Time, Patience and Understanding Equals Early Perfection

Ryman's Allegheny Snow at Six-Months of Age

By John Fetters
© 2009-2010 Fetters Setters, all rights reserved

The average amateur dog trainer ~ or owner training his own dog ~ should have a great deal of training himself before he attempts to field finish his dog.

The chief fault with the beginner is that he expects too much of his young dog, too soon. He is certain the dog is simply willful, and he is sure that the shortest route to a cure for this evil is through the liberal use of the shock collar or other harsh methods.

Dogs are miles away from mankind in the matter of intelligence and in a knowledge of right and wrong, yet there are dog trainers who ask and demand more of a young dog than is expected of a two-year old child.

When the young dog bolts into a covey of birds he has pointed, the question of "right and wrong" never enters his head.

He simply likes the fun of locating and routing out the birds. Of course, he must be trained away from such a fault, but it is not a good idea to be in a hurry to "shock" a knowledge of his error into his head.

It hurts the dog to begin with, as he knows he has been shocked for doing something that pleases him and for doing something which is natural behavior to him. In the course of time, the dog will learn to associate the birds with the shock of the collar.

And the recollection of the shock will frighten him and he may even begin sneaking away, perhaps becoming a confirmed blinker.

Catching the dog in the very act and punishing him for his fault, then and there, by using forceful and/or harsh methods is the kind of punishment that puts the "wrong" wisdom into the dog's head.

I have found that the most desirable age to put the finishing touches on a young dog is about one year of age, but even a dog of this age should and must be handled carefully, and allowed to have occasional fun romping in the field.

The more serious side of training and finishing a dog should be postponed until he has added at least six months to his age.

A number of beginners feel they should wait to train a dog in the field. However, the first real lesson of importance the young dog should be taught is to stop to the order of "Hold! Hold!"

The best plan is to begin this lesson at feeding time when the dog is very young. When the food is set down, the dog should be held gently a few feet from it, the trainer saying gently to "Hold! Hold!" and at the same time stroking the dogs head and checking him lightly to restrain him.

After the dog has been held as well as may be to the command "Hold!" for about a minute, the order "Go on" should be given, and at the instant this order is given, the dog should be permitted to rush to his food.

This simple "lesson" will transmit to the field and make field training much more pleasurable for the trainer and the dog as well ~ as the dog will then associate the "Hold!" command with priase and reward.

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The Wing on a Line Attached to a Pole Training Method ~ Stop! Don't Ruin that Pup!

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By John Fetters
© 2008-2009 Fetters Setters, all rights reserved

Typical eight-month old Female English Setter
by Roscoe Gladstone and Irene Cooper (circa. Early 1900s)

You've been looking for a new Gun Dog puppy for months and months -- maybe even years.

You've checked the various bloodlines relentlessly, talked "dogs" with all your buddies and interviewed breeders until you were nearly blue in the face.

Then one day ~ perhaps three states or more away from where you live ~ you find your new Gun Dog puppy and it is love at first sight for both of you.

The breeder proudly shows you that the pup avidly points a wing on a line attached to a pole in the yard.

Locks rock solid on that wing.

And a blissful future of bountiful upland game hunting with your brand new hunting buddy flashes through your mind. You can't stop smiling all the way home with your new four-legged hunting buddy in tow.

As soon as you arrive home, you call your best friend and tell him about your new pup and urge him to hurry over and see him. And when your best friend gets there, he too marvels at the pup's ability to point a wing on a line attached to a pole in the yard.

This goes on and on. Everyday.

And using the wing on a line attached to a pole, your pup's pointing is becoming even more intense. Your friends and family are amazed and your new pup is praised continuously for his abilities. You are training him "by the book" after all.

But then upland game season rolls around and your new pup seems to have lost all his instincts when you get him out in the field and into cover.

He runs right over birds.

Repeatedly.

Like they weren't even there.

What happened here?

You've trained him "by the book," used the wing on a line attached to a pole with him repeatedly and it is like every pointing and hunting gene in his body suddenly just up and disappeared.

So it must be the breeder who sold him to you or bad genetics or both. Right?

Wrong.

There have been numerous pointing dog pups out of some of the best breedings ever undertaken by good breeders and later, when a pup did not perform in the field, the blame mostly always has gone right back to the beginning of the pup's life ~ right back to the breeder.

