whoa training ....why is it so important?

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by DonF » Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:10 am

Tooling wrote:
blanked wrote:
Lucky Dog wrote:I must be dumb, I've had pointing dogs for almost 40 years and never had one that was whoa broke.
I'm surprised that all my dogs survived. :wink:

You took the words right out of my mouth
No command for your dogs to stop and stop now?
I'm not sure I read where anyone said whoa was required. It is simply a command that get's the required response.
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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by DonF » Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:18 am

blanked wrote:Wild birds do not teach whoa, they teach the dog how close it can get before the bird leaves!
If this was the case your saying it's completely worthless to have a pointing dog range out of site since your not there to tell the dog to whoa?? It is very common for me to take up to 30 minutes to get to my dogs while the point and hold birds. I don't say a word except praise[/quote]

I am curious. How do you know your dog will hold a bird for 30 min? I really sounds to me like your dog is out of sight and you find it on point. Absolutely nothing to shot your dog will stand there that long. Got a idea, you guy's that have dog's that stand birds until the next day. Get your dog on a point some where where you know exactly how ling it's been on point. Then sit down out of sight and tell me how long it stood there. How far away does the dog need to be that take's a half hour to get to. In younger days I walked three mile's an hour. So let's say you have a 1 1/2 mi walk to your dog, you saw your dog standing at 1 1/2 miles????
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whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Luminary Setters » Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:47 am

Telemetry, and GPS technology make it pretty easy to tell us what a dog is doing these days, and for some, part of the thrill is the hunt to find a dog on point without using technology. A field trial caliber grouse dog running only a bell can often take quite a while to find.

If whoa is taught to mean stand there till you are told to do something else, then bird scent is made to be another cue for whoa, assuming his training is complete, the dog should stand for a long time. The cue to stand there is bird scent, not a spoken command.
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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by DonF » Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:30 pm

Luminary Setters wrote:Telemetry, and GPS technology make it pretty easy to tell us what a dog is doing these days, and for some, part of the thrill is the hunt to find a dog on point without using technology. A field trial caliber grouse dog running only a bell can often take quite a while to find.

If whoa is taught to mean stand there till you are told to do something else, then bird scent is made to be another cue for whoa, assuming his training is complete, the dog should stand for a long time. The cue to stand there is bird scent, not a spoken command.
If my dog lie's down and take's a nap, my tracking unit tell's me only that it's stopped.
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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by blanked » Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:52 pm

Obviously if you approach your dog lying down instead of pointing that scenario has nothing to do with this thread. If my garmin tracker shows him pointing and I approach him 30 minutes later and find him pointing, and I walk into the area of the point and birds are there, then the dog is pointing and holding birds for 30 minutes. Many times on the chukar slopes do to the terrain difficulty it can very we'll take me 30 minutes with my dogs ranging out to 800 yards. Also I run 2 dogs at once. Both dogs pointing at the same time in opposite directions will take me up to 30 minutes to get to the second dog.

People that hunt with pointers to the point that the dog is in your site all the time including voice range are really limiting there dogs potentials. All this so you can yell whoa to the dog in a dangerous situation? Find safer places to hunt is a more logical approach. Someone earlier posted they run there dogs next to a road with a car showing up every 10 seconds. And people are praising him for using whoa to keep the dog from getting hit. Perfect example of finding a safer place

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whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Luminary Setters » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:08 pm

I wouldn't know about that Don, I've never caught any I've turned loose hunt or train lay down and take a nap.
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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by DonF » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:12 pm

I have to agree about the hunting next to a road, I don't do that, never have. But some place's back east I've read where they're not able to get away from the road. Guy who said it live's in Ohio and he say's his dog never get's more than 30 yds from him, go figure. On the rest, you guy's and I are gonna have to agree to disagree.
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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Fun dog » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:50 pm

Back to the original question of why whoa is important. Whoa can be the foundation of many other things the dog needs to learn. Whoa is easy to teach. Once learned you can use whoa to teach steady to wing, steady to shot, steady to fall. Whoa can be used for stop to flush and teaching a dog to back. It can be used to teach manners at the car, exiting a gate, and at feeding time. It can be used to stop a dog before disaster strikes. Whoa can be a harsh stop now or a gentle reminder that they are to stay put. It's a wonderful multi faceted command.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Tooling » Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:47 pm

...taken just this a.m. in PA

Not a busy road - this is public land comprised of about 1200 acres - the area is not typical of the primary cover but this is reality going from one area to the next in PA.

