Coming When Called & Delivery to Hand - written by Butch Goodwin of Northern Flight

A large part of developing a “game plan,” like I wrote about six months ago (March/April 2003), involves breaking training lessons down into individual teaching increments. This kind of training is exactly the opposite of going at it in a haphazard manner of simply tossing lots of bumpers, all the while assuming that training is going well, but without any real direction. This column is about one of those increments that owners often push much too hard at trying to conquer, often with negative results: attempting to teach pups to deliver birds and bumpers to hand. Actually, it isn’t so much about teaching the pup to deliver to hand as it is about teaching him to not deliver to hand.

I know that about now you are probably asking yourself, “What is this guy talking about?” Well, bear with me for a few minutes, and I think you’ll get the point.

Six-month old Bones comes when Jerry calls him and brings bumpers all the way to hand for approval without having ever really been taught or forced. Note how Jerry is down on the dog's level and claps to encourage the dog's return, not snatching at the bumper.

You see, I think that most puppies are pretty close to perfect. Assuming a well-bred youngster with the genetics to retrieve, go in the water, eagerness to learn, and desire to cooperate, the right-out-of-the-womb puppy is probably born with all of the instincts that he needs to be a fine hunting dog. Then man comes along. And his ego gets in the way and begins to screw everything up. In large measure, people create dog problems.

I have long held the belief that trainers of retriever hunting dogs can learn a lot by listening to what those involved with other hunting breeds, such as trainers of pointers or spaniels, have to pass along. Among the books on my bookshelf is a classic by noted English setter breeder and trainer, the late
George Bird Evans - Troubles with Bird Dogs. On the fourth page, Evans sums up the entire premise of his book in a mere 10 very meaningful words that the majority of professional trainers can definitely relate to. He writes, “Much of the trouble with bird dogs is with people.”

Most professional trainers spend a large chunk of their time not simply "gluing" new training onto the outside of the dog, but chipping away at the bad habits that the dog already has developed, just in an effort to be able to move ahead with what the dog needs to learn. Often, before the dog’s owner has cleared the trainer’s driveway, the dog’s behavior will begin to reflect many of the habits and traits - good and had - that he has been taught by his owner. And as I have written many times before, dogs don’t lie. So it won’t take long for him to reveal everything to the trainer.

A trainer can either “act” or be forced to “react.” Without a solid vision of the desired end result of each individual lesson, how it fits into the overall training program, and a plan to achieve it, most new owners and trainers continually find themselves in situations where they are forced to react - or are forced to try to correct emerging problems that they have likely created (often unknowingly). Delivery of birds or bumpers to hand is a perfect example. Without realizing it, new puppy owners are often at the root of the problem; most seem far better at teaching their dogs to not deliver to hand than teaching him to deliver!

Retriever puppy owners often get very enamored watching their new prodigies retrieve, carry things in their mouths, and perform other amazing “feats” fueled only by the inherited abilities that their pup was born with. And it seems that many times, they so want their youngster to deliver bumpers to hand that they begin lunging at him in an effort to get the bumper out of his mouth before he can drop it. Initially, this creates a situation where the pup learns to stay just out of arms reach of having his “prize” snatched away.

Bones does this because he wants to and because he knows that he will get praised and not get his prize snatched out of his mouth. Jerry pets him up on the shoulder to to assert his leadership status, and lets Bones hold the bumper - either standing or sitting - for a few minutes.

Then - realizing that this is a fun new game, and having a much better inherent sense of how to control his owner than his owner has of how to control him - the little genius begins to develop his own set of rules for how the game should he played, and he skirts farther and farther away. The owner who gets suckered into the trap of playing by the dog’s rules will likely have his patience taxed to the maximum as his “perfect” puppy teases him with antics of tossing, dropping, and chewing on the bumper. The next step is to try to get the owner to chase him. And usually it works. So the game continues until the owner becomes frustrated and decides that enough is enough.

The exact opposite of the desired effect has just taken place as the pup has been “taught” by his owner to not come when called, and to not deliver to hand as he had done previously. More often than not, this causes the owner to “react” in the only way he can think of. Rather than realizing that he has really created the problem and has never encouraged the pup to want to come and bring things to him for approval, he snaps a checkcord to the pup’s collar, and with a flourish of, I'm going to teach that little brat a lesson,” begins a program of jerking the youngster into compliance.

