help needed - drills for stopping at a distance on whistle

c_d

c_d

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Fillmore (springer - 13mo next week) is doing well with her training overall. One thing I'm having a tough time with though is stopping her to the whistle at a distance. She'll sit to the whistle when she's right next to me. She'll do it about 8-10 feet away when she's looking directly at me, but that's it. I would like to get her to stop to the whistle better, more reliably, and at greater distances.

Any tips/tricks/drills I can work on for this?

A simple one I heard recently was to just toot the whistle when she gets into her kennel and turns to look at me. She does turn to look each and every time she gets into the kennel anyhow. any thoughts on this one?
 
Do you use a collar? I use a collar with tone and use either or both (whistle) every day on walks (repetition repetition repetition). My springer is 20 months and I swear I can spin him around in mid air. Just keep at it and don't let him get away with non response. My pup is picking it up too. Daily walks are an excellent time to practice recall commands.

good luck.
 
Put the collar on and go for walks on lead. Snap back on the lead slightly at the same time nick the dog and hit the hup whistle, all simultaneously. Walk and every 20 feet repeat. Pat him up when he gets it right each time. Keep this up for awhile. Also hup her in the yard and back up 50 feet. Call her about 10 feet and hit the nick and whistle at the same time, if she creeps pick her up and put her back again. Praise big when she does it right. And do it often.Then do the same thing a week or so later as the dog is running. If she creeps go pick her up and place her back where she was when you hit the whistle.
 
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I think the biggest key is simply repetition - you need to work on it every day. For me, it was just a matter of being able to "hup" him at my side, then 10 feet away, then 20 feet away, etc., and then eventually he just figured out that the whistle blast meant to sit wherever he is.

I think it's important that if you "hup" him, he needs to sit right at that point. If he keeps coming back to you for a few steps, you need to take him back to the place he was supposed to hup and make sure he understands.

If the dog isn't getting it still, one drill you can do is put him on a long check cord and get it so there's a tree or post between you and your dog (so that the cord runs from you, around the tree and then to your dog). When your dog starts coming towards you, you can "hup" him and stop him with the check cord at a distance from you.

I don't understand the point of blowing the whistle when your dog goes in the kennel, but I'm a long ways from an expert on it.
 
FCSpringer said:
if she creeps pick her up and put her back again.
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this might be the missing link. I've been doing just as you describe up to that point. leash/nick/whistle. when she's close = good. I've walked away, called her to me and hit the whistle (even stepping towards her a step with a hand hop as in 'STOP') but it's just been ok. I'll keep at it all, but now I'll be sure to put her back to the missed spot and report back. thx
 
MJinMN said:
I think the biggest key is simply repetition - you need to work on it every day. For me, it was just a matter of being able to "hup" him at my side, then 10 feet away, then 20 feet away, etc., and then eventually he just figured out that the whistle blast meant to sit wherever he is.

I think it's important that if you "hup" him, he needs to sit right at that point. If he keeps coming back to you for a few steps, you need to take him back to the place he was supposed to hup and make sure he understands.

If the dog isn't getting it still, one drill you can do is put him on a long check cord and get it so there's a tree or post between you and your dog (so that the cord runs from you, around the tree and then to your dog). When your dog starts coming towards you, you can "hup" him and stop him with the check cord at a distance from you.

I don't understand the point of blowing the whistle when your dog goes in the kennel, but I'm a long ways from an expert on it.
Click to expand...

thanks. Just like I mentioned in the other post, I'll work hard at putting her back where she broke. If it comes to it, I might just have to try the tree method you're talking about. I think I came across a pic of that somewhere not too long ago. thanks for the help. keep you guys posted as to how it works out.
 
Three times out today and I'm already noticing some improvement. I'll keep at it and keep you guys posted. Had to hit the hardware store today and figured I might as well build some place boards so I grabbed the supplies. I'll be implementing these into the training asap too.
 
FCSpringer said:
14" wide 16" long 2 1/2" high. Smaller is better to keep them from moving around. To start just put 2 side by side.
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sweet. I found a couple scrap pieces for tops at the hardware store that I was actually worried they weren't big enough. these are about 18x18 so it sounds like i'm in range for the most part. Going to build these bad boys this morning and get to work! First official day out is October 9!
 
Every one wants to make them too big. The Idea is to be able to corect the dog for moving off, so keep them smaller so they will learn to stay put. Your correction comes when the dog puts a paw off, so if they are big, they can get by with movement. If you correct them for moving on the board it will confuse the dog.
 
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thanks FCS. I recalled someone's specs of 24x24" and I was thinking to myself, "my dog's not that big!" No way I need that much surface. Then I figured they came from a lab trainer, so that would make a bit more sense.

I'm building these babies later today. I'm excited for the next phase of training. Seems like we've turned a corner and she's picking things up so much better.
 
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thanks for all the tips

Thanks everyone for all the tips!
UPDATE: just in the last few days she's getting better and better. Granted, I'm not giving myself situations where she could possibly fail, but our range is growing a bit more each day, and she's beating the collar correction now, so that's good. Keeping at it every time we leave the house (at least 3 times a day) but trying to keep it fun and mixing it up. I appreciate the help. 3 weeks left to our first day of roosters...
 
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