As a classic example:

An owner of a black and white male Pointer of Danish breeding asked me to evaluate his young started seven-month old pup. He initially informed me that the pup would lock up on rock solid points and was stalking all types of wild birds, butterflies and even bees in the yard.

I asked how the dog was doing in upland game cover on wild game birds.

The owner's reply was: The dog covers the terrain with ambition but would not point anything.

The owner further informed me that the dog would run right over game birds and act as though the birds weren't even there. And the owner already had begun blaming the breeder for breeding and selling a pup that didn't have a nose for finding game.

However in the meantime, the owner and his family had grown quite fond of the pup and he had brought the pup to me to see if I could salvage any of his "genetic abilities." I took the pup for an initial three-day evaluation period. The dog obviously had a nose to scent game but didn't know how to use it.

I contacted the the owner to inform him of the pup's progress and also to learn what else I could ascertain regarding this particular pup's background.

Upon further investigation ~ and upon finding out more about this pup's early training ~ I learned that the owner had "read all the books" and had started using the wing on a line attached to a bamboo pole routine the moment the pup arrived at his new home at seven-weeks of age.

To make matters worse, the owner adhered to his "training book learning" so faithfully that he failed to use any good old "common sense" at all.

After bringing his new pup home initially, the owner was so excited about his new pup's "sight pointing" abilities in the yard that he was calling all of his friends and having them come over to see this little super pointing machine.

His friends pronounced the pup a "Super Gun Dog" ~ being as duly impressed as they were ~ and the pup was repeatedly praised after each and every "wing on a line attached to a pole" performance.

As it turned out ~ with the owner "reading all the right books" and thinking he was doing the right thing ~ this pup was being subjected to this "wing on a line attached to a pole" routine day in and day out for a long period of time.

The end result was a seven-month old pup completely confused later in field and cover hunting situations.

A pup who was even further confused as he knew he had been rewarded before with praise for doing something that was already instilled in his genetics ~ which he had received from his sire and dam at conception ~ when pointing the wing on a line attached to the pole in the yard.

Making matters worse, the pup was also keenly aware that his new master ~ whom the pup had grown to love and adore ~ was not very happy and knew it was because of something he, the pup, was doing.
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Sure, it's a real thrill seeing your new or prospective pup point a wing on a line attached to a pole. However if this routine is repeated often enough, it is a sure fire way of turning out a pointing dog that needs to actually see the prey in order to point it.

That's correct.

With too much of this type of training, the pup will eventually get into the habit of having to see his prey before he actually points.

And this will confuse the poor pup even more due to all the praise he previously received during the wing game in the yard.

So with this particular Pointer pup, no "genetic engineering" was needed (as the owner had first suggested). All I had to do was teach the poor confused pup how to use his God-given nose again. And the owner and his dog had many pleasurable years of hunting experiences afterwards.

I do not put much stock in this type of yard training.

I am not impressed by breeders who use this method to show the pup's pointing abilities as this pointing talent is innate ~ and a result of good breeding ~ of every new Gun Dog puppy.

Other than being used as a way to impress people, it does very little to help the pup become the best Gun Dog he can be ~ and may, as demonstrated above, even have quite the opposite affect.

I much prefer the use of live birds hidden in cover to get my dogs' scenting abilities correctly honed so they will know how to optimally use what they were blessed with at birth.

There are many good books written on Gun Dog training by "professional trainers." Although any good trainer worth his salt will tell you that you simply can't train every Gun Dog using the same "by the book" methods over and over again.

Don't get me wrong here. Books are a great starting point for advice to the beginner.

But if you try to use the same "by the book" methods of training for each and every dog you own ~ just "go by the book" and don't stop to use some good old "common sense" you inherited from your own family's bloodline ~ you will end up creating more problems than you can imagine.

After all, if we would "go by the book" and train all our dogs exactly like "the books" tell you to train, we would end up with far too many confused and problem dogs.

If the training books really worked on all dogs, we would have perfection to the extent of all dogs' hunting abilities being perfectly cloned.

We would not have Field Trial Champions due to the fact that all of our dogs were trained "by the book" in exactly the same manner and there just wouldn't be any competition ~ for all dogs would perform exactly alike.

And last but not least, we would not need the assistance of the Professional Trainers ...

You know, the people who write all the training books in the first place.

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