send the dog to each one. This teaches a dog to hold the straight line as the go past "suction" or something that would draw in their attention. When they are sending to the middle or far bucket, they have to go past other buckets with bumpers.

Devon was eager to go outside, but she instantly found something to eat on the ground. I think it was the remains of a bird's nest, and I couldn't call her off of it. She had her collar on and I gave her a correction for not coming which she ignored. I checked the collar and it was indeed on. This was shades of things to come.

Devon worked the drill and was successful given the difficulty. She had some failed attempts, and when she was wrong, I gave her a verbal, "No, no" and called her back to me. She was slow to respond to coming back to me because she was wrong. We moved to the opposite angle, and this side was harder for Devon. She worked through it but was wrong twice in a row. I called her in and she didn't want to come. She finally stopped and stared off into space and just stood there ignoring me and my commands.

Many people would have said I should have made things easier for Devon. Many people would have said Devon was stressed and I was being too hard on her. But even you're clicker training, the best say when they stall out, don't make things easier; make them think. Devon knows to come when called. She knows absolutely to come when called in field where it could save her life. I have never and would never call her to me to punish her. I have also never punished her for making a mistake when she didn't understand. 

When she ignored my repeated commands to come and stared off into space, I gave her a collar correction. It was a fair correction for a known behavior. It was what most field pros would consider too mild of a correction. I don't "fry" my dog; I will correct her for ignoring a known command. The correction I gave Devon today was milder than an Invisible Fence collar correction. The correction worked. Devon not only came back to me, but she stopped fidgeting in heel position; she got down to business and marked her line on the first request; she cantered to and from the piles; and when she made a mistake, she never shut down again.

Mitch calls this reminding them of work ethic. Sometimes you fuss with a dog and work with them and the performance continues to spiral downward. The mild correction I gave Devon at the start of the session was so mild, she ignored it. It actually didn't do any good and allowed her to continue her poor work ethic. But all it took was one real, fair correction, and I got her attention and she realized she needed to step up. 

I compare what happened today with Devon to something that will occasionally happen in the workplace. Sometimes you know you aren't working up to your full potential. If someone nags you, you brush them off and continue on your way. However, one stern remark from the boss, and you kick it into overdrive and you get the job done with style. 

Devon just needed a little reminder today that she needed to get the job done. Once she was reminded, she stepped up and did it in style! Knowing Devon, we won't have this problem again for a long time.