Educating Millie (and Me)

Lesson Two,  June 22

By Linda Dightmon

  The annoying buzz of the alarm clock woke me from a sound sleep at 3:15. Geno pretended that he did not hear it. I knew better.  One of these mornings I am going to get his happy ass up so that he can see for himself one of these training sessions. Millie, my 2 year old GSP,  seems to remember that this is how her fun started last week and she was ready to go, NOW. I needed some coffee, NOW.

   I stuck her in the backyard out of the way so that I could get things ready. She was non too happy about that and immediately began whining and whimpering. This would be her first trip in a kennel.  I had been working with her during the week trying to get her used to it.  The acid test was yet to come. I managed to load it up and strap it in the bed of my pickup. I also loaded up lots of  water and my new equipment. A 30’ check cord and a whistle.

   Now it was time to get the horse (Uhh…dog).  I put the tailgate down and brought out a very excited pup.  It was then that I realized that she had never been in the back of that truck before. She balked, big time. I put her front paws on the edge of the tailgate and commanded ‘up’. She just looked at me like…You have got to be kidding.  So, I picked up 55 pounds of resisting muscle and hard-headedness and put her in the back of the truck. Together we slipped and slid across the truck bed liner to the kennel. I threw in a dog biscuit and commanded ‘kennel’. Millie’s answer was to brace both front feet wide in defiance.  I got behind and shoved. In she went. I quickly slammed the door and locked her in. It was 3:45 and I was already in a sweat.  But in  dogdom, I had prevailed as the Alpha Female of the pack.

Coming in at Heel

    I met up with Tony in front of his house and a few minutes later Ryan pulled up in his big truck and I wistfully watched, as his dogs obediently  jumped into the back of the truck and into their respective kennels. 

   Back at the field we had a good session with Ryan’s English Pointer, Drake, and it was my dog’s turn. I got  out my new white check cord and my whistle.

   “That is just too clean,”  my mentors remarked.  “We need to get it dirty.”

  We put it on her and let her run in the field trailing the thick rope. When she was out sixty yards or so Tony had me call her in and blow the whistle. I was so proud as she made a wide circle back to me, running full out.  At least I have been able to teach her to come. We did this several times with the same results. That is good he told me. Pretty soon you can just use the whistle and you won’t have to yell your lungs out to get her attention. Then she spotted Ryan on the field. He had the birds and somehow she seemed to know it. I still managed to call her back to us. Ryan planted the bird and Tony check corded my dog while I took pictures. (Purchases for next week will include a pair of batting gloves so that I can check cord my own dog.)

Millie gets ready for her lesson

   We brought her around but she never did go on point.  Ryan flushed the bird for her and she went ballistic. Tony kept pulling her back but she just kept jumping up like a stallion  pawing the air all the while yelping in frustration. Finally, Tony picked her up off of the ground. This took her completely by surprise and when he put her back she settled down.  Next he released her to retrieve the bird. The reason was to make sure to keep the sessions fun for the dog.  Millie went tearing after that pigeon but she couldn’t find it.  Around and around she went like a crazy dog. I tried to call her in but I might as well have been talking to myself. She was in another world, a world without people, only dogs and pigeons.

  “Quit calling,” Tony said. “Never give a command that won’t be obeyed.” (Like she ever heard me.)  

   She finally came around close enough for us to snag the check cord so with the bird still at large the ‘come’ command was reinforced. We would let her get to the end of the cord and say MILLIE COME. If she didn’t turn immediately I was told to tug on the cord forcing her to come to me. We did this until she came back on command.  Then we did the retrieve again. This time she found it and  we played the walking away game. She started to follow us in with the bird when she spotted some little birds flying around.  The pigeon was forgotten and  she took off after them. This time she came in when called. Tony was not concerned with this behavior. He told me that she would learn all by herself that those birds were not important.  We gave the pigeon back to her and she carried it most of the way back to the truck.

  To complete the lesson I held her at ‘heel’ with the check cord the rest of the way to the trucks and water.  Tony and Ryan are adamant about this final step. ‘You don’t want to be looking for your dog all afternoon on a quail hunt only to find it waiting for you at the truck.’  Back at the truck she went into the kennel without too much fuss.  Good thing because I was tired by now.

   Now it was time for Tony and Ryan to work their dogs.  I got another wonderful demonstration on how a hunting dog was supposed to behave. They practiced ‘backing’ with two of the dogs. This is where one dog honors the other dog’s points and/or retrieves. Sort of  like doggie manners, if you will.  They used a pointer and a retriever for the practice. It is a pleasure to watch well trained.dogs.  I was assured that my crazy canine could learn these things and  probably sooner that I thought.

I learned a few things about my dog:

·         She is an exceptionally strong dog. By Tony’s admission. “I have check corded a lot of dogs. This one is very strong.”

·         She is not sure what she is looking for. (In this case, pigeons.) I know that she points because she has done it with me on wild Gamble’s.

·         She does not ‘mark’ well.

·         “Birdieness” is not an issue with this dog.

·         My teachers say that she will not be hard to train

Concepts

·         Never give a command unless you know that it will be obeyed.

·         After the hunt, come back in with your dog at ‘heel’.

·         End a session on a positive note.

·         It’s okay to let your dog be a dog no matter how stupid it seems to you.

Millie learned: (we hope)

·         That she does not always get her way but it is still fun to be a dog.

 Like most things worthwhile, training a hunting dog is a job that demands commitment.  Patience, repetition  and  being more hard- headed than your animal seen to be some of the keys. Look for more updates on mine and Millie's progress throughout the summer.