CHESAPEAKE BAY RETRIEVERS

BASIC TRAINING TIPS

Start young.

Puppies less than six months old adapt best to new situations. Try to think of all the things that will happen out hunting and simulate them as much as possible.

Puppy age and suitable training

Make the experience suit the age of the pup. i.e.- don't blast over his head with a 12 gauge to see if he is gunshy. He likely will be after that trauma. Get him wild about retrieving, then gradually introduce gunshots.

Warm water, please.

Introduce the pup to water when it is warm enough for you to wade bare legged. If the first water experience is unpleasant , the pup may never develop his full potential as a water dog.

Helping the splashing swimmer.

If your pup is a "splasher", flailing wildly with the front feet, attach a floating poly rope to the collar. Hold it high when the pup is going away from you so it won't tangle around the legs. When he turns around to come back, pull gently on the rope keeping it tight. Keep the pull low and parallel to the water surface. This tends to keep his front end down.

If the pup swallows air & water you may see him bloat up. The rear end floats higher and higher and the pup looks ballooned up. Elevating the rear end and squeezing the belly area usually makes them belch up the air.

Counting starts early.

Start multiple retrieves while the pup is still young. Use a corner of a building or fence to prevent the pup from picking up one dummy and racing over to the second. You want him to have to come past you first.

Not too much pressure.

Don't try to make the pup steady (he sits until he is sent to retrieve) too young. It is better to keep him on a check cord and hold him back until you give the release command. Too much pressure for steadiness has ruined a lot of pups. Steadiness should be a slow progression from

Running out while the dummy is in the air.
Being restrained with a check cord until the dummy hits the ground then given a release command.
Being restrained, then made to sit back down before release.
Sitting with light restraint until release.
Sitting with a loose cord until release.

This is much easier on both you and the pup. Keep the check cord on for a month after the pup shows he understands SIT.

Train retrieving and obedience separately.

Do not try to teach obedience and retrieving at the same time and place. Your obedience should be done in the yard under controlled conditions. A retrieve can be used for relaxation between obedience exercises.

When doing retrieving work with a pup, only use commands that have been taught thoroughly in the yard. As the pup becomes more proficient at both jobs, you can combine them and demand more and more obedience in a retrieving situation. YES, OBEDIENCE WORK IS BORING- DO IT ANYWAY.

Each pup is an individual.

Some develop faster than others. They have strengths and weaknesses just like we do. They have bad days. With any luck, this pup will be your hunting partner for 10-12 years. Don't follow any rigid training schedule, just because it has been published. Don't be disappointed if your pup needs an extra year to grow up.

Marks and handling.

A finished hunting dog should learn to do "blind retrieves"-take "lines" and respond to "hand signals". The techniques are best learned from a good book or experienced trainer. Don't go overboard with the handling. A retriever's main business is to mark. Teach good marking first, then work on the blind retrieves and handling.

Do some retrieving work in the dark!

Let your pup learn to "mark" by ear. In certain hunting situations, the dog will not be able to see the birds fall but they can learn to go by the splash or thump of it hitting the water or ground.

Teach the pup to trail while young.

Use slices of hot dog to teach him to put his nose to the ground. Let him watch at first, go straight out and back dropping bits of hot dog on the trail. Keep the pup on a check cord, lead him to the start of the trail and encourage him to sniff. Use a command like "find it" or "hunt" to teach him that it is a trailing job.

Making it harder.

Once the pup is confident, leave a dummy or bird at the end of the hot dog trail and do not walk back on the same trail. Make a fairly wide detour. Gradually make the track more difficult, adding turns. Space out the hot dog pieces more and more.

Trailing bird scent.

When the pup is doing well, change to a dead bird or dummy with feathers. Drag it along behind you and leave it at the end of the trail. Cross the out trail at some point as you return to teach the pup to follow the bird scent not just your odour. When he finds the bird/dummy make a big fuss and encourage him to retrieve it. Most pups catch on to trailing quite quickly.

Helpers are good.

Try to find someone to throw dummies or birds for you once the pup is doing well. If you always throw them yourself, he will develop a habit of going only as far as you can throw, then starting to hunt. Even if you are a deadly shot and all the birds land in the decoys (HA!), teach the pup to do longer retrieves. Other people in the field or marsh also give experience working with distractions.

Make or buy a tie-out stake & chain.

If you have to train by yourself most of the time it is very useful. Staking a dog out teaches him patience and can be used to train "long sits & downs". With the stake out, you can correct the dog for breaking the sit or down without having to run around the yard after him. We have several around the yard so multiple dogs can be tied out while we work in the garden or train other dogs.