Jeff Smith's dog training tips Hershey enjoys some training. Two great pups for sale Just a quick note: I have 2 female Labs unspoken for out of a litter that was whelped about 6 weeks ago. I have one yellow and one black female left. They will be 6 weeks old on April 15. They are sired by my boy Nitro and they are out of a really nice Blk female from Butte. If anyone would like info they are welcome to email me and I will get them details. They are nice dogs will make good hunting or competition dogs and each of the parents are very level headed so they will be good in the house as well. -- Jeff 4-14-2007 More discussion on marking Howdy Everyone! Hope everyone has been enjoying the bit of spring weather that we have been having. We are going to continue our discussion about marking but first I wanted to just mention the Pet Food recall just to make sure that no one misses this very important recall. For those of you that, are not familiar with this recall. This is the largest pet food recall in history. It affects almost 100 different brands of pet food, mostly canned and soft pet foods. The problem with the food is the Wheat Gluten. Apparently most of the pet food companies buy their gluten from one single supplier; Menu Foods. Wheat Gluten is used as a protein source in most of these dog foods and when they are testing the Gluten for Protein levels what they test for is Nitrogen. Generally the higher the Nitrogen level, the higher the protein. Melamine is high in Nitrogen even though it has no real protein in it. Apparently what has happened is that prior to Menu Foods buying the gluten some added Melamine to the gluten in order to make the gluten look like it was higher quality then it really was. Of course higher quality Gluten sells for more money. The amount of Melamine added to the Gluten is about 6%. This is what has been making the dogs and cats sick. If you feed canned dog or cat food please take the time to check to see if the brand that you are feeding is on the list. The most current information can be found at the following link. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/02/recall.links/ Ok now on to our marking. If you take a look back at the tip for the week of March 31st you will see where we left off. I was going to continue here with some tips on how we can make our marking drills more productive for you and your dog. The first thing that I can tell you is that a good helper is invaluable. Someone that can help you in the field that really helps is worth their weight in gold. There are many situations in a young dogs life that having help in the field will save you a ton of time training and will also help the dog progress faster with less confusion. The first rule here is that you the trainer needs to k now what is and what is not a good helper. If you have any questions in your mind go seek help from a local training group or even better go be a bird thrower at a local test. Ask to throw for one of the lower stakes. Good birds throwers are made not born. So we will assume for discussion sake that you have a helper that is somewhat trained in what to look for when working with the dogs. The first thing we need to be sure of is that the person that we put out in the field knows exactly what we expect of them for each mark thrown as the reaction of the helper will not be the same in each situation. So communicate and remember that we all make mistakes so be patient. Unlike our dogs our help can make the decision to leave and not come back. So work as a team. The most obvious thing that a helper brings to the training is that we have some one that can throw out in the field. You have heard me say before that we can't throw everything for the dog from the line (Point of Origin-POO). We have to teach the dog to look out in the field. Hopefully we started this when the dog was very young but if not don't fret we will just teach it now. So with your helper out in the field we will line up our dog for the mark and when you and the dog are ready for the mark you will signal your thrower to throw. You must have an attractor out in the filed to draw the dog's attention to the mark. This is where a duck call comes in handy or a goose call. So the whole situation should go like this. Your helper is in his or her designated spot. With birds or bumpers, whichever you are using. You walk your dog to the POO. You sit your dog and let the dog have a moment to take in its surroundings. When you are ready you will signal for your thrower to begin the mark. This begins with the duck call. Right when you signal for the call you should cue your dog by saying, quietly, "mark" and your helper should start the call immediately. The helper needs to be aware of the dog. Throwing a mark for a dog that is looking away will not help the dog. Many times when the call starts it can echo off of some object that you have near you. That echo can actually pull the dogs head from the person in the field. We need to make sure the dog is looking at the mark when it is thrown. We don't want the thrower to blow the call too long either. IF we do that the dog can loose interest in the sound and start to look around. You can start to see here that the helper is a training team member not just a helper. Be sure to talk about these things before going out in the field. Not in the middle of the session. If things get confusing then stop the session for a bit and discuss your expectations. Anyway back to the throw. You have signaled for the throw, you have told your dog to "mark", your caller gives a few crisp blows on the call and then throws. Your throwers job is now to watch the dog. Not talk or make noise or move around. You don't want the thrower to distract the dog in any way. But you need for the thrower to really watch the dog. If the dog runs out does a little hunt and finds the object - great. But if the dog does not you don't want the dog to come back into you. You need the dog to stay out in the field and hunt till it finds the bird. Prior to the session define in your mind how much of an area you are going to let the dog hunt before helping the dog. I try not to help the dog unless I think it is going to leave the area of the fall. And the size of the area of the fall is