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Right Back To How To Use Your Voice to Train Gundogs
If you look at gundog training in its basic form, then voice seems very important and it also seems like the only way to show a dog what you want it to do. Thankfully, however, that is not usually the case and as most sportsmen and women will know, dogs in the field cannot always hear their handlers, especially if they are working out in front of their handler.

Voice training goes so much farther than simply giving a command and how you use your voice can help you not only train your dog but also build a sustainable bond with him, which will only benefit you when you are out in the field.

When we look at voice training, we are actually looking at the tone of voice. This is something that you should be aware of and you should think in terms of several tones.

• Conversation Tone: I have found that everyone talks to their dogs and will usually use the same tone that they use with adults in a give and take conversation. This is a relaxed tone, the tone that tells the dog that they can relax and don’t have to be on their toes and ready to obey a command. It is important that you train yourself to never use this tone when training or giving a command because it has more of a “maybe” to it and the dog may decide that maybe is good enough and he doesn’t really need to do something.

• Harsh Tone: This is a hard tone for a lot of people to pull off but a harsh tone is not a yelling tone. Actually, yelling does not accomplish anything except negatives. A harsh tone has more growl to it than pitch and it is a tone that you will use to correct the dog’s behaviors. If the puppy is chewing something, a firm growl “No,” with a gentle correction will teach the dog that they are doing something wrong. This is a step in training that can be done very early with a dog and will continue through your dog’s life.

• Command Tone: If you are going to use this tone than you really need to train yourself to follow through on it. This is the strong tone that tells the dog there will be no arguments about things. Commands should be given once and should be delivered in a clear voice that is commanding.

• Praise Tone: When your dog is doing something good, a chipper voice that is filled with pleasure is the perfect way to let your dog know that they are doing something good. It is important to mention that praise should never be bouncy and it shouldn’t make the dog break from a command. If a dog is sitting and holding and you praise him for holding, “Good dog!” it shouldn’t be done in a manner that makes him jump up and break the hold. Instead, he should remain in position and only a small tail wag is evidence that the dog has heard the praise.

• Play Tone: The last tone is the tone that you can lavish praise or play with your dog with and should never be done during a training session. It can be done once training is done and it gives your dog permission to have a little fun after a hard training session.

As you can see, each tone has its set time to use and it can go a long way to training your dog. Not only does it make it clear to your dog what he needs to know but it also alerts your dog to when he needs to focus and when he doesn’t.

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If You Keep Your Gundog In Your House You Need Housetraining

Some Gundog Owners dont House train their Dogs, Ron Never housetrains, But I believe even if you keep your dog in a kennel you should housetrain any dog.

I alwayslove having a puppy at home and always keep him or her in my house but one thing that I don’t love is having to housetrain them. Give me any other training and I will usually be right and ready to get started but then again, there isn’t a lot of middle of the night training sessions to deal with when I am doing other training.

Not that housetraining is that hard and it can be done very easily if you do one thing; train yourself before you train the puppy. Generally, the most problems that you are going to run into with training is going to be more about mistakes that you made and less about the puppy so it is important that you really take the time to properly train your gundog puppy.

Before we look at a few tips, I would like to mention three points that should be in your mind when you begin training. These are:

1. Train according to age: One of the biggest mistakes that I see is the lack of training that is applicable to your puppy’s age. First, you should always start training young, usually when your puppy arrives home at 8 weeks and it should never be put off until your puppy is older than 12. The best window of opportunity is between 8 and 12 weeks of age. Next, make sure that you are setting everything up according to their age. The younger they are, the shorter period of time your puppy can hold their bladder. The general rule of thumb is a half hour to an hour for every month of age. So a puppy that is two months old will hold their bladder for one to two hours. This is important during the night or while you are at work so that you can have someone come and let your little gundog puppy out in the middle of the day.

2. Keep an eye on your pup: Another problem with housetraining is not keeping an eye on your puppy. This is usually when the puppy goes off and has an accident inside. Basically, if your puppy is up, keep an eye on her. If you are too busy to watch her for a period of time, either put her in her kennel or leash her to your belt (this only works if you are sitting, such as working on the computer). When she wakes up, or starts to sniff around, you can take her right outside to go to the washroom.

