Duck Hunting Training Techniques Can Benefit All Retrievers
Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, mixed retriever breeds as well as all water dogs can have more enriched lives by learning training techniques used by duck hunters.
Once the owner of a retriever has learned the skills to teach his dog all he can be in the field a new world opens up. Training your retriever can become a highlight of family activities and at the same time give the retriever all the exercise he needs.
Too often retriever owners make the mistake of assuming only hunting dogs need to be taught marks and lines. But it is these exercises that keep the dog exercised and at the same time fulfills the basic need to retrieve. Not just throwing a toy a few feet but rather retrieves from a distance. This is referred to as a mark. The dog watches the dummy as it is thrown and then marks the location of the fall. Training dummies are used for this activity and can found at dog supply stores.
A single mark is the best exercise to teach the dog to mark. You will need a helper to throw the dummy. It is best to start with one person helping. Having two or more helpers in the field can cause the dog to gaze back and forth and disrupt his marking ability.
Double marks can motivate the dog to return quickly to retrieve another mark. Have your helper throw a dummy in one direction (approximately 50 feet to begin) and another helper throw a closer mark. Having your dog retrieve the last mark thrown is the usual order of pick up. Place the helpers so that there is no chance of going to the wrong mark. The more distant mark is often referred to as the memory mark. The dog will learn to judge distance if you vary the location of the helpers at each new marking lesson.
You will have a very enjoyable training session as long as each participant knows his job. Here are the steps to keep in mind. The handler places the helper in the field and decides where the starting line should be. He then heels his dog to the line holding him by a rope attached to the collar. He signals the helper with his free arm to throw. The dog must follow the flight of the dummy until it lands and only when the dog is intently fixed on it does the handler send the dog. The helper should remain silent facing the mark as the dog makes the retrieve.
When you are first beginning, find a park-like area with mowed grass and always try to use white dummies since dogs do not see red. Initially, do short marks about 50 feet or less. After a few weeks the training exercises can include water work. So if you are at a pond, lake, or river you can have lots of fun with marking retrieves across the water giving the dog a chance to do what he was bred to do. Once your retriever has successfully retrieved a mark it can be repeated without the helper. This is referred to as giving the dog a line.
The requirement to accomplish the above exercises is basic obedience. This must include the ability to return to the hander to deliver the dummy. Fun short marks can be introduced as early as four months old. Most dogs need a number of months to prepare for marking lessons.
Jean Smith is a dog trainer specializing in training retrievers. She has condensed years of dog training experience into two DVDs. Lessons
http://www.teachmeplease.com from basic obedience through
advanced. Jean has helped hundreds of people
train their own dogs.
Simple home grooming techniques that will give you a healthier and happier dog
Regularly grooming your dog not only has the added benefit of making him look and smell good; grooming your dog on a regular basis also gives you the opportunity of deepening the bond you have with your pet and for checking his general health.
If you have a puppy, take the time now to help him become accustomed to being groomed. You can do this by simply spending time with your puppy and gently his entire body; examine his tail, paws, ears, and teeth etc. Talk to your puppy in a gentle and positive tone, and have some food treats with you, so as you can reward your puppy for his positive behaviour. If you have an adult dog who is not totally happy with the grooming experience, then go back to the basics, using the plan outlined here.
Although basic grooming procedures are generally the same for all breeds of dogs, the amount of time you will need to devote to grooming your pet and the tools you will use, will depend on the dogs coat quality and it’s length.
Breeds with smooth coats are quite low maintenance, and need only occasional bathing, and brushing. Short coated dogs who have a top coat and a more dense undercoat, for example German Shepherds, will require brushing at least once per day, so as the undercoat does not become matted. Curly coat breeds, for example, the Kerry Blue Terrier, will need to be brushed regularly, along with a bath and coat clipping very couple of months. Breeds that have wiry coats need regular brushing, at lead once per day to prevent matting. The longer coat breeds, such as the Such as Yorkshire Terriers, and Collies, need daily brushing and combing, along with bathing and clipping when needed, in order to keep their coats in good condition.
The tools you will need for grooming will vary depending on your dogs coat, however your dogs grooming kit should include the following:
Natural/organic dog shampoo
You can buy organic dog shampoo from a host of online vendors or large pet supply stores. Using an organic shampoo is much kinder to your dogs skin and fur, as it has the correct ph-balance, and does not contain chemicals, or atrtificial colours or preservative, that can be harmful.
Tweezers
Tick removal implement
Tick removal implements can be purchased from your local pharmacy, however, tweezers work just as well for removing ticks.
Brush, comb and or grooming glove
The brush and comb you choose should be adequate for your dogs coat. For example, for dense coats, use a comb with wider teeth, for smooth coats choose a comb that has closer teeth, alternatively a grooming glove.
