Search found 1916 matches

by Trekmoor
Sun Mar 17, 2019 2:47 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Training GSP to retrieve w/out FF
Replies: 43
Views: 23839

Re: Training GSP to retrieve w/out FF

:lol: I know what is coming and it does work ! :lol:

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Sun Mar 17, 2019 6:38 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Training GSP to retrieve w/out FF
Replies: 43
Views: 23839

Re: Training GSP to retrieve w/out FF

You could take a good look at clicker training in general and then at clicker training as it applies to retrieving. I believe even creatures like cats and farmyard hens have been trained to retrieve using the click/treat method ? So surely a dog could be taught that way ?

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Sun Mar 10, 2019 5:44 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Blowing the Stink Off
Replies: 9
Views: 3350

Re: Blowing the Stink Off

Yes, I spoke too soon ! It is snowing fairly heavily here right now ! :roll: It is lying about a half inch thick .

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Sat Mar 09, 2019 5:34 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Pretty Amazing
Replies: 7
Views: 3279

Re: Pretty Amazing

I thoroughly enjoyed that video . Thankyou for posting it in.

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Sat Mar 09, 2019 5:19 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Blowing the Stink Off
Replies: 9
Views: 3350

Re: Blowing the Stink Off

This has been a very unusual winter here. I have only seen two or three snowflakes fall ! It hasn't rained very much either and the east winds we expect in the winter were almost totally absent . That caused my usual sport of shore fishing for cod to be very poor on the east coast of Scotland as the...
by Trekmoor
Sun Mar 03, 2019 5:36 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Slowing down the dog
Replies: 47
Views: 18649

Re: Slowing down the dog

It used to be said that a dog was "too fast for it's nose." This is not quite true . The dog is simply too fast for it's level of experience on birds.
Give your bitch enough experience and the problem - if there is one - will disappear.

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:29 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: a techie problem
Replies: 19
Views: 8775

Re: a techie problem

Now it's the doppelganger of the Trekmoor home pitch - spittin' image. Well done, Bill, no techie problemo! MG As Crackered has just said this "channel" has just changed again .... this time to one I do like ! :D It is the exact same as the one in Britain that I have infested for many years and can...
by Trekmoor
Mon Feb 25, 2019 3:25 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: a techie problem
Replies: 19
Views: 8775

Re: a techie problem

"It is to fit in with the new Gender equality laws Wullie , It is actually called " An Am I" ? . ps , I have also been requested to not address you as I have always done "Wullie " .It apparently offends some folk . " Hi Robert, I noticed the above and it took me a couple of seconds to understand why...
by Trekmoor
Sun Feb 24, 2019 5:31 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: a techie problem
Replies: 19
Views: 8775

a techie problem

For the last few days I have had difficulty accessing this forum. It now comes under the heading of "ANAMI." Is this now to be the norm ? I would have asked this question by P.M. but there doesn't seem to be a way of doing that under the ANAMI heading. I am probably the least computer minded person ...
by Trekmoor
Sun Feb 24, 2019 5:21 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Application rather than the tool.
Replies: 17
Views: 6016

Re: Application rather than the tool.

Like Robert (Polmaise) I have never had to use a pinch collar but I am not anti their use. I normally train pups heelwork using a slip lead and I do it by waking in small sized "squares" of about 12 feet by 12 feet. I only do right angled turns which means I always turn away from the pup …..at least...
by Trekmoor
Mon Feb 18, 2019 3:26 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Whats going on in Oregon Trials and Tests?
Replies: 80
Views: 25898

Re: Whats going on in Oregon Trials and Tests?

How likely is it that this Bill will be passed ? Wouldn't America's huge gun lobby see the dangers in this and help to vote it down ? About 35 years ago the Anti's in Britain thought they could get a law passed prohibiting "cruelty" in sports but they had forgotten that our many thousands of keen an...
by Trekmoor
Fri Feb 15, 2019 4:40 am
Forum: Training
Topic: The value of the force fetch.
Replies: 42
Views: 19954

Re: The value of the force fetch.

I do fully accept that a dog trained the F.F. can become a very good retriever for I once F.F. trained a big, very "tough" border collie male to retrieve using F.F. I think he was about 12 - 14 months old but I cannot be sure for I got him from the Dogs Home....he had been a street stray. I wanted t...
by Trekmoor
Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:48 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: The value of the force fetch.
Replies: 42
Views: 19954

Re: The value of the force fetch.

MG - - - your post on here made me look for the post(s) on the British forum you were referring to. It is interesting to see the almost inversed proportions on the subject of F.F. between that forum and this one ! The "St. Francis " guy you mentioned is on his own personal pilgrimage to persuade mor...
by Trekmoor
Thu Feb 14, 2019 8:37 am
Forum: Training
Topic: The value of the force fetch.
Replies: 42
Views: 19954

The value of the force fetch.