3. Create a routine: If you want housetraining to work, you will need to create a routine for it. First, make sure that you are getting up, and going to bed at the same time. This will help your gundog puppy set her schedule as well. Next, feeding and watering should also be done on a schedule. While you may offer water all the time when you gundog is older, when they are puppies, only put it out for certain periods in the day (make sure she is getting enough water however). Free feeding and watering can be the death of training and it is really hard to determine when your puppy really needs to go. Also make sure that you have a set routine at night and that you slowly begin to stretch out the hours at night so eventually, your gundog puppy will be able to sleep through the night without having to go. Lastly, always use the same door, and the same routine when you go outside. This will teach your gundog to go for a certain door instead of just wandering around the house when she has to empty her blader.

Whew, those tips were really big but they are the basis of housetraining your gundog. The rest is actually just a matter of individual choice and will be done at your gundog puppy’s own speed and your ability to train them.

To properly train your dog, you should do the following:

• Always take your gundog puppy outside after she has eaten. The length of time between eating and emptying their bowels will be different with each dog so really pay attention to this. I had one dog that wouldn’t eliminate until 45 minutes after eating, even at 8 weeks old and another that emptied their bowels within 5 minutes of eating. The lesson here is the golden rule of “20 minutes” does not apply to most dogs.

• Never punish your gundog if they had an accident in the house. This does nothing for the training and may actually ruin the bond you are building with her. No bond, and there is no sense even starting any gundog training after this.

• If your dog is urinating (or other) in the house, break the behavior. This means that you either say, “NO!” loudly or you clap your hands. Basically, you want to startle enough for your gundog puppy to stop urinating. Once she does, pick her up immediately and take her right outside. When she gets there and continues to do her business, praise her for being such a good dog. (One thing I want to point out is that you should never overuse NO. If you are going to be using no in your other training, don’t use it for now. Any loud command that stops the behavior will work.)

And that is all there is to housetraining. If you want your dog to eliminate on command, which I do with all my dogs, wait until the dog is in the act of defecating (not urinating) and then say, “Do your business,) or whatever the command will be, and then praise the dog for doing it. This won’t teach your dog to go if they don’t have to but it can be a relief to use the command when you having been standing outside for 20 minutes waiting for your gundog to find that perfect spot.

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When Your Gundog Is Young Do Not Rush Their Training

The first time I decided to train a gundog, I realized that it wasn’t an easy task. I mean, sure, the training was actually quite easy and the dog took to all of it without too much difficulty and I had a lot of fun training but I didn’t have a gundog overnight. What I learned with my first gundog was that if you want a properly trained gundog without any problems, then you should expect it to take a fair amount of time.

But often that is easier said than done and everyone, me included, would love to have a gundog overnight. The reality is that all of the best trained gundogs were not trained overnight and if you talk to many handlers, they still aren’t fully trained, even after 2, 3, or even 5 years working in the field. Gundog training is something that occurs over the life of the dog and while you may have a fully trained gundog at two years of age (or younger), you should constantly be working your dog to keep them in the best condition both physically and mentally.

Okay, I had a little of a rant there but the main point that I am trying to stress is that you should never rush your gundog’s training. Generally, when a gundog is being trained, there are a lot of levels and a lot of steps that need to be worked through. Rushing through one stage to get to the other can cause a lot of problems and these are simple:

1. Your gundog is unable to perform tasks in the field. It doesn’t matter how well a dog does something the first time in a training session, if you have rushed it, your dog may not be able to do that task in the field. This isn’t because they aren’t listening but is more because the excitement has reduced your dog’s concentration and your dog will have a hard enough time remembering a well enforced and practiced command that they will be lost on commands that weren’t reinforced.

2. Your gundog won’t listen. While this may seem the same as one, it isn’t. There are commands a gundog won’t know if they aren’t reinforced but there are also commands a gundog won’t listen to if the training was rushed.