going to change depending on the circumstance. If the throw is pretty close, say 30 or 40 yards, then the area of the fall is going to smaller then if the mark is at 100 yards. If it looks to you like the dog is loosing interest and is going to leave the area of the fall you then need your helper to help. They can do this is a couple different ways. The help can simply blow a call or two on the duck call to remind the dog of the fall. Or you might need for the thrower to walk part ways towards the area of the fall.. Or the dog might need to have another object thrown for it. This is where you have to make some decisions on the fly based on the situation at hand. If you have your helper carry more than one object out in the field have them in a bag or a bucket. Not loose in your helpers hands. A hunting vest works pretty well also. What you don't want to have happen is for the thrower to put an object on the ground while he or she trying to help the dog. It makes it too easy for the dog to pick up that object at the throwers feet. You can't let that happen as then the dog will look to the helper for the birds to the point where if it gets bad enough many dogs will just run out to the thrower and sit waiting for the thrower to basically give the dog the object. I am sure that at this point that you are beginning to understand just how important good help can be but also that the thrower out in the field has some real responsibility when it comes to training. OK so you should now have a better idea of the throwers roll in training. So now we need to talk about a couple simple marking drills will really help the dog out as far as progressing it's marking ability. As you know I like to do a lot of singles. Multiple marks are certainly important but you will find that the dog will do a better job of moving to multiple marks if it has had a lot of singles in a variety of situations. One of the drills that I like to do on a regular basis is called walking singles. It is just as the name suggests. You have your thrower out in the field and he throws singles while he walks in a semi-circle around the dog and handler. The thrower goes out into the field with 5 objects if there are going to be four throws. The thrower can start on either side and it is good to mix that up from day to day. The drill is quite simple. You decide where you are going to have the thrower walk. And we want to think about what we are doing when you go to the field. These are not just four arbitrary throws. You need to think about terrain, cover, etc when you are doling this drill. Each mark should be thrown for a reason. If the dog is gun conditioned then the thrower should have a primer pistol or shotgun as well as the bumpers or birds to be thrown and of course the duck or goose call. Try to do everything with as much consistency as possible as far as how you handle your dog. Getting them lined up to the mark. The timing of the commands should be consistent. For example try to use the same timing when you say the word "mark" and call for the birds. If the dog is gun conditioned then when you signal the thrower will call for a moment and then throw and shoot. And whether the thrower has a shotgun or a pistol I like to have the thrower point at the object as if it were really being shot at. Then of course after the mark is on the ground then you will send the dog. It is important that the dog be ready for these drills. For instance the dog should have pretty good obedience. A dog that will not sit still and look out will have a hard time marking. If you are worried about the dog not sitting and waiting for the object to be thrown then run the dog with a lead or a collar. This is a marking drill so you want to remove as many distractions from the situation as you can so that the dog can concentrate on what you are trying to teach. Then the drill is simply having the thrower start in one position and then as each mark is thrown and picked up then the thrower walks in a semi circle around the dog and handler and continues to throw singles. I usually like to do about 4 or 5 marks per session. I might do more than one session in a day but I keep the number of marks to no more than 5 throws. If the dog has trouble with one of the throws just repeat it until the dog gets it right. If your dog does something that is unexpected, stop and think about it. Try to see the situation from the dog's point of view. Did the dog see the mark? Was there a distraction in the field? Is the dog running over a type of terrain that it has not seen before? Really think about what is happening as you do the drills. This will help you learn to read your dog and it will help you understand what to expect from the dog in different situations. I thought that I would get this in 2 parts, but it looks like we will go for part three next week. If you have any questions please feel free to email me. dogman@montanaoutdoor.com And don't be bashful. I am sure some of this sounds complicated and some of it is. So if there is anything here that you do not understand ask me about it. Till next week - Good Training! -- The Dogman 2-10-2007 Don't get stuck at the line! Howdy Everyone! Hi everyone, When it comes to marking drills for our dogs it is important to teach the dog to look out and scan the horizon. One of the most common mistakes that I see individual owners make with their dogs is to throw everything from the line or "Point of Origin". This is perfectly natural on the owner's part. You want your dog to be steady so you have him by your side so that you can control him and you throw your bumper or shoot your retriever trainer from that position. Now don't get me wrong you need to do plenty of these kinds of drills. However, it is important that your dog also learn to look out in the field. If all you do with your dog is upland hunt then you might get away with just training this way. But if you are a waterfowl hunter, throwing everything for the dog from the line it will limit your dog's ability to find birds in the field. This will happen from two different points of view. First since dogs are place oriented, if you throw everything pretty much the same distance each time, your dog will get in the habit of going out that distance and will begin