Sharon suggested this topic in another thread and it would interest me to see what the split is on here between the folk that do F.F. and those that do not. Personally I am a "do not" - - - - - mainly because I never find it necessary to do it . A pup that already has a decent retrieve instinct only...
by Trekmoor
Thu Feb 14, 2019 8:12 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Kovan - No squeak Toys
Replies: 16
Views: 6632

Re: Kovan - No squeak Toys

I don't give pups squeaky toys for the same reason as others have stated …..plus I don't have to. There are plenty of other things pups can play with. Very occasionally I have had problems when pups of large breeds have been given tennis balls as play retrieves. I had one male GSP pup that delighted...
by Trekmoor
Tue Feb 12, 2019 8:59 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Brittany nose color
Replies: 15
Views: 11019

Re: Brittany nose color

Handsome is as handsome does. :D I am always far more interested in what is inside a dogs head than in the dictates of "dog fashion." I've had 3 brits and one had a flesh coloured nose the other two had black noses. They all won in shows and the one with the flesh coloured nose won her classes at Cr...
by Trekmoor
Sat Feb 09, 2019 1:44 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Time to Fully Train a Brittany
Replies: 24
Views: 13066

Re: Time to Fully Train a Brittany

I have fully trained 3 brittanies and none of them were fully trained within a couple of months ! I think 5 - 6 months is a more realistic figure ….it is when training is done by me anyway.

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Tue Feb 05, 2019 10:26 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Sitting on "WHOA"
Replies: 22
Views: 9942

Re: Sitting on "WHOA"

This thread interests me because all of my pups are very thoroughly taught to sit to several different commands and yet not even one of those pups has ever sat while on point . I train using wild birds.... pheasants, partridge , snipe and sometimes red grouse and I don't use e - collars or even a ch...
by Trekmoor
Tue Feb 05, 2019 9:50 am
Forum: Training
Topic: sending dog for training
Replies: 72
Views: 26859

Re: sending dog for training

If you send your dog off for a month or two's training with a pro then the dog may know how to do a few things …..but you will not. Personally I would try to find a good trainer who lives fairly near to you and ask him/her for 1 - 2 - 1 lessons. It would cost you more in fuel but that would be offse...
by Trekmoor
Tue Feb 05, 2019 5:08 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: French Brittany
Replies: 15
Views: 7982

Re: French Brittany

I have owned two French brits and one American type brit , she was a cross between a French and an American brit and she looked American in "type" ….. a slightly longer muzzle , longer hair and a bit bigger than the frenchies. She was a really good worker and is still the only Brittany in Britain to...
by Trekmoor
Wed Jan 30, 2019 5:43 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Building Better Retrieves
Replies: 18
Views: 5084

Re: Building Better Retrieves

:lol: Robert (Polmaise) and I have had several disagreements but he isn't as bad in person as he can appear to be in print ! :lol: Anyway, I never worry about it coz I know I'm right and he is wrong ! 8) :lol: :lol: I think all three of us are in broad agreement that giving a pup or young dog worrie...
by Trekmoor
Tue Jan 29, 2019 7:14 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Building Better Retrieves
Replies: 18
Views: 5084

Re: Building Better Retrieves

.…………"Don't do what does not work, do what does." ……………. Is there any good reason for training your dog that it must deliver from the at heel position ? I am assuming that this is what you are aiming for ? If it were me I would simply do what the dog was previously happy to do and I would accept the...
by Trekmoor
Tue Jan 29, 2019 6:45 am
Forum: Off Topic Forum
Topic: For guys who just don’t understand
Replies: 5
Views: 7029

Re: For guys who just don’t understand

Thanks for the link to the song. If I lived over there I think I'd be interested in that. I love hearing hounds on a trail.

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Tue Jan 22, 2019 5:55 am
Forum: Training
Topic: hunt close
Replies: 52
Views: 9254

Re: hunt close

If your dog is to hunt within 70 yards from you then be consistent and train it on open ground to keep well within that range. Don't let it out further than the distance you can control it at. You will have to command the turns for a good long time but eventually the dog will accept your range limit...
by Trekmoor
Tue Jan 22, 2019 5:26 am
Forum: Tributes to the Departed
Topic: Thanks, Ezzy333
Replies: 41
Views: 31901

Re: Thanks, Ezzy333

Thank you Ezzy for putting up with us for so long !

Best wishes.

