Question: I'm training my thirteen-month-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever to take lines. Or should I say, I'm trying and not very successfully. Beyond about forty yards, he looses interest and breaks off the line. When I try to whistle him down at this distance, he refuses the command and if I touch him with the electronic collar, he comes back to me and sits down. I've always had Labs that I've trained myself, but this dog is giving me fits. I hear you have two Chessies. Can you give me any help?
Tom E., Adrian.
Answer: When training gun dogs, there are many variables that need to be taken into consideration. Most of the judging systems in gun dog events have incorporated names for some of the variables that may occur when handling dogs for specific purposes. Some of the possible variables you may encounter are ‘lack of drive/desire,' ‘lack of control/cooperation/trainability,' or ‘immaturity.' Things can get very difficult when you have combinations of these problems all at the same time.
These are canine faults that may cause this ‘popping' problem. On the human side of the variable equation, there is ‘lack of patience,' ‘lack of sufficient time training,' ‘poor communication between dog and handler,' ‘lack of knowledge or skill on the handler's part,' ‘handler inability to anticipate dog's actions,' ‘overzealous electronic collar use,' ‘lack of knowledge of proper collar use, resulting in under-use,' and just plain ‘boneheadedness.'
Without seeing you and the dog in action, I can't really tell you exactly what the problem is, but I can give you some basic advice that may help you through this problem. First, you need to get it through your head that you aren't training a Lab. I've found Labs and Chessies to be very different in what motivates them and how they take to different training techniques. Labs originally weren't hunting dogs. Their motivation is usually based on the desire to retrieve and the need to please their masters. Chessies are one of the three ‘American-made' hunting retrievers. The American Water Spaniel and the Boykin Spainel are the two, with the Water Spaniel and the Chessie being first developed during the market-hunting era.
I think it's important for hunters when discussing the market-hunting era to note that the demand for wild game in the eastern restaurants be the eastern city-dwellers was the engine that drove market-hunting, thus the term ‘market-hunting.' I'm not defending the idea. Its just that in today's world of so-called ‘activists,' the market-hunting story is brought up as an example of ‘wanton waste,' which it was not, seeing as the game was eaten. It's also used as a slam against hunters. Never do you hear the activists blaming the restaurant business for generating the demand for wild game.
The market hunter needed a dog that required little training, but possesses strong instincts to recover wounded game and return it to its master, at which point the same dog was required to guard the game from humans and other animals. This job called for a smart, tough dog that could literally make hundreds of retrieves over many hours of hunting in harsh conditions.
The average competitor in any of the hunting dog evens, whether a pointer or retriever, will spend far more time training for the event than it will spend hunting. Some organizations are overrun with both hobbyists and profession that don't hunt at all. The higher titles for retriever require tight control of the dog over long distances. The object is to pick up crippled birds that have sailed off at great distances, thus the need for taking ‘lines,' which is one of the basics for a blind retrieve. If your motivation is competitive titles, join the organization you'll be competing in and train with people who are knowledgeable on the ‘ins and outs' of their judging standards. You'll find more Labs than any other breed in competition, so you'll need to find someone who also runs Chessies.
If your motivation is hunting the dog, try using tethered game birds instead of bumpers. Some Chessies are motivated by game instead of by plastic or cloth. I'd first work on long retrieves that are visible to get the dog used to working at greater distances. Set up all retrievers with a shot and don't be overly concerned with steadiness.
Work your stop whistle, with the help of another person. Put the dog on a twenty to thirty foot check cord and have your helper blow the stop command while you hold the cord and enforce the command. Do this starting at forty yards and work your way out to one hundred. Now, have your helper hide a birds at forty yards. Don't let the dog watch. After a shot, send the dog on a line to the blind retrieve. Keep the wind at your back so as to prevent the dog from scenting the bird. Continue to lengthen this out to one hundred yards. If he's successful at finding the bird on several attempts, try using the stop command again. At this point, only use your e-collar to make the dog come back and only if he's off-line.
There is much more to this than space allows. My advice to working two-hundred-yard retrieves or longer is to learn to shoot better and don't take long shots with poor killing percentages. Then, you won't have to send a dog that far out on a blind retrieve. Besides, in most of the waterfowling areas, a cripple that sails out that far will be shot and picked up by another party. From a practical hunting stand-point, a retriever doesn't have to be completely steady unless you're hunting on land. Most of the competitive organizations will not admit to it, but complete steadiness is not as important as good making skills, especially on water. Waterfowl aren't afraid of a dog on shore, and will very often come in for a closer look, thus the ‘tolling dog' came to be. I've used my effectively this way on both ducks and geese. Remember, geese will pattern dangerous situations and if they've been shot at after seeing a running dog on shore, they may become educated. I love duck hunting, but I don't think they're as smart as geese.
I've found that you can bully most Labs into doing anything you want. They tend to react very differently than the Chessies if you're using a punishment-based system. I love the Labs and I have a wonderful one-hundred-pound male who is my only house dog, but I think that the Chessies are more of a natural hunter, and they're motivated by game more than anything else.
Charlie Linblade
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