his or her hunt. Most folks can toss a bumper about 30 to 40 yards. A retriever trainer will throw further but it throws pretty much the same distance each time as well. Your dog will very much get in the habit of going out that distance and that is it. If you have been picking up everything at 30 to 40 yards and you toss a 70 yard mark the dog will have a hard time getting that far out as it will begin it's hunt at that 30 to 40 yard distance and then for a young dog the tendency as they don't find the object is to work back towards the line until they either get help or give up and come back to the trainer. Do not fault the dog here. It is the training that has caused this. Also, for a dog that has everything thrown from the line that dog never learns to look out at the horizon for incoming birds. So when that dog gets to go the duck blind it will not have the ability to see birds that are coming in which will make it much harder for the dog to mark those birds. All of this really puts the dog at quite a disadvantage. So what we need to do is to mix things up a bit during training. That means that you will need to have some help from time to time. You need someone out in the field throwing for your dog. But we need to be sure to do a few things while we are doing these drills. First I like to use a command associated with the throw. Over a short period of time this command will cue the dog to look out into the field. I like to use the "Mark" for the command. So I will have the dog next to me with my thrower out in the field. Since the dog needs to have some help looking out I like to use some type of attractor that comes from the thrower. My personal choice is either a duck or a goose call. So I sit my dog by my sit ( if it is sitting ) if not I just have the dog stand by my side and I let the thrower know that it is time to throw. I normally do this by raising my hand opposite from the side I have the dog on. When I do this I tell the dog to Mark and if things are as they should be the thrower should give a couple blows on the duck call and then throw the bird. I like to vary the time that I have the dog stay with me before he is released. Then I release the dog on his or her name. Repeat this drill a few times maybe 4 to 6 and then quite. I want to stop with the dog wanting to do more. I do not want to work the dog until it is getting tired of the drill this way we will keep his desire up. After you have done this for a few sessions and the dog is getting the hang of it then start to vary the distances and the areas that you are throwing. Now don't try to progress the dog too quickly as it will get the dog in trouble. If you have been working at 50 yards don't change that to 100 yards. Work the dog up to 100 yards. Have the throws at 50 yards then 60 then 70 and so on. And as far as terrain mix that up as well. Don't just do everything on level open ground. Have the dog run up hill, down hill, work against different backgrounds such as tree lines, mountains, skyline etc. This will help the dog learn to really mark the bird. Depth perception is something that the dog needs to learn and we can only teach it by putting the dog in different training situations. When the weather warms up start to do some of this work in the water. Again start short when introducing the dog to new situations until the dog gets some experience. After the dog sees several different situations then you can start to challenge the dog more. However, use common sense here so that you are training for success not for failure. Lastly, when you send your dog for a mark, don't let the dog come back in if the dog can't find it. Be sure to instruct your thrower to help the dog out if needed. It is not that hard to see or "read" your dog to tell when he or she is about to give up the hunt. Also, don't let the thrower make the decision to help unless you have a very experienced person in the field. If the dog looks like it is getting to end of the hunt tell the thrower to blow the call a once or twice and walk towards where the mark was thrown. The call will help the dog remember that it is looking for something and the thrower walking towards the mark will help guide or "pull" the dog to the area of the fall. You can also have the thrower carry more than one bumper or bird out with him and if need and I usually only do this if the dog has given up the hunt and is coming back to me you can tell the thrower to blow and throw again. Be sure that the mark goes to the same general area as the first mark or we will defeat the purpose of the drill. Timing in this situation is quite important as you do not want the dog to come too far in so if you see the dog turn towards you and start coming you want to have the thrower get on that call immediately and then the thrower needs to watch to see that the dog has turned back to look at the thrower before the second object is thrown. The dog can't mark something it never sees. It just all takes a little practice and teamwork between you and your helper. With good consistency and several sessions before you know it you will have a dog that begins to focus it's attention out in the field, which will make later work like teaching multiple marks much easier. Till next week - Good Training! -- The Dogman 2-10-2007 Keep in mind how dogs learn Howdy Everyone! Sorry to be a slacker for the last couple weeks. To be honest being on the road almost every weekend for the last month just got me a little behind. But we will try to do a little catching up here. When I ended my last tip I was going to talk about ways to gun condition a dog if you don't have access to live birds. However, after doing my seminars for the last six weeks I have decided to talk about a different subject. When you train every day, training for the most part becomes very much a reaction sequence as opposed to a thought process. Except for the more advanced work or the occasional dog that tries my patience as well as challenges my knowledge and experience training, is based on habits that have been built over time. But then when you spend several weekends talking and teaching about how to train properly it really gets you thinking about the basics all over again. The most basic concept that we need to keep