[stodgman]

I took my 4 year old dog out and spent about 30 minutes with a professional gundog trainer today. He spent all the time fixing me...the dog was fine!!! It was awesome.

He put an add in the paper that got my attention. It reads...
The Silent System. No whistles, no whoas. Bring your dog out and let us show you his potential. etc, etc...
My dog is awesome but I am always "managing him" in the field. I wanted help training him/me on how to fix that.

Brad Higgins of Higgins Gun Dogs will be having a seminar at the Yankee Slough Hunt Club in Lincoln, CA next Saturday. Woody and I will be there for sure.

More info & Reservations 916-782-4782 (leave message)

 

[stodgman]

I came back from the seminar a little while ago and thought I would share a little about it. THIS GUY IS GOOD! There were about 12 owners/dogs there with the dogs ranging from noobie puppies as young as 8 months, to a six year old and even a German Shorthaired Pointer retrieved from a rescue society. The dogs were at all training levels from raw beginners to close to finished.

This guy took "leash pullers" from their owners and transformed them in as little as 30-60 seconds. By the end of the day each and every one of the dogs was pointing birds (even a black lab which shocked me). There was lots to learn but I would summarize the major ideas I caught into these:
1) The dogs know more about birds than you do so let them hunt
2) Be the Alpha dog so you can help your dog be the best it can be

A couple of things that struck me about dog training. Of course these are pack animals and they need a hierarchy. They quickly find the pecking order and then things are fine. THAT INCLUDES YOU AND YOUR FAMILY/FRIENDS. Be the Alpha dog!

When you open a door who enters first, you or the dog? The Alpha dog always goes first.
When your dog is pulling on the leash and running wild. Is the dog acting submissive? No, an Alpha dog would not allow such behavior.
When a dog jumps up on you watch out, it can be asserting dominance.
Ever played "stare down" with a dog? If your dog looks you in the eyes and you "back away" you may be setting yourself up for dominance problems.
Ever be close to a dog and have them step on top of your feet? Yep, challenging your dominance, push them away.

 

[stodgman]

[email protected] no I am not Mr. Higgins :lol:

And while I agree with you that every dog owner should know more about how dogs think I was surprised that each of the 12 hunters at the seminar were NOT aware of a lot of the information. I just guessed that a good number of the folks here might be in the same boat.

All things considered I had done a pretty good job and my dog showed it. I was pretty surprised at the state of training I saw.

stodgman

 

[stodgman]

Maybe I should have THIS woman train my dog!!! :shock: See the Incredible Dancing Dog at static.hugi.is/video/fyndin/dancers_1.wmv