Training techniques

So far, I haven't been able to find a public dock without posts for training, oh and most of the water is pretty much frozen right now anyway So I'm trying to figure out what people do to train on dry land.

All I can think of is putting the dog in a sit, walking so many feet in front of him (how long is the typical dock?) throwing the Wubba and releasing him to chase it (I say this as if I can get him to sit still while I walk away with his wubba).

Any other ideas, handy tips or tricks?

That is how we train on land. For UAD it's not as important to have a good sit/stay because you can have another person on the dock to hold the dog but we only use one handler and I want him to behave like I want on the dock. We work a lot in the summer on sit/stay - but as you can see by his videos thru the year he got worse about it. This spring, it's going to be back to obedience for him. That is a good training exercise on land though. Normally the dock is 40 ft so start threre. Also, what we do with Rocky is to put a rope or something to visibly mark where the end of the dock would be. Then during training we video tape him so we can look back and see if he steps are right to use the whole dock. If not, you can move the dog up or down to get the strides right.

Some things I do is I get my dog(s) to focus on the toy. Many times a dog will just jump because they enjoy it but not focus on the toy you are throwing. If you can get your dog to "chase" the object in the air, you can increase your dog's distance. Basically, try to get your dog to want nothing more than to GET his wubba and will do anything for it. However, don't OVER train with the wubba. Rajah now knows that when the wubba comes out, it is jumping time and goes nuts for it.

Of course, each dog (and person) is different, so whatever works for you...

The regular dock is 36' long, I believe, for UAD. The short dock is 20'. We just do a lot land retrieving in the winter to work on the toy drive. Running through the snow is good, if you have any (which we don't, much to my dismay ). We mostly work on conditioning during the winter months. Don't do a lot of jump training, mainly because we have no where to trian!

But in the spring, off to the water we go!

What i have been doing for a month or so has been taking Duncan to the park and put him in a sit stay. i walk approx 40' or so away from him with a frisbee in my hand.
When I stop i wait a couple of secs and then yell OK to release him. he then tears butt towards me and when he gets close enough i throw the frisbee which he then tracks and retrieves back to me.
Very rarely has he broken the stay without my command so i figured he was ready:)
I thought that by doing this it would be good training but when I went to our first event in LI i couldnt get more than 5 steps away from him before he broke it. So I had to have people hold him for me.
Im not sure how i can get him to hold the stay on the dock when he is super excited.

John, that is just practice and exposure... he will get it! The more you do it, the better it will be.

My dog Belle has a 20 minute sit stay! Longer if I ask her to, her stay is SOLID...except on the dock. She always breaks her stay. You might try it from a down position, we had more success with that.

Also getting the dog on the dock a lot, even just to play ON it, is good too. With Colby, I started making him sit/stay half way back on the dock. That way, when there was a break, I was right there to correct him. Also, if he does break the stay, he doesn't get to jump. I go place him back in a sit/stay and try again (time permitting, of course.... a good thing to do between splashes, not so much during the competition )

JNoc wrote:
Im not sure how i can get him to hold the stay on the dock when he is super excited.

That's a good point, Indy is a typical over the top excited adolescent lab, so we're going to work on sit stay more in public to try and improve it. I want him to behave well on the dock since I will probably be the only handler.

His Wubba and bumpers are very high value toys, he only gets them when we're retrieving at the park.
He has a strong desire to retrieve ... not such a strong desire to return the object to me ... something we need to work on.

Since I've been taking him to the river to swim and retrieve he has gotten much more brave about running in at full speed, no wading in slowly for him. I take that as a good sign. Now we just need something for him to jump off of

When you say conditioning ... are we talking about running and swimming, or are there other activities you do to improve their jumping ability?

Weight pull conditioning. Builds muscle and keeps them in condition. That's what we are going to do with Rocky as soon as I can build a sled I can keep...

For us, conditioning means running long distances, retrieving & swimming (when it is possible). Anything that increases endurance. That was one problem we had to overcome initially. They had TONS of energy when we started a 3 day event, but by the last day, there was nuthin' left!

I like the idea of weight pulling too...

We do nothing...and it shows.

TeamRescue75 wrote:We do nothing...and it shows.

On the other hand, look how much we put into Abraham and that little stinker still hesitates! Ya just never know!

Ron tosses the ball 75 times everyday up the stairs for Dakota. I take her for 2 miles on the trails 3/4 times. Just never enough for her. She just goes and goes. But really no place to jump off a dock.

Dakota wrote:Ron tosses the ball 75 times everyday up the stairs for Dakota. I take her for 2 miles on the trails 3/4 times. Just never enough for her. She just goes and goes. But really no place to jump off a dock.

Debbie,

I need to try that with the girls, lol........ Chessies are hard to wear out, aren't they??

The girls get outside play, the chuck-it ball goes a long way. They run, run, run. I've also been working on sit/stay and throwing the ball by me to get them to chase. Meadow is really tall so I have to be careful to not let her get a lot of height until we can practice it on the dock come spring. Right now, just getting both of them to focus on the toy. If I want maximum potential then place and send isn't going to work forever....