in mind is how dogs learn. If we don't keep that in mind then everything that follows is a whole lot more difficult. Dogs learn by association. This is what Pavlov discovered, that you could "teach" a dog a, conditioned response by giving it consistent repetitions of associated stimuli. The link below goes to a fun little game that is a good example of this. http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/pavlov The point that I want to key on here is the consistency part of the equation. By far the biggest mistake that I see dog owners make is being inconsistent in their handling of their dog. Remember, when you have a young dog you are pretty much always "training" the dog. Probably the one command that I see used most inconsistently is the recall command. I use the word here, many folks prefer the word come and it really doesn't matter. What does matter is that you choose one word to use for the command and stick with it. I can't tell you how many times I have had people show up with their dogs and tell me how well mannered they are and then they take off the investigate the place and they try to call the dog back and of course it won't return. I can understand that but usually what happens is that the owner starts with one word, a sound in the dogs mind, and invariably the one word turns into "come", "here", "come on", "let's go", they whistle, they clap etc. So the first issue is that the dog is being given a recall command and not being made to comply to it. And there are many repetitions of that here. Then secondly, the dog is being given a virtual smorgasbord of sounds that are supposed to result in the same response. It just doesn't work. And it is perfectly natural for people to do. We spend our whole life speaking to one another., and we have a large vocabulary. So now we have an animal that we are using our verbal skills to command. Our natural tendency is to fall back to what we are used to and to start to use more words then we need hoping that the dog will "understand" and eventually come back. The dog usually does come back, after it has finished checking out what it feels like. The dog comes back because it makes he decision to do so it is not in any way a conditioned response. We want to build good conditioned responses in our dogs and we can only do that if we are consistent. From the very first time that your puppy comes into your home decide on the commands that you are going to use and use only them. And then be careful to not put the dog in situations that you are giving the command the, and the dog does not have to comply. This is especially important in the early stages of training. Do recall exercises on regular basis using a long line of 75 to 100 feet long. Vinyl clothesline works well. Get out with your dog for walks in places were he or she can get some distance from you without getting tangled up and occasionally call your dog and reel him using the line. As the dog is coming in to you repeat the command and when he gets to you praise him and then release him or her to go off investigating again. Repeat this several times during your walk and take these walks on a regular basis. This goes for all dogs not just a puppy. Even a dog that has been allowed to have it's way for whole life can come around pretty quickly using the same technique. You need to use this same consistency in all areas of your dog's daily life. If you build some habits as far as your approach to your dog you will find that you will end up with a much more compliant dog in considerably less time. We'll go back to gun conditioning nest week but I felt that this was important enough to take the time to talk about it. Till next week, -- The Dogman 1-20-2007 All about gun conditioning your dog Howdy Everyone! Last week I ended with the comment that all the socialization that I have discussed over the last two weeks did not include shooting a gun around your dog. To me, Gun Conditioning is more than just getting the dog used to the sound of the gun. I want the dog to associate the gun not just get used to the sound. Now there are many folks that do the shoot prior to giving them dinner or just get out and shoot around the dog till the dog gets "used" to the sound. In my training the procedure for Gun Conditioning is much more of a specific process. I want the dog to associate the gun directly with birds. In other words I want the sound of the gun and the desire for birds to be equal in the dogs mind. We can only do this if we train for just that result. As we know dogs learn through association, using consistency to produce a conditioned response. In order to condition the dog to the gun we first have to get the dog chasing (Going Away) with a high level of desire and momentum. This training procedure has nothing to do with the dog bringing the object back, that we deal with in other areas of the training. For this exercise we need the dog strongly going out to pick up the object that is thrown. Preferably, the object that we use is a bird. I use pigeons for this and that is really the best way to do it but I realize that not everyone has access to live birds. So I will offer some suggestions on how we can accomplish the same thing even if you do not have birds to work with. For this training the age of the dog really is not the issue here the drive of the dog to the bird is. Gun Conditioning can be done early in the dogs training and I usually like to get my puppies done when they are 3 to 4 months old. In other words it is one of the first things that I do with my dog. In the perfect world this is how it should be done. I start with getting the dog going out for the retrieve with good momentum. I want the dog driving to the bird to pick it up. I start this using clipped wing pigeons, just tossing them off the line for the dog. Still keeping in mind all the things that we have talked about up to this point. I have the dog by my side, tell the dog to mark, toss the bird, have the dog be still for a couple seconds and then release using the dogs name. Usually the dog is going nuts at this point as the pigeon being a clipped wing will be up walking around or trying to fly which provides a lot of attraction for the pup. I am not concerned about anything other than the