The Training Plan: Part I

By Mike Stewart of Wildrose Kennels - Home of Drake the DU Dog

We have all heard it said, "We don't plan to fail; we fail to plan." This is one of those absolute truths that's true of retriever training, as well as life in general. A training plan causes us to remain focused on skill development, to reflect and to document. It requires one to think in terms of causal relationships rather than individual drills or exercises.

It encourages the handler to proceed more slowly and not skip mastering important small steps, which may prove problematic later in training. A progressive training plan actually promotes the dog's learning chain: sequenced thinking and learning built upon the successes of the former lesson or skill. This is, of course, the way dogs learn behaviors.

The plan itself must be detailed, flexible and under constant evaluation. You may find yourself re-engineering and altering the sequence of things, adding steps, deleting unproductive drills, etc., over time, which is expected and proper procedure. Also remember, what works for one gundog may not work for another. Dogs, like people, have different aptitudes, maturity, temperaments and attitudes. Training plans must be flexible to account for these variables.

Each training session should be a planned, thought-out event. What are you going to achieve? Are today's lessons building on previous exposures/successes? Do we see a natural progression even if we are working on problem areas? This is no place for random jumping about to a variety of drills you read about in your newest training magazine. Stick to the plan!

Successful training is progressive learning achieved through consistent repetition of inter-related skills to the point of habit formation. If you randomly apply tips, concepts, drills, exercises or commands, confusion may occur or you may leave holes in your dog's development, which will become evident in later performance.

Rules to Remember

1.  Drill a command, skill or concept twice, as long as you think it should take to learn. Then double that amount of time again to insure habit formation. (Example: If you think it should take five days to teach a skill, it will take 10. Then double the repetition to 20 days to insure the pup mastered the command or skill.)

2.  "Make haste slowly," says P. R. A. Moxon, a famous English retriever trainer and author. Don't be rushed. Use patience and consistency. It's tempting to rush or avoid boring drills to "get to the good stuff." Don't! Master each step before moving to the next level.

3.  Document and evaluate each session from two perspectives: the dog's responses, attitude, success, problems, etc., and yourself as a handler and trainer. How could I improve? Did my actions cause a problem? How was my patience? Did I read the dog correctly? Were my commands clear? Was I consistent? Self-reflection is equally as important as the focus on your dog.

4.  Break down all concepts and skills into their simplest parts and teach them separately. Once success is achieved, begin linking the skills together to form the concept or the desired outcome. Remember: testing is not teaching. Failure teaches a dog nothing. Build the pup's confidence through successes. If problems develop, simplify the exercise until success is achieved. Again, plans must be flexible. They should reflect a teaching approach, not testing.

The Plan

The first step in the actual plan is for you to carefully define your expect outcome for your training process. Begin with a picture of the desirable qualities and abilities for your pup based on your expected utilization. What do you want from your gundog: competition, upland game, waterfowl, both upland game and waterfowl, companion dog, hunting companion, game tracker, flushing gundog, pointer, etc. Once you have a realistic picture in mind, begin building your model composed of the necessary elements, which will give you the desired outcomes. Now that you have listed your desired outcomes in writing, build your plan with the necessary elements that will enable you to:

• Stay focused
• Teach progressively
• Employ repetition to the point of habit formation
• Evaluate results
• Remain flexible
• Break down all skills into their individual components

Continue Reading The Training Plan: Part II >>