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Some people are dog people, some people are cat people, and I guess some are both. I’m dog through and through. In fact, I spend more time with my dogs than I do people. I actually prefer it that way.
Many of my fellow bird hunters are polishing up the basic training of their bird dog puppies about now. They brought home the eight-week-old squirmers in early spring and have had six months to prepare the pups for chilly mornings and game birds. I feel left out. My two dogs are 13 and 8 years old. With the standard formula of seven human years to one dog year, I will be entering the fall season with a rather geriatric team.
For the bird hunter this is a no-no. You always want a pup started when your youngest dog is around 6. That ensures that the upstart will be well seasoned by the time the elder retires. We’ve owned three dogs at a time and it became obvious we had overestimated what our house and patience could withstand. Two is the limit, so no sweet puppy breath and chewed-up shoes until the oldest is chasing birds up in the sky.
The problem with many puppies I’ve seen is they grow up too fast and often end up as dogs that are out of control, neglected, and even abandoned. My wife and I take our dogs for hikes around our home and we inevitably run into other dogs. Normally the dogs we encounter ignore the owners completely regardless of how much yelling and gesticulating is directed at them.
Don’t get me wrong, my dogs are no angels and I’m no professional trainer but they are under control even when off leash. I can’t count how many times I have commanded my dogs to sit and stay while another dog barrels in and tries to start a fight or generally disrupts what was a pleasant outing. All the while the owner, although apologetic, thinks it’s amusing or cute.
Which brings me back to dog training. It takes very little effort and time to train a dog, any dog, regardless if it’s a sporting breed or an ankle biter. The initial training of a sporting breed of dog covers all the basic obedience that all dogs should master. I don’t have room here for much more than a crash course in dog training, but can give you an idea of what has worked for me.
I know it sounds “new age” but you need to bond with your puppy. I make trips to the breeder before I take the pup home and handle it and snuggle it up to my beard so it smells me—a mild form of imprinting. That way, when the big day arrives there is less stress from being separated from its littermates and mother.
One of the biggest hassles is house training, and if that’s not accomplished, then Fido is destined to a chain in the backyard. Crate training is a reliable method, but that’s a little too complex to review here.
Generally, don’t wait until the puppy squats—take it outside to the same basic spot over and over and over ad nauseam and praise it when it does its deed. Despite a few expected accidents, in a short time it will be house trained.
Once a puppy is adjusted to its new home you can start teaching all the obedience fundamentals, like the command to come, sit, lie down, stay, and heel. The key is to be firm and consistent, and to keep all the training sessions short and fun. Fun is an important and overlooked component. You need to convince the dog that it’s more fun hanging out with you than running off by itself. My dogs have learned this, and after being let out the back door to relieve themselves, I will find them lying in the yard staring at the door waiting for me to come out and play.
Bird hunters use three command methods: voice commands, whistle commands, and hand commands. For instance, I teach my dogs to sit by saying, “Sit,” and gently pushing them down to a sitting position and then praising them. During the sessions I will mix in one sharp toot of a whistle and a raised right hand. Eventually the pup plants its butt at any of those three commands. The same basic method can be used for all training. By mixing in whistle and hand commands with voice, you can gain control of your dog under all circumstances.
I mentioned consistency. The puppy needs to understand that there is no maybe when you give a command. If it doesn’t comply, you have to stop everything and make it comply right then and there. If you are diligent the dog will know you mean business and as Dog Whisperer’s Cesar Millan would say, you become the “pack leader.”
Most importantly, I believe that every dog regardless of breed needs a job. It doesn’t matter if that’s retrieving sea ducks off the coast of Maine, or bringing in the family newspaper. Teach and give your dog a job and a purpose. That’s the road towards a well-behaved and balanced dog. (P.S.—It works for human pups, too.)
Brad Eden is an artist, writer, Registered Maine Master Guide, and owner/editor of the online magazine www.uplandjournal.com.
Many of my fellow bird hunters are polishing up the basic training of their bird dog puppies about now. They brought home the eight-week-old squirmers in early spring and have had six months to prepare the pups for chilly mornings and game birds. I feel left out. My two dogs are 13 and 8 years old. With the standard formula of seven human years to one dog year, I will be entering the fall season with a rather geriatric team.
For the bird hunter this is a no-no. You always want a pup started when your youngest dog is around 6. That ensures that the upstart will be well seasoned by the time the elder retires. We’ve owned three dogs at a time and it became obvious we had overestimated what our house and patience could withstand. Two is the limit, so no sweet puppy breath and chewed-up shoes until the oldest is chasing birds up in the sky.
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The problem with many puppies I’ve seen is they grow up too fast and often end up as dogs that are out of control, neglected, and even abandoned. My wife and I take our dogs for hikes around our home and we inevitably run into other dogs. Normally the dogs we encounter ignore the owners completely regardless of how much yelling and gesticulating is directed at them.
Don’t get me wrong, my dogs are no angels and I’m no professional trainer but they are under control even when off leash. I can’t count how many times I have commanded my dogs to sit and stay while another dog barrels in and tries to start a fight or generally disrupts what was a pleasant outing. All the while the owner, although apologetic, thinks it’s amusing or cute.
Which brings me back to dog training. It takes very little effort and time to train a dog, any dog, regardless if it’s a sporting breed or an ankle biter. The initial training of a sporting breed of dog covers all the basic obedience that all dogs should master. I don’t have room here for much more than a crash course in dog training, but can give you an idea of what has worked for me.
I know it sounds “new age” but you need to bond with your puppy. I make trips to the breeder before I take the pup home and handle it and snuggle it up to my beard so it smells me—a mild form of imprinting. That way, when the big day arrives there is less stress from being separated from its littermates and mother.
One of the biggest hassles is house training, and if that’s not accomplished, then Fido is destined to a chain in the backyard. Crate training is a reliable method, but that’s a little too complex to review here.
Generally, don’t wait until the puppy squats—take it outside to the same basic spot over and over and over ad nauseam and praise it when it does its deed. Despite a few expected accidents, in a short time it will be house trained.
Once a puppy is adjusted to its new home you can start teaching all the obedience fundamentals, like the command to come, sit, lie down, stay, and heel. The key is to be firm and consistent, and to keep all the training sessions short and fun. Fun is an important and overlooked component. You need to convince the dog that it’s more fun hanging out with you than running off by itself. My dogs have learned this, and after being let out the back door to relieve themselves, I will find them lying in the yard staring at the door waiting for me to come out and play.
Bird hunters use three command methods: voice commands, whistle commands, and hand commands. For instance, I teach my dogs to sit by saying, “Sit,” and gently pushing them down to a sitting position and then praising them. During the sessions I will mix in one sharp toot of a whistle and a raised right hand. Eventually the pup plants its butt at any of those three commands. The same basic method can be used for all training. By mixing in whistle and hand commands with voice, you can gain control of your dog under all circumstances.
I mentioned consistency. The puppy needs to understand that there is no maybe when you give a command. If it doesn’t comply, you have to stop everything and make it comply right then and there. If you are diligent the dog will know you mean business and as Dog Whisperer’s Cesar Millan would say, you become the “pack leader.”
Most importantly, I believe that every dog regardless of breed needs a job. It doesn’t matter if that’s retrieving sea ducks off the coast of Maine, or bringing in the family newspaper. Teach and give your dog a job and a purpose. That’s the road towards a well-behaved and balanced dog. (P.S.—It works for human pups, too.)
Brad Eden is an artist, writer, Registered Maine Master Guide, and owner/editor of the online magazine www.uplandjournal.com.
