My Duck Dog Training A to ?

I am NOT a knowledgeable dog trainer. As of September 2007 I am 6 month along on this trip and make no claim as to my proficiency. But, perhaps if you see a little of yourself in what I do/don’t do/have trouble with/frustrations/etc. I will have succeeded in letting you know that as a trainer, you aren’t alone.

Training a duck dog to me, Ron Gill, is a grand series of ups and downs. I have decided to begin documenting my training sessions for my own personal enjoyment and perhaps personal reflection to make me a better trainer. If you are reading this you either are training a duck dog, thinking about training a duck dog, wish you were training a duck dog, or just have far too much idle time in your life.

The cast of player in this drama:

We have one dog We now have two dogs - Wimberway’s Jojoes Tucker - Tucker for short. He is a neutered yellow lab 23 months old. His heritage has limited success in the area of hunt testing and trialling. In two weeks we will pick up a new pup, 7 weeks old, from B-Line Kennels. She is a black lab with a better than average heritage of retriever trial champions. Her name is BLine for the bird boy, call name: Artemis (greek goddess of hunting).

My human family consistes of my wife Joanne, daughter Jenni (12yo) and son Andrew (9). Joanne has been involved with the puppy training and takes care of Tucker as a pet. She gets the mundane chores accomplished while we are out ‘playing’ with the dog. But with the new puppy coming she is hoping to become involved with formal training.(and the rest of us doing laundry etc) Jenni is now Tucker’s main handler and my full time training partner(now that she is over handling real dead ducks) Andrew is Tuckers full time playmate and has just recently become interested in the training. I’ve evolved from dog owner to trainer to handler to bird-boy/bus-driver. Presently, I am chief architect of Tucker training regime.

Relavent history

Tucker was purchased as a family pet. It was apparent, shortly after his arrival, that simply walking him was not going to be enough exercise for this “high energy” dog. I took Tucker (@ 6 month) in April ‘06 for his first ‘retriever training’ at the kennel where he was whelped. The breeder, Sandy Briggs was very helpful and made sure that at that age, I kept it FUN, FUN, FUN. I staggered along for the next year reading only one locally produced training book, all the while thinking Tucker was doing GREAT. That I was actually training him to retrieve bumpers (we owned 2) and tennis balls. - what do you mean that was natural instict?

The spring of 2007 was our TSN turning point. I had heard about a training group called the Georgian Bay Hunting Retriever Club - another local retriever owner had attended a couple of their training sessions. They were located an hour and a half away and I made my first fateful trip to a traing session in late May 2007. Anna Morrison Scott and her sister Eden Beardsall are to me and dog traing what Yoda was to Luke Skywalker and the force. One of the GREAT advantages of choosing dog training as a persuit is that the people, ALL the people, involved are willing to assist you. If you are reading this and you have yet to find a training group - google HRC and find the club closest to you - do it NOW! - yes, stop reading now and get googleing…I’ll wait for you…

One day I may sit down and attempt to do justice in telling Tuckers back story completely…as I remember it….the reason I’m blogging here is so I record the events as they are happening, not coloured by time and experience.

Where we are NOW in training

Tucker has earned his Canadian Kennel Club; Working Certificate (WC) and has two (2 of 3 needed) passes towards his Junior Hunter (JH) title. We have also been running him in the HRC (hunting retriever club) events, and he has two (2 of 4 needed) for his Started Hunting Retriever (SHR) title. With the help of all family members, Tucker won the first “horses patute” trophy ever issued at the Georgian Bay Hunting Retriever Club (GBHRC) this past weekend - dubious award for sure but earned none the less. I knew training him to retrieve a beer for me would come in handy…just never thought he’d win an award for it.

We train about 5 time each week now but, in the summer we trained on average 9 times each week - morning and evening. These sessions include Jenni handling and myself throwing bumpers or coaching her on blinds. Andrew and Joanne come out once each week to assist with the training. we only manage to get down to the GBHRC once each month.

Training Geek Alert(I’ll post up an index explaining some of these terms for any novices shortly): Tucker is capable of running cold blinds. Does land doubles out to 200yards and has recently begun doing triples. He also does water marks out to 150 yards. He has been decheated and has completed swim-by. We will continue training through the winter and hope finish his titles JH and SHR in the spring. We’ll graduate to Senior Hunter and Seasoned Hunting Retriever tests shortly there after. I also hope to run Tucker in Qualifying Trials by next fall, if we are ready by then.

Dog training specific equipment that I have accumulated over the past months

1. Collars
   1. flat puppy
   2. flat adult leather
   3. flat adult nylon
   4. choke chain
2. Leads
   1. two 4 foot
   2. one 6 foot
   3. one recoil lead
   4. one coated metal tie out
   5. one long line rope (50′)
3. Kennels - two large (office and home) - soon both will be used at home
4. Dishes - two sets home and work/travel
5. Bumpers - Small: 6 white, 6 orange, 3 black and white, Large: 6 White
6. Backpack to make carrying the gear easier
7. E-collar - tritronics flyway model
8. dummy E-Collar
9. heeling stick (crop)
10. posts -seven fiberglass - used for various drills and yard work
11. Flagging tape / survey tape - neon, comes in a roll
12. walkie talkies - 2 rechargeable and very cheap
13. duck call
14. dog whistle - not the silent type - very loud
15. white shirts / jacket to use when throwing birds for the dog & when handeling on blinds
16. decoys - six
17. small tarp - used as a holding blind to mimic a hunt test situation
18. Borrowed a 209 primer firing pistol - fires blanks to simulate shotgun fire (thanks Mr D.)
19. Books, videos
20. Large water jug
21. Two Zinger Wingers with dogtra electronic releases

Other stuff I have used that came in handy:

1. canoe
2. ATV
3. Waders
4. Rubber BOOTS!!!
5. Largish vehicle

Sources of training information - most to least

1. Training group - (for me it has been GBHRC: Anna, Eden, Marvin, Keith, etc, etc.)
   1. I need to mention that I have also trained with two other large groups and a number of other amazing individual trainers - there are a lot of people out there to help you - did you do your googleing?
2. Books / Articles
3. Videos
4. Internet Retriever Training Bulliten Boards
5. Asking specific questions posed to specific people on these boards

That is the end of the back story, you are up to date…on with the training…