Getting a Puppy Ready for the Started Level Test Congratulations on getting involved with your new puppy in the HRC. Whether you have a Labrador, Golden, Chesapeake, or any other versatile hunting dog, the HRC will help you develop a great hunting companion out of your little friend. Your young pup has a long way to go before it can become a "non slip" retriever. Building a solid foundation in obedience makes the journey that much easier. Just about every aspect of hunting with a retriever involves some sort of control, from sneaking up on a group of ducks sitting in a pond with your dog at the heel position or hunting for pheasants and while your dog is quartering within the range of the gun. An obedience class can be a very sound investment, however it is not necessary, providing you are dedicated to seeing things through. Sometimes a class can be more beneficial because of the added experience of other dogs and people. Almost all of the retriever books out on the market devote a good portion of time to obedience training. Young dogs do not have long attention spans, this is important to keep in mind while training. The worst thing you can do as a handler is to over extend a training session and bore the dog at this age. You want the pup to stay happy and alert, so when the session stops, the pup will come back for more. Teaching commands like sit, stay, and come should be relatively easy if you learn to make situations positive. Try and anticipate a pup breaking the "sit" command. The instant the pup breaks, give him the command "come". Make this action positive and try to limit any negative reinforcement. If you have to constantly correct a young pup in the basic commands, then the session has probably lasted too long or you may be asking a little too much. You will soon learn to see when your dog is in a learning mood or not. Try to get into a habit of working two or three times a day on basic obedience commands. Try not to get caught up in what your friend's dogs have accomplished. Whether it's the same age or not, don't try to out do anyone. Your dog will learn at its own rate and will progress in proportion to the amount of time you spend with it. Do not "RUSH" through out this process, take your time and build a solid foundation! Another thing to remember while training a young dog in obedience is to only give commands that can be enforced. By this I mean, every time a command has been given, make sure the dog complies. An example of this would be; when teaching the command "come", always use a long line or leash. Try to avoid letting the dog do whatever he or she feels like during training time, this will only get worse with age. A command is just that, a command, not a request (but still remember, he is just a puppy). One of the most important responsibilities you have as a new handler is to introduce your pup to new experiences. These experiences should include terrain, obstacles, water, decoys, gunshots, and anything else your dog will see in his future as a hunting retriever. Take your time while exposing the pup to new sights and smells they encounter; their natural curiosity will lead the way. While the pup is still at a young age, we want to build on his or her natural hunting instincts. Marking is one of the most important attributes that are passed on from the dog's parents. For the most part, marking is a natural ability. But as a handler, you can do things to help develop this trait further. Marking should be fun for your dog; he will want it to go on forever. Start to stretch marks out for your pup a little at a time, and getting him used to marking a bird or bumper thrown in the field by someone else, rather than by you. If your dog is use to the gun, incorporate it in the marking sessions. If not, still use the gun as a "pointer" with no ammunition or poppers until later. Marking off the gun is very important and will become an important part of his career as a hunting retriever. Try not to get caught up in challenging your pup too much, leave doubles for later, when he reliably delivers to hand and is well versed in various lengths and difficulties of single marks. If you are trying doubles now, you might be pushing the pup too fast. Remember what we said earlier, do not make the sessions too long. The pup's attention span is limited and you want him to come back for more. Now that the pup is getting a little older, start working on steadiness. There are many ways to do this from grabbing his collar, to using a belt cord. The main thing to remember is that a steady dog marks better. Steadiness is needed before moving on to more difficult and advanced training, so build a solid foundation in this area. With the started class just around the corner, you should think about force breaking. Force breaking your dog will make him more reliable in everything he does. A lot of good retriever books and videotapes discuss this process and lay out some guidelines for you to follow. When you do decide to force break your pup by yourself, be committed to seeing it through. Force breaking is something you cannot do half way and expect consistent results from your dog. Central Rockies HRC is glad you brought your pup into the HRC environment and looks forward to seeing you and your dog at the next hunt.