Whoa works for me and we will continue to use it..can't believe this is even an area of disagreement or why people have to trash others if it works for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWNX5Hk ... e=youtu.be

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Sharon » Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:14 pm

Impressive. Good work.
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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Lucky Dog » Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:42 pm

Tooling wrote:
I don't generally feel the need to command my dogs to stop and stop now.
Yep, you said it..key word "generally"

I'm glad you have a Lucky Dog and hope it stays that way..I mean that. If you are looking to get into semantics and display bravado there are plenty here that will accommodate you.
Help me understand what you mean with "semantics" and bravado".

I can't see what that has to to with whoa or not to whoa?

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Tooling » Wed Dec 17, 2014 6:45 pm

LD all you have contributed is that you have 40 yrs of experience w/gun dogs and have never had any reason to stop a dog reliably and then went on to insinuate that everybody else's oposing opinion/experience is mere phooey -aka- hogwash

I thought that interesting so I posed the question using the word stop and you parroted that post...I don't get it??

If I misunderstood the intent of your post(s) I do apologize.

Why don't you teach your dogs "whoa"?

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by DonF » Wed Dec 17, 2014 6:46 pm

Small illustration of a way I use whoa. Started working on my Stormy just tonight for stop to flush. I carry a bag of birds and whoa him off away from me. Once stopped I wait just a second and release a bird. If he goes with it I bump him with a low setting on the collar till he stops. Really early but he stayed there on the third bird. Keep doing that a week or so and at some point when he's doing well I won't say anything and release a bird. Won't be long and he bumps a bird and it will stop him. I'll make sure he bumps a few birds because I have the remote release! Now you could do the same thing with another word to stop the dog but, I know what whoa means. I know what every command I give means. Important I know but the dog only needs to understand the function. I never use whoa to stop a dog when I think it's into a bird. If I think ity should be stopping for a bird or that it came to close on the up wind side I just pop the bird and go on.
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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by ezzy333 » Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:07 pm

I am sure those who don't want to train it can find excuses for their thinking and that is fine. But I don't think any one can come up with a reason it shouldn't be taught. I just do not understand the arguing by someone doesn't doesn't want to and finding fault with those that do.
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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by gonehuntin' » Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:58 pm

I agree Ezzy. I believe a dog can never learn to MANY commands, but they can certainly learn to few.
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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by jubal » Thu Dec 18, 2014 12:12 pm

We use "Stay" instead of "whoa". Got a setter who is constantly trying to reposition when on point, resulting in a flush when he gets too close. The "stay" command is essential - he'll still flush now and then when out of view. Without this command he would be essentially useless, flushing more birds out range than he held.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by setterpoint » Fri Dec 19, 2014 7:13 pm

whoa is used in training yes there are times out hunting it can be good for your dodto know. but in training your dog points a planted bird then he starts to creep. if you can say whoa and he stops so you can flush the bird isn't this what you want.but it bothers me to be hunting and someone your hunting with is shouting whoa all the time at there dog. even in teaching backing its good if you can led your dog around a corner where he can see another dog on point and just say whoa and he will stop. you are teaching the dog this is what you want the dog to do

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by DonF » Fri Dec 19, 2014 7:54 pm

Tooling wrote:...taken just this a.m. in PA

Not a busy road - this is public land comprised of about 1200 acres - the area is not typical of the primary cover but this is reality going from one area to the next in PA.