drive that the dog has to the bird. If he goes out grabs it and kills it that is ok. We will fix that later. The last thing we want to do during this training is to make the bird seem in any way bad and getting excited and reprimanding your dog at this stage because he chews up a bird is the last thing that we want to do. The benchmark that I am looking for is for the dog to not do anything but go get that bird with speed and focus. I look for the dog to put his or she head down as they get close to the bird. Totally committed to getting a hold of it. If I have a dog that does not progress to that point using clipped wing birds then I use "fly-aways" for a few sessions to try to get the dog to really turn on. These are birds that I have dizzied prior to tossing them for the dog. I still have the dog at my side and I dizzy the bird. To do that you hold the bird and move your hand in a circular motion for about a good 10 or 15 times. If you have a friend that has pointers they should be able to show you. But if you do it a time or two you will get the feel for when the bird is dizzy enough to take a few moments for it to be ready to fly. So I have the dog by my side as I said and dizzy the pigeon and then still go through my routine and toss the bird. The bird will not be able to fly for a few moments. I hold the dog by my side until the pigeon is up on it's feet and alert enough to fly and then I release the dog. The object here is for the bird to fly just prior to the dog reaching it and then letting the dog chase the bird till the bird is gone. I like to do this 2 times a session and I do this until the dog is really rushing in to try to get the bird before it takes off. Obviously you want to do this in a rather large area, though I can tell you that normally the dog will stop within a couple hundred yards. Once I have the dog really going after the bird it is time to begin the gun work. I start with a primer pistol but if you do not have access to one a .22 will work but I would start with shorts not long rifles. For this exercise you will need some help, a person that will shoot the gun. Your job it to pay attention to your dog and your helper's job is to shoot immediately when you signal. For this you are going to go back to clipped wing pigeons. What you are looking for is for the dog to be committed to picking up the bird. Watch for his head to go down when the dog is around 10 feet or so from the dog. This is the time that you want to signal your shooter and it is imperative that the shot come immediately. I am left handed so I put the shooter on my left. I like to start with the gun about 30 yards to my left and I have the shooter point the barrel of the gun away from the direction of the dog for the first couple shots. I signal for the shot by raising my left arm. What we are doing here is giving the dog the shot just a millisecond prior to getting to the bird. You need to pay very close attention to your dog to see if there is any reaction to the gun. You want the dog to never take his attention off the bird. If the dog so much as looks at the gun prior to the bird then you need to go back and do a few more sessions of just tossing the birds for the dog. The dog should not show any sign that it even heard the gun go off. If you have done a couple weeks of retrieving work the dog should be fine. Assuming that the dog shows no reaction to the gun then repeat this 3 or 4 times with the gun staying where it is. End the day there. For the next session have the first shot from the original position and if all is OK the then have the gun move 10 yards closer and go through retrieves and that ends the second session. The third session close the distance by half which will have the shooter just a little under 10 yards. I like to do a couple days at this distance. If the dog is doing well then about the 5th or 6th session we go back to the original position but now we will use a 20 gauge or a .410 and go through exactly the same procedure that you did with the primer pistol. By the time you have finished with the 20 gauge the dog should already be showing excitement from the time you pick up the gun to out to do your exercises. After the training with the 20 is finished then go back and just spend a session or two with the 12 gauge and you will now have a gun conditioned dog. This is now a dog that associates the gun with the reward of getting a bird. He may be scared by other loud noises like fireworks or thunder but I can assure you that he or she will always put a smile on when ol betsy comes out of the gun closet. Now I realize that not everyone has access to birds. Though I think most can find them if you give it a good try. However, there will be times when it is just not possible. Next week I will talk about how we can accomplish the same association to the gun if you don't have access to birds. Good Training! -- Jeff, The Dogman 1-13-2007 Getting your gun dog started Last week I talked about general socialization of puppies but didn't really get into situations that are specifically associated with Gun Dogs. There are definitely things that you can do if you plan on your dog growing up to be a hunter while he or she is in the puppy stage. No matter whether your dog is a flusher, retriever or a pointer playing fetch is a great thing to do. Especially is the pup is of the retriever breeds. Lots of folks will tell you to shy away from balls or sticks etc if the dog is to be a hunter or competition dog, and to that I say - bologna. My old competition dog, Nitro and I were running ESPN in Arkansas a couple years ago. Our first series was a long blind that was across a field surrounded by hardwoods, mostly oak. Now old Nitro and I do a fair amount of Squirrel hunting and I have over the years killed a couple hundred Grey Squirrels over him. Now I honestly think that he likes the squirrels better than the birds sometimes. I mean he about turns into a hound dog, treeing squirrels and baying at them while they are treed then fetches them right up and brings them to hand. Yes I eat them and they are darn good. I'm from the south so you will have to give me a break there. However, my point is that during this particular blind there were squirrels running everywhere and yes