Electronic clippers
Nail clippers
A small pair of blunt nosed scissors for clipping away unwanted hair from between your dogs pads, or around the eyes.
Vitamin E oil for cleaning your dogs ears.
Dog toothpaste and toothbrush
Towels for drying your pet following a bath
Organic wipes, for cleaning around your dogs eyes
Now it’s time to begin grooming your dog, so lets begin with the messy part first, bathing.
Bathing
You can do this outside or indoors, depending on the size of your dog. If using the bath, first put down a rubber non slip mat in the bath, so as your pet does not slip around. Put a large cotton ball in each of your dogs ears and place him in the bath.
Begin by covering your dogs entire body with warm water, if you are using a shower, keep the shower head close to the dogs body. Next, add small amounts of your dog shampoo to your dogs body, paying attention to his rectum and genital area, and between his paws. Once you have done this you can rinse your dog thoroughly with warm water.
Towel dry your dog to begin with, then if you wish, use a dryer, however, don’t put the dryer to close to your dogs skin, and don’t point the dryer directly into the dogs ears.
Next, let us look at the general grooming procedure you can make on a more regular basis. To begin with, check your dogs coat for dirt, and parasites such as fleas and ticks. Also check the condition of your dogs skin. When you are happy his skin appears healthy, you can move on to combing his coat.
Combing your dog
Always comb your dogs coat in the direction the hair grows, combing small section at a time. If you encounter a knot in your pets fur, use the first tooth of the comb to gently tease the knot free. Hold the base of the knot as you do this, so as not to cause your dog any pain.
Brushing your dog
The next step is to brush your dogs fur gently, but not so vigorously as you will cause ‘brush burn’. Brush your dogs fur in the opposite direction hair growth. Attend to all areas of the body, ie, body, tail, chest, legs and behind the ears. When doing this part check your dogs paws and between his pads for any lodged seeds from grass, grit and dirt etc. Clean and trim any excess fur.
Having done the hardest work, brushing and combing. The next part to concentrate upon is nail clipping. Most dog owners avoid clipping their dogs nails, many leaving it to their vet, but with a bit of practice, trimming your dogs nails will become a routine procedure.
Cutting your dogs nails
Check to begin with to see if your dogs nails need trimming. Dogs usually wear down their nails by walking on the pavement, however, they still may need a trim every several weeks or so.
To begin with, identify the quick in each nail; the quick is the blood vessel inside the nail. It can be seen quite easily in light coloured nails as a red coloured line, but impossible to see in dark nails. Care must be taken not to cut into the blood vessel, as this will obviously be painful for your dog, and will also cause some bleeding.
Cut the nail in one stroke below the blood vessel. In darker nails, make several vey small cuts. If your not sure how much nail to cut if you have a dog with black nails, less is better than more.
Cleaning your dogs ears
It’s now time to move on to your dogs ears. Wax, dirt and fungus can build up in a dogs, especially in the case of floppy eared breeds. During the grooming process check your dogs ears for signs of wax and dirt etc. Smell inside your dogs ears, a foul odour, could mean your pet has an infection, especially id he has been scratching his ears, or shaking his head a lot. To clean your dogs ears, use a natural cleanser, such as an essential oil blend. You can use the following blend to clean your dogs ears, and keep them free from wax build up and infection.Put a little of the blend on a cotton ball and clean each ear.
Ear cleaning essential oil blend
2 drops Roman Chamomile
2 drops tee tree
4 drops lavender
Mix with 20 mls of Sweet Almond or Jojoba oil. Pour into a dark bottle and keep out of sunlight or in the refrigerator. This will last several moths. Use the blend to clean your dogs ears each time you groom him.
Cleaning your dogs eyes
Finally, let us look at cleaning your dogs eyes. It is important to clean your pets eyes regularly, in most breeds this can be done during the normal grooming session, however, with breeds who’s tear ducts can become blocked easily, cleaning around the eyes will need to be done more regularly.
Check your pets eyes for signs of discharge, especially in the corner of the eye. Use your blunt nose scissors to gently clip away unwanted hair, especially at the corner of each eye. When this is done, gently clean around each eye with a wet cloth or an organic baby wipe. These type of wipes are especially good for cleaning your dogs sensitive areas, such as around the eyes, as they contain no alcohol, or other ingredient that is harmful to the dog.
Job done. The more often you groom your dog, the quicker it will seem to become. Having said this, your dogs physical and emotional well being depends on being kept clean and healthy, so make grooming an extra special and fun time for you and your dog.
