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In the field

On this page I'll describe what I'm learning about my dogs in the field.  

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Notes on the dog.

From Sierra of the UK,
"Trained vs Inherited Behavior
A dog is a product of myriad behaviors and reactions. Some of these
behaviors are inherited and some are trained. If you are going to make a
reasonable choice in selecting a puppy, then you need some guidelines
on what behaviors are inherited and what are trained. Then you can
select parents with the best set of traits in inherited behaviors, and you
will maximize the odds of coming up with a puppy that fits your
requirements, and that fits your level of dog training skills.  

Inherited Behaviors  
Over the course of a number of years I have had the wonderful
opportunity to observe the behavior of a large number of dogs, and also to
observe the behavior of quite a few their offspring of several generations.
These observations have left me with  firm opinions on inherited
behaviors. I have many times seen a certain strong behavioral tendency in a
particular dog, and I have seen that same strong  behavioral tendency
transmitted through several generations of offspring.  

Dogs come in all flavors and types of combinations of behavioral
traits. They are all different. I typically explain the differences somewhat
simplistically in terms of the strength or weakness of  a few inherited
behavioral traits.

A major sample of these  behaviors which have a great hereditary
element is:

  1.      Retrieving Desire The response of chasing a falling or
fleeing object is instinctive. A typical puppy will automatically chase a
thrown ball or stick. He may not bring it back, but he will generally
chase it if he sees it. Note that he must see it. Some puppies may not
develop the eye muscle patterns to track a rapidly moving object until
they are 10 or 12 weeks of age or possibly later. Make sure pup is
tracking the ball with his eyes before you decide he doesnt have retrieving
instinct.

A respectable degree of retrieving desire is a definite requirement for
a good gun dog, but he can have an excessive amount. In the field trial
breeding pool, over the past 20 or 30 years we have been breeding a
steadily higher percentage of dogs with too much go power and retrieving
desire.

As field trials have evolved over the past 50 years, they have become
to a great degree a test of lining behavior. To train field trial
caliber lining behavior requires a great deal of repetition and some amount
of pressure in the form of correction. The dogs that are superior
candidates for this type training program tend to have an excessive amount of
retrieving desire and they tend to be hyperactive.

2.      Delivery to hand Some puppies that have plenty of instinct to
chase a falling or fleeing object but are short on the behavior of
bringing it back. The delivery back of the falling object appears to also
have a strong inherited influence. Some puppies seem to have a strong
tendency to bring back the retrieve. Some have a tendency to grab the
retrieved object and run away with it.

I have had the opportunity to observe a large number of puppies bred
from American field trial stock, and also a large number of puppies from
British field trial stock. Of the puppies I have observed from British
field trial breeding, I estimate that 95% automatically return with
their first retrieve of a stick or ball, and deliver it to hand.

Puppies from American Field Trial stock are much less prone to bring it
back. I would estimate that 30% to 40% of American puppies have a
tendency to run off with the ball. This is the precursor to hard mouth
behavior. Running away to the bush with the prey is what at a wild dog does
just prior to eating his prey.  I would expect most of these non
deliverers to have a tendency toward hard mouth when they get on birds.

3.      Soft Mouth vs Hard Mouth Weve been selectively breeding
sporting dogs to develop a soft mouth for probably hundreds of years. Most
dog folks will agree that soft vs hard mouth is a genetically
transmitted behavioral trait. Our training practices in American Retriever field
trial circles have reversed that breeding selection process.

It is now standard practice to force-fetch train nearly every field
trial dog. This conditioning process is a necessary precursor to the
process of forcing dogs to go on lines. We are producing some great lining
dogs with these training practices, but the force-fetch training process
also compensates for hard mouth. Therefore we are no longer selectively
breeding for soft mouth in the field trial breeding population.

4.      Swimming Swimming is an inherited instinctive behavior. You
can take any litter of puppies that is 7 or 8 weeks old, entice them
into the water and they will swim automatically and never miss a stroke. A
few puppies if they miss this intro at 7 or 8 weeks will have trouble
later in triggering that swimming behavior. Occaisionally you will
encounter an older puppy in the 6months to 12 month age range that will take
several weeks to learn to swim. If you get them in the water at 7 or 8
weeks you can preclude the slow learners.

