With field dogs, especially, it's as if because the dog comes from a well-bred and proven line, the dog should automatically know and do what is required. Training begins on Day 1 Training a dog begins the moment you get him. So often the puppy is played with, chased, wrestled with and made to fetch and retrieve toy after toy in such a way that what the puppy is actually being 'taught' is to be obnoxious, jump all over an owner and determine how to stop and start games. In this way, the puppy discovers how to take control.
Puppies quickly learn how to use their voice, weight, speed and agility to their advantage.
Then comes the day when the owner decides that enough is enough and the 'Sergeant Major' arrives, with the goal that this puppy has to be 'taught a lesson' and learn who is boss. A high percentage of the training then, unfortunately, is often based on correcting the dog when he has gone wrong and we quickly become 'nagging' trainers. However even dogs that have learned bad habits can be shown what is expected through being very positive in our training, guiding the dog to do what we want by using the right exercises, using a fun approach, and training in places where the dog will be channelled or helped to perform correctly. Let me say, at this stage, I am not against corrections in training or aversives, I simply believe that, at times, we tend to fall back on them too readily. I do the majority of my work with field dogs, and with field dogs and working dogs, provided we select from the right lines, we are lucky in owning dogs that have a natural ability and an inherited talent that we can harness to our advantage.