he gave them a good look as he ran by them to pick up the bird. Though he loves the little tree critters he knew darn well what we were there for and did his work just as he should. It doesn't matter what you toss for your dog, the point is that he bring it back and that he be lavishly rewarded for it in return, and the more the better. I like to start in a hallway with no escape routes except past me. In the house a balled up sock works pretty well. Make it fun but be consistent. Make the pup stay still by your side for a second before you release him with his name. Let the pup go pick it up and then call him back. Use "Here" or "Come" whichever you prefer but again be consistent. Don't interchange them and try to avoid adding words (sounds) to the command. For example don't say "here" one time then say "here boy" the next and then something else the next time. Get into the habit of using one word commands. And I do consider the dogs name to be a command. It is the command to retrieve. Your dog can recognize your voice so you do not need to use his or her name when you call the dog. Try to do as much of this as you can, and again make it fun. Remember this is a puppy let him be a puppy just have patience. It might not seem like he is learning anything but I can assure you, he is and all this play will result in a much more solid dog in the future. Now I am not a big advocate of treats but they do have their place and this is one place where a treat now and then can really reinforce how much fun this is. When the pup gets pretty good at retrieving in the house move the pup outside and put it on a 30 to 50 foot lead. These can be bought or you can just make one. Continue your retrieving outside with the long lead and when the pup goes to get the object you toss gently reel him in using the recall command that you have chosen, I personally use "Here". Again reward the dog big time. And when you do move outside, be sure to continue having the pup stay steady for a second by your side and using his name to release him. The pup does not have to be sitting it just needs to be still. If you are diligent in doing this building a steady dog in the future will be much easier. Take you dog for walks in increasingly dense cover. Now that does not mean to take a 10-week old puppy through a thick cattail patch but you can sure work towards that. Get the dog used to walking through short cover at first and as the dog becomes more comfortable increase the height and the density of the cover. Spend a lot of time touching and grooming your dog. I like to do this up on some type of bench. This teaches them to be comfortable off the ground. When you pick the dog up to put it on the bench use a command like "load". The Command "load" is what I use to put my dog in a boat or into my truck. It is normally associated with a situation where the dog is going to leave the ground. Not the same as "kennel" which I use to tell the dog to go into his crate. If you take the time to work on this then you will have a dog that is easy to work on when the need arises such as an emergency in the field. I can also guarantee you that your Vet will love you as 95% of the dogs that they see will not stand quietly on an examining table. When the water warms up take the pup for walks around the water and if you have another dog that likes the water take him too. There are few things that will make a puppy get in the water faster than another dog. If your pup does not take to the water right away don't fret it. You can deal with it later. That last thing that you want to do is to create a negative situation associated with water. Positive and negative experiences are quickly imprinted in dogs. If you create a bad situation for the pup in relation to water it will not be forgotten. If you don't have a dog that swims and your pup does not seem to get it then get in the water your self and coax the pup in and then reward physically and verbally. Again, if this does not get the dog in the water don't make a big deal out of it, it can be worked on later. And be sure that the water is fairly warm at least the upper 40's if not warmer. It can be quite a shock to a young dog getting into cold water for the first time and there is also a train of thought that swimming your young dog a lot in cold water can be a little tough on the joints If you have a small boat like a canoe or small inflatable teach the pup to get in and out of it on land. Just drag the boat out into the yard and get the pup used to getting in and out of it. Sit in the boat and do some retrieving and when the pup comes back help him in the boat and again reward. If you have a few decoys put them in the yard as well and have the pup run through them to retrieve the object. Though this all seems like play to the dog it is setting the stage for a dog that is comfortable with all kinds of situations that the dog will see in a normal day of hunting. The one thing that I would caution you about is shooting around the dog or exposing the dog to fireworks. At least until the dog is gun conditioned which I will talk about next week. It is a very specific training procedure that will ensure a dog that is properly conditioned to the gun. -- Jeff, The Dogman 1-6-2007 Socialization of a pup is important Hi Folks - Happy New Year! Last week we talked about crate training pups and giving them a good solid routine. But I may have left people with the impression that my dogs spend a lot of time in their crates. Nothing could be further from the truth. Along with a good stable routine, socialization is just as important and probably more so. The old idea of waiting until a pup is about 6 months old to start it's training is just plain wrong. Training should start as soon as the dog comes into the home. Socialization is a very important of that training. The more social situations that you can introduce your puppy to in its first 4 or 5 months of it's life the better. Interaction with people is critical. You especially want to try to get the puppy around children. Keep in mind you should never leave a child with a puppy without proper supervision. The biggest issue to watch for concerning, children, are their hands. Children have a natural tendency to grab a puppy's and of