How To Improve Both Steadiness And Compliance With The Stop Whistle
Ian Clinton - Working Dog Company · 27 Mar 2012 · 6 min read
Welcome to the third article on improving gundog behaviour and obedience in this series for GunsOnPegs. As promised I am going to outline how to improve both steadiness and compliance with the stop whistle.
As promised I am going to outline how to improve both steadiness and compliance with the stop whistle.
Introducing distractions
Your dog should be 100% compliant with the sit stay exercise as we are going to add some distractions and test its obedience to staying where it has been sat. Take out a dummy from your pocket or game bag, tap it a few times with the palm of your hand, reinforce the stop whistle and throw the dummy underarm just a few feet away on the ground. Try to make sure that you are roughly between the dog and the dummy just in case it decides to run in to grab the dummy. If it does move give a loud ahhh! ahhh! And move towards it; move the dog back to where it was told to stay and reinforce the stop whistle. Pick the dummy up to make sure the dog does not get the reward of a retrieve by running in. Repeat the exercise making sure you reinforce the sit stay and whistle stop. Once you get full compliance with one dummy add a second. Keep repeating the exercise and praise the right obedient steadiness that the dog is learning.
In time you should be able to drop and throw dummies all around where the dog is sat without it moving. Always ensure that you pick these dummies up yourself and do not allow the dog to retrieve one. When you have completed this exercise walk the dog at heel a few yards, drop a dummy down, walk the dog away for 20 yards or so and set the dog up for a retrieve. Only send him when he has sat at heel and in line with the location of the dummy, once you have decided he is ready send him with a command ‘get on’ or ‘fetch’ whatever is your preference.
Walking to heel with distractions
The next stage, once you have total compliance with the steadiness exercise, is to practice walking at heel and then throwing a dummy out ahead of you. To achieve this you may need to keep your dog on the lead. Just as you are going to throw out a dummy give a short whistle pip and sit command. As the dog sits throw the dummy out in front about 10 to 15 yards. Praise the dog for staying steady and sitting. If it tried to run in use a correction ahhh! Ahhh! And apply a short tug to the lead to enforce the sit. Do not reward the dog with a retrieve if it has not been steady to the thrown dummy, it has to learn there is no reward for disobedience.
In time and with practice at walking to heel off lead you should be able to throw dummies and the dog sit at heel every time you stop walking and remain steady to distraction and dummies until ordered to retrieve. This series of exercises is very important if you intend to use your dog on the peg whilst shooting, it needs to be rock steady to shot game so if you are unable to teach it to be steady to dummies then it will be doubly difficult to falling game.
Stopping and sitting on a whistle command
Another key obedience issue for gun dogs is to stop and sit on a whistle command. This exercise needs to be built up in stages. The first one is to start to replace the word command ‘sit’ with a single ‘pip’ on the whistle. When my dog will sit every single time immediately on the command sit, I start to introduce the whistle. I do this by giving a short whistle pip immediately followed by the word sit. Eventually the dog will anticipate the word command on hearing the whistle pip and sit before you say it allowing you to drop the word command completely. I also start to introduce the raised right hand in the style of a traffic policeman in time with the whistle pip. The dog will soon recognise the hand signal and whistle pip and sit on command. Once this has been thoroughly learned it is time to raise the bar and increase the complexity of the exercise. You can start to use the whistle whilst the dog is moving along with you at heel. Without warning or changing pace blow the sit whistle and make sure the dog stops and sits, if it does give praise and reassurance, if it doesn’t, repeat the word sit firmly with the whistle pip. Once the dog is complying consistently you should be able to walk with your dog at heel and blow the sit whistle with the dog sitting immediately whilst you continue to walk on without breaking your stride.
Once this compliance is firmly established you will find that you can get your dog to stop and sit whilst it is on the move around you, keep the distances short to begin with and make sure that you praise the right response. You can test this further by calling your dog to you and as it is coming raise your hand, blow on the whistle and take a short step towards the dog as if you are going to him, you should see that it stops and sits. Once it does you can look more relaxed, walk up to it and give praise for the right response.
Recall Exercise
Another way to improve compliance is to set up the recall exercise. Sit the dog up, walk away for about 20 yards and hold it in the sit stay position. Call the dog to you and when it is coming to you take a step towards it at the same time as raising your right hand in a stop signal and blow the stop whistle. Remember that this method should only be used sparingly with the recall or otherwise it may anticipate the stop and falter in the recall signal. Only use once in every four or five recalls. Keep developing this exercise over time and increase the distance in stages, if you get a failure then go back to the distance you can achieve 100% compliance and start again.
Next time I will explain how to achieve a reliable whistle recall and add in simple retrieving basics. In the meantime if you wish to discuss any matter regarding your dogs training or require new training equipment please take time to visit www.workingdogcompany.co.uk or give Ian a call on 01462 450830.
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