Seasoned A dog that performs consistent seasoned work is better than 90% of the dogs you will see in the field. That statement alone should hint that the started dog has a lot to learn in order to become a seasoned hunting retriever. That being said, there is no reason you should settle for less than a seasoned retriever. This is a very attainable goal and the benefits far outweigh the time and training that is required to get there. There are a number of things that separate the started and seasoned dog. We will try to list and explain the differences and their importance. Along with some training suggestions in the next few paragraphs. The first and most obvious requirement of a seasoned dog is to deliver all birds to hand. The importance of this is seen every year when hunting. Cripples just do not cooperate when dropped and given the chance to escape. The delivery of birds to hand also sets the stage for doing double retrieves. Force fetching the dog is the answer when asked how to accomplish this requirement. Once done, a dog that is force fetched will be more reliable in everything it does. Get in the habit of making the dog deliver all objects it picks up to hand. Soon it will become second nature and you will see how force fetching benefits your dog. The next requirement involves being steady at the retrieving line. If your dog is not steady, it is unable to mark double falls, and will no doubt be a nuisance to hunt with. Seasoned tests involve much more excitement to your dog and the urge to break will be there. Start working your dog to be steady on single marks, don't rush the dog, and remember set a solid foundation. Now is the time that you will see if your basic obedience training has set in. Obviously the "stay" command will be tested here. Try not to let a dog that breaks or creeps on the line be rewarded with a retrieve. Only acceptable work should be rewarded. Make your corrections timely, don't scold a dog if it broke and got the bird, that's too late. The dog may think he is being scolded for bringing back a bird when in fact that is not the case, just accept the bird without giving any praise. Ideally your partner will have picked up the bird and not allowed a retrieve, and you will have been able to give a more timely and therefore more effective correction. Be patient with your young or inexperienced dog, you don't want to take away their desire, just contain it. During seasoned training you will start to see the value of a training group, many aspects of seasoned training can't be done by you alone. The next item that must be mastered by a dog training for seasoned work is marking off the shotgun. At the started level, the handler is not required to handle the shotgun, therefore using attention calls in the field to make sure the dog looked where the bird was thrown is common. At the seasoned level, the use of an attention call is rarely used except when introducing the dog to single and double marks using the shotgun. Get your dog used to marking off the gun with single marks with attention calls, then singles without attention calls. The dog should learn to look where the gunpoints. Slowly introduce doubles by using an attention call on the second bird of the double to get the dog to swing. If you notice, everything a seasoned dog does depends on being steady. Heeling your dog in tight circles will also help the dog understand what is expected. Gun safety is of primary importance here, always being aware of the muzzle. Walking at heel, off lead, is another aspect of control that a seasoned dog is tested for. Walking at heel is teamed up with the shooting of a bird and subsequent retrieve after showing steadiness is called a "walk up". This hunting scenario can be on land simulating a flushing upland bird or a sneaking up on a body of water and jump shooting waterfowl. A "walk up" tests the level of control more than a dogs marking ability. Practice this with bumpers and then dead birds and finally using clip wing pigeons. Progressively build the difficulty by increasing the excitement for the dog. Include the shotgun in your training along with a member from your training group. A good seasoned dog is a good marking dog. Marking falls in difficult terrain and varying distances is another item that separates a seasoned dog from a started dog, along with being able to retrieve double marks. Seasoned dog needs to see as many marks as possible so they are able to build confidence and experience. Don't challenge the dog too much to soon, remember take your time and build the dog's confidence. One mistake that novice handlers sometimes make is starting their young dog doing doubles right away trying to increase their memory. The thing I always say is that a good memory can't make up for poor marking. Stress marking and then start the dog on simple doubles. When the dog shows good delivery, steadiness, ability to mark off the gun, then start to increase difficulty of the doubles. Again don't worry as much about memory as basic marking ability. Diversion marks are another new item for the young seasoned dog. The goal of a diversion is to see if the dog can mark a bird from the field while bringing back another bird at the same time. These marks can come after the second mark of a double, return from a blind or on the return of a walk up. This small, but important part of the test probably happens quite a bit while you're out hunting, so it is imperative for the dog to master this. Switching birds does not fail the dog during a test, but is undesirable at this level. Training partners come in handy here, setting up scenarios so that a correction can be made if needed, before a switch is made. When adding diversions to your training schedule, start working on land before moving to water. Leaving the best for last, the blind retrieve, I can hear the terror in your voices already. Being able to retrieve a bird the dog did not see fall with the direction of the handler really starts to show teamwork, and separates seasoned dogs from 90% of those other dogs out there. The length and difficulty of the seasoned blind is not great, but will show the judges if the young dog is learning to "handle". Training for blinds is a never-ending aspect of retriever training, drills, drills, drills. My best piece of advice is to be consistent and don't challenge the dog too much, build confidence. Rather than going into lots of drills, I advise this book, "Training Retrievers to Handle", by D.L. & Ann Walters. The title says it all, from sitting on a whistle to a trouble shooting section(some corrections explained in the book are out dated, and should be overlooked). Still, the ins and outs of handling are described here very well. The seasoned blind should be completed showing the judge that the dog retrieved the bird through the actions of the handler and not just running around and stumbling on the bird. Finished handling is not required, but showing the ability to handle and trainability is what's important. This is obviously a control test. Incorporate a gun in you drills and cold blinds since there will be one in the tests.

Finished The next step in the HRC is the finished level. A dog and handler that receive an HRCH title have demonstrated teamwork and countless hours of training towards this goal. This title represents something special and will earn the respect of your peers. The work that you will be doing in training your dog to run finished tests is demanding and challenging. There are some major differences from seasoned tests to finished tests, but a solid seasoned dog should have a good foundation to start finished work. The finished dog is expected to mark well (doubles & triples), and handle at an advanced level. There are many obstacles and problems laid out for a finished team to overcome, and the dog is judged on its performance and recovery from those obstacles. Being a finished dog also involves honoring another dog, this sounds easy, but sometimes it is very difficult for a hard charging dog to sit back and watch. Training for the finished level requires a commitment to detail. Hunting experience is also a very valuable asset and shows in a finished retriever. Marking falls from different angles, with delays during the throws, and a selection order for the retrieves are possibilities in a finished test. In order to train for the various types of marks, a training group is essential. Don't neglect throwing single marks at this level of training, remember, memory does no good if the dog can't mark. The main thing to train for concerning marks, is steadiness at the line and show the dog as many types of marks as possible. Try not to always assume there will be long marks, they most likely will vary in distance, also be ready for singles in the test as well as a double or triple. Try to incorporate clip wings and or shot flyers in training also. The blind retrieves at the finished level really separate the men from the boys, so to speak. The blinds, while not really that long(100 yards or less), can really cause havoc if your dog is not ready. The word "suction" becomes a four-letter word, and if you as a handler let your dog get into trouble, well, you'll know what we're talking about. The seasoned blinds you have run so far were over light terrain and away from old falls. The finished blind is up to the imagination of the judges, and some of those judges have wild imaginations! If your dog has been put through its paces in training and the two of you work as a team, there should not be that many troubles. Lining drills and handling drills need lots of repetition in varying terrain. Include suction from old falls, poison birds and anything else you can think of.