Do you see what direction this is heading? What is perceived as training is falling apart and collapsing very rapidly all because the foundation for encouraging the dog at a young age to come when called and wanting to deliver to hand was never really solid. The next step is usually that the owner either develops a dog that will come unquestionably as long as he has the checkcord attached or, if the pup gets jerked significantly a few times just as he is picking up bumpers, decides to give up retrieving altogether. Both of which create even bigger problems, which will have to eventually he corrected - often by increasing the level of pressure or force to an even greater degree. You see these things always seem to have the effect of snowballing - a problem caused today often creates two that will have to be dealt with tomorrow.

A pup will behave in whatever manner he is allowed or taught, and behavioral traits formed at this early stage in his development will follow him throughout his life. If he is encouraged to want to come when called from the outset and never allowed the opportunity to design the rules of the game, he will, as he develops, continue to perform as he has been programmed. If, along with wanting to come when called, he knows no other scenario than to carry bumpers and bring them to the trainer, seeking the “leader’s” approval, he will likely not learn that any different behavior exists.

Let me pass along an ongoing story. Over the years, I have had a great number of retrievers of all breeds and from a variety of lines sent to my kennel for gun dog training. It is the rare dog that arrives really ready to do the work. I have decided that is the nature of folks who send their dog for training - they just figure, “The trainer will fix things.” That’s fine; I have learned to accept it. It is also pretty common that one of the traits that I see quite often in dogs sent for training is not coming when called.

Surrounding my kennels is a sizeable fenced exercise yard and, as the kennels are being cleaned, the dogs are released individually or in small groups into the yard to run around, “air” themselves as necessary, and explore. It is common that many new dogs, when first introduced into the kennel and allowed to run loose in the exercise yard, will ignore whoever is calling them back into their run. The dog may look up when he hears his name but usually immediately goes hack to sniffing around, watching the birds in the pen through the spaces in the fence, or whatever he is doing. And if someone attempts to catch them with a lead, it often becomes a game of “chase.”

Over the years, this has become a source of continuous frustration for just about everyone who has worked for me. Eventually, each of my helpers has had to come and get me to catch the dogs that won’t return to their runs when called. And, when I arrive in the yard, the errant dog has already decided that I am just there to join in the game.

But I simply will not chase them. I keep a couple of aluminum pop cans handy, each with a handful of gravel in it, and, after a well-aimed hit against the ground or wooden privacy fence close-by their position and the resultant, unexpected “explosion,” they seem to suddenly recall that they are to come when called. It has never taken more than one or two well-placed tosses to encourage even the most stubborn character to change his mind. They always knew exactly what we wanted all along but thought they would at least try to make up the rules of the game.

There are lots of ways to get a dog’s attention and convince him that it is in his best interest to come when called; but what’s more important is, when the dog finally does come, no matter how much he has infuriated me, I don’t grab at him and shake him up for ignoring the commands. I congratulate him for being so smart and such a good dog. Then I give him a few strokes to assert my dominance by petting him over the shoulders or giving his muzzle a firm shake, and put him in his run. The dog has realized several important lessons: that he doesn’t make the rules of the game; that he will get rewarded for complying (even if he needed a little “encouragement”); and that I am the “top dog” and the leader of the pack.

Delivering to hand is directly dependant upon coming when called. In its simplest form, delivering to hand is a matter of never allowing the dog - from the time he is a youngster - to realize that there is any other way to perform. Whether it takes kneeling down, meeting a pup when he returns from a retrieve with a bumper and allowing him to come all the way to you, or simply walking off in the opposite direction to encourage him to follow, the very last thing that anyone should do is reach for him, attempt to punish him for not coming when called, try to snatch a bumper out of his mouth, or attempt to force him into a sitting
position. What difference does it really make at this stage if it drops out of his mouth or if he sits when he delivers it? lie should he taught both to “hold” and to sit to deliver (if that is what you expect) as separate lessons.

But again, it is a matter of breaking those lessons down into training increments. It is much more important at this young age to have him want to come to you and bring everything to you, seeking your encouragement and approval of what he is carrying.

If you encourage good habits in your dog starting at a young age and try to make it difficult to make mistakes and easy to do things correctly, you will find that you have fewer problems that will have to be corrected down the road.