Training
Training Articles
The club is now advocating a primarily positive reinforcement approach to training the the young gun dog. Toward this end, Tawna Skinner–long-time club member and experienced dog trainer is authoring a series of materials on applying the clicker method to training retrieving. We provide links to recent Gun Dog Supreme articles. Additional, more detailed training instructions that are too detailed and long for newsletter articles will be posted here for download as they become available.
Here are some specific examples filmed at actual tests and training/exposure days:
New Puppy Training – Resource Guarding
Work with new pup to prevent resource guarding habits
Hendrika search
This video is of an Intermediate Hunting Dog Test, but the basic elements of this discipline are the same as at the Natural Ability level.
IHDT The Search
This video depicts the "Search" portion of the IHDT. The handler in the video, Rich Schwerin, is doing the IHDT for the first time.
Track of Live Bird 3
This Natural Ability Dog does an acceptable track. At the NAT level, the dog is not required to retrieve to hand.
Pointing
This video is of Intermediate Hunting Dog Test. In the first attempt at pointing, the dog catches a bird and retrieves it to hand. Natural Ability dogs are not required to retrieve.
Retrieve of Dragged Game
This discipline is only used at the IHDT, not the Natural Ability Test.
Training for Drag Track
The Drag of dead game requires the dog to follow a trail for about 150 yards, out of sight of handler, find the dropped bird, and retrieve to hand.