Whoa works for me and we will continue to use it..can't believe this is even an area of disagreement or why people have to trash others if it works for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWNX5Hk ... e=youtu.be
Beautiful! absolutely beautiful. Those that don't use it, good for you. Why are you seeming to attempt to get other's that don't know it's value from learning it? Why is it so important? To you people it's not, you have no standing here. To those that do, the OP can take what we have to say any way he want's.
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Post by getzapped » Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:34 pm

I dont have much to add to this because I am new to birs dogs. However, i have shot manu rabbits over my beagle. I taught her "DOWN" if she was running to the gun or into a road and ib yelles down. She would stop roll on her back with legs up. I thought it was an effective way to stop her from getting shot or hurt. Since whoa is a universal command in birddog world and again my new dog will be running in fields with guns, so i will teach whoa. It seems like an easy way to avoid a catastrophe.
Last edited by getzapped on Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by getzapped » Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:34 pm

Sorry for the typos. Stupid phone

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Post by Sharon » Fri Dec 19, 2014 10:16 pm

getzapped wrote:I dont have much to add to this because I am new to birs dogs. However, i have shot manu rabbits over my beagle. I taught her "DOWN" if she was running to the gun or into a road and ib yelles down. She would stop roll on her back with legs up. I thought it was an effective way to stop her from getting shot or hurt. Since whoa is a universal command in birddog world and again my new dog will be running in fields with guns, so i will teach whoa. It seems like an easy way to avoid a catastrophe.

That would scare me. I'd wonder if I shot her. :)

Whoaooooooooooo has a long drawn out vowel sound, as does stayyyyyyyyyyyy Carries much farther than down , where the n is a swallowed consonant.
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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by birddogger » Fri Dec 19, 2014 10:42 pm

Heck, I whoa my dogs when I go out to feed them. It makes for good manners.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by hustonmc » Fri Dec 19, 2014 10:55 pm

My only question in all of this is if your dog is running twoards a road and a vehicle is coming why in the world would you tell the dog "whoa" instead of a "turn" command? i teach whoa but don't really use it for anything other than basic obedience such as stopping at a gate or door, or at the starting line of a trial.

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whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by getzapped » Fri Dec 19, 2014 11:10 pm

Sharon wrote:
getzapped wrote:I dont have much to add to this because I am new to birs dogs. However, i have shot manu rabbits over my beagle. I taught her "DOWN" if she was running to the gun or into a road and ib yelles down. She would stop roll on her back with legs up. I thought it was an effective way to stop her from getting shot or hurt. Since whoa is a universal command in birddog world and again my new dog will be running in fields with guns, so i will teach whoa. It seems like an easy way to avoid a catastrophe.

That would scare me. I'd wonder if I shot her. :)

Whoaooooooooooo has a long drawn out vowel sound, as does stayyyyyyyyyyyy Carries much farther than down , where the n is a swallowed consonant.
The goal was to just get her to lay but for some reason she always rolled.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Tooling » Sat Dec 20, 2014 6:08 am

hustonmc wrote:My only question in all of this is if your dog is running twoards a road and a vehicle is coming why in the world would you tell the dog "whoa" instead of a "turn" command? i teach whoa but don't really use it for anything other than basic obedience such as stopping at a gate or door, or at the starting line of a trial.
Good point

That's what I typically do - as we approach a road I'll tell him to come around, he usually comes over close to me and I'll let him continue to hunt/mill around..as I get closer to the road I bring him to heel - then whoa him leaving him behind about 10 yds back as I walk to the road, cross it & then release him. Keep in mind these are back roads that see little traffic and you typically know if a car is coming even if you are away and cannot see the road.

If we happen to be within say 40/50 yds of the road & I hear a vehicle while pup is back behind me I just stay aware..if he is in front of me I call him in and make him stay w/me until the vehicle passes. If we are actually hunting or happen to be close up or near the road and a vehicle is coming, he is immediately called to me, brought to heel, and I hold his collar while I wave.

As it relates to safety, whoa is kind of just "in the back pocket" so to speak - it is NOT the way to keep a dog safe near a road, nor is it a replacement for common sense - but it could prevent a disatarous situation that got out of your control for one reason or the other.

The video I took - I knew a vehicle was not coming...if you notice I am walking and then stop, wait for the dog to get close to the road and give him the command..I intentionally do that sometimes just for a dry run and a little practice - not often but if he doesn't get it right and the opportunity presents itself I'll do it a 2nd or even 3rd time throughout a day until it's solid. That video was take 2 that day - he stepped the first time and got a reminder....2nd time he did not need that reminder (mild to med stim the 1st time & his collar was set to a fairly stiff level for the 2nd had he taken a step)

The last thing you would ever want to do is to have a dangerous situation be your first time in that situation if you can help it..have to proof it and pray it sticks when it really matters.

