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May 21, 2012
The Jealousy Technique
Several years ago, I scheduled my male wirehair, Chukar, in a NAVHDA Utility Test. Although I did a great deal of training for the test with Chukar, Jeff Funke, a trainer whom I had worked with, was interested in using Chukar as one of his stud dogs and took him to finish the training because he was interested in seeing him get a good score in the test. Part of the test consists of a long drag in which a judge, out of sight of the handler and dog, drags a pheasant for 150 yards and lays it down. After the bird is positioned, the other judges call the handler and his dog up to the starting point, where a pile of feathers is left. Once released, the dog is expected to follow the drag scent to the bird and retrieve it to hand. Jeff told me that Chukar was having trouble with this part of his training – he would run out partway, stop, turn around, and come back. The day of the test, Chukar ran out and came back without the bird. Jeff told me that he had put a lot of pressure on Chukar, and he thought the dog was confused as to what he was supposed to do. Jeff suggested that I take my dog home and let him decompress by having fun hunting; then I could work with him and run him myself in the retest the following month. |
The Versatile Hunting Dog
hen you take your dog to a professional trainer, you’re placing him in a strange environment. He is put in a kennel with other dogs he doesn’t know and trained by a stranger. And while a good trainer will spend several days getting to know your dog and establishing a basic rapport with him, he can never forge the deep bond that you have with your pet.