There is one point to emphasize on water and puppies. Dont put young
puppies in cold water or during cold weather. Water temperature should
be at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit and the weather should be warm to hot.
Putting puppies in extremely cold water will simply train them to not
like it.

5.      Pointing Many retrievers show a definite pointing response.
This is a remnant of the crouch before the pounce displayed by their
wild ancestors. This pointing is generally elicited by a tight holding
live bird. The dog generally has to be within one or two feet of the
bird for the point response to be triggered. The dog will freeze only for
a second or two and then he will pounce on the bird. To get him to hold
the point for a longer period of time you have to train him to stay
standing in position. In addition to training pup to sit and stay, you
train him to stay in the standing position on the command whoa. To get
the desired result in the field you must be very attentive and keep pup
inside his control distance. Whenever hes acting birdy get ready. When
the point occurs, you must quickly command whoa before pup has a
chance to pounce. If you are careful and diligent you can soon get him
holding the point longer.

I dont think pointing has any value for a retriever in the upland game
or pheasant field. A retriever is a flusher, not a pointer. If you keep
pup under control and within 15 yards of you, then you will get a shot
at nearly every bird in your path. Introducing pointing into the
equation just makes a simple task difficult.

In pheasant hunting, a pointing retriever will probably cause you to
experience  a higher percentage of birds flushing out of range. There
is a natural inclination on the part of the hunter to allow a pointing
dog to run wider under the theory that the pheasants will hold for pup
while you walk over. There are two problems here. First, you will
probably let pup get beyond his control distance, and the tight sitting birds
that are pointable will get flushed because pup is beyond your
control. Second, all the birds that are flushing more wildly will be out of
range because pup is beyond 15 yards.

Additionally, pointing training will probably inhibit pups talents
and aggressiveness at running down crippled pheasants.

6.      Calm Nature vs Hyperactive Nature Hyperactivity is a trait
where selective breeding for success in American Field Trials has made a
dramatic change in the typical dog. Ask any field trialer what he looks
for most in a dog and he will tell you, A hard charging dog. We have
bred this trait to excess in the field trial genetic pool. Far to high
a percentage of dogs in the field trial genetic population are
hyperactive. In an outdoor kennel they tend to pace incessantly. In a backyard,
they dig holes, chew trees, pull up shrubbery, etc. When you take them
in the house they display similar behavior. A dog like this is not
pleasant to live with, and is very difficult for the average hunter to
train.

Conversely, a calm dog is a pleasure to live with, is easy for the
average hunter to train. My personal gundog is calm in nature and he has a
much fuller life because of it. I am able to take him many more places
and spend much more time with him because of his calm nature. Jake goes
with me to my Industrial real estate office every day. He frequently
accompanies me to show warehouse space to clients. Jake has probably
closed more deals than I have.

Jake goes trout fishing and follows along on the bank as I wade and
fish a stream.

Jake has gone hunting or vacationing to Alaska, Canada, and most of the
United States because he is a pleasure to travel with because of his
calm nature.

7.      Pain Threshold or Toughness Toughness is another trait that
has been highly valued by field trialers for the past 20 or 30 years. A
tough dog is one that takes correction well and bounces back, one that
handles the electric collar well. He also tends to be a dog that does
not respond as well to more gentle training methods. The tough dog is
less cooperative and requires more force to train.

The increasing popularity and use of the electric collar is skewing
breeding selection toward this type of dog, especially in the field trial
gene pool. A good trainer can take a tough uncooperative dog and put
him through an electric collar training program and make a well mannered
gentleman out of him. The problem is that the electric collar program
doesnt change his genes.

If you saw this dog at a field trial or in training you might say,
Thats a very good dog, I think Ill breed him to my bitch. You then
arrange for the breeding, and subsequently a litter of puppies arrives.
Unfortunately the puppies are going to approximate their parents in
behavioral traits. Therefore, that tough uncooperative male is going to tend
to produce tough uncooperative puppies, puppies that will need a good
trainer and an electric collar training program.

8.   Game Seeking Initiative Game seeking initiative is measured in
how many birds the dog finds. Some people say that a dog with this trait
has a good nose. However this behavior encompasses far more than
having a good nose. The dog possessing the behavior of game seeking
initiative not only has a good nose, he also knows where to use it. This dog
will tend to hunt the places where birds, either fresh or wounded are
likely to be found. This dog will hunt edges, ditches, cover changes and
shorelines. This is a behavior that some dogs are born with a lot of
this tendency and some arent.