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Tue Jan 22, 2019 5:23 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Brittany vs Springer
Replies: 14
Views: 5435

Re: Brittany vs Springer

I have owned and worked both breeds and often worked both breeds together. The springer did the really rough stuff like bramble or gorse thickets far better than the Brittany and the Brittany did the more open ground far better than the springer. The springers were easier to train as retrievers than...
by Trekmoor
Sun Jan 13, 2019 2:03 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Dog won't find dead birds
Replies: 8
Views: 3083

Re: Dog won't find dead birds

" there is a huge difference in a dog self motivated/driven to search for and recover a downed bird, (dead ones and live cripples running, burying in cover, swimming ...) and one that will go pick up a dead bird it got a mark on. That is also my opinion. Although I do not train F.F. I know that if ...
by Trekmoor
Sun Jan 13, 2019 7:46 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Dog won't find dead birds
Replies: 8
Views: 3083

Re: Dog won't find dead birds

Although I am far from being knowledgeable about F.F. training I still don't think I'd use it as a way of encouraging a retrieve on a dead bird even if I was an expert . I'd take the route of encouraging and increasing the dog's really "wanting" to find and retrieve dead birds. I'd probably give the...
by Trekmoor
Sun Jan 13, 2019 6:35 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Dog won't find dead birds
Replies: 8
Views: 3083

Re: Dog won't find dead birds

Your dog certainly will be scenting the dead birds ….it is the retrieve training the dog is lacking in. Dogs often have a preference for hunting over retrieving and it is your job to increase the dogs willingness to retrieve. You have got the balance between hunting and retrieving wrong somewhere du...
by Trekmoor
Fri Jan 11, 2019 5:40 am
Forum: Training
Topic: how is that deadbirds sometimes seem invisible
Replies: 33
Views: 9124

Re: how is that deadbirds sometimes seem invisible

For me this is one of the inexplicable things that make hunting and dog work interesting. Good , experienced dogs that love to retrieve will not deliberately fail to retrieve. About 30 years ago I used to correspond with the author of a couple of gundog training books (Keith Erlandson.) Both of us u...
by Trekmoor
Sat Jan 05, 2019 5:53 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Positive enforcement
Replies: 110
Views: 32343

Re: Positive enforcement

As an admitted "Old Timer", I've never understood why people strive to make dog training so complicated. Everything has to have a label which only serves to complicate and confuse more. I have never understood people's needs to do that. It all boils down to when a behavior is rewarded, it's positiv...
by Trekmoor
Fri Jan 04, 2019 8:05 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Positive enforcement
Replies: 110
Views: 32343

Re: Positive enforcement

Quote …." PS I would not know where to begin if I had to train a dog with 100% one or the other" Unquote.

That makes two of us. I'd be lost as a trainer if I could not blend together positive and negative ways of training adjusted to suit an individual dog.

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Thu Jan 03, 2019 3:51 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Positive enforcement
Replies: 110
Views: 32343

Re: Positive enforcement

I have owned and trained two dogs, one a lab and one a Brittany, both of them field trial winners, that would chase hares if they thought I could not see them and not chase them if they thought I could see them. The lab even managed to amuse me during one chase when she suddenly realised I could now...
by Trekmoor
Thu Jan 03, 2019 6:29 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Picardy Spaniel
Replies: 9
Views: 3872

Re: Picardy Spaniel

Hi Craig, that is a beautiful dog and a good working dog too. The breed is a good size for all-round pointing dog work. I have only seen one "in the flesh" and a lady from England owns her. She came to me a few years back to let me see this 10 months old bitch and to maybe give her some advice. The ...
by Trekmoor
Wed Jan 02, 2019 2:14 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Positive enforcement
Replies: 110
Views: 32343

Re: Positive enforcement

The Soup Dragon says that she is always hoping that I will slip the lead, run away ….and not come back ! :roll: I just can't win with that wummin ! :x

Bill
by Trekmoor
Wed Jan 02, 2019 8:05 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Positive enforcement
Replies: 110
Views: 32343

Re: Positive enforcement

I have to admit it ……. I'm lost ! My brain cell's steel shutters have come down ! :roll:

Dog training is as simple or as complicated as we want it to be and my brain cell prefers "simple."

