Teaching a reluctant dog to find

ABOVE: Paul watching Hannah after she's jumped on a scent in the long grass. Reluctant finder she is not...

DOGS that have shown no propensity to find pigs can be trained to look for pigs. I can't promise miracles but if the dog shows a willingness to chase things and is responsive to you it can be be taught to find.

I've previously listed a combination of nose, drive and responsiveness as the keys to developing a quality finding dog but without any obvious nose, dogs can still find pigs if you get the basics right. You're not going to get a world-beater necessarily but if you work on your dog you can expect to get its best. He or she might ever only be an ordinary performer when compared to purpose bred dogs but if a dog you love is now a better worker, who really cares.

If you really want dogs to find, get dogs from people who breed them and offer a money-back guarantee but that isn't possible for all chasers all the time.

So this post is for people with dogs that seem to have no finding ability whatsoever. With no apparent nose, the dog will have to have that willingness to chase things and be responsive to you to have a chance. I say 'apparent nose' because all dogs have excellent senses of smell. However, not all dogs are enthusiastic about using theirs. The ability is there, just the urge to react to it, is not. Your job is to create that urge as a means of pleasing you. It's a bit by bit process but if you are going hunting anyway, it seems crazy not to polish the abilities of your pack. Getting a dog to find is all about putting them in places where there is likely to be a reward. This means walking. You have to be on foot to have the maximum communication with the dog and be closer to scent.

A lot of pig catchers don't hunt. They walk while their dogs hunt. If you walk like that with a dog that doesn't want to use its nose, they will simply fall into step behind you and walk as well. Walking to a dog is almost hypnotic so the reluctant finder just switches off.

You have to hunt a bit like a dog. Don't walk in a more or less straight line, quarter back and forth and check things out. If there's a watering point, go and squat down in a few spots and look for tracks. If they are there or if you see any sign anywhere, get down again and look at it intently. A responsive dog will see that and come to look too. As soon as they sniff the sign say a key command such as 'get out' or 'pigs' or whatever. If the sign is very fresh, be more activated and create a bit of excitement and repeat your key command. Move out from the sign on tracks or pads and repeat the command. If the dog looks at you, just doing something positive and like nod and say yes. This helps get the dog 'up' at the concept of scent. Responsiveness to you is crucial. Then if you do find a pig, which you will if you persist, the drive to chase it comes into play. If you are in pig country and walking likely spots, the very least that will happen is that you will bump into a pig while hunting like this and that helps the dogs get the message even faster.

It is a simple process but can take a long time depending on the dog. To help speed things up, take every opportunity to move into the downwind position on pigs seen in the open. Give the dog a chance to smell them before he sees the pigs or is released. While you're doing all this and watching the dog's reactions, the dog will show you it is learning by spending more time nose down or bobbing its nose up and down in the air. Keep getting down yourself to show you are vitally interested in where the dog is sniffing.

If you have any hope with the dog, this will get them out looking for a pig.

Now a bloke with his own view on finders, their selection and training is Troy Crittle. The link below is to his take on the whole thing. It's on boardogs.com and was written early this decade so some of the dogs pictured might be out of date. But Troy's stuff is worth reading.

http://www.boardogs.com/Troy_Ute_Finder.htm

How to stockproof a dog

ABOVE: Ours pups want to chase and 'lug up' from the word go. Redirecting that drive to be pig specific is crucial to developing effective working dogs.

STOCKPROOFING pigdogs is one of the most important tasks a catcher can undertake. For a dog to be stockproof it must utterly ignore everything but pigs (and some can even differentiate between wild and domestic pigs).

So how do you get through to a tough dog that you want it to chase somethings but not others? In the past a lot of dogs were belted into submission after they made mistakes. Eventually it worked but it was hard on dogs, stock and the people involved. It is also unnecessary and worse, makes the task of training harder, much harder.

The key to stockproofing is in getting control of the dog's psychology (indeed, understanding dog psychology...) in the yard before you go into the field. In the dog's mind it is in a pack, you and your family and the rest of the dogs in the yard are that pack. Dog's understand pack structure and accept it without question but part of that is that, if there is a perceived lack of leadership of the pack, one of the dogs (or several) will attempt to fill the vacuum. If dog's aren't led, they will make the decision to lead.

Dogs that chase stock are deciding to lead the pack.

We start all stockproofing with basic long lead training (see quick guide or blog archive right for info) to get control of the dog's mind. It's about showing you are the dominant dog and that comes down to a function of your state of mind. For instance, you never ask a dog to do anything.

You tell a dog to do everything. The dog wants clear and firm direction and it's up to you to give it to them. So, do the long lead training and get your timing right. You'll know you've got it because the dog will start anticipating what you want it to do, looking to you to see if it has read your pattern properly. Once this level of control has been achieved and repeated off the lead, you introduce them to stock. Ideally you have an experienced dog who shows the pack minded young dog what is expected.