Game seeking initiative is an extremely desirable trait in a gundog.
The gundog that instinctively hunts the edges, ditches, shorelines, and
birdy places will flush a lot more birds for the hunter. Additionally
he will much more readily dig out the crippled birds on either land or
water. The value to the hunter is obvious.

Game seeking initiative is a very bad trait in a field trial dog. To
win field trials a dog must consistently take a straight line through
cover changes, ditches, edges and shorelines. In fact, you will find that
field trial judges consistently engineer tests so that dogs with a
tendency to veer off line at cover changes and shorelines will do poorly.
For field trials you want a dog that punches right through cover
changes, ditches and shorelines with no tendency to hunt.

9.      Propensity to Use Nose Some dogs tend to use their nose more
and some tend to use their eyes more to locate game and prey. The nose
user has great value to the hunter. When you nick a duck that sails off
200 yards and swims into thick flooded buckbrush, it will take a
nose-using dog to dig him out. The dog must swim the 200 yards and then scout
the edge of the buckbrush to detect the minute traces of scent left
where the duck has swum into the brush. Finding that he then has to track
that duck through the water, relying on the minute amounts of scent
hanging on the brush. This job takes a confirmed nose user.

On the other hand, the nose user is a liability to a field trialer. In
a field trial, a test is set up and all the dogs are run on the same
test. Thus you might have a triple marked retrieve which up to 60 or 70
dogs or more are run. All those dogs are leaving their scent and bird
scent on the grass and brush as they make the retrieves. After the first
10 or 12 dogs there is a tremendous amount of  bird scent strewn about
the field. A nose-using dog will become confused quickly in these
conditions.

10.  Propensity to use eyes The eye user is the converse of the nose
user. The eye user has great value to a field trialer; less to a
hunter. The eye user tends to be the pinpoint marker that steps on a marked
retrieve at 200 yards. He is not distracted by his nose on the way to
the bird. This trait has great value in field trials where pin point
marking is highly rewarded and where there are oceans of scent to distract
the dog that is less sure of the birds location.

For the hunter the eye user has less value. Its great if he pin points
that bird 200 yards out, but frequently conditions prevent a clear view
or the bird swims or runs off from the landing spot. Then the eye user
is at a disadvantage. The nose user will probably take a more
meandering route out to the fall, but he is far more likely to find the birds
scent trail and track him down. The eye user will have a lot more
trouble and a lot less success when he misses that pinpoint mark and needs to
use his nose to dig out the bird.

11.  Dominance vs Subordinance Dominance is a fundamental behavioral
trait in all dogs, male and female. It flavors and influences a lot of
their other traits and behaviors. Individual dogs are born with some
degree to dominate. Obviously the dog with the highest drive to dominate
is the one that becomes the pack leader. The dog with the higher
dominance drive is also the one that is more difficult to train. The dominant
dog checks more frequently to see if the trainer is still the pack
leader. The dominant dog typically requires more force and pressure to
train. The dominant natured dog is generally the preferred type as a
candidate for field trial training.

The dog with less dominance and more subordinance is much easier for
the novice dog trainer to deal with. The subordinate natured dog is
easily corrected with the raised voice. The subordinate natured dog works
much harder at reading the trainer and he tries harder to cooperate. The
subordinate natured dog is by far the best choice for the average
hunter.

12.  Tractability This trait could also  be described as desire to
please. Tractability appears to be closely linked to subordinance. There
seems to be a much higer percentage of subordinate natured dogs that
are high in tractability. You see the occasional dominant dog that is
high in tractability but the number is small. By definition a tractable
dog is much more desirable as a candidate for training.

Trained Behaviors
The adult dog is the product of both inherited and trained behaviors.
To get the best puppy  you select the parents with the best mix of
inherited behaviors. The puppy will approximate the parents in behavioral
traits. Then you train him in the behaviors that you want according to
what his function will be. If pup is going to be a hunting dog his
training requirements will differ greatly from those of a prospective field
trial dog.