Roads w/real traffic, even infrequent - we are simply NEVER near those types of roads period and if we have to be for whatever reason - he is on a one pc rigid lead.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Tooling » Sat Dec 20, 2014 6:49 am

Whoa in an obedience situation..this is why semantics and getting hung up on the exact phrase "whoa" is just foolish and a waste of time.

In the case you use whoa to stop your dog from a creep or if he is rearing back ready to lunge...if your dog has been taught whoa effectively - you don't even need to say whoa...more times than not you just say "ahhh" quietly or some other nuance of a word, even the raising of your hand to the the stop position works - body language works - if your dog knows the command they know what you are asking for, they are pretty darn smart after all - it's that simple. Whoa simply becomes the AUTHORITATIVE way of conveying your message.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by birddogger » Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:36 pm

hustonmc wrote:My only question in all of this is if your dog is running twoards a road and a vehicle is coming why in the world would you tell the dog "whoa" instead of a "turn" command? i teach whoa but don't really use it for anything other than basic obedience such as stopping at a gate or door, or at the starting line of a trial.
Why not use it? Especially when things can arise very suddenly.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by birddogger » Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:49 pm

Tooling wrote:Whoa in an obedience situation..this is why semantics and getting hung up on the exact phrase "whoa" is just foolish and a waste of time.

In the case you use whoa to stop your dog from a creep or if he is rearing back ready to lunge...if your dog has been taught whoa effectively - you don't even need to say whoa...more times than not you just say "ahhh" quietly or some other nuance of a word, even the raising of your hand to the the stop position works - body language works - if your dog knows the command they know what you are asking for, they are pretty darn smart after all - it's that simple. Whoa simply becomes the AUTHORITATIVE way of conveying your message.
Not trying to be a smart arse, but you are still teaching the dog to stop and stand still, whether you use the word "whoa", a different word, whistle or hand signal, they still mean the same thing and I think that is what the OP had questions about. I prefer to use whoa {for the reason Sharon posted earlier] I will also use a hand signal when the position is right but it is still all the same command and can be very useful/important. Once again, I have my reasons for teaching it but I can't think of one reason to not teach it.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by BuckeyeSteve » Sat Feb 10, 2018 1:35 pm

Tooling wrote:...taken just this a.m. in PA

Not a busy road - this is public land comprised of about 1200 acres - the area is not typical of the primary cover but this is reality going from one area to the next in PA.

Whoa works for me and we will continue to use it..can't believe this is even an area of disagreement or why people have to trash others if it works for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWNX5Hk ... e=youtu.be

That was AWESOME!! I've read this whole interesting thread....mainly interesting b/c everybody gets so testy about people doing anything differently than they do.... just to find out if there is a difference between "whoa" and "stay" (I'm brand new to this....trying to figure things out). I live in Western PA and HAVE to be able to bring my dog to a stop without question. We can't get away from roads near me. You hunt near roads and other people, or you don't hunt. I think if you live in one of the beautiful places in our country that allow you to roam for miles without fear of harm to your dogs, I'd say a stop word is purely optional...but I'll definitely need it. And.... holy crap...Tooling, this was awesome. I hope I can achieve this. Great video.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Sharon » Sat Feb 10, 2018 2:09 pm

Always great to see someone found an old thread useful- and bothered to look it up.

( A little unsettling to see what one wrote 4 years ago though. :| )
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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by BuckeyeSteve » Sat Feb 10, 2018 3:53 pm

Sharon wrote:Always great to see someone found an old thread useful- and bothered to look it up.

