A quietly common notion

Jim Kappas said he takes ( took) his dogs through his total program every spring when he went south for the winter ...the reason he gave was to establish the standard of performance after being off at home for some time....He stated it didn't take long to go through it and the dogs were back at peak performance again...

I believe in re-visiting a certain drill to work out a problem that has developed in the field ...a visit is different than moving back home and staying for a while...If an issue ( problem ) arises in the field and application of the tools in your box can't correct it with only a few reps it may be time to look at a visit to a more controlled setting where things can be dealt with some pressure to reinforce the command.....A dogs leanings are not a once for all time thing...they have to be kept current... Steve S

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Originally Posted by walt8@cox.net

Didn't mean to derail the thread. My post was a response to Chris's, about what he felt was poor maintenance of standards.
I'm not talking about encouraging young dogs to misbehave in training. My comment concerns some all age dogs that are given some latitude with a problem, instead of pushing to gain a perfect standard. Like lifting their behind up a bit, or moving their front legs, or giving a little voice. Some of these dogs you'd have to practically kill to get a perfect standard.
Walt

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The perfect retriever has yet to be whelped.

My point is that the notion of setting and maintaining a standard is regularly discussed here. I would imagine that Randy Bohn's noisy dog fix boot camp and resulting maintenance program is all a part of setting and maintaining a standard.

I agree that like in most relationships, some sort of compromise becomes part of the equation, whether it's interpersonal, or between dog and trainer.

Chris

I have only been to 1 FT.
so, I dont know much about how they are in competition, and what judges let slide.

I have seen quite a few FT dogs in training,, and I will say,, those dogs have some of the best line manners,,and control on blinds, that I have witnessed from my days of going to and participating in HT's..
They are absolutly held to a very high standard in training,, and their basics are rock solid..

Not just the PRO trained dog either..

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Originally Posted by steve schreiner

Jim Kappas said he takes ( took) his dogs through his total program every spring when he went south for the winter ...the reason he gave was to establish the standard of performance after being off at home for some time....He stated it didn't take long to go through it and the dogs were back at peak performance again... Steve S

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I know of at least one FT pro that does the same thing...For the same reasons.

Every dog on the truck gets run through the program before the heavy lifting begins.

It seems to make good sense for those of us that live north of the Mason Dixon Line. The dogs are hunting Oct. and Nov. then laying around the house in Dec.

Pro athletes go to training camp each year to get in shape and polish up technics. Why not our dogs??



P.S. I'm not talking about basic OB or FF