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DIVERSION WORK WITH YOUR DOG Ed Tucker sent me an e-mail saying he thought a useful topic might be on “how to drill on handling the dog away from headstrong-inducing obstacles.” The example he used was “he knows we are training with white bumpers, he is sent on a line to the bumper which may be out a distance and not really visible, but he sees a small piece of white trash or flower, etc., and instead of taking the line you sent him on he goes for the visual distraction.” There are some very good books out there that include
training with diversions, in addition to containing some other extremely useful
information. Two I recommend are
Mike Lardy’s “Training Articles Originally Published in the Retriever
Journal, Volume One” (available through many catalogs as well as through
Younglove Broadcast Services 800-848-5963) and Evan Graham’s “Smartwork”,
Volume One. This can be obtained
through Rush Creek Press, P.O. Box 680, When I have a young dog that is forced fetched, sits on a whistle, and has been forced to a pile, I will start---usually in my side yard---a simple drill. You may teach a dog to fetch, sit on a whistle, and go to a pile without the use of force, but I feel you will have a much more reliable retriever if your dog realizes these are commands and not requests. With modifications and increase in degree of difficulty, I still use this drill at times with my older dogs. This drill does not train a dog how to handle away from diversions, but it is the beginning of teaching them to focus on where they are pointed. Later, I start handling them away from a diversion. In essence, it is the start of or a variation of the lining wagon wheel drill. I will place five to six large white bumpers approximately fifteen or so feet apart in a straight line. Starting from either the left or the right, I will line the dog up so he is looking at the first bumper in line. If he focuses strongly on that bumper, I will send him on “back”. I will move then on to the next bumper until all the bumpers have been picked up. Depending on the dog, some will keep switching their eyes back and forth looking at the next bumper or the other bumpers in which case I move forward until the dog is strongly focused on the bumper I want, and then I send him. There are no corrections other than for a no-go, or no-sit. I don’t remember the last time I had to make a correction other than a verbal “no-no” for going to the wrong bumper. This is made in a conversational tone. The “no-no” is made if the dog veers off, after being sent, and goes to another bumper. If he grabs it before I can stop him, I have him sit, walk out, take it from his mouth, put it down, move up and resend for the bumper from which he diverted. When a dog has difficulty determining which bumper I am sending him for, then finally focuses and gets the correct one---showing a big effort and lots of thinking---I praise effusively, sometimes tossing a happy bumper off line, and let him know what a great decision he made. Then I return to the drill. Usually a dog catches on to this drill very quickly and seems to obtain huge satisfaction from doing it correctly. I then start tightening up the distance between the bumpers and often add more bumpers. You need to read your dog as to how quickly you can advance. Once the dog is doing this well, I then start picking up the 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc. bumper in line so he always has to go between two bumpers. After picking those up, I then pick up the remaining bumpers in varying order. I keep tightening up the bumpers until they are sometimes approximately four+ feet apart and increase the distance of my line from them. I will put down a mat so that I am sending the dog from the same spot each time and I start to pick them up in random order to keep the dog alert and to develop flexibility and movement on line. I don’t have space to do a full wagon wheel in my side yard so this was my “poor man’s” wagon wheel. What it has done is to add angles since I put the mat so it is facing the middle bumper and angle off it to the other bumpers. I then start adding a red bumper every other one, and then make them go through two white bumpers to get a red, etc. It is something with which you can be very creative, and as I said, my dogs look upon it as an “upper”. You then can take this drill from your yard to areas where you are using a road between the bumpers and you; or a ditch; or a creek; different terrain. Be inventive. I bought one dog as a three year old “washout” (he was being sold as a hunting dog) and he would sit as though locked in cement on the line. I started this drill with him to develop flexibility and movement with me and he absolutely loved the drill. This dog then went on to get his FC/AFC and qualified for nine Nationals. In the next few months, I will go over some other drills including ones where you handle away from a diversion. Diagrams would help, I am sure, but if you really are stuck, let me know and I will see if I can send you a better drawing (artistically rendered) and/or clarify my descriptions. X X X X X _________ line |
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