~ DOWN BY THE RIVER ~

[Irishwhistler]

~ DOWN BY THE RIVER ~

I have been a Neil Young fan for well over fifty years now and love that song. I have also been a fan of obedient, well trained dogs for about the same duration of time. I took MAC and TRAD out for some pre-tropical storm recreation today and allowed them some time to run freely in a riverbed, the water being fairly low. Not one to waste an opportunity to reinforce obedience during such outings, I seized upon this teachable moment by whistle stopping the dogs mid-stream and giving them the "DOWN" command, the results seen in the above photo. Their visual focus upon me, I delayed them for a reasonable amount of time before giving them a release command so that they were once again free to romp.

A few constants to keep in mind when training; (1) Never give a command you are not able to enforce. (2) Give a command once, do not repeat commands. (3) Make corrections of commands not complied with. (4) Set the trainee up for success, timing of commands issued to ensure success are an invaluable training tool. (5) Reward the trainee for the desired response performed for commands issued.

Hot and humid today, I think MAC and TRAD enjoyed this drill fully.

Enjoy every moment spent with ye beloved gun dogs!

Cheers,
THE DOG WHISTLER

 

[Space Face]

Young did write a couple of ok songs I suppose

As ever, good to see the dogs in action and enjoying themselves.

 

[K9Kirk]

I like that song and probably my all time favorite of his, "Cinnamon Girl."
Nice shot, they look like they're having a lot of fun.

 

[Space Face]

The Needle and the Damage Done or Southern Man for me, as an aside.

 

[Original katomi]

The dogs love the water, look like you all had a good day out