10 Mistakes in Gun Dog Training and How Not to Make Them - Part 1

The best thing about the years we and our ProStaffers have spent training dogs is that we've made the blunders. We rabbit on about the value of stuff-ups 'cause you'll learn from them even more than your wins, but there's no reason you can't learn from our howlers. We're always banging on about the values of consistency, repetition and patience, so we tried to look beyond those in this series. Of course, that doesn't make those 3 any less critical. They're the backbone of a solid training program. These are just a few more bloopers you'd be smart to avoid in your training:

Repeating Commands

We've all seen it happen: someone training their dog gives a command, sit for example, and the dog doesn't listen the first time. Instead of immediately correcting this behaviour, the trainer says sit again, possibly louder and harsher. Even if the dog listens this go round, what he or she has learned is that listening the first time isn't a requirement. It's like telling a teenager to clean his room. If you don't get onto them the first time they don't listen, they learn that they really don't need to clean their room until Mum gets that tone. That's not a good scenario. Your dog needs to know that every time a command is issued, it should be followed. This not only makes a better hunting experience, but it can save your dog's life.

Training in Consistent Environments

There's nothing wrong with setting aside a particular training area for your dog, but it's not good to set up the same conditions over and over. Like professional athletes must learn to compete in rain, snow, heat and the unpredictability of a happy or agitated crowd, so must your dog. If your dog has only been trained in quiet, fair conditions, it increases the chance that he'll get confused when things go differently out in the field.

Relying Solely on Praise

You should reward your dog, no wuckas. When she does something right, a pat on the head, a bit of praise and even some treats are fair dinkum. But if you only use reward-based training, your dog might start to only work for what she can get out of it...and sometimes she might not be up for anything. Yeah, dogs want our approval and affection, but sometimes the desire to not listen will outweigh the desire to get a bit of attention.

Relying Solely on Correction

By that same token, you can't just rely on correcting misbehaviours. Your dog needs to know when he hasn't done a command right, but just focusing on telling him off without praising the good stuff is gonna knock his confidence and make him more dependent on you. Your dog wants to make you happy, and if he reckons all he's copping is a telling-off, he's gonna look to you more to make sure he's acting up to scratch. This will stuff up his ability to trust his own instincts and be confident out in the field, the blind, the bush, and so on. In a nutshell, you'd end up with a trained dog, but he'd be like that shy kid in the back of the class with mummy issues. No one's keen on that.

Getting Angry

Dogs can be a real handful. They can be like furry little teenagers that sometimes seem like they're just out to get on your nerves, but you've still got to keep your cool. Losing your temper and yelling commands or chucking a wobbly isn't helping anyone. Your mood will just be a distraction. Your dog will end up confused. It's a no-win situation. If you're having one of those days where you just can't get through a training session without feeling like flogging your pup to the Amish, take a breather. Put him aside and have another go when you're feeling up to it next time.

Have you made any of these blunders in your training? How'd you fix 'em up. Make sure to check back next week to catch the second half of this series.