LEVEL 4
Retrieving ~ you will still need to practice your retrieving, you should have mastered the seen, memory and basic split you will now be introduced to the blind and a retrieve with a distraction.
The Blind ~ is a retrieve where the dog has not seen where the dummy has been placed (this is also where the commands MARK, GET ON, and HI LOST start to make sense). Ideally you can have somebody with you to place the dummy, it is suggested that you start by using a track that the dog can follow, ask the person to place the dummy about 25 meters down the track (making sure the dog is out of sight) once the dummy has been placed, set the dog up tell him MARK, pointing in the direction of the dummy, ON and FETCH and as he is going out say ON and as he gets to where the dummy is say HI LOST, hopefully he will pick the dummy and bring it back to you.
If you are unable to have somebody with you, you can either place the dummies yourself and then go and get the dog or you can do the exercise in a similar way to the memory only you don’t let the dog see the dummy.
QUARTERING/HUNTING ~ the commands we use here are SEEK OUT/ON. Quartering is the hunting mode in which we get the dogs doing a rhythmic pattern and hunting into the wind. The easiest way to teach the dog this is to find a field of rough grass without any game that is about 60-80 meters wide with the wind blowing towards you.
You want to aim to walk in a straight line yourself, with the dog working about 30/50 meters either side of you and about 15/20 meters ahead of you. If he diverts from this call him back and start again. If the dog is not willingly running you can start running with him, alternatively you can use your body and when he is running where you want, turn your body away from him and use the whistle to call him, he will want to see you face and so will come running as he runs past you let him go for a while and repeat turning the opposite way.
The whistle command is used when the dog gets to the boundary of his beat and you want him to turn. To start with watch the dog very carefully if his head turns into the wind use two toots on the whistle indicating the turn whistle, if his head turns out of the wind push him on with a hand signal.
TOP TIPs ~ Always work the dog into the wind
~ Quartering training should be done on ground where there is no game
JUMPING ~ you will have been introduced to jumping and obstacles, albeit only very low. As your dog is now mature you should be looking to get him jumping fences and gates, wire fences you can start by getting some netting and posts and getting him jumping these, if you make a pen you can throw the retrieve item into the pen and tell him the word, JUMP, OVER as he approaches the jump, he will associate this command with his action.
TOP TIP ~ There must be less use of the verbal commands, a quieter approach is needed
Retrieving ~ you will still need to practice your retrieving, you should have mastered the seen, memory and basic split you will now be introduced to the blind and a retrieve with a distraction.
The Blind ~ is a retrieve where the dog has not seen where the dummy has been placed (this is also where the commands MARK, GET ON, and HI LOST start to make sense). Ideally you can have somebody with you to place the dummy, it is suggested that you start by using a track that the dog can follow, ask the person to place the dummy about 25 meters down the track (making sure the dog is out of sight) once the dummy has been placed, set the dog up tell him MARK, pointing in the direction of the dummy, ON and FETCH and as he is going out say ON and as he gets to where the dummy is say HI LOST, hopefully he will pick the dummy and bring it back to you.
If you are unable to have somebody with you, you can either place the dummies yourself and then go and get the dog or you can do the exercise in a similar way to the memory only you don’t let the dog see the dummy.
QUARTERING/HUNTING ~ the commands we use here are SEEK OUT/ON. Quartering is the hunting mode in which we get the dogs doing a rhythmic pattern and hunting into the wind. The easiest way to teach the dog this is to find a field of rough grass without any game that is about 60-80 meters wide with the wind blowing towards you.
You want to aim to walk in a straight line yourself, with the dog working about 30/50 meters either side of you and about 15/20 meters ahead of you. If he diverts from this call him back and start again. If the dog is not willingly running you can start running with him, alternatively you can use your body and when he is running where you want, turn your body away from him and use the whistle to call him, he will want to see you face and so will come running as he runs past you let him go for a while and repeat turning the opposite way.
The whistle command is used when the dog gets to the boundary of his beat and you want him to turn. To start with watch the dog very carefully if his head turns into the wind use two toots on the whistle indicating the turn whistle, if his head turns out of the wind push him on with a hand signal.
TOP TIPs ~ Always work the dog into the wind
~ Quartering training should be done on ground where there is no game
JUMPING ~ you will have been introduced to jumping and obstacles, albeit only very low. As your dog is now mature you should be looking to get him jumping fences and gates, wire fences you can start by getting some netting and posts and getting him jumping these, if you make a pen you can throw the retrieve item into the pen and tell him the word, JUMP, OVER as he approaches the jump, he will associate this command with his action.
TOP TIP ~ There must be less use of the verbal commands, a quieter approach is needed
