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cwalt
MH
Posts:180
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| 10/10/2008 1:10 PM |
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| Reflexive response training consists of impressing a command response
that is obeyed almost instantly without thought by the dog. There are
few commands that should be trained to this level and these only include
the absolute control commands such as heel, whoa, halt, down, hup and/or
sit. Alternates for the absolute control commands should also be
trained to the point that the dog obeys without thinking about it; these
include the stop to flush and stop to shot. Eventually the absolute
control commands evolve into the universal "stop. pay attention to me, I
will give you a command. With the absolute control commands the dog
must be conditioned to respond correctly within a fraction of a second,
primarily for the dog's safety. If my dog is chasing something into an
unsafe area, such as auto traffic, I want to be able to have the dog
skid to a stop at the instant it hears the command. In urban and some
rural areas an absolute control command can be a lifesaver for the dog.
In some hunting situations, such as a low flying bird, a whoa, halt or
drop command can prevent the dog from breaking into the line of fire.
Some thoughtless trainers want the recall to be trained to this level
although it should never be trained as a reflexive response since it is
dangerous for the dog. Sooner or later the compulsive recall trainer
will call his dog into heavy traffic and lose the animal. There are
other commands, such as fetch, back and over which should not be trained
to reflexive levels because you want the dog to think about the command
before responding.
If there is any hesitation in response to a reflexive response command
it means that the dog is thinking about it and the command is
insufficiently trained. I like to train whoa (or halt) with a moving
dog on sand so I can see the animal skid to a stop. Of course the
reflexive response isn't a natural reflex since it requires a fractional
second for recognition by the dog's cerebral cortex whereas the reflex
arc, such as a response to pain, is triggered before a signal can reach
the cortex for thought. All commands require some reinforcement or
periodic repetition to be maintained and all trained commands are
subject to modification through experience. The whoa, hup, sit, halt
and heel commands all develop into responses that involve not only the
trained response but also an implicit command for the dog to pay
attention to the handler for another command will follow. The most
destructive problem with control commands is forgetting to give a
following command or a releaser for the dog. When the dog is under
command each and every command _must_ be followed by another command.
The dog must obey the command until released or given another command.
This mandatory rule is often forgotten by novice trainers and it causes
repeated breaks in training routines and markedly slows the learning
process. As the dog and trainer mature together into a working team the
need for training absolute control commands usually diminishes and the
dog becomes reflexively obedient. Some control commands phase into
fixed behavior patterns, the classic example of this tendency is for
control commands sometimes associated with pointing such as whoa, halt
or drop to drift into actual pointing. In considering this statement be
aware that among continental versatiles the drop is a perfectly
acceptable form of pointing that is often natural. If need be the drop
can be trained and will eventually morph into a pointing response.
One of the common problems with reflexive response training is obviously
over-training. Five minutes of work on a command is sufficient, fifteen
minutes of repetition is a waste of ten minutes since the dog gains
nothing from excessive repetition. A few commands with correct
responses twice a day is more than sufficient for training whereas two
prolonged sessions are, as I have noted, destructive of the learning
process. You always initiate training of absolute control commands with
the dog in a standing position, then expand the exercises to varying
distances and angles and then to the dog when walking, then to trotting
and finally to running. Generally if the dog is under absolute
reflexive control at 100 meters it is also under control at virtually
any distance that the dog can recognize the command. One of my
preferred tactics is to start out the commands in a normal speaking
voice and gradually lower my voice and work towards whispering them,
this is very helpful in controlling a dog's search distance.
Absolute control commands are mutually reinforcing, if you have whoa (or
halt) correctly trained the sit, hup or drop are relatively easy to
instill. You always start a training sequence from an absolute control
command, in my case I always start from a well executed whoa or halt;
some trainers like the sit (hup) for starting although very few start
with the drop unless they are training the creep correctional command.
If a dog whines while responding to an absolute control command it has
not been properly trained and must be corrected.
