TRAINING:
Not all training goes as planned and Cobber and I are no exceptions. Cobber has most things under control, except walking to heel, he is just full on and quite a handful. I had tried all the methods I knew, like twirling a rope in front of his nose as we walked, I continually changed direction while walking in an attempt to curb his tugging on the lead, all to no avail. In times like these you swallow your pride and ask for help. I asked our Registrar, Ken Jelbart, who by the way is a far better trainer than me, for advice and the following was what he advised.
“I’m not being quaint; a dog can’t pull if it has nothing to pull against. It is about a 3-minute exercise to teach the dog not to pull.” By that Ken means when the dog starts pulling on the lead, yank it back then let the lead go loose, tell the dog to sit, then when it has calmed down, start walking again. Repeat this process if the dog starts pulling again. The dog will soon get tired of not going anywhere.
Most people will tell you to walk the dog on your right side, but I think this is because most hunters are right-handed and by keeping the dog on your right side you tend not to shoot directly over your dog. Seeing that I am left-handed I have trained Missy to walk on my left side for exactly that reason.
TO JUMP OR NOT TO JUMP:
This one has been a bone of contention for as long as dogs have been used for hunting. I am strictly against a dog jumping a fence for two reasons.
- In all the areas where I do my hunting all fencing is of wire construction with the top rung usually being barbed wire. It is not a pretty sight if a dog gets tangled up on the top rung, barbed wire is a cruel lesson teacher. I have trained Missy to sit by the fence while I get through, then I lift the bottom rungs and call her through, a far safer method as far as I’m concerned.
- I have also trained Missy to enter water slowly when doing a retrieve, especially on dams as during drought time farmers tend to fence their dams off with star pickets and wire to prevent stock from becoming stuck. Very few farmers remove the star pickets etc when the dams fill again. Not a pretty sight to see a dog impaled on a star picket after a massive leap into the water
In some areas fences are made of stone so it is necessary to train your dog to jump. I have included an excellent article concerning this that was published in an old ‘Outdoors’ magazine by noted trainer, Roy Burnell.