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Mon Dec 31, 2018 3:38 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Off season training
Replies: 15
Views: 5766

Re: Off season training

My dogs did get a few mid -week breaks , usually because it had rained heavily all day and I worked doing a mainly outdoor job all morning and by afternoon and evening I was fed up being soaking wet ! As Robert said there were other opportunities for dog work too , I did mainly goose shooting over d...
by Trekmoor
Mon Dec 31, 2018 5:52 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Off season training
Replies: 15
Views: 5766

Re: Off season training

My health no longer allows me to train dogs at all but when I was still able to I did train my dogs right through the year. When the shooting season ended at the beginning of February I'd do some woodpigeon shooting and I also took my dogs, the pointing dogs in particular, onto the estates I worked ...
by Trekmoor
Mon Dec 31, 2018 4:54 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Positive enforcement
Replies: 110
Views: 32343

Re: Positive enforcement

Some years back I heard someone say something I thought had a strong ring of truth to it, it went a bit like this …. " If two dog trainers get together then the only thing they will agree on is that a third trainer, not present , is doing it all wrong !" This thread reminds me a little of those word...
by Trekmoor
Sun Dec 30, 2018 2:20 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Positive enforcement
Replies: 110
Views: 32343

Re: Positive enforcement

I know that training a gundog can be done without the use of an e- collar or without F.F. and without even using a check-cord can be done for I don't use any of them with the possible exception of the check -cord for what is usually just one or two quick lessons if I think a particular pup might ben...
by Trekmoor
Sun Dec 30, 2018 5:54 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Positive enforcement
Replies: 110
Views: 32343

Re: Positive enforcement

About 10 - 11 years back I had a young GSP that was giving me "sloppy" and poor deliveries of dummies. I thought I'd try using a clicker and treats to improve the delivery but it went wrong due to bad timing on my part. The deliveries were soon greatly improved but I noticed he was puncturing the ca...
by Trekmoor
Fri Dec 28, 2018 6:29 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Positive enforcement
Replies: 110
Views: 32343

Re: Positive enforcement

Bill doesnt know what he is but whatever it is it works for him :wink: ............ Yes I agree cj.....It is pointless to discuss any subject with abbreviations if one does not only Not know what they stand for, but their meaning or interpretation is more important . Good post ! Robert is 100 % cor...
by Trekmoor
Mon Dec 24, 2018 7:53 am
Forum: Training
Topic: VIDEO: Learning That Steadiness Pays Off
Replies: 34
Views: 14676

Re: VIDEO: Learning That Steadiness Pays Off

Brad, I have another question to ask. I think my own dogs would be very interested if the bird given to them after they had shown cooperation during the brush pile hunt was a live one but a dead bird ? - - - Not nearly so much. I think my own dogs would greatly prefer to just be allowed to hunt on a...
by Trekmoor
Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:37 am
Forum: Training
Topic: VIDEO: Learning That Steadiness Pays Off
Replies: 34
Views: 14676

Re: VIDEO: Learning That Steadiness Pays Off

Hello Bill. The way I read the dogs, I see the point as part of a stalk. The point is the pause before the pounce. The pounce is an attempt to get the bird in their mouth which would be the ultimate reward. I believe it's the reason they pointed. If I can help them get the bird in their mouth, they...
by Trekmoor
Sat Dec 22, 2018 4:52 am
Forum: Off Topic Forum
Topic: Merry Christmas
Replies: 15
Views: 12431

Re: Merry Christmas

Merry Xmas everyone.

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:57 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Start em Young
Replies: 76
Views: 33363

Re: Start em Young

Sounds a bit like the "Flush the sausage" method of training dogs that are sticky on their points to flush at once on command. :lol:

Bill T.
by Trekmoor
Tue Dec 18, 2018 1:49 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Start em Young
Replies: 76
Views: 33363

Re: Start em Young

The comment regarding not wanting to carry a bag of treats around is way off the mark. Everyone using the PR marker/treat approach weans the dog off the treats over time using verbal praise in its place. I am very pleased to hear that for on the few occasions when I do use treats I wean the pup off...
by Trekmoor
Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:30 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Start em Young
Replies: 76
Views: 33363

Re: Start em Young

Just in case anyone is thinking this …. I am not a "positive only" dog trainer. In fact I got turfed off a British "positive only" forum just a couple of years back for even suggesting to a newbie that what he wanted to train for could be better trained for by more "ancient and outdated methods." Th...
by Trekmoor
Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:01 am
Forum: Training
Topic: VIDEO: Learning That Steadiness Pays Off
Replies: 34
Views: 14676

Re: VIDEO: Learning That Steadiness Pays Off

Thanks Brad. I noticed in your later videos that you now train your clients dogs to flush on command rather than have the handler go in front of the dog to "kick it up." When and why did you decide to change from the method shown in this video ? Or is having the dog make the flush a later developmen...
by Trekmoor
Tue Dec 18, 2018 6:14 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Start em Young
Replies: 76
Views: 33363

Re: Start em Young

Maybe that is why I never understand what the heck Polmaise is saying. .Cj Dinnae fash yersel aboot no unnerstaunnin Polmaise ....naebody ower here unnerstaunds him either ! :lol: That is the queens English as it is spoken here in Haggisland ! :lol: One thing is for sure. If a British pro trainer w...