However, not everyone has that experienced dog (or it's the experienced dog that is the problem) so what do you do from scratch?

Always, long lead training and then...

Take the dog on the long lead around some stock. Be relaxed. If you are tense it can translate as excited to the dog and provoke an attack. Use the same principles as basic long lead training, correct the dog at the moment it moves to look at stock. Jerk the lead (harder for harder dogs...) but make it a bang, not a pull. You are not trying to hurt the dog, just surprise it out of its interest and make it pay attention to you. I just make a sound like 'AH' as I jerk the lead. Keep doing that over a couple of visits and you'll know when the dog is switched on to 'no stock'. The dog will put it's head down or to the side or look at you with a lot of white in its eye whenever it is near stock.

After that, take the dog by itself on the truck for a drive through stock (vary the stock to suit what you are likely to encounter). If the dog appears to look at stock, just repeat your rousing tone from the long lead training. (If you want even more security, tie the dog to a 10 metre rope on the truck, that way if it does decide it wants to chase stock, you can time a rouse to coincide with the moment the dog is about to hit the end of the rope...)

And the final thing...might sound strange but it is important. Be calm. Don't get all activated about whether or not the dog will go for the stock. Believe it won't and that you're the leader of the pack. Dogs can read you like a book so you have to pick which page they get to see. It must always be the chapter marked 'In Control'. Anything else and you risk the dog picking up on that as a weakness in leadership and a reason to start making too many decisions.

The method as described is the longest way you'll need to do it. Most dogs get it about half way through and that's that.

As always, if you have a question, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer it.

Long lead training

ABOVE: Gina the pup is the model showing about how much slack to have in the long lead. Even at a longer distance keep it ready to reach the dog with a quick and well-timed jerk.

Long-lead training of dogs is a technique to which I often refer in conversations or writing about pig catching. So what is it exactly...?

Long-lead training is a physical way of affecting the psychology of your dog. Even the most hard-headed hunting dog can be corrected without the need for violence. Certainly there is a pull on the dog's neck via the lead but nothing like some of the old methods to adjust the attitude of a tough dog.
There are two keys to it. The first is timing. The second is distance.

Start with a piece of rope about 15 to 20 metres long. Attach a dog clip to one end and that end to the dog. Loop the rope over your secondary hand (left if you're right handed and vice versa) and let the lead coming in and go out as the dog does what it does.

Timing....This is the most important factor in the process. You are looking to create a situation in which you will call on the dog for its attention, give it the chance to respond, read that response and act. For instance, allow the dog to wander at will (attached to the lead) and then call it to you. You must have the lead loose but it still needs to connect firmly with the dog's neck for this to work properly. You get used to how loose to have it through a bit of practice (see the pic above...). When you call the dog if it looks at you and then goes to look away, jerk the lead. Don't pull the dogs head off, it's not about pain, it's about surprise and redirection of attention. Have the collar (preferably chain) high behind the ears for this too. It makes a difference. I usually say the dog's name (or whatever the command) again and if the dog still doesn't come I jerk it again but not as much. I find that about two third to half pressure lets them know that the first instance was not an accident. The timing of the jerk has to be spot on for immediate affect but even if you get it a bit wrong the dog will get some sort of message and you will get better with practice. Some dogs go insane and fight it all. Let them and stay calm. You can't be annoyed for this to work either because it will be a confusing intimidatory signal to the dog which can over ride whatever lesson you are trying to teach. And be consistent. Don't say anything more than once without jerking that lead. Every time you speak it has to mean something. The timing can be worked out by watching the dog. You will see them hear you (ear movement) and ignore you (ear movement, eye movement, body movement). You jerk the lead as close as possible to the time after the dog hears you and is making the decision to ignore. Get it right and it changes the way the dog thinks for years. I've found that about 20 minutes to an hour for two or three days is enough to get any dog into shape, including stock-proofing.

Distance...This is where the long part of the lead comes into play. Dogs get used to how far you can reach to get them. (That's why so many dogs react if you pretend to pick up a rock, they know your reach has just been extended...). If you learn to manage tension on the lead to allow a quick response at distance (say 15 metres), the impact on the dog's thinking is dramatic. It changes the dog's concept of your reach, in much the same way as electric shock training collars. They are illegal in New South Wales so I've never had any experience of shock collars. I can tell you though, hunters that have used both have told me the long lead method is quicker....
The distance at which you can command the dog's attention and action sets in the dog's mind and translates into excellent manageability in the field when everything is happening fast and is fuelled by a lot of adrenalin.

Long-lead training sounds like a difficult technique to describe because you almost have to see the difference between a good job and a bad job. It's a split second's difference. But once you see it, it looks obvious. It's all about reading the dog and whether or not he/she is giving you 100 per cent of their attention. In the field this type of training has resulted in us being able to call a dog off a small pig to grab a bigger one. I recommend it.
If there are any questions, just ask and I'll do my best to fill in any gaps I've left...

Cheers