Just the other day I was having a conversation with a good friend about training dogs. We got to talking about the training window. What I mean by the training window is simply this. There is a certain time to give a dog correction when working them on birds or when teaching obedience. This small window is when you can really teach a dog what you asking it to do. Here’s and example. Yesterday we were working a young Brittany dog on some quail. She went on point and the birds started to run on her. At first she stood the birds until she couldn’t take it any longer and she busted point, started chasing birds and was out of the country trying to catch one single bird (which she never did). As we analyzed the situation we realized we had missed the window to teach her not to chase birds and what we wanted her to do when the birds were running. if we would have been closer to her, had a check cord on her, or be able to use the e-collar in that split few seconds we could have turned the situation into a learning session instead of a goof off session. So how do you learn to use the window. Practice, Practice, and more practice. That’s the biggest difference between a professional trainer and a novice. Knowing how and when to use the window to teach a dog.
Sadie Pointing Quail
Running Little Buggers