Ivan Ojounru has been training dogs in the UK since the late 1908′s. He now lives in France where he continues to train dogs and write about dog related behaviour care and trainig topics. He is passionate about giving dog owners the skills, knowledge and confidence to enable them to train their own dogs successfully. For further information visit http://www.dogtrainingcareadvice.blogspot.com
Find Out How to Correct Any of your Dog Training Techniques That are Just not Working
So many people go about dog training completely wrong and typically end up not succeeding at training their dog, which is why many of you really need to take the time out to sit down and do some different research about appropriate dog training and find out what works and what does not. You should not feel bad about not succeeding at properly training your dog though because so many people do this the incorrect way. With all of the many different sources out there that are available for all of us, teaching us how to properly train our dogs, you would think that more of us would be aware of how to do this exactly. This is not the case though, unfortunately, so for those of you who do not know what you are doing when it comes to training your dog, now is the time to find out. All it takes really is a great deal of patience and some time, if you truly do want to be successful at training your dog the right way.
Dogs can easily get confused and if you are only correcting them part of the time then they will just be totally lost as to what it is you are expecting from them. It is very important for anyone attempting to train their dog to remember that you have absolutely got to be persistent, no matter what! Your dog will finally catch on after some time and you will just be shocked at how well behaved they can actually be. Some dogs will take longer to train than other dogs, so, if you do have one of those dogs that is just hard headed then it is important to constantly reinforce everything, without being too aggressive or loud with them and never forget to reward them whenever they do what you have asked of them. It is just like with small children really, you have got to be persistent and rewarding them goes a long way and before long you will notice an enormous difference in their behavior. Your dog will love you and obey you, if you really work with them and by putting forth that effort and showing them how much you care every single time they do something good, you will end up with a very well behaved and surprisingly obedient pet.
Keep in mind that whenever you are using your dog training techniques on your pet that it is so important for their to not be many other noises going on when this is occurring because this would normally cause them to get distracted easily, which will lead you to becoming very frustrated and impatient. These helpful tips can really create the right setting for the best and most efficient kind of dog training, if you apply them every chance that you get and always remind them just how very loved they are.
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Dog Training Techniques, the Fundamentals
We have trained our 2 hunting dogs with numerous dog training techniques. Our Vizslas Abby and Peaches hunt and are competitive in AKC sponsored events. These are the fundamentals with which we teach our dogs.
Flexibility, Consistency, Fairness or Positive attitude are all key to successful dog training.
To train any type of dog, you need a solid foundation. Apply these basics with any dog training method you use.
Remember to trust yourself and your dog while you train. The most important part of successful training is your partnership.
Flexibility – Don’t just repeat what has worked in the past with another dog. Each dog is unique. Be prepared to handle each unique training situation.
Consistency – Dogs learn through repetition. If you send mixed signals or do not correct unwanted behavior every time, your dog will not learn.
Positive attitude – Like people, dogs learn best from positive experiences. Focus on rewarding desired behaviors. Avoid working with your dog when you are frustrated or upset.
Fairness – Never correct your dog out of anger. The correction will not help your dog learn. It will only damage your relationship.
Confidence – Trust yourself!! Believe in your ability to train your dog well, and you will be successful in what ever dog training techniques you use.
Know your dog – Giving dog training commands is not enough. You must also read your dog’s body language and respond accordingly.
React quickly – When you give immediate praise or correction, your dog can make the connection between the behavior and the consequence. That’s how dog training works. But you must be alert so you can respond quickly.
Training notes – Keep track of your progress. Note what works and what doesn’t. List the dog training commands he still needs to practice. Having this information handy will be valuable as you continue learning how to train a dog better.
Enjoy training – When you and your dog have fun, training is easier and more effective. Use games and activities to practice commands and skills with your dog. Be creative and try new things so training never gets boring for either of you.
Tools - Your energy and attitude are important in dog training. But your dog training techniques must also include the right tools: leashes, collars, treats, etc. The wrong tools can make good training impossible.
Start slowly – Do not expect your dog to learn “Stay” if he does not know “Sit.” Do not expect your hunting dogs to follow commands if they do not know basic obedience. Training is a gradual process. Each step builds on the previous step.
Socialization – Dog training commands are only part of obedience. You also need to socialize your dog. That means he needs positive encounters with new people, animals, and environments regularly starting as a puppy.
Environment – Start with a distraction-free environment. You want the dogs to focus on you. As your dogs improve, train in new environments and with more distractions.
Health – Your dog must be in good health during training. Make sure to feed him a high-quality diet, low in artificial products and fillers.
Breaks – Don’t push yourself or your dog too hard during training. Take time for a rest. Sit down together for a drink of water. Play a game of fetch. Go for a swim. Remember to enjoy your dog not just train your dog.
Lizzie Novotny R.N has a researched and informative website about dogs, especially the sporting dog breeds. She raises, trains and shows dogs and horses, and is familiar with all aspects of their care. Find answers to your dog-related questions by visiting her website. So click on http://www.the-hunting-dog.com