Cj
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tc
MH
Posts:117
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| 10/12/2008 8:37 PM |
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Terry and Janet Chandler
Rugerheim Kennels
German Shorthaired Pointers/Horses
Las Cruces, NM
575-382-5231
Subject: [working-gundog] reflexive response training
>>Reflexive response training consists of impressing a command response that
is obeyed almost instantly without thought by the dog. There are few
commands that should be trained to this level and these only include the
absolute control commands such as heel, whoa, halt, down, hup and/or
sit. Alternates for the absolute control commands should also be
trained to the point that the dog obeys without thinking about it;<<
I train dogs to respond to situations. What would you call that? Performance
dogs have to make decisions on their own, many times we as handlers are
not close enough or within sight of the dog and they have to make decisions
on their own. I often wonder if it is an actual thought process with the
dog of if they respond as to how we have trained them.
For instance, a dog comes on point, not handler around. The dog then watches
it's birds run off. Does he/her relocate and take a chance of flushing
the birds, or does he/she wait until handler arrives and have a
non-productive or be given a command to relocate, or does he/she go on and
find another bird?
Another one, dog has a stop to flush. It looks around, no handler in sight.
Does he/she stay there and have a non-productive, or does he/she move on
to another bird?
Dog has an honor. No handler in sight. Pointing dog rips birds and takes
after them. Does he/she stay on the honor, move on, or join in?
I have watched dogs from hiding places and seen how each dog reacts to many
different situations. It is interesting to see them make decisions on their
own with no handler to tell them what to do.
I ran a dog years ago that was one of the smartest dogs I think I have ever
trained. I won a lot of championships with him. He was amazing. He hated to
honor another dog. He knew it was a no win situation for him. If he came
across a dog on point, he would always honor it. Then, he would look around.
If he knew I was not anywhere close, he would move on. He would never
interfere with the pointing dog, he would just go on and find his own bird.
He learned
this all on his own!
tc
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cwalt
MH
Posts:180
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| 10/13/2008 2:38 AM |
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| Rugerheim wrote:
> I train dogs to respond to situations. What would you call that? Performance
> dogs have to make decisions on their own, many times we as handlers are
> not close enough or within sight of the dog and they have to make decisions
> on their own. I often wonder if it is an actual thought process with the
> dog of if they respond as to how we have trained them.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
I would call that hunting dog type training. Thankfully trained
commands don't persist indefinitely without reinforcement so with most
hunting dogs a interactive cooperation with the handler develops without
the handler (usually) being aware of it. In this evolution of command
responses dogs learn when obedience is mandatory and when it is optional.
Cj
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> For instance, a dog comes on point, not handler around. The dog then watches
> it's birds run off. Does he/her relocate and take a chance of flushing
> the birds, or does he/she wait until handler arrives and have a
> non-productive or be given a command to relocate, or does he/she go on and
> find another bird?
>
> Another one, dog has a stop to flush. It looks around, no handler in sight.
> Does he/she stay there and have a non-productive, or does he/she move on
> to another bird?
>
> Dog has an honor. No handler in sight. Pointing dog rips birds and takes
> after them. Does he/she stay on the honor, move on, or join in?
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Each of the above cases is a situation in which the dog learns what
"commands" are absolute and which are optional in certain situations. A
"smart" dog will learn to move on in the situations you have cited, a
stupid one may well remember how it was first trained and stay in
position. In the first case above a smart dog will naturally relocate
and a smart trainer will not try to correct the dog if it makes a few
relocation mistakes (flushes) while developing its hunting talents. In
the latter two cases the experienced smart dog will just move on. A
smart dog will develop 'exceptions' to the rules of training that make
it far more efficient and productive.
> I have watched dogs from hiding places and seen how each dog reacts to many
> different situations. It is interesting to see them make decisions on their
> own with no handler to tell them what to do.
>
> I ran a dog years ago that was one of the smartest dogs I think I have ever
> trained. I won a lot of championships with him. He was amazing. He hated to
> honor another dog. He knew it was a no win situation for him. If he came
> across a dog on point, he would always honor it. Then, he would look around.
> If he knew I was not anywhere close, he would move on. He would never
> interfere with the pointing dog, he would just go on and find his own bird.
> He learned
> this all on his own!
>
> tc
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
You have correctly identified some of the differences between 'normal'
dogs and smart dogs! Whenever a smart dog is uncertain it is learning
something.
Cj
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