The main trained behaviors are:

  1.      Obedience Obedience is heeling, sitting and staying.
Obedience is an extremely important behavior in a hunting dog. A disobedient
dog makes hunting unpleasant even though he retrieves all the birds.
Conversely, and obedient dog is a pleasure to hunt with even if he is not
the worlds greatest retriever.  Proficiency in in obedience is
measured by the level of distraction he can handle and still maintain his self
control. Your dog is truly obedient when you can walk through a corn
field flushing pheasants every 5 or 10 yards and your dog stays within 15
yards, comes to heel when called and sits when told to.

  2.      Steadiness  - Steadiness is very important in a hunting dog.
Your dog is truly steady when he can sit still as you and your hunting
buddy light a flock of 100 mallards, flush them and shoot 4 or 5 ducks
as they climb out. Then your buddy sends his dog on the first retrieve.
If your dog is still sitting calmly, then he is steady.

The unsteady dog is a liability to you and to himself. The unsteady dog
is the one that breaks to retrieve while the bird is still falling.
Then he progresses to breaking every time you shoot. Then he progresses to
breaking when he hears the click safety being switched off before you
shoot. However this last behavior doesnt last very long. The unsteady
dog puts himself out in the blast cone of the shotgun frequently enough
to be deafened at a very young age. After a season or two of hunting,
the unsteady dog probably cannot hear a safety click anymore. He will
have lost his hearing to shotgun blast. 

The unsteady dog also is likely to come to early end to his career.
Breaking and putting himself out in front of the guns while shooting is
going on is likely to end with the unsteady dog being accidentally shot.
Thus steadiness is a very valuable behavior in a hunting dog.

3.      Lining Lining has great value for a field trial dog. A good
lining dog will consistently win field trials. Lining means the ability
to line a dog up on blind retrieve and send him out on a line, when he
has seen nothing fall. To win field trials the dog must be capable of
taking that line within five to 10 degrees of direction. That is very
fine lining and requires a tremendous amount of training to achieve.  

For a hunting dog, however, lining has little value. The hunting dog
will be most productive when he hunts where the bird is likely to be. In
a hunting situation, when a duck or pheasant is knocked down, the
hunter frequently doesnt know exactly where it fell. Additionally if the
bird is still alive, it is not going to stay where it fell. The
productive hunting dog will head out in the general direction he is sent, but
will check promising pieces of cover as he quests out in search of the
bird.

In contrast, a lining dog will charge out on an unerring line,
regardless of what tempting chunks of cover are off to the left or right. The
lining dog has much poorer odds of coming up with the bird in a hunting
situation. If you are training a field trial dog spend a whole lot of
time and emphasis on lining.

If you are training a hunting dog, you only need the dog to go out in
the general direction hes sent. You dont need a great deal of
precision. The hunting dog will be more productive when he goes off in the
general direction indicated and checks promising pieces of cover on the way
out.

4.      Whistle Stopping and Hand Signals For blind retrieves you
need to send the dog out after an unseen fallen bird and you also need to
be able to correct his course or steer him on the way out to the
fall. Stopping on the whistle to turn and look at you is the prerequisite
to hand signal. The dog has to see the hand signal in order to respond
to it.

There is another major disconnect between field trial dogs and hunting
dogs in the area of stopping on the whistle. In field trials, judges
are typically score a dog down considerably for popping, or turning to
look for a hand signal when the handler has not blown the whistle to
signal the dog to stop and look. Popping is undesirable for a field trial
dog.

For the hunting dog popping is a plus. A dog that on blind retrieves
stops and looks to me for a hand signal every 20 yards or so is ideal. I
can send that dog on a blind and know I wont have to fight him over
stopping. Popping is a sign of intelligence. The dog understands that he
is on a blind retrieve and is cooperating by looking to me for the next
hand signal. The blind retrieve can be accomplished quickly,
efficiently and in total silence. That is by far the best performance for a
hunting situation.

5.      Staying in the water Staying in the water is by far the
biggest difference in field trial performance and hunting dog performance.
Field trial dogs that stay in the water win field trials. Hunting dogs
that stay in the water die of hypothermia.

Staying in the water can be defined by looking a a fairly common field
trial test and standard field trial training scenario. Imagine a long
narrow pond that is 50 feet wide and 400 feet long. The dog is run from
one end and the bird falls at the other end. A field trial dog who has
been properly trained, jumps immediately into the water, swims the 400
foot length of the pond to get the bird, and returns swimming the 400
ft length of the pond. He will swim 800 feet in the water.