( A little unsettling to see what one wrote 4 years ago though. :| )
Thanks :) I try to read old stuff so I'm not just asking the same questions that have been rehashed 300 times....but I know that's inevitable. This is a great forum, there's tons of good stuff on here. I appreciate everyone's insight on the 10,000 subjects I have questions on -- and unfortunately I'm on my own, no friends with quality dogs and good training experience to help me. I have a couple friends with a terribly untrained dog who would happily "help" me, but I don't want their bad practices to rub off on my yet-unruined dog.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by shags » Sat Feb 10, 2018 4:13 pm

You probably aren’t far from here. Some good folks, maybe someone to help you out.

http://www.oakridgepointingdogs.com

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by BuckeyeSteve » Sat Feb 10, 2018 11:44 pm

shags wrote:You probably aren’t far from here. Some good folks, maybe someone to help you out.

http://www.oakridgepointingdogs.com
Thanks... I'm about an hour away, not too bad. I'll check them out. I appreciate it.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Featherfinder » Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:10 am

I don't have any use for the word "whoa" in my training process. If my dog is running towards a danger of sorts, I give him a word he already knows that is uncompromised like, "Come." As for holding/handling birds, it has absolutely no place.
"Whoa" can only mean two things around birds:
- the dog is not reliably steady,
- you as a handler need to hear the word to help you deal with the uncertainty. This in return conveys to the dog that there is in fact, uncertainty. This further supports that you need to say "whoa", which conveys uncertainty.......
Last edited by Featherfinder on Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by slistoe » Sun Feb 11, 2018 1:19 am

Featherfinder wrote:I don't have any use for the word "whoa" in my training process. If my dog is running towards a danger of sorts, I give him a word he already knows that is uncompromised like, "Come." As for holding/handling birds, it has absolutely no place.
"Whoa" can only mean two things around birds:
- the dog is not reliably steady,
- you as a handler need to hear the word to help you deal with the uncertainty. This is return conveys to the dog that there is in fact, uncertainty. This further supports that you need to say "whoa", which conveys uncertainty.......
Interesting. How does this fit with your responses in the "Whoa with EC on the belly" thread?

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by RayGubernat » Sun Feb 11, 2018 6:38 pm

What I do might be a little old school, but it works for me. I have probably posted this a few times, but here goes anyway:

I do heel/whoa drills in the yard after the manner of Paul Long. I use a pigging string(poor man's Wonder lead). I start the process when the pup is quite young, like 16 weeks. I do this drill twice a day for the best part of a year and will do the drill occasionally for the rest of the dog's life. I do the training silently, for the most part, with the lead providing the necessary pressure when the dog does not comply. My leg and knee provide the cues as to when to move and in which direction. When the dog gets good at it, I make a game of it, trying to fake the dog out. I do think the dogs enjoy the game, and some have been VERY good at it. you know the dog is paying close attention when you stop and then BACK UP, and the dog backs up right with you, then looks up at you with a smirk on their lips. I do overlay the e-collar and both verbal and hand signal commands to signal a "whoa to the dog.

FWIW, the drill takes all of about 5 minutes to do, so it is easily done both morning and night. once the dog gets good at it...it is actually fun to do and they seem to look forward to it.

For Dottie's dog and those who would sit or lie down, Mr. Long suggests that if the dog starts to set its bottom down, that you step off before it plants that butt and walk it off. I have had occasion to do this and it works for a pup that wants to sit.

I do these drills mostly for obedience and to get the dog to pay close attention to me and my movements. I do feel, pretty strongly, that the yardwork heel/whoa pays dividends when training in the field. The paying attention to where I am and where I am going is a large part of the benefit, but I do feel that the dog learning that to stop and grow roots is it's SAFE place, translates very well to the act of pointing a bird. I like to think that the sight or scent of the bird is the thing that screams "WHOA" to the dog, so I don't have to.

And yes, if my dog is headed toward a dangerous situation, I do want to know that if I do holler the command, the dog will stop and grow roots until I get there. Lots of hard roads where I live and everyone is in a hurry.

