THE SWIM TO ME DRILL

I know many of you do not use an e–collar on your dog, which is fine.  No one should use one without training in its proper use and no one should use one who has a hot temper.  If you are uncomfortable about using one, don’t!

In addition, you can train your dog without an e-collar, particularly for hunt tests.  As I think I have mentioned before, I trained a couple of dogs through Master Hunter titles without using an e-collar on them.  With this in mind, I wrote to some persons who have had a great deal of success training “Amish” which means without the use of an e-collar! 

I have been excited about the discussions we have had, and I hope to pull together some articles describing their various methods.  Frank Plewa, one of the persons who I have contacted sent me copies of a drill he does with his dogs to obtain angles on water.  I really enjoyed reading the first part of it, as I did the second, and I think you will too.

Although water training would usually come after some of the other things we are discussing, since summer is upon us, I thought it would be worthwhile to submit one for the May issue which will be followed up by the more advanced one in the June issue so that you can get started while the water is warm and the sun is out.

Frank, who trains his own dogs and does not use an e-collar, has trained nine GMHR (Grandmaster Hunting Retriever) in the NAHRA program (North American Hunting Retriever Association).  One of his dogs has gone on to attain the top title of Grandmaster Hunting Retriever Champion.  Two of his dogs have NFRA Master Field Retriever titles which is at least on a par with, and possibly slightly above the AKC Master level.  NFRA (National Field Retriever Association) also awards a Field Test Winner at each event, and Frank’s dogs have earned that in every Master test he has entered to date.  Frank works with other persons helping them to train their retrievers, and he and Paul Young have given very well-received clinics using their training methods. 

Frank has approximately 70 NAHRA judging points and several NFRA judging points.  He has been a professional waterfowl guide for about 15 years and has trained sporting dogs, off and on, for approximately 35 years.  He started with Beagles as a kid.

I first heard about Frank in reading about him on the Retriever Training Forum.  I have heard nothing but praise both for him as a person and as a dog trainer. 

To quote Frank:  “My training methods are really done by “feel” and I do not have any real cookbook approach, as I believe that all dogs are different with their own little behaviors and little buttons to push.  Knowing what buttons to push and when is the trick.  I like to think that I am good at reading dogs and figuring out what makes them tick.  I prefer to start with puppies as they usually have few if any learned bad habits yet.”

On going through his drills, I feel an older dog could certainly benefit from them as well as a puppy.  Depending on what habits, good or bad, the older dog had might alter the approach somewhat, but if I had an older dog, I would certainly give it a go.

Later, I hope to have some more articles with Frank’s training methods and philosophy together with some contributed by other Amish trainers.

ü      I added this one to show you my technical pond and give you an idea of the dimensions, cover and depths for the sketches that follow

ü      You should try to find one similar to this.  At least find one with some of the qualities (you probably won’t find a duplicate).

ü      The important aspects are the square corners, which are great for teaching swim to me as you can change pups direction very easily.

ü      Two of the corners are somewhat rounded for advanced angle entry drills

ü      Most of the banks are steep so no running the shoreline except on the left

ü      Abrupt transition from running to swimming in most places

ü      Area around the pond is tightly mowed grass which allows long lines from pond out onto land

ü      Cattail form psychological barriers or guides to better help pup understand corrections

ü      Windows in the cattails allow for some creative angles which also guide the dog to be successful

At some point early in the pup’s life you will introduce him to water.  Many problems can be prevented here if you are prepared.  Most trainers want their dogs to be able to enter and exit the water regardless of the angle.  This is paramount in teaching dogs to have good lining skills, which I believe are the key to producing a dog that will reliably perform difficult marks and blinds during advanced training.  This is a major building block in your dog’s training foundation so don’t underestimate it.

Many people approach the water incorrectly and start problems unnecessarily.  With pups, they are just happy the pup will enter the water and do not pay attention to the poor entry, exit and line the dog takes.  Thus, bad habits can start that are sometimes very hard to break.  Remember, the time spent correcting bad habits will take precious time away from teaching good habits and advancing in your training.

Keep retrieves short at first and send the pup in perpendicular to the shoreline so the shortest return is straight out also.  That is, “square in and square out!”  Do not do angle entries or make throws where pup is tempted to get out of the water or beach early before returning. 

