"THE THREE F's"

[IRISHWISTLER]

Aye Mates.
I have been working with LEXIE BELLE ON THE COBBLE - call name LEXIE, a 7 month old ylf companion Labrador Retriever gundog prospect. Currently we are working on basic OB and she is coming along very nicely. As is usual for me, I start each session with a "bolding walk" to burn off extra energy prior to beginning the formalized portion of daily training, thereby increasing focus for the K9 during the session. Particularly with young pups I like to make "The Three F's" (feathers, fun, and focus) an inclusive part of the session and a major factor in motivation.


"FEATHERS" - LEXIE rolls about in Labrador joy with a wing she found on her own during yesterday's "bolding walk". Having done intro to live birds (clipped wing pigeons) a week ago, LEXIE has demonstrated a real love for feathers ever since. I will not put her on actual birds again until I do "HOLD" and "FORCE FETCH" conditioning with her. For now, LEXIE will be allowed to self satisfy he desire for feathers / birds by scent tracking and flushing of quail, woodcock, chukars, and pheasant regularly found and contacted with on our training grounds.


"FUN" - Our water temperatures are still very cold and LEXIE has not yet been formally introduced to water. During our "bolding walk" yesterday, LEXIE self initiated entry to this small pond and was obviously having a blast for herself im doing so. As waters and air temperatures increase, I will make water one of the major motivational reward factors in her ongoing training. Motivation and confidence building through success based training are key tools of every good trainer.


"FOCUS" - LEXIE looks forward to every session and is "learning how to learn", a concept that a good trainer will establish early on in the K9 / trainer relationship. K9's that have learned to focus learn faster, retain skills, build toward more complex skills with greater proficiency, and have greater overall success rates in reaching the training objectives designed for them.

Keep "THE THREE F's" in mind as ye work with ye own retrievers and ye will note just how handy they are in motivating ye dogs to love the process of learning whilst buiding their confidence and strengthening the bond ye share as a team.

Cheers,
Irishwhistler

POSTSCRIPT: This thread is dedicated to me great friend NANCY, who suddenly and sadly slipped away from this earthly life last Friday. NANCY was a Labrador owner and a great fan of the breed. I will miss her always as will so many others.

[BaconsMom]

An excellent thread for those training hunting labs. All of these were put to great use while training our boy Bacon. I am deeply sorry for the loss of your friend Nancy.

[POPTOP]

I see in Lexie another huge successful hunting and retrieving dog. She looks like so much fun to work and train.

[Jollymolly]

Loos Like Lexie is loving it

Good job

[Coalman]

Great post IR

A couple up and comers have been trained on that wall.

Belle and I are forever grateful. Go Lexie!

[Annette47]

Two of the F’s are important to keep in mind for other dog sports as well - Fun and Focus are key elements in Competition Obedience training. Don’t particularly incorporate feathers into that though, LOL.

[IRISHWISTLER]

Aye Mates,
Glad ye enjoyed the thread.

Regards,
TEAM TRAD

[MightyThor]

I don't know anything about training a hunting lab, so all I see is a super happy pup, and to me that means you're having a great success. Many happy adventures for your future, lexie!

[doubledip1]

Love the use of water as a positive reinforcer! I've never thought of it that way. Excellent tip

[Anna Scott]

I like your philosophy of the 3 F`s for training. We like to get the young dogs really enthusiastic about birds and having fun. Our water is warming rapidly but at this time we leave it up to the dogs as to how much time and what distance they want to go. They are all self initiating swims right now and loving it. Yesterday we introduced a pup (4 months ) to her first retrieve of pigeons. She loved them. Starting at that age the focus builds naturally because she was waiting for the next bird. After 3 retrieves, each increasing in distance we then threw one that she didn`t get. Leave her wanting.
Enthusiasm and a dog having fun are so important in a pup, the rest will come with age.

I am sorry for your loss. Good friends that are dog people are a true treasure.