leash training | Gordon Setter Expert

Fortunate are we indeed, (little Yoda there shaking up your reading experience) to welcome Guest Blogger, Diane Dargay to share her personal experience training a Gordon Setter. All breeds are different and learn at various speeds and levels, and like many other breeds the Gordon has their own special needs. Thanks to Diane for sharing her personal observations and tips!

Training

by Diane Dargay

Growing up, we never had dogs so when we got our first Gordon, Baron from a pet shop at six months old, he was VERY mischievous. I remember Bill cutting the lawn as Baron would follow nipping his butt. We always had to put him in the house. Leash walking was impossible and chewing was bad. At this point, I decided to take a class at our local town hall. He was somewhat better and I know my training was not that great. I hooked up with a friend that was taking classes with a gentleman that was in the K9 corp. We did much better and Baron eventually got his CD.

Training back then was the choke and jerk method. Food training was frowned upon. I could not understand that because the dogs in the circus always were trained with food.I could see Baron was miserable and swore my next dog would be different.

training4 — Photo by Dargay – Jackson and Diane

Fast forward 30 years……Food and some clicker training works and the dogs are much happier. I have found that Gordon Setters do not take well to many repetitions in training. They are not Golden Retrievers. When an exercise is trained, if they do not get the concept by the 3^rd try, I do an exercise they know and go back later and try again. Going past 3 reps they sniff, ignore and eventually do not pay attention. Sometimes it happens after 2 reps. If the dog does it correctly after the first time, I stop and do a new exercise. My motto…one and done. Many people will do it again because they are so excited the dog did it only to come up with failure.

Time limits are crucial as you do not want to overload the dog. Five to ten minutes is enough time and only practice 2 to 3 exercises not a whole repertoire. Most Gordon Setters are impatient, so keeping attention is key.

Obedience training is started at 8 weeks. The learning period up to 6 months old is key training time as they absorb the most information in this time period than any other in their lifetime. Teach them everything…….sit, down, come,heel and stay. They can handle it just in 3 minutes intervals. They have the attention span of a gnat, so keep it fun. If you have other dogs, they will learn from them. Monkey see, monkey do.

Since I do many venues, I try to get the obedience stuff out of the way first while they are growing. Once I start flyball, agility and hunting, obedience goes to the bottom of their list. Heeling is boring! Getting into the Rally ring by 8 months is good as ring experience and being able to talk/motion to your dog on leash helps in future trial situations. Even if you do not qualify, experience is great. Some people are afraid of failure. Most of us have failed at something in our lives. It only makes us better.

training3 — Photo by Dargay – Jackson and Diane

My last tip discusses food or treats. Most of the Gordons I know enjoy their snacks. That does not mean that toys cannot be used if the dog has a favorite. Whatever your dog seems to be driven to, will work to keep his attention. Integrating both is a good tool. When choosing treats, you want something special not kibble. Something with an aroma usually works well. I use microwaved chicken hot dog slices. They are better for your dog and not as greasy as regular hot dogs. Sometimes when learning a new exercise, I up the treat value if they are not learning. What I mean is this. If you were given a choice between a hamburger and filet mignon, which would you choose? I would guess filet mignon, correct? Same with the dog. If chicken franks were not working, I would go to pieces of chicken or beef. The lesson is we want to keep the dog focused on us. That will maximize the learning.

This is just my training program. There are many other good ones out there and I always take suggestions from anyone to better my dog. You want your dog to play and work with you. There has to be something in it for them. If you are not the center of attention, training will be harder. Make it fun!

training2 — Photo by Diane – Jackson and Diane

The photos in this article are Jackson at a trial in December, 2012 at the age of 8 months. He was a good boy and even placed 3rd with a score of 98. I know you are thinking that this all came about because of my experience. You can do it.

Analyze the photos. If you notice in most of them, the leash is in my right hand and my left hand is clenched at my waist. Jackson is thinking…….could a treat fall out of my left hand???

Let me just say – admit if you will – that there’s been a couple of times, and yes, a couple of wild, crazy (and fun) dogs that I’ve shown for myself and others, who’ve caused my life to flash before my eyes while my brain screamed “…going down” as I wildly attempted to steer a sixty pound mass of muscle covered in black and tan fur into a left turn as the dog lunged full speed ahead, and headlong toward the corner of the ring showing absolutely no sign of braking for any kind of turn. Look out spectators, look out ring-fence, look out world I’m about to get slammed into a three foot fence that I know these old legs can’t jump! No people, my hair didn’t get this gray primping around the ring with well-behaved little girlie puff-ball.

I wasn’t planning to name any names, but I’m sort of on a roll here, thoughts are moving far too fast in my head from the memory of those racing seconds of insanity so I simply have to throw out a couple of names that are bouncing around my brain like kids on a trampoline screaming for attention. First to mind is Isaac, many thanks to Mary Ann for that Mr. Toad’s wild ride! Then there was Julie. As a pup she not only raced around the ring but also loved to stop in front of the judge with a jump to my chest that landed her paw deep in my pocket – more than once. Removing dog’s foot from your pocket standing in front of judge – priceless? Nope, it’s as bad as removing one’s foot from one’s own mouth. And one more jumps to mind from long ago, a favorite puppy named Hyatt who I’m thinking might have reincarnated as Isaac because their naughtiness was so similar I often forgot it was Isaac and not Hyatt on the end of my leash.

Old stories aside, I guess maybe we ought to get back to the learning part of this blog article. For those of you who don’t fancy yourselves as race car drivers on a leash maybe you’ll want to read these handling articles by Peter Frost who shares his techniques on how to communicate with your dog by sending the right signals. If racing around the ring at the speed of light with your dog out in front headed for the finish line more than a nose ahead of you simply isn’t your style, Peter may have some answers you’ll like. Obviously from from the stories I just told I’m not the answer lady, nope, no Ann Landers sitting behind this keyboard. So, the links are all set up below, all you have to do is point and click. I promise not to drag you along at warp speeds.

Part 1 – Speaking dog – use signals your dog understands

Part 2 – Speaking dog – use signals your dog understands

Part 3 – Speaking dog – use signals your dog understands

Here’s another good training article for show dogs from The Whole Dog Journal titled How to Train Show Dogs by Vicki Ronchette

And another more good place to learn some tricks is will be found by pointing your cursor and clicking on these links:

How to Show Train Your Dog by Karon Pryor – Part 1 Shaping for the Show Ring

How to Show Train Your Dog by Karon Pryor – Part 2 Shaping for the Show Ring

How to Show Train Your Dog by Karon Pryor – Part 3 Shaping for the Show Ring

How to Show Train Your Dog by Karon Pryor – Part 4 The Extended Trot

Photos by Bob Segal

Sally Gift, Mesa AZ

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