course puppies have a natural tendency to bite those fast moving little hands. Be very clear with your children that grabbing at the puppy, is not acceptable behavior. Another thing that children like to is to run from the puppy causing the puppy to chase, jump and bite. Try to avoid these situations. Beyond that one point, the more time the puppy spends with children the better, as it will help avoid behavioral issue towards children when the dog gets older. I also want to point out that these suggestions are for all dogs not just the hunting group. There are some specific recommendations for that group to go along with this but this socialization that I am talking about is good for all dogs. Try to get the puppy out into as many situations as possible. Take him or her for rides in the car. Teach the dog to walk on a leash early so that you can take the puppy for walks in places that are busy and have lots of noises. Places like Petsmart, which welcome pets, are great places to let your dog see strange dogs. In fact a good puppy class at a place like Petsmart is not a bad idea. The classes are not too expensive and the puppy will get several chances to interact with strange dogs in a situation that is totally under control. It also starts to get the puppy thinking and the more the puppy does that in it's first months the better the dogs brain will develop. There are two key ideals that you should keep in mind. First, in social situations where your dog exhibits fear or tentativeness be careful about comforting him or her too much. This will tell the dog that that behavior is acceptable. When I have a dog act like this I usually just verbally tell the dog that it is Ok and I am very consistent with the use of the "command" OK. I then basically ignore the behavior and go on with my business. If you get in to the habit of trying to comfort or "baby" your dog you can end up training that behavior as a conditioned response. You also need to use a little forethought as to the situations use put the dog into. For example, taking a 10 or 12 week old, puppy for a walk downtown where there is constant traffic lots of people etc., might be a little too much for a dog that age. Part of it has to do with the age of the dog and the balance is controlled by the dog's personality. Try to learn to "read" your dog as far as how to progress the pup through the early months. The other side of the coin here is aggressive behavior. Do not allow it. You need to use patience and firmness here. A physical correction can be appropriate here. However, that does not include hitting the dog. If I have a dog that shows aggressive behavior either towards a person or another dog I have found that taking the dog by the muzzle, not so tight that it can't breath. But, firmly turn his head so the he has to look you square in the eyes and give the dog a good solid verbal "no". But then you need to finish the contact between the dog or the person that the pup showed the aggressive behavior towards and as long as the contact is acceptable reward the dog with some good physical praise. Next week I will talk about some specific things you will want to do if you plan on your dog being a gun dog. Till then take care. -- Jeff, The Dogman 12-30-2006 What to do with a Christmas pup Based on the number of ads that I saw for puppies in the paper the week before Christmas. I gather that quite a few of you have some of those very puppies. Although, I don't think that bringing a puppy into the home during the holidays is the best idea, many folks do. If you have that new Christmas puppy you need to ensure that the proper steps to be sure that the puppy gets the correct attention. The most important and best thing for the puppy is to get it on a solid routine right away. Pups under 6 months old needs to fed 3 times a day and you should do your best to have those feeding time as consistent as possible. Also time outside should be somewhat consistent as well. Now that doesn't mean that you should not take the pup out any time you want but there should be some set times that are the same each day. A good example would be the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. And then of course the puppy should go out side after each feeding time. You can start to house train your puppy right away And one of the best tools for that is a dog crate. Every dog that I get in gets crate trained even the older ones. Even dogs that do not like the crate in the beginning will come to find it a safe place where they can go and have their own space. However with a puppy they generally crate train quite quickly. Don't get a crate that is too big for the puppy. An 8 week old lab for instance should not be put in a crate any larger than an intermediate and a small would be even better. You don't want the crate so small that the dog does not have any room to move around but you also don't want it to big as the puppy won't feel as comfortable as the space is to big but it also give the pup a chance to go to the bathroom in the crate and not have to be in it. I like to put a cedar floor in my crates. You can make your own or buy them. the following link is an example of what I am talking about. These are not the ones that I use but very similar. They provide a solid floor the your dog and it also allows urine to flow to the floor below keeping the puppy out of urine in case it happens to go while in it's crate. To see, you can go to: http://www.diamondbacktactical.com/Cedar-Insert-P1656C257.aspx. My first suggestion is to feed your puppy in his crate. That will help make the crate a "good" place. I am not a believer of "Free Feeding" a dog, in other words just leaving food out all the time and letting the dog eat at will. This leads to two issues one is weight. Free fed dogs have more of a tendency to be over weight and then second I find that free fed dogs just don't eat as well. Most puppies like to eat so it is not that hard to use the food bowl to entice the puppy to get into the crate. And then I let the pup have about 15 or 20 minutes to eat and then remove the food and take the puppy out. By giving the puppy a set amount of time to eat he or she will learn quickly that they need to eat when they are fed. If you do this you will find