by Mike Stewart | on October 26th, 2009 | in Features, Your Questions
Do I look worried?
Q. I have a 7 month British Lab. Outstanding pup, very good with obedience and retrieving—in the backyard. However, she is very skittish in new surroundings: school yard, fields, park, etc. She won’t retrieve or listen to me anywhere except the backyard, but she does heel very well for more than twenty minutes around our neighborhood. I have tried MANY new locations, recently walking her on a 6′ lead in the same field seems to help a little. Will she outgrow this shyness or is there other methods to assist? Thanks.
A. To arrive at a solution for your dog’s problem, you have to attempt to analyze the possible causes. Situational shyness, as you describe, could come from three specific areas:
1. genetics – the parents portrayed these traits/the dog’s personality
2. improper early puppy pre-conditioning, socialization and backgrounding (the lack thereof)
3. inadequate training methods
Assuming that we have no genetic traits that could be the cause of this problem, then we have to focus on the other two. Even if you have genetic issues that are causing the shyness, progress can be made by slowly introducing variables in the dog’s life for desensitization. Item 2 can be equally difficult. Early socialization of a pup is imperative to build a great foundation for future learning and the ability to deal with new situations. Opportunities lost cannot be regained. Similarly to the genetic issue, this will be a slow process of progressive introductions. One success at a time.
Training: One thing that is interesting is the dog does fine in your backyard but is not easily transferring these skills to other locations and/or situations. There are four levels of training… yard work (teaching the basic skills in a familiar area which you have done), field work (teaching the pattern drills, exercises and skill necessary for hunting, adventure, service, etc.), transitional training (moving the basic skills taught in training to realistic field activities/experiences/situations). Transitional training is where a lot of people break down with their dogs. A few exercises in the back yard, then it’s off to an abandoned lot and we thing we’re ready for a hunt. The result: the wheels run off. It’s called generalization. Dogs don’t easily move/transfer skills learned in one location to another in a rational manner. It has to be experiential. Each skill has to be practiced 5 times in 5 different locations.
Now, in your pup’s case, he’s confident in the back yard, but this confidence is lost when moved to a new area. In gundog training I call this sensory overload or to use popular terms today, the stimulus package. When we are asking skills of our dogs and the stimulation, diversions, and distractions are too high or extreme, we have two choices… simplify the task while maintaining the stimulus or keep the task and reduce the level of the stimulus.
Plan of action: Perfect one or two skills of your choice in your back yard. Then, move one of these skills to a new area but with no activity, just new ground. Perfect the single skill there. Then move the same skill to a new area with a bit more activity. Focus only on one or two skills and gradually vary the locations only after the skill is perfected in each, then increase the stimulus slowly. Here’s the Wildrose rule: Each of our skills must be practiced 5 times in 5 different locations before we can assume the skill is an entrenched habit. Be careful that you do not subconsciously reinforce the fear factor. When you move to a new area, do it with a great deal of confidence which should be displayed in your body posture, tone, gait and attitude. Don’t be thinking your dog is going to fail. Also, don’t coddle the fear. Walk briskly and aggressively as the pack leader letting your dog know there is nothing to fear.
The last of the four levels of training is an actual field activity, hunt, adventure, competition, the public area, etc. Your first experience in any field situation is not about your participation in the activity. Your focus is on training your dog. Example: Your first hunt is not a hunt at all; it’s a training opportunity. Keep in mind Wildrose law #5 as you deal with the fear factor: “Make haste slowly.”
Best of luck,
—Mike
Soft, young and yellow: Part 2- pup is now 10 months old. Obedience, retrieving and hand signals in yard is going very well. Obedience, including remote sit, is also going very well in local school yard. She is very comfortable with our walks thru yard. Retrieving in school yard is hit or miss- sometimes she will take a back cast or retrieve as a reward for remote sit, usually 3-4 times. I have learned not to have her retrieve more than this amount, and work on the successes. Obedience in field is very good, but she rarely retrieves anything. I am taking everything very slowly, but am frustrated with lack of retrieving. She is obviously not ready for hunting just yet, how about gun training? Any suggetions are much appreciated. Thanks.
Sometimes you can lower a dog’s retrieving drive by doing too many repetitive retrieves on dummies. Try a half-frozen duck or pigeon and see if that doesn’t rev her up a bit. At ten months, the dog’s retrieving drive should be developed enough so that she’s consistently going after whatever you’re throwing, even if you’re not always getting a good delivery. If the dog doesn’t show interest in real game, you should talk to your breeder. If she does, chances are you can make a hunter of her. Main thing is not to burn out the dog or yourself by training too aggressively. Put the hours in this spring and summer.
Ten months is fine for gun training. Use a starter’s pistol and keep it in your training bag, twenty or thirty yards from your pup. If you get no adverse reaction (not so much as an ear twitch) move in a few steps and fire into your bag again. After you reach your pup with the gun in the bag, go back out to 50 yards and fire with the gun behind your back. If at any point you notice an adverse reaction, you’ve got to lower the criteria. This dog sounds like she might be at risk for gun shyness. You might even go so far as to have a friend do the reps with the pistol while you give the dog treats and encouragement after each shot. If you haven’t already, get on the Wildrose Facebook page. There are a bunch of self-trainers trying to do it without an e-collar who post regularly. —Grayson
18 months old now, VERY aggressive with retrieves anywhere. Delivers to hand on land and water, takes to water like a champ, very birdy with frozen birds, takes hand signals and whistle stops up to 50 yards pretty consistently. Taking her on the first hunt, goose opener next week, duck opener 3 weeks after that. Obedience is overall very good, recall good, heels around neighborhood excellent and in field pretty good. Compared to my last update in January, this is REAL progress. One concern is around water. Taking her from the truck to the lake, she is a “wild animal”! I get her under control by the water, and she is pretty steady to retrieves. Heels “back to the truck” ok, but a problem getting to the water. Outstanding family pet. Any suggestions??? Thanks.