T Drill Question

[cmac]

Hello, I had a question about the T drill. Yesterday was our first day running a full T drill.

We had a problem come up. My dog sliped the whistle on the way to the back pile. Once I lined him up and sent him there was no stopping him at the apex. After a few attempts I packed it up and called it.

He does sit on a whistle....just not once he has locked onto the back pile.

What is the appropriate way to correct this.

What type of correction should I give and how do I get him to stop.

Thanks Curtice Macfarlane

[TroyFeeken]

Step back to your mini T and do a couple stops on a check cord going out to the pile and on the way back. Teach and then reinforce with the ecollar.

[Kevin WI]

He does sit on a whistle....just not once he has locked onto the back pile.

That appears to me to mean he doesn't sit to whistle...reliably.

If he's collar conditioned, and it were me, it would be sit (whistle), nick, sit (whistle).

All that given if it were me in that position given the above scenario...but I don't know the dog like you do or all the details. Sit mean sit! Period.

[cmac]

Thanks for the advice. I would agree that he does not sit reliably...but it does only come up when he is locked onto the back pile.

I was wondering if I should move up closer to the apex and run it with a check cord. Sort of like the mini T.

Or I could do the SIT nick SIT.

[Polock]

Shorten it up so he doesn't get a lot of momentum built up, use a check cord and have the dog facing you on the send......then slowly start lengthing it out................remember to not stop him everytime you send........teach and build...........

[Gun_Dog2002]

http://www.retrievertraining.net/for...hlight=pattern


/Paul

[Buzz]

I don't know your dog...

I had problems with my dog blowing me off at the end of blinds and not sitting. He was wanting to hunt up the bumper on his own.

I went back to pile work. Started letting him get almost all the way to the pile, then blew the sit whistle. If he blew me off, I yelled no, TOOT after he had the bumper. He would sit, and then I'd walk all the way out, take the bumper away, put him back to the spot where I'd blown the whistle that he blew off (giving him a SIT-Stick-SIT), walked all the way back to the line, and casted him to the pile. I continued until I got a few good sits in a row, then called it - giving lots of praise. After a few sessions of this, he stopped slipping my whistles on blinds...

So I guess I'm saying, if he's blowing you off on T, back up and reinforce the sit with just a pile. I tried the Toot-nick-Toot. Didn't seem to make a lasting impression. But me walking out and sticking him sure did.

This is also how I finally had success with cast refusals on blinds. I had to walk out and get up close and personal. If I gave an over and got a back a second time after trying attrition, I would sit him, walk out, bring him back to the original spot where he gave the refusal, gave a sit-stick, tossed a bumper in the direction of the over he refused, gave an over and had him pick up the bumper. Then I'd sit him, walk back to the line and give the same over. The refusals dropped off dramatically with significantly fewer corrections that I'd have had to give using the collar.

On another dog, who knows...

[cmac]

Thank you for the help. I went out and tried some of the suggestions.

I ran about 10 feet from the apex. The first time I hit the whistle he spun around and sat perfect. I was pumped....it really worked!

The next rep I went to send him straight through to the back pile. What does he do....he pops right at the apex and waits to be handled. I gave him a back command and sent him through.

He got better as the drill went and towards the end it seemed to go smoother.

So my question is now....how do you correct a dog that pops at the apex.

Is it a BACK nick BACK?

He has been FTP.

How patient are you with a dog before you start giving corrections?

Thanks again for the help.

[Evan]

Don't get in too big a hurry to force him through a pop. One pop usually only indicates a bit of confusion, or anticipation of being handled. It's likely he'll work it out during the drill.

If it becomes repeated, then of course you'll need to show him it isn't acceptable through forcing. And "Yes", it's "Back" - nick - "Back" when you do.

Evan

[cmac]

Thanks, I appreciate everyone that took the time to help me out.

Dog training is funny...once you fix one thing something else seems to need attention.

Evan, thanks that clears that up. I will make sure I am patient with him.