There were a couple of things I saw this week that prompted me to type this up. The first was a question in a dog training group, just a general one about some gundog retrieves and some answers received, and the second was feedback from a student of mine.
Firstly the online question.
The question was a simple one at first glance. The dog was retrieving an object but dropping it on the floor instead of giving it back to the handler. A good few people replied with their suggestions, all of which were possible solutions and all of which likely had been effective for their dogs for them to feel the ideas were worth sharing with the question poster.
Secondly the student feedback
I had met the student for a scentwork 121 this week and amongst the feedback was the following:
“It’s also great the way that you immediately understood hm when so many other ‘Trainers’ over the years have not!” This was in regards to body language being displayed during an exercise that allowed us insight what he was feeling and in turn to decide the best way to adjust the exercise to both inject fun and take the pressure off ultimately allowing the dog to be successful and happy, which he was.
And in those to paragraphs is the answer as to why you wont find the answer on the internet……
You can get tonnes of well meaning advise on the internet but they are snippets of other peoples experience with issues/training/behaviour. They are not based on your dog, on you or your situation no matter how much information you include in your post. You might have to go through a selection of those ideas before finding one that perhaps helps but in the meantime your training has likely become confusing for your dog, has even possibly created secondary issues and in some cases advise can be downright dangerous leading to dire consequences.
When you have 121’s with a competent trainer they get to see your dog, its body language, its immediate reactions to the slightest adjustments of environment, tone of voice, set up of exercise, rewards given and so on and so on. The trainer also gets to see your reactions to all of those things and in turn the effect that has on your dog and your partnership with your dog, where gaps in that partnership might exist and the best ways to go about creating bridges and finding positive solutions for you both.
So yes information on the internet might be easy to access and free to gain but finding the right trainer and taking the time to work with them can be worth its weight in gold. It will ultimately save you time and frustration trying various methods whilst hoping to trip over the right one. For you, your dog and your partnership the best way to use the internet is to hunt down the right trainer to work with. Happy hunting!
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