I also use the chuckit toy in the feild with ginger after about a 1/2 hour then i work on her sit stay. I walk about 39 feet the n have her come and right before she gets to me i toss her orange bumper up gently so she can catch it as she flys by this way she doesnt get to high and she is getting more comfortable trying to catch it in her mouth hopefully when it warms it will pay off on the dock. For us personally i find if I hide her bumper behind me and give her the sit stay comand she tends to get less excited and then when she sees it she comes a runin

What we have always done for Sky is get her involved in a full morning activity or full day activity. Skys typical Saturdays in the fall, winter, and spring consist of 10 hours of all day hunting when possible and then the next morning we get her up right away and throw her ball or docken in the front yard for a minimum of 1 hour just to build endurance. And in the summer between events we take her swimming almost everynight.(because it is easy on her joints) But when we take her swimming we do not allow her out of water that is over her head for at least an hour just to build endurance. And we let her swim while we go fishing and she will spend sometimes 4 hours straight in the water just following us as we troll the boat for fish, but she is just a clown that way. So we can take her to a three day event and she is ready to go the next morning and is always full of energy.

Another technique we have just started sounds kinda funny but it has been helping sky alot is finding something tall and having her jump it.
We have a sectional in our living room that we will turn sideways, the sectional is 4 feet tall and we will have sky sit back 15 feet and run and chase her toy right over the sectional. She has managed to jump 24 feet using a tape measure from the back of the sectional to where her tail hits the floor. But now even when we play chase it or catch it in the backyard she is getting probably three feet of air minimum just playin in the backyard. And that would translate to probably an extra 4 feet on her jump.

So in short if you don't have room in your house take your dog out in the backyard or wherever you have a fence or some shrubs and play the game catch it or chase it over those shrubs or fence. This will help the dog learn to jump up to catch the toy or they will run headlong into the bushes. But the longest we have been able to make sky jump off the dock has been 25 feet to the tail in the backyard. That is not even from where she left the ground which was two feet before my foot. And we measured from my foot to where she landed. Just like UAD does. So just teach your dog to jump up for now and really chase their toy.

There are some really great ideas here! Water training is so good for them, as long as you start slowly and gradually increase the amount of time. It is nice that everyone is willing to share their experiences.

I would be really careful about the jumping over hedges and/or fences, though. My concern would be that if the dog happened to slip or not have a good jump, they could seriously injure themselves. Mentally, I am not sure what effect that would have on the dogs. I worry about that too... even if they don't have a bad jump. Not that they are all fearful, but some of the dogs who are sensitive may refuse to jump at all. Just sounds like a bad situation waiting to potentially happen, and a risk I personally (just an opinion) wouldn't be willing to take not only as a dog Mom, but as a veterinarian too. :heart:

Not trying to be a party pooper here, but as always, I would be sure that a veterinarian has examined your pet before a lot of hard jumping on the ground is done. Just worry about their joints, especially for the young and growing pups who's joints are not fully mature. Not saying that it is a guarantee, but too much impact, even on the best of joints, can be a potential problem. Since osteoarthritis is such a multifactorial disease, I would just make sure that all is good to go before hand! Gotta look out for our babies, right?

I completely understand your concern. But, I failed to mention I am always there to catch my dog so she does not encounter any of these situations. But I also take into account that she is my best friend and I would not do anything with her that I would not do with my son or daughter to prepare them to excel at a high level. Saying you will not let your dog (child) practice/condition for the event they wish to participate in is insane. It has been my experience that athletes that do not take some risk and push themselves never excel at anything. They tend to have more injuries than those that sit on the couch all week and are expected to be weekend warriors at a high level such as UAD.

And as a disclaimer to my previous posts, SKY is an amazing athlete she was trained as a field trial hunting retriever and she runs for no less than three hours a day every day of the year. She is also an amazing swimmer she builds into her swimming every summer and spring in order to swim for as long as she does. Non of this is intended to harm her but only to keep her healthy.

I am sorry if my tips made you worry about the dogs health or safety.

No need to apologize! You certainly have the right to your opinions and to do with your dogs as you see fit! I wasn't suggesting otherwise. I also understand that you wouldn't want to hurt her, as it is obvious that she is part of the family. I remember her from Cherry Fest and she is a great dog. :heart: I just know that there is no way I would be able to catch my dog in the event there was a problem. Our blabs are just too fast and too big (and my reflexes are not quick enough, and even after lifting dogs all day, the strength required is just too great...I must be old and febile!!! ha ha ha )!

I agree wholeheartedly that you have to train to excel. No doubt about it. I was just making the point that since these athletes cannot assess and assume the risk for themselves, we have to do that for them. I can tell you that the fall that Colby had (a mis-step or slip, not sure which) last November was a doozy. He flipped all the way upside down and landed head first into the pool with his body facing me. Had that been on the ground (where is can certanily happen as well), he would be dead now with a broken neck. It could happen. Luckily, he only suffered a broken rib because the water broke his fall. I feel there are safer and just as effective ways to train than over solid obstacles, but that is what makes this world, and forum, such a great place! Differences of opinion! And if you feel it is an acceptable risk, who am I to say what is right for your dogs? I am just voicing concerns from my own perspective, experience in this sport (however limited ) and what I have seen professionally.

I just want to have fun with my dogs. Yes, I want them to do better and better, but I have to take a step back at times and remind myself it is all good fun with good people and my furry kids!

labpaw, a lot of great medical advice! I've sent you a PM.

Alisa, you rock, you are always looking out for us and our furry companions :heart:

Talking about jumping fences. Dakota has gotten herself into trouble many times for jumping the fence and being caught by the doggy police. $ 35.00 to release her from jail. Though thank God the doggy police find her and not some idiot. She seems to like jumping the fence when my daughter's Siberian Husky is over. SH dogs like to run. We don't consider any of her chanigans as training

Ive got one .I have an outside chainlink kennel for ginger measuring 10x6 and 6 foot high.I uprgaded from the 4 foot high one.I still had to put a tarp over it to keep her from jumpingover the 6 foot high one.And i thought it would never happen she did it on her 3rd attempt so now if i put her outside all you here is the woosh of the tarp silly silly dog