There are others, but you get the
idea. Everyone has their own set of
required manners. Think very carefully
about every action you deem is OK
for your dog. Too far one way and you
risk teaching the dog that it can take
liberties and exert dominance. Too far
the other way and you risk crushing
her spirit and reducing the bond you
have with her. Bottom line is that your
dog should fit in happily and be easy
to have around.
Every dog needs a different level of
pressure to achieve what I call ‘happy,
secure compliance’ and you need
to read your dog carefully. Don’t be
afraid to adjust the pressure as you
go, to ensure this. Just make sure
that you are consistent. I like Cesar
Millan’s philosophy - he preaches
‘calm assertion’, which is a very good
description of how you should be with
your dog. Apply pressure to behaviours
you don’t want and give praise for
behaviours you do.In Home Training
So, where are we going with
all this? I believe that much of the
initial stage of training your indicator
dog, once the base commands are
understood, can be simply integrated
into you and your dog’s daily routine.
This may be a bit different for other
hunting disciplines where more
specific commands are needed.
This can be a huge time saving in
some ways, but I actually think the
real benefit is that your dog simply
considers those commands part of life
and not just something that happens
on the lawn for ten minutes in the
evening.
Don’t get me wrong – training
sessions to reinforce commands
etc are fine – but training should
be part of the whole day, not just a
bit of it. I know that skin drags etc can
be called training sessions too though.
I have my dog around me a fair bit, but
in my opinion even if you work away
from home for eight hours a day, you
shouldn’t have a dog unless it can be
fitted in to the remainder of your day
at some point. I’ll give you a couple of
examples – the first is what I call ‘round
home training’.
When I began to teach Sami to stay, I
did what others do and made a place
board. Google it if you need to¬ – it
can be a great tool. With Sami it got
used only twice as I could see she was
frightened of it, which was going to
be counter-productive to the lesson.
It wasn’t the chain etc. So the place
board went on the burn pile and I put
a peg in the ground (she was alreadyAs well as the stuff I have talked about, I also started to teach Sami to track up deer
scent quietly. She quickly clicked on to this, but to be frank once we started hunting
the real thing it was hard to interest her in a skin drag.Getting the basics right early means that your young dog can then be exposed to new
situations in a controlled but positive environment and without creating problems
for either of you. As well as the commands, they also need to be exposed to the other
critical things like creeks, terrain and weather etc. Sami settles in to her routine
quietly while Matt looks for a deer.There are a bunch of things a young dog has to learn aside from all the commands and
manners too. Like riding on the transport in to a block and not jumping or falling off.
Young bones and joints break easily so tread carefully here. I started Sami when she
was small and I could easily hold her and make her feel secure. I did not let her jump
off until she was older. She quickly learned to lie down along my back and that was
where she stayed. She loves the bike and all transport for that matter.38 NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE ~ August / September 2019There are others, but you get the
idea. Everyone has their own set of
required manners. Think very carefully
about every action you deem is OK
for your dog. Too far one way and you
risk teaching the dog that it can take
liberties and exert dominance. Too far
the other way and you risk crushing
her spirit and reducing the bond you
have with her. Bottom line is that your
dog should fit in happily and be easy
to have around.
Every dog needs a different level of
pressure to achieve what I call ‘happy,
secure compliance’ and you need
to read your dog carefully. Don’t be
afraid to adjust the pressure as you
go, to ensure this. Just make sure
that you are consistent. I like Cesar
Millan’s philosophy - he preaches
‘calm assertion’, which is a very good
description of how you should be with
your dog. Apply pressure to behaviours
you don’t want and give praise for
behaviours you do.In Home Training
So, where are we going with
all this? I believe that much of the
initial stage of training your indicator
dog, once the base commands are
understood, can be simply integrated
into you and your dog’s daily routine.
This may be a bit different for other
hunting disciplines where more
specific commands are needed.
This can be a huge time saving in
some ways, but I actually think the
real benefit is that your dog simply
considers those commands part of life
and not just something that happens
on the lawn for ten minutes in the
evening.
Don’t get me wrong – training
sessions to reinforce commands
etc are fine – but training should
be part of the whole day, not just a
bit of it. I know that skin drags etc can
be called training sessions too though.
I have my dog around me a fair bit, but
in my opinion even if you work away
from home for eight hours a day, you
shouldn’t have a dog unless it can be
fitted in to the remainder of your day
at some point. I’ll give you a couple of
examples – the first is what I call ‘round
home training’.
When I began to teach Sami to stay, I
did what others do and made a place
board. Google it if you need to¬ – it
can be a great tool. With Sami it got
used only twice as I could see she was
frightened of it, which was going to
be counter-productive to the lesson.
It wasn’t the chain etc. So the place
board went on the burn pile and I put
a peg in the ground (she was alreadyAs well as the stuff I have talked about, I also started to teach Sami to track up deer
scent quietly. She quickly clicked on to this, but to be frank once we started hunting
the real thing it was hard to interest her in a skin drag.
Getting the basics right early means that your young dog can then be exposed to new
situations in a controlled but positive environment and without creating problems
for either of you. As well as the commands, they also need to be exposed to the other
critical things like creeks, terrain and weather etc. Sami settles in to her routine
quietly while Matt looks for a deer.
There are a bunch of things a young dog has to learn aside from all the commands and
manners too. Like riding on the transport in to a block and not jumping or falling off.
Young bones and joints break easily so tread carefully here. I started Sami when she
was small and I could easily hold her and make her feel secure. I did not let her jump
off until she was older. She quickly learned to lie down along my back and that was
where she stayed. She loves the bike and all transport for that matter.
38 NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE ~ August / September 2019