Teaching the marked retrieve.

amitydeerslayer · 01-27-2002, 12:26 PM

At what age do most of you start teaching your pups the single marked retrieve? I am mainly using the wolters method of training and he seems to teach this at 20 weeks. The game dog video says between 12-20 weeks. My pup is only 13 weeks old but I am planning ahead. Right now he retrieves very enthusiastically but he has a habit of giving me the dummy and then taking off before I throw it again, I guess he's anticipating the throw, but this prevents him from marking the fall.

Sig · 01-29-2002, 06:54 PM

One thing you might try is grab hold of its collar when he returns. Wait a bit,then while still holding collar tell him to mark. Throw the bird while still holding collar and do not let him go until you give command to fetch. This also goes along with the basics like heal, stay, etc. Good Luck

ShortHair · 01-29-2002, 08:04 PM

I haven't heard that term before. But from what you describe it sounds the same thing as I learned as "steady to wing and shot" in a quail dog.
Once pup is excited about retrieving you must always make him wait until you give the command to retrieve. It sounds like yours is ready. You pick the command( the dog don't speak English so it don't matter ) "dead bird", "fetch", I use " git it dog", you get the picture. Whoa the dog then restrain him. Throw/release the dummy/ball/dead bird, make the dog wait until it gets figity. Give the command "git it dog" then turn him loose. Man alive what fun for both of you.
The key is if the dog is excited about retrieving he is half way home. You just have to teach him that you don't get it until I say go.

amitydeerslayer · 01-30-2002, 01:07 AM

Okay thanks for the advice. I wasn't sure if now was too soon to start. But when I retrieved with him this afternoon I held him by the collar until the dummy landed then I sent him. It didn't effect his enthusiasm at all! I've only been doing about 3-4 retrieves per day but he does each one great.

Doc E · 01-30-2002, 07:41 AM

amity,
OK, I got it now -- You're talking about teaching the dog to be "STEADY". There are basically two kinds of retrieve a "Marked Retrieve" and a "Blind Retrieve". What you have already been doing is a "mark" (the dog sees the fall and "marks" it's location with a mental picture). Any retrieve that the dog sees is a "marked retrieve" (or mark). A "Blind Retrieve" is one in which the dog hasn't seen the fall and is hand signaled to the location of the bird or bumper. "Steady" (called non-slip by the British) is when the dog waits (at heel) until he is sent on the retrieve by your command.

Instead of holding him by his collar, put a 6' short lead on him and hold the lead. When you are first working on steady, don't make him be steady for over a second - add ONE SECOND every week until he is up to 10 seconds (that takes 10 weeks). Always use your retrieve command word at exactly the same time you send him (let go of the lead). Always end your session with one or two "happy bumpers", and then put the dog up (alone in his kennel) for 30 minutes before you have any more interaction with him.

Edited by - Doc E on 01/30/2002 08:57:51

Spark · 02-02-2002, 03:10 PM

There are many many opinions out there, i'll give you my take. If you are indeed talking about keeping your dog steady, this will be a process that will last for a long time, you'll always be reinforcing steady with the dog. You should always vary the amount of time you wait to send the dog for a retrive. You'll notice the dog has quite a bit of accurate timing of when you'll release him if you don't He'll soon know by habit how long it takes before you send him. So keep it varied. I think your pup is way too young to be concentrating on steady so much. Some other hints, reinforce the stay with the traffic cop "stop" hand. Once the dog is reliable as being steady for bumpers, it doesn't hurt to pick up almost half of them yourself. This teaches the dog that not every thing you throw is for him to get and will also burn the steady thing into his head. It will also help you if you hunt with a buddy and his dog and your dog will be in control for when his dog is sent to a retrieve. This is called honoring. If you hunt alone it's not a big deal.

Before you get into too much retrieving and marks. My advice it to really work on the socialization of your dog. Take him to a school and let the kids fall all over the pup. Do as much socialization as you can and then do some more. You won't regret it.

One of the best marking drills that i continue to use is the "clock" drill. You'll need a partner to throw for you. Have your partner stand in the middle of an imaginary cirlce or clock [where the center of the clock would be] have him toss bumpers almost straight up in the air at his location. You start at the 1 o'clock position and send the dog for the retrieve. Next you move to the 2 o'clock and repeat. The dog is using the partner as a reference tool, you move around the partner. The next time you can be the stationary center of the clock and the partner rotates around you. Your dog is still incorporating the change of background [beyond your partner] and still marking off the partner.

Good luck

amitydeerslayer · 02-03-2002, 12:30 AM

>>Before you get into too much retrieving and marks. My advice it to really work on the socialization of your dog. Take him to a school and let the kids fall all over the pup. Do as much socialization as you can and then do some more. You won't regret it.<<

That is basically what I am doing now, but I am asking lots of questions so as to be prepared for the future. My pup is doing very well with everything so far so I don't want to let him down by not being a knowledgable trainer, lol! I only throw about 3-5 retrieves per day for him, most of his day is spent being socialized and learning proper doggy manners, lol.