Wayne1 has joined our little hunting dog training group. Is there anybody else from the Colville area (or thereabouts) that wants to join in? Usually Sunday mornings.

If so, email me direct at [email protected] and we' ll hook up.

Hey DocE......Really enjoyed today' s session.....I saw alot of good potential in Shooter today. This afternoon we had a short 5 minute trainning of the week' s Force Fetch leason you gave us. Shooter fought it for about a minute.....but then started taking it....A couple of time he did try to spit it out.....but I held his jaw' s shut for about 5 second' s....then tapped his lower jaw, all the time telling him to hold, untill I gave him the release comand. Was it right for me to hold his 2 jaw' s together for a short time to make sure he held it..??....Thank' s again for allowing me and Shooter to your group........You really have a knack for teaching.....making it fun for us both

Wayne,

It was great for you and the Shooter boy to show up. I think we had a pretty good session. Shooter has the desire, as well as the brains to be a super hunting companion for ya.

Always start a training session with a review and tune up of Obedience (HEEL, SIT). Then do your HOLD session, then one or two " fun bumpers). We' ll get into a remote sit next weekend for ya (like Paul was doing with Diesel -- rebar in the ground with the long check cord).

For " Formal Hold" , there' s nothing wrong with holding his mouth shut (gently, so that you don' t pinch his lip) - then as soon as he accepts the dummy, only use the chin cuffs with the word " HOLD" . Short " holds" (only a few seconds) are fine for now - and LOTS of praise when he does it right.

I' ll be sending you an email in a couple minutes with some training tips from a friend of mine who is a pro trainer. They will be as attatchments to the email and are certified virus free, so don' t worry about opening the attatchments.

Hey Doc.....Thank' s for sending the tip' s....I' ve got them all printed out. Today during Shooter' s first seasion....His first attempt to hold he hardly fought..Then after that...everytime I started to put the bumper in front of his mouth...he would reach for it....then while in his mouth he would try soft chew' s....and not spitting it out.......should he be allowed to do this..??....or should I hold his jaw' s together till he does' nt try the light chewing again..??... Sorry if this might seem tright.......but I worry that if I make a mistake......he' ll be the one to suffer by having to be re-trainned for my mistake' s.......Thank' s again for your nice word' s...

Munching, chewing and rolling the bumper are fine at this point -- don' t worry about it. A correct hold will occur when we actually get into FF.

O.K........second seasion of the day went great......

Wayne,

Keep up the good work - see ya Sunday (and give you the next lesson plan)