3. Your bond with your gundog is affected. Rushing through training can ruin the bond that you created with your gundog. Usually rushed training is more work and has more negative reinforcement than positive. If your gundog doesn’t trust you then he will not take your lead or commands in the field.

4. It is harder to retrain. If you miss any steps in your rush to have a trained gundog, it can be next to impossible to reteach them. Once your gundog has established a way to do something, he will not want to go back to do it right the first time. This means that it is very difficult to break bad habits and, trust me; there will be a number of bad habits arising from rushed training.

All of these problems can mean two things; one, your gundog may be ruined and no matter how much training you reinvest into your dog, they will never perform to the fullest of their potential and two, you will become very frustrated with everything, which will further hurt your relationship with your gundog.

When you do train your gundog, take the time to do so and make sure that you train according to your dog’s schedule, not yours and definitely not the hunting season schedule. If you miss a season, don’t fret because it will come around again very quickly.

Make sure you start training when your gundog is about eight to twelve weeks but make sure that it is simply a fun way to pass the time. At this age it should never be about work. Also keep the training to short periods. A good rule of thumb is 15 minute sessions, one to two times per day. You can do this every day (optimal) but make sure it is no fewer than 3 days a week.

And remember, some gundogs pick this up within weeks, while others can take months to be properly trained. There is no sense becoming frustrated and it makes even less sense to rush it.

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A Good Gundog Should Not Be Encouraged To Chase Rabbits

When you are taking your gundog hunting, there are always a number of variables that you just can’t plan for. Sometimes, you may happen upon another hunter and his dogs, other times, you may startle something much larger than the desired quarry and many other times, your gundog may startle a rabbit into flight.

If your gundog is properly trained and conditioned, you won’t have any problems; however, if your gundog is not conditioned to rabbits, then chances are you are going to see the happy tail of your gundog puppy has he decides to bolt after this fast and surprisingly interesting quarry.

As you can imagine, having a gundog that chases after rabbits can be a very negative thing for both the safety of your dog and your own nerves. When you are out with your gundog, you want him to listen to your commands in the field and not be distracted by other animals that he may happen upon. That is why it is very important to train your gundog puppy not to chase after rabbits at a very early age.

For those of you who are new to the world of gundog breeds, you may be wondering how you can accomplish such a feet. I mean, rabbits can be quite entertaining to an enterprising puppy but there is a very simple way to break your puppy’s natural desire to chase rabbits and that is to simply own rabbits.

If you have ever owned a cat and a dog at the same time, you are probably familiar with this training approach. Basically, the dog is conditioned to accept the cat or at the very least, not chase the cat, through your cues and the fact that the cat is part of its everyday environment. The same premise works with rabbits.

While your puppy is still young, you will want to set the stage for the interaction. The first step is to create a rabbit hutch next to the pen where your puppy spends a large amount of his time. Once the hutch is secure, purchase several rabbits and place them inside. It is better to purchase wild rabbits but if you are unable to find those, domesticated rabbits are fine to use.

Begin by allowing your puppy time to sniff at the rabbits. Although you may be tempted to correct the dog, this will only instil that maybe there is something interesting in the hutch. If you have no interest in the rabbits then your dog will begin to have little interest in them either.

Once your puppy is used to the rabbits in the hutch, begin exposing him to the rabbits outside of the hutch. One way to do this is to simply dig a hole between the hutch and the pen so that the rabbits can get in and out of the pen.

Your gundog puppy will begin to have company in his pen but the rabbits will quickly disappear under the fence if the puppy gets too rough.

Although this method of conditioning can work for many dogs, it is important to supervise the interactions to ensure that the rabbits are not exciting your gundog puppy too much. Make sure to remain calm and don’t show any encouragement when your dog is inspecting the rabbits.

As the weeks go by, you will quickly see that the rabbits have little effect on your gundog puppy. Eventually, he will be so conditioned to rabbits and their behaviors that when he is in the field, any rabbit, either their smell or the sight of them starting, will be ignored by your gundog.

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Ron With Sam, His New Labrador Retriever, We are filming Ron Teach Sam each week, If you want more Infomation on teaching your gundog following ron weekly click the picture.

