One of my favorite authors is Tim Ferriss. He is really big into the 80/20 principle. What’s the 20% of effort that gives me the 80% of results? If I’m trying to learn a new skill, often I’ll see if Ferriss has tried to learn the skill and see what he has to say. He’ll usually have found an expert that has unique ideas that go against the mainstream that get you way more results in way less time. Although he is into dog training, as far as I know he hasn’t done anything with gundog training. If he did, I think Robert Milner’s Absolutely Positively Gundog Training would be the book Ferriss would recommend. Many of the ideas in this book fly in the face of traditional training methods, but I think all trainers should be exposed to the ideas and take them into consideration. It’s difficult to condense all of the noteworthy concepts and ideas in this short article. Read the book.
General Concept:
To train most effectively, you should keep your end goal in mind and take the dog into consideration.
What do you actually want the dog to do?
Most dog owners want a dog that’s calm. They want a dog that’s highly obedient no matter the circumstance. And, they want a dog that fetches all the birds, especially the cripples that may otherwise be lost.
Now that you know what you want from your dog, what’s the best way to teach him? To know how to teach your dog, you should take the dog himself into consideration.
How do you actually communicate with the dog? What is a reward to the dog? What is a punishment to the dog? What is a distraction to the dog?
The answers to these questions may not be what you think.
Training style:
As the title of the book implies, Milner recommends a positive training method. Positive training focuses on rewarding behaviors you want and not rewarding behaviors you don’t want. Positive trainers also provide a dog with an alternative behavior instead of an unwanted behavior where possible. Remember the questions above. What is your end goal? How does the dog see things? For instance, most dog owners do not want a dog that greets people by jumping on them (end goal). Teaching the dog to sit when greeting people will prevent the dog from jumping (alternative behavior). Reward the sitting behavior (reward what you want). Do not reward the dog for jumping on you (Do not reward what you do not want). Now, you may think it’s obvious not to reward jumping, but keep in mind what you think is a reward and what the dog thinks is a reward may be two different things. It’s common for people to deal with this behavior by pushing the dog off or making noises. Your dog may see your pushing and noise as play or at the very least your attention which is mostly likely a reward for him. Take the dog into consideration.
One idea that stood out:
Blind retrieves taught before marked retrieves.
Many of the behaviors you want out of a dog have been selectively bred into the dog over many generations. This should be taken into account when you develop your training plan. Some of these bred in behaviors are such an instinctive reward to the dog that they become distractions. Distractions should be added into the training plan deliberately after a behavior is fluent. Keep the end goal in mind. When there are multiple marked retrieves in front of your dog and one long unseen cripple, you want your dog to get the cripple first. Because of this, blind retrieves should be taught first. Then, when this behavior is fluent, marked retrieves can be added as a distraction. If you truly want your dog to master blind retrieves and he has good gundog genetics, this is a logical order for your training.
One drill that stood out:
Teaching heel.
Instead of getting into a pulling match with your dog on leash, teach your dog to heel off leash. Simply walk and reward the dog when he is in the correct position. Then, increase the walking distance required. Next, add some distractions. Now, after the dog understands the command well, add the leash back.