When I have a young pup, the water introductions are without retrieves for the first few times out.  We take walks into water of varying depths and get the dog used to the new situation, which can be very frightening if not controlled.  Many times I will take my older dogs for successive introductions to make pup feel better about venturing into the water but don’t let them scare the pup.  In any case, once your pup is comfortable with entering the water and some swimming, then you are ready to start this drill.

This drill will take quite a while to do and requires numerous sessions.  Be patient and do not rush through it although it can be quite boring.  What we are trying to do with this drill is teach the pup how to exit the water.  Many folks start into angle entries first but I prefer to start with the exit.  Starting with an angle entry considers only the entry but for every angle entry there is an angle exit also.  So there are two parts to this equation, one of which is often overlooked or not thought through and a bad habit is started.

If you start with the angle exit, then you can cut down the exercise into one lesson.  It is easier to send pup in square and ask for an angle return than to teach an angled entry and expect the same return.

Starting the drill

Teaching hand cues to the pup with the early retrieves by “square in and square out” entry and exit starts this process.  We send pup straight or perpendicular into the water to make a retrieve.  When he takes possession of the object, we then whistle or with our voice command a return.  When the pup turns with the object command, “come” and use a hand cue.  I put my hands just out from my waist and wave them or open and close the hands to keep the pups attention on me.  I will now do what I have to do to keep pup focused and looking at me during the return. 

If the pup is looking at you, he will normally swim straight towards you.  If he looks away I command “no” usually accompanied by some movement to get his attention to look at me.  When he looks back at me I command “good, come” and become quiet again.  That process is repeated every time he looks away, otherwise, I do or say nothing.  Movements that can be used are arm waving, clapping, walking toward or backing away to get the pup looking again and refocused.  Walking towards him is a form of intimidation that generally gets their attention.

Now if pup does not swim straight back, you slowly move laterally to get in front of him to make him think he swam straight back.  Hopefully, the poor return is only a couple of feet.  If you have to, get out in the water to launch him for a short retrieve.  If you are still getting a poor return this may be avoidance, which is a “come” related problem.  Stop here and clean up the come problem first before resuming this drill. 

Furthermore, if any other issues are occurring like dropping the bumper, stop and work on that until you get a handle on it.  Do not try to fix several problems at once, break them down into individual sessions and later put them all back together again.

The bottom line at this point is to teach the pup to swim back to you and to associate the hand cues as a signal to do so.  The hand cues and your voice or whistle commands are your way of refocusing him.  Do not over do the cues or the pup will start to ignore them.  You should be quiet and still as long as he is returning properly. 

If you are starting with an older dog or pup where bad habits have already formed, the use of a rope to tug or pull the dog back to you may be necessary.  Again, be careful not to be to too rough or you may cause additional avoidance issues.  Think about what you are going to do before starting the drill so you will instantly know how to react.

Once the pup seems to have a grasp of what the cues mean and is swimming straight back reliably, then move to the next step.  What we will now be doing is to teach the pup to look for and swim to you wherever you are or have moved to.  This works best with a right angle on a pond corner (see diagram).

Again, send square into the pond for a retrieve.  Throw the object far enough that you have time to move to another location before he turns to return.  As stated, preferably a pond with a corner so you can send him in square, then walk around the corner and request a squared return to another location.  Be careful not to draw the pup’s attention with your movement but you must be in place before he starts his return.  When pup starts his return, get his attention with voice, whistle and/or movement to allow him to quickly locate you.  If timed correctly, pup should return right to you.  Now you repeat the process to build a habit and consistency.  The bottom line is get the pup to start looking for you and want to swim to you at all times. 

If you have a pup that is already steady, then you can sit him in right angle locations, throw the object and have him return on a right angle from his point of origin to you (see diagram).  You can now start to be more creative in your returns.

You can now start to ask for a slight angle on the returns but take small bites!  Maybe a step or two at a time and if you get a poor response, go back to the last successful step and start over.  This takes time and pup won’t be perfect for a while.  Do not rush and start other problems.  If you take your time and be consistent in your approach, you will soon be doing very demanding angled returns.

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