One common question that I have been asked is “How much time do I need to put into training my gundog?” The answer that I usually give is “As much time as you need to.” That isn’t to say that gundog training needs to be overly complicated and in many cases it can be surprisingly easy, but it is to say that every dog is different.

Remember, with gundog training you are working with the dog’s natural instincts. If the dog has strong instincts then chances are he is going to take to training much easier and if he doesn’t, then the training will be much harder. Case in point, Ron has trained two Labrador Retrievers recently, both of them from hunting lines, both pure bred and assumed to be natural retrievers.

The first Labrador Retriever, a black Lab, was able to do blind retriever by nine months of age and could mark on moving water from the first day of training. His natural retrieving instincts were very strong and he was made for the task. The other Labrador Retriever, on the other hand, struggled through training and the trainer had to teach the dog how to retrieve, which was a long and involved process that is not easy. But after 15 months they were at roughly the same stage.

Both dogs, although the same breed and trainable, required a different amount of time to be trained to be hunting dogs. That being said, the idea for any trainer and owner is to have a dog that has a large store of natural instinct that can be shaped easily for the field. The reality is usually a dog that falls in the middle between easy to train to field and almost impossible. For this reason, it is important to really know your dog, and you can learn more about that in our article “Getting to know your Gundog Puppy.”

Regardless of how much natural instinct your dog has, you can expect to be training on a daily basis, although it doesn’t have to be for a significant amount of time. Generally, 10 minute sessions about twice a day is all you need to train a puppy into being an exceptional gundog. In fact, a lot of success occurs if you keep your training sessions down to shorter periods so the dog does not become bored during the training session.

Although you will be spending more time training your dog when he is young, it is important to continue to train your gundog throughout his career as a field dog. He may be trained extremely well by 18 months but if he is not exercised and trained on a regular basis, you may find that your gundog quickly becomes headstrong in the field.

So to recap, train your dog 10 to 15 minutes, twice a day to ensure that your dog learns and maintains his training throughout his gundog career.

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A DVD Which I Shot With Ron Mann Which Is For Sale At Amazon.com

There’s nothing worse than a well trained working gundog going off the rails, One season she is the best dog you could hope for the next she seems useless. What you don’t realise its not the dogs fault it’s the owners.

At the beginning of the season when I go shooting, Charlie always excels or he seems to when I compare him with some of the other dogs on their first outing of the season.

The problem stems from leaving your working gundog to do as they wish out of season then expecting them to listen to you after a 6 month break. No chance!

What I recommend you do, is what I do with Charlie. At least twice a week I take Charlie out and make him listen to me. He has to follow every command as if he is on a shoot. It’s just me and him for a hour or two, no distractions.

The rest of the time I let him play with the kids and generally have a good time, but when we have our 1-2 hour training sessions he does as I say. I find twice is better than once a week, but three times is not necessary.

You also sometimes have problems with younger dogs which seem really obedient at 4-6 months then seem to get more headstrong.

What you must do to correct this is go back in your training by approximately 2-3 weeks and go over things he already knows. You should find this helps. Always remember you are the master, if you let your working gundog think he can boss you he will. If he gets away with it from your wife, husband or partner, he will try it with you.

If it become a serious problem you need to be the only person who has contact with your hunting friend for a couple of weeks, then after this make sure you let your wife, husband or partner see how you train it. If you both act the same way it will stop being a problem.

A good way for readers who share the ownership of their working gundog, to avoid ever having this problem is to train their dog together, I always advise a dog to only have one trainer as having two can get confusing.

Did you ever take as much notice of your parents as your teacher when learning maths? I Doubt it. Did you ever take as much notice of a supply teacher as your proper teacher? I doubt also. I could keep going but I think you get the picture. But if you had 2 teachers teaching you together did you listen to booth? Yes because they were both singing from the same hymn sheet.

This works the same for hunting dogs, and all dogs, so if you insist that two of you teach your dog, 70% of the time, try to train your gundog together. If it’s a refresher course you are after you may want to have a look at our Working Gundog training DVD.

