A lot of hunt test training involves tamping down excitement and reinforcing obedience, especially when there are birds involved.

Just as important is building confidence in the dog.  As we ask them to do more and more complicated set-ups, a lack of confidence can pop up.  This may manifest as “popping” on marks and blinds.  A mark is where the dogs watches a bumper or bird thrown in the field and a blind is where they do not know where it is and are directed to it by their handler using whistles and arm signals.  Popping is when the dog stops on their own and turns back to look at their handler for direction.  Popping suggests a lack of confidence and will be marked down as a lack of perseverance.

A dog can also show a lack of confidence through avoidance.  Sometimes dogs avoid high cover or getting into the pond.

Sometimes the dog avoids looking out at the field when be lined up for a blind retrieve.

Avoidance is not limited to these things, but they are the main things that we saw with our dogs as they were learning and went though periods where they were not confident with what we were asking them to do.  As a trainer, you have to find a way to help them get over it, but there is no magic pill to build confidence.  It comes through training.  The more the dogs does something that it is not sure of, the more confident the dog becomes.  It may only take a few tries, or it may take many, many tries.

I won’t lie.  Overcoming avoidance issues can bog down training and become tedious, but if you pack your patience and stick with it most dogs eventually overcome them.  We have found that getting the dog out to train in different places helps to build confidence.

Some people think that this means setting up easy marks and blinds or not pushing the dog to do something it is not comfortable doing.  It does not.  We make set-ups difficult and stick to standards because when the dog succeeds, its confidence just explodes and eventually things like popping and avoidance fade away.