I guess when my dogs start to act bored and foolish, I usually challenge them that much more and make them look foolish. Kinda wakes em up!

 

my dog has always been a "less is more" kind of guy, especially in competitive obedience. Training once a week is plenty for him.
But on the other hand, just going out and letting him go get some birds for the sheer joy of it, well, you can't get too much of that.

 

I try to train every day now. Training is anything you are teaching your dog. From marks to blinds to turning on the lights and getting the remote. The more "jobs" he has the less likely it is he gets bored and entertains himself.

 

Guess it depends on the dog. Some need more and others do better with less. Just need to adjust to the dogs needs. If I had the chance I would train 5-6 days a week in off season. Some days long and others short to mix it up and hopefully they wouldn't get bored and stay in the game.

 

its no so much that the dog gets "over trained", its more that the trainer runs out of imagination and starts to repeat the same set ups..in an ideal set up in a perfect world, one would visit a different area each training session...it may sound like a tired cliche,but the good trainers train smarter, not harder

 

Agreed! It's just hard to be smart sometimes!

Plus - we 'take off' every hunting season.

 

I train six days a week. Me and the dogs both need one mental health day per week. Generally, I reserve on day per week to do yard work (drills) to clean up any issues I see developing during the training week. I try to do two sessions per day. One field work and one yard work session, depending on the level of the dog.

 

The few times I've had the opportunity to train 6 days for a few weeks' stretch I found that I was doing more harm than good--might be more my issue than the dogs', though.

 

I didn't ask this question very well. Cold medicine is making my brain fuzzy.

These dogs do well in training. You can tell they start to lose momentum and excitement but they will do the work and do it almost to perfection.

Here's the scenario -

Scenario #1 -
Dogs trained nearly every day with LOTS of different setups, concepts, etc. No boredom for sure in the variety of what they see. Unless its a problem area they see something different every day.

Crushing it in training, but seem to lack "excitement" factor. Just doing the work.

Test day rolls around - Simple test - Easy marks and straight concepts - Dog is jacked up. Goes out steps on go bird like shot out of a cannon, runs right over the 2nd and looks to take a big vacation, handle to bird, 3rd bird, runs right past it (swear they will look at the bird going by) headed on another vacation run...........thank you for your donation, please go home.

This has happened more than once and ALWAYS leaves me scratching my head. BTW, the dog acts like it ate my best snakeboots the next day. KNOWS he got away with something!

Scenario #2 -
Dog not trained at all for various reasons. Dog sits in kennel with a daily run round the yard. ZERO training for two weeks.

Test day - Dog is happy but not crazy. Steps on all the marks and handles like a 4X4 Cadillac on the blinds.

This exact scenario has happened several times with the same dogs. This isn't just one dog.

One thing to note here - by the 3rd series of a Master, OR by Sunday afternoon of a two day HRC event, the "bad" dog may show up.

Honestly it's like they start getting either overconfident, bored, goofy, not sure what you would call it. I know what the outcome is.....please put your dog on lead and thank you for the donation....

So the question is "How do you train if you have these issues?"

Training so infrequently just seems to go against everything I think I know.

Maybe train like hell and then take a week off before the tests?? I have no idea.

 

I didn't ask this question very well. Cold medicine is making my brain fuzzy.

These dogs do well in training. You can tell they start to lose momentum and excitement but they will do the work and do it almost to perfection.

As a novice I've adopted a much broader training approach day in, day out lately and am seeing some success in consistency of performance, in addition to - overall work ethic and attitude.

By broader I am referring to any number of 'changes' in a training routine. Examples might include - adding more conceptual and slightly reducing technical, providing more easy tasks mastered some time ago, more fun bumpers in session, not just afterward.

Ran last night collarless on short, but more technical blinds and avoided verbal corrections. Increased praise on even simple doings.

Whatever the drill-or-skill...the point being to identify in what mode and with what mixture the dog most consistently operates 'best' or with the highest degree of accomplishment.

I realize the above all sounds like 'confidence' building and to some degree it is...but the notion is understanding through variation what brings the most consistently performing dog.

FWIW

 

BTW, these dogs pick up hundreds of birds during hunting season and would go EVERY day if they could.

They never get bored or stupid on the real deal.

 

I think a majority of dogs need some time off, just as we do. Even the firebreathers need mental relaxation, and time to just be dogs. A day or two off each week keeps them fresher physically & mentally, and in a better learning frame of mind.

When my dogs ran best we were training 3-5 days per week.

Evan

 

I voted "everyday", but that is only because I do something with them each day, even if its just heeling on and off leash or other basic ob. Usually I only get in one day of big field set ups when we join our group in SC. 3 other days I will run blinds or drills in the pasture here. I have to keep making things more challenging or my dog goes down hill fast. Very hard when you are by yourself.

 

IMHO it just depends on the dog the biggest mistake I see is with folks who only have one or two dogs tend to overtrain per day. Just think about the pro who has 10 dogs to train daily. How many set-ups do those dogs see in a day taking into account set up time and how long it takes to run 10 dogs on a set up, moving to another location, ect.

 

I voted 6 days a week. I think that dogs that are trained daily and the handler is aware of their attitudes can blossom under this type of training. The key is reading the dog. We evaluate attitude daily and mix in some P.O.S marks (Plain old singles) for therapy. I have observed, overwork on concepts in the water will cause a much steeper decline in attitude than working on the same concepts on land. And every once in while we just go to the farm and turn 'em loose to run and play with nothing but playtime.

 

I think it's important to adjust your training, in the days preceding and following a test, so that tests don't "stand out", in the dog's memory as the times it doesn't get corrected.

In other words, simplify the training set-ups, so that you aren't giving corrections on training days, close to the test dates.

 

I do "retriever" training 3-5 days a week. This time of year it still partly depends on the weather, LOL. With hunt test season approaching in May, we are picking up the pace now and training a little more often and formally.

General training takes place 24/7. You know, waiting at the door or the gate, obedience work like here, heel, sit, and down. Shake or high 5 for treats. Taking directional signals while out walking off lead (I like to keep him on the same side of the road as I am in case of a surprise vehicle, cyclist, or runner.)

 

I think it can do a dog good to have a day off. There are places during training that you need to do it every day but other times a day off here and there will be good IMHO.

 

I train something every day-my sessions are short and highly motivating. Building/maintaining attitude and "want to" are super important to me My dog is learning every minute he is with me regardless if I feel like training or not, I try to take advantage of that. Most of my incidental training (manners, impulse control, etc) take place outside of formal training sessions.

 

I also came from an obedience/field background. I can tell you that most of the top handlers train every day. In compitition obedience once I knew the dog was solid we then started to proof the dog.ex I would place utility sent articles amist other dogs stools. a bit extreme but look at the compition.We trained every day sometimes 3-4 times per day not working more that 10 min. per session. Always paying attention to attitude. And ending on a happy note.

Being old school Field and getting brought up to speed on the newer colar methods. I train daily site blinds, retriever trainer marks, pattern blinds,or wagon wheel drills. I try to get at least 2 flyers per week and train with others at least twice per week. More if I can cohearse others to throw for me.
I spent a month down south at CanvisBack Kennel just for the record the pros train every day. I am trying to get ready to run derbys this spring, summer and fall. So every training session is important and has a purpose and goal.

Like obedience I am in it for the long hall with Gunner field and obedience and yes it is a blast and gunner has a great attitude.

Erick & Big Gunner