I filmed Ron Mann (Professional Gundog Trainer) demonstrating everything you need to train or retrain your gundog to expert status. To find out more click on Gun Dog Training DVD

Treat Training Your Gundog Puppy Is A Fun Way For Them To Learn

Treat training, or positive reinforcement is a common training method that has had a lot of success with many different types of breeds. Some breeds do much better with it than others, especially if that breed is food oriented such as with Labrador Retrievers, and it can be a great way to encourage both training and good behaviour.

To give you a better understanding of what treat training is, I would like to explain it in a bit more detail. Basically, when treat training is done; the gundog is given a small treat as a reward for the behaviour. Enough rewards and the gundog is conditioned well enough so that he will do the behaviour more than a negative behaviour. In the gundog’s mind, behaviour A is met with a reward so it should be repeated over and over again.

One of the best p0ints of positive reinforcement is that you can train your gundog and condition its behaviour without any harsh corrections, which could damage any relationship that you have with the gundog. Training can be done naturally and you are encouraging your gundog quite easily.

When it comes to using positive reinforcement, or treat training, there are a number of things that an owner can do wrong so that the training doesn’t have any real effect on their gundog’s behaviour. In this article, I will look through some of those things and the way to get the most out of your gundog’s training.

The first thing that you should look at is the treat that you are using for your positive reinforcement. Many first time gundog owners and even some experienced owners make the biggest mistake when it comes to choosing a treat. There are hundreds of advertisements out there for dry biscuits and the manufacturers of those treats promote them as suitable, maybe even preferable, to training.

If you have dry biscuits for your training treat, or bait as it is commonly called, then go and throw them away or put them aside for other times in the day. The reason why dry biscuits are not the best food is that they are fairly big and the gundog has to take time to chew. This chewing can distract the gundog from what he is doing and you have to correct him because he broke the command.

When you are choosing the treat you want to look for several things.

1. It should be soft
2. It should be flavorful because no one is going to work for a bland treat. (This is actually great for baiting since most flavorful treats also have a strong odour.)
3. It should be easy to cut up.
4. It should be cut into very small pieces, about the size of you nail.

Using a treat in this manner, your gundog receives a treat that he doesn’t have to chew, it is enticing enough to bait him and it is such a small morsel that it doesn’t distract or take time to swallow.

One of the best products out there for training your gundog is RollOver. This is a sausage like treat that you cut up for use. It can be fairly expensive, especially if you are using it a lot, but the cost is well worth the end result. If you are looking for a cheaper alternative for training your gundog, I have been very successful with chicken wieners cut up into pinkie nail sized bites and I used this with a surprisingly picky Labrador Retriever. You can usually pick up a package of chicken wieners for about a dollar and they go a long way.

Now that you have the treat, you should look at how you are treating. Many owners make the mistake of holding the treat the wrong way so the gundog is able to take it before he has done anything. Another problem with treat placement is that many gundogs have to jump up a bit to get it. In the end, allowing your gundog to jump up will only reinforce a negative behaviour that is difficult to break.

Instead, you should hold the treat between your index and thumb and then cup it with the rest of your hand. Show your gundog the back of your hand where he can’t get to the treat but can only small it. When it is time to treat, bring it down to his level and then open your hand so he can get it with his tongue. Discourage the use of his teeth when he is taking the treat and remove your hand immediately if he nips. This shows him that any biting means the treat is removed.

The last mistake that many people make with treat training is that they overuse or only use positive reinforcement. The key to creating a perfectly trained gundog has less to do with the treats and more to do with consistency. If your dog sits on command, then he receives a reward. Positive behaviours that you want to condition your dog to should be treated. He should never be over treated or simply treated for standing there.

Even when you are not training your dog, you should only give your gundog a treat when he has performed a command. So if you are in the kitchen and decide to grab a biscuit for your Labrador Retriever, you should make your dog sit or lay down or some other command before you reward him with the biscuit.

When your dog does a negative or bad behaviour, it is important that you follow through on your rules. This does not mean harshly correcting your dog but a firm “no” and taking him from the area is enough to establish that you are not happy. Trust me, when you dog can choose between good (a treat) and bad (a firm “no”) you will have no problem with his behaviour.