RayG

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Featherfinder » Mon Feb 19, 2018 8:14 pm

Actually, birddogger makes good use of the word "whoa" which is when feeding or as mentioned, you could use "stay" or "no" which just happens to rhyme with "whoa" (another reason I don't use "whoa"). In trials especially, you need to separate yourself from the other competitors - give yourself an edge. I like to train my gun dogs to have that same "wow factor" on point. "Whoa" can compromise that style re some softer less confident or green broke dogs.
Slistoe, the collar on the waist follows the dog understanding what the expectation is around birds. Dogs - unlike humans - prefer black and white situations.....NO gray! In-other-words, your dog is steady or it is not.
No dog is 100% flawless but errors from a well-trained dog are so very few.
So, if you have done your homework around birds - or should I say, if your birds have taught your dog what happens when they elect not to hold, which you support - then the underlying message makes it's way to the surface AND they learn it clearly (no gray areas) as well as most expeditiously. Why do they learn it expeditiously?
Because you haven't confounded the message with verbalization or worse yet inappropriate corrective actions that basically translates to a dog as, "You "bleep"!!! You're in trouble!" Or on a milder note, "You dumb asterisk...you got it wrong....again!"
So, let's say I gave you a complex manual that tells you how to run a VERY expensive sophisticated piece of equipment. I then say to you, "You're my man on this project. I need you to read this manual, study it, understand it, then run this process."
You take the manual and go to your office. 15 minutes later, I knock on your door, come in and ask, "So...how's it going?" You might respond, "Fine..."
20 minutes after that, I phone you and ask, "So....got a handle on this process?" You might say something like, "I'm getting there."
20 minutes after that, I phone to ask, "Well...I need to know where we are with this piece of equipment?" At this juncture, it would not be unreasonable for you to say something like, "I would be much farther along if you would stop interrupting my progress (extending my learning curve)!"
That's what dog folk do when they speak to a dog. The dog was about to learn a valuable lesson...a lesson THE DOG would have learned and accepted of it's own volition from a mistake rather than from verbal correction or discipline which can often build a dependency as in, "Hmmm....he hasn't said whoa so...I guess I can take a step or two or...?" Dogs that learn of their own experience and make choices of their own volition can be SO incredibly, reliably stylishly, steady!
The dog WAS learning, until you opened your mouth which adds stress, which can bury the intended message.
If your dog finds a grouse in dense cover AND it is still there reliably standing when you approach, are you saying that your dog WAS steady until you approached which prompted you to "whoa" him?!?!? Isn't that backwards or counter-productive or in the least, not what you wanted?
Suffice to say, "I train dogs differently."
Last edited by Featherfinder on Tue Feb 20, 2018 7:56 am, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Trekmoor » Tue Feb 20, 2018 5:25 am

Because I live in a different "culture" I often read of the "Whoa" command and was a bit puzzled. I originally thought it was used to keep a dog on point if the dog was inclined to creep towards the birds. It seems it is sometimes used for that purpose but is also used as a general purpose "stay" command ?

I think most folk in this country have a vocal command for "stop" and a hand/arm command for stop and a whistle command for the same thing. The vocal command is used when fairly close to the dog and the whistle command is used at long range. Very few folk use the whistle command to keep a dog holding it's point though.

I sometimes did use the whistle for that purpose but tended to use it only when competing in trials. If I knew in advance that a judge did not like a dog to move from a point to follow up on a moving bird I'd blow the "whoa" command. I used a tiny "pip" on the whistle and was often surprised by just how far out a dog could her that tiny pip.

For me, this started accidentally. I had a previously trained stop/sit command on the whistle and when I saw a bird that had been running on from the original point was about to run out of cover to hide in and take to wing out of shooting range, I blew stop/sit on the following dog. I thought the dog would sit but she did a stop/stand instead.

I began to deliberately train for this but instead of my usual pretty loud "pip" on the whistle I began to blow just one tiny , short pip. It worked fine on every dog I trained following that and not one of them sat in response to that whistle command.

If my dog is approaching a road or any other possible danger I seldom blow stop. I usually recall the dog then walk it to heel until we have passed that danger.

Bill T.
The older I get, the better I was !

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by Featherfinder » Tue Feb 20, 2018 6:19 pm

I'm with you Bill.

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Re: whoa training ....why is it so important?

Post by bustingcover » Tue Feb 20, 2018 10:24 pm

woah just means stop/stay. you can use any word you want. its good for when you need a dog to stop/stay.
You like these dogs because you like the truth. And these dogs, if you watch them, they will show you the truth.

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