We appreciate all of the comments we receive at the 2 Brown Dawgs Blog.  Our friends over at Brown Dog Cbr left a comment on our post Return To Winter But Still Training  which got us to thinking….

Raspberries

Anyone who has trained a dog has no doubt experienced some frustration at one time or another.  If you are training a brown dawg sometimes the frustration can last longer than it should because some brown dawgs want to work their own training program rather than their trainer’s program.  Then there are those days when you hope for a superstar, and all you get are raspberries! 

So when you are training and at some point you encounter an issue or a frustration, what do you do?

We shared in The 2 Brown Dawgs’ Backstory how we got involved in hunt tests and that we are inexperienced trainers. In training toward the 2 Brown Dawgs JH titles, we asked those with more experience for some suggestions for marking drills.  That was a big help because these were drills that we could do on our own and see instant success.  One person we asked was our friend Elbert over at Gravel Creek Chesapeakes.  He shared some basic marking drills with us which helped lower frustration over Thunder’s tendency, as a young dawg, to hunt short of the mark. Thanks for the tip Elbert! 

Storm should be focused on the second mark of her double, but girls just want to have fun!
Thunder Whistle Sit. He should be facing forward. We are still working on that.

When we started training some of the more advanced skills needed for the next level of hunt tests, we definitely experienced some frustration.  Sure you can read a training guide, but when you are out in the field, you can’t whip out whatever book and madly look up the solution to a training problem.  To move forward we decided to seek out the help of our pals and some more experienced trainers, including the help of a professional trainer. 

With the help of the trainer, we have been working on handling for blind retrieves.  For us, this experienced professional trainer has been a huge asset.

In true Chessie fashion, Thunder has decided to parade behind his handler before coming to heel.

The trainer is able to read the dog, assess the issue, and offer a fix right then and there…immediately lowering frustration levels.  You can also leave your pup with the trainer for some extra quality training time which really lowers training frustration.  In fact, Storm is getting just such extra quality training time. 😎

 

Better Heel

If you don’t want to go the pro-trainer route, dog clubs which focus on hunt tests are a great resource.  Many Clubs offer training sessions and seminars.  We are members of a couple of “hunt test” clubs and try to attend their seminars whenever we can for training tips and problem solving.  Knowledge is power to lower training frustration!

Group training is another way to lower training frustration.  Groups offer camaraderie and fun.  You can simulate test conditions and gain training tips.  It is wonderful to see the improvement in all of the dogs week to week.  Unfortunately, the group training will be winding up for us this week.  🙁 

Now for the comment which inspired this post: 

Hi Y’all,

We enjoy it when y’all get into the training series. Since we don’t hunt anymore more, much time is spent putting bumpers or toys around so Hawk has to be handled to a retrieve.

I was amused to see the “creep”. Hawk gets so excited, it is really difficult to keep his bottom on the ground in any exercise, even simple obedience.

I’m having another problem right now. I trained him to turn and watch me if I gave a whistle blast. He’s always been fine until recently. Lately, instead of looking for my hand signal, he just comes straight back to me, like a recall. If I holler, he looks and follows direction. It’s nothing I HAVE to correct, since I’m just trying to keep him challenged and obedient. However, it sure is frustrating!

Thanks for stoppin’ by,
BrownDog’s Momma

I know we have some more experienced trainers who read here.  How about it?  What would you do?  Would you just give a verbal “No, sit!” and recast?  Or would you do something more?  Let’s see if we can help BrownDog’s Momma lower her training frustration.  🙂

Have a nice weekend.  I know this has to be an April Fools joke….the weather man says we could have a wintry mix for tomorrow!

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