A dog that has not been trained to stay in the water will simply run
around the water and down the bank, jump in to retrieve the bird, and run
back on the bank. He will swim a total of 20 feet in the water.

Now suppose we have the same pond and same retrieve with a few
variations. Suppose the water temperature is 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the air
temperature is 28 degrees, the wind is blowing 20 knots and spitting snow.
Also suppose that there are 10 ducks to be retrieved at the end of the
pond. The bank runner will make those 10 retrieves fairly quickly and
be warmer from the exercise.

The water-trained dog might swim all the way for all ten ducks but it
is not likely. It is more likely that he will succumb to hypothermia
before he gets past the fifth duck. The moral of the story is that staying
in the water not only has a negative value for a hunting dog, the
behavior is downright dangerous. "

____________

I haven't been to any UK Retriever or Pointer trials so I can't comment
on how their testing varies from the US.  I did spend some time
learning about retriever training from one of the US field trial trainers
because I felt it would help in teaching directed retrieves, retrieves and
lines with obedience dogs and in my personal hunting dogs.  This
article basically backs up what I saw from him -- a huge difference in the
way he would train dogs for hunters and dogs for triallers.  I think that
is one of the reasons that the AKC went to the Hunting Retriever tests
and the Hunting Pointer tests. 

Does any of the list think that "over-dogging" as mentioned in the
previous email is caused by the dog not being selectively bred or by the
owner not having the ability (or experience) to deal with a dog that has
high prey drives?

Pauline, I'd be interested in your experience since you've field
trialled here in the UK -- the dogs that were hard-mouthed:  did they bring
the bird back immediately or did they seem frustrated in wanting to take
it off somewhere else and came back only because they were trained to
do so? 

Many of the field trialling dogs that I have known have never been in a
house, never known the joy of bonding to a family (or person except for
hunting and training), would never be able to be a 'companion' animal. 
There are those people who don't buy into the 'isolation' theory that
the dog won't work to its potential unless it is kept kenneled.  This
isn't just a field trialler/hunter belief though; there are show people
who believe that the dog shows better if it is kenneled (theory being
that the dog is more eager to please because it hasn't been overwhelmed
with human contact).  Both theories have some merit; I just prefer my
dogs as all-round companions also.

How many behaviours are learned and how many do you, the list members,
feel are inherited?



Sierra

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Notes on the bird and much more!

Here you will read about falconry and other sports where the dog is the champ!  
 
One sport I'd like to learn about is falconry:
Hi Deb, first introduced to the sport of birds of prey in June 1990 when I
had an enquiry for a stud from my dog "Madmax", Windstorm Exchange at
Paulgun, the bitches owner was Mr Stewart Timson from Mansfield in
Nottinghamshire, he had a quality bitch that met the criteria, after a
freindship developed and we were hooked onto the new sport of falconary. 
From there "Max" was used by a number of faloners for their bitches even Max
was trained into the art of working with the birds.  "Max" on a good day
would stop on the whistle ( 210) but I introduced the THUNDER whistle that
ment when he heard that he had to HIT THE DECK FLAT, ie, bird released, our
first expereince was with Harris Hawks normally flown single but had a group
of four or five falconers, then onto Redtails, main quarry was Pheasant and
Duck, the Partridge normally grouped together and stayed on the ground.  Over
the years I purchased a Common Buzzard (Layton) who only took Rabbit, A
Redtail (Red adaire) who took all birds, last but not least a European Eagle
Owl (Olive) that was more than happy to sit in a tree and survey the
countryside dispite being at killing weight. however when a member of staff
let her out of the mews she went back to hack and when recovered become one
of the best birds we ever worked with.

My dogs have worked with Harris, Redtails, Lanner, Buzzards, even a Gos and
Spar (too quick even for me).

All my dogs were ambidextrous, ie could walk to heel either side, as I flew
my birds from the left fist but would show and work with the gun from the
left.

Sad to say when I moved to France the birds could not come with me, hence
they are in the UK with their original breeders, either as working birds or
on exhibition with the Robin Hood group, and other display teams that
entertain the public.

Thank you for your interest.

ps, "Max" was not hard mouthed, he even won a field trail.

regards pauline.

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My Children

Here I might write about my children. I will write when they were born and what grade they are currently in. I will also mention some the teams and organizations they are involved with.

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Other Relatives

Here I might talk about other people in my family, or include a picture of all of us together at some special event.