throughout the life of the dog many times when this will come in quite handy. In addition you know exactly how much the dog is eating each day, which allows you to control weight and also to for see illnesses if a dog goes off his food. A crate trained puppy will also house train much quickly. As long as you are good about getting that puppy outside to go and watch it carefully when it is loose in the house (never unattended) you will be able housebreak the pup fairly quickly. Generally speaking a puppy can hold for one hour for each month of age. So you should expect that a 3 month old puppy should be able to go 3 hours without having to go to the bathroom. Now I find that many dogs can go much longer especially at night. One thing that you can do is to limit water after about 5:00 in the evening then if you take the pup out for the last time between 10 and 11 at night most pups should do pretty well until 6 or 7 in the morning. Be sure to take the puppy out immediately when he wakes up. Before you even grab for that first cup of coffee that pup needs to go out. You should expect that your pup is going to bark when it first starts it's crate training. There are a few things that you can do to help keep this to a minimum. First try to get the pup out as much as possible. Exercise is a key element of a puppy's development. If the pup cries when you put it in it's crate to be fed just ignore it. Let the pup have its 15 to 20 minutes to eat and then remove the bowl and take the pup out. Puppies need to sleep quite a bit upwards of 18 hours a day. So naptime is pretty important. After feeding and going out for a good play is a good naptime. Again I put the pup in its crate if it cries take a towel and cover the front of the crate. Try to have the crate in a place that is not too noisy. You can always move it later. But in the beginning while the pup is beginning it's crate training it is ok to put the pup in a little more secluded area. Now it sounds like I keep my pups in the crate quite a bit but I really don't next week I will talk about the other side of the puppies development - Socialization. 12-16-2006 It's time to worm the dogs When we think of the health of our dogs, many times we forget about worms. I like to worm my dogs 2 times a year. I worm my dogs at the beginning of the New Year and then again in the middle of the summer. If you prefer you can have your dog tested for worms but the test will cost about the same or more than worming your dog. As long as you properly worm your dog, there is very little risk to the dog. There are four common intestinal worms -- Roundworms, Tapeworms, Hookworms and Whipworms. For the most part, the life cycle is passed on through the feces of the dog. Which is one of the reasons that it is important to clean up after your dog when in public areas. If your dog happens to be carrying worms, you will not pass them on. At the same time it is very easy for your dog to pick up worms, especially in urban areas, where the density of dogs is much higher. Eggs from worms can lay dormant in the ground for some time so there does not have to be feces visible for there to be a chance for your dog to pick up the eggs. The most common symptoms of worms are a dull coat, bloated stomach, fatigue and of course there are times when you will see worms in the dogs stool. If left untreated, worms can cause your dog to become very sick and can even cause death. There is another type of worm that has become very common in most areas of the country, the Heartworm. This parasite affects the Heart and is passed by mosquitoes. Here in western Montana we do not have a high incidence of Heartworm however, it is showing up in many areas on the eastern side of the state. If you live in an area where Heartworm is common you should have your dog on Heartworm medicine throughout the year. Treating a dog for Heartworms if it has them can cause death in a dog so you should have your dog tested for Heartworm prior to starting a preventative Heartworm program. Although there are many over the counter products sold to worm your dog, your best choice is to talk to your vet. You will actually save money as well. Most of the over the counter products are fairly expensive and most do not kill all the species of worms that are commonly carried. Your vet will make sure that you use the correct medicine and more importantly you will be sure to get the correct dosage for your dogs weight. So make a new years resolution to get you dog wormed, your dog will be better for it. 12-9-2006 Keep those pets safe during the holiday season One of the things that make the holidays such a wonderful time of the year is family and your dogs and cats should certainly be included in the fun. If you keep your animals in mind when preparing your home for the season your can lesson the chances of your pets getting sink or being injured. Although my suggestions are mainly for dog owners many are important for cat owners as well. Mistletoe and Poinsettias are common decorations during this time of year and both of these plants are poison to animals so be sure to keep them in places where your pets can't reach them. Christmas lights and the electric cords that come with them can be quite enticing to pets. So when you string those lights make sure that cords are safely tucked away where they can't be chewed on or played with. You should also give some special consideration when putting up your Christmas tree. Make sure that it is well placed in its stand to minimize the chance of your dog or cat pulling it over. Watch those ornaments and that tinsel, as both can be dangerous if chewed on or swallowed. Also, if you use any kind of water treatment to keep that tree looking good don't let your dog or cat drink from the tree stand it could make them very sick. Lastly try to keep your animal schedules as normal as possible, it will lesson anxiety during the season, especially with all the extra distractions that come with the season. If you keep feeding times and exercise times as normal as possible your pet will feel much more comfortable throughout the season and that will make for a better family member. Happy and safe Holidays to you and your pets! -- Jeff The Montana Outdoor Radio Show is sponsored by: