Is it important to steady your dog?

I hesitate to answer a question with a question… but how much frustration do you want to endure while training, and especially while hunting?

Being steady is not based on a dog’s physical skill. It’s more of a mental exercise that requires calmness and patience from the dog and consistent control and enforcement from you. It’s important because it’s at the core of training and hunting success. Rarely is it the dog’s fault if he is not steady. Most often, the owner is simply not committed. That’s a shame, really.

Being steady is required in a variety of situations and it’s important for you to be aware of all of them. Here are some…

• Essentially, being steady means your dog does not break, which means he does not go on a retrieve until you send him. In a duck blind, it’s also a safety issue.
• Being steady in training means your dog sits at your side while you throw a bumper. He marks the bumper and does not bolt after it until you command fetch.
• When lining him for a retrieve in training or hunting, it means he doesn’t sneak up from your side 3, 4 or 10 feet and wait to be sent from there. He stays steady at your side.
• A huge reason for being steady in the above scenario is that if the dog is moving around when he is supposed to be marking the fall, he is going to lose his sight line to the bumper. That makes the retrieve much harder.
• Same for hunting and for the same reason. He stays steady while the bird falls and until you send him.
• Also while hunting, being steady means when you raise your gun, whether you shoot or not, he does not jump up and get excited therefore losing his sight line. Not to mention that a disruptive dog can create a dangerous situation as you shoot.
• Another reason you DO NOT want your dog breaking as soon as you and your buddies raise your gun is because then people will be shooting over the dog’s head as he runs out. At that moment, they are focusing on the bird and not the dog. If your dog is not steady you must tell your hunting partners about it and tell them not to shoot. They won’t like it, but otherwise it can be too dangerous and is another big reason to teach steadiness and to have influence over your buddies in the blind.
• If your dog is not steady in the duck blind and he breaks after a bird you just shot and before you send him, you will end up losing some of those birds especially crippled diving ducks. As the dog is aimlessly trying to get to the duck as it dives and swims away, a kill shot on the duck in the water may put the dog in harm’s way.
• And a big, bad frustrating result is an unsteady dog will flare incoming birds. Count on it.
  

Yes, you are right. Being steady is a dichotomy of experiences.

You are putting an easily excitable dog in a highly charged environment and demanding that he stay calm and quiet. Being steady is behavioral control. It can be easier to achieve with a ‘genetically more passive dog’ than with a hard charger for obvious reasons but equally necessary in any dog. Remember, for the most part, Labs and all retrievers that come from quality lineage are bred to retrieve; hopefully with passion. Being steady is one of the things YOU need to make happen.

Understand that you do not steady a dog in 10 minutes, 10 lessons or 10 months. Sure, you can begin the process in that time but to be steady in a variety of required situations is something you reinforce and demand forever. Show signs of weakness for a minute and your dog will exploit it in seconds. That’s why it’s very important to start early and build a solid base. The longer you wait, the more bad habits your dog will develop and well…  you know what happens after that.

But… timing is important because you do not want to discourage a dog’s enthusiasm by getting him to be steady too early.

This is another one of those ‘find the proper balance’ situations and an example that there is no set timetable for teaching a dog most skills. Every dog is different and should be trained with that in mind.

I like to encourage drive in a dog and make him mad about retrieving early. Remember the dichotomy example. You are making a dog crazy to retrieve and then telling him to wait to retrieve. But I think that sometimes the more enthusiastic your dog is to retrieve, the easier it is to teach him some delay because his enthusiasm for the retrieve will allow you some wiggle room to hold his focus. It can be a fine line and it’s important to teach to your dog’s level of intensity.

Teaching steady takes more patience on your part than knowledge. You simply do what it takes, short of force, to get your dog comfortable sitting and staying at your side until sent. Eventually add distractions. Eventually add bumpers. Be creative and progress from there.

Delay is a good tactic to help teach patience which is at the core of steady.

Make your dog wait before you send him for a retrieve. Not so long that he loses interest, but delay the retrieve. Delay will help build his intensity and reinforce that he does not go for a bumper or bird until you send him. Steady!

It’s also a good idea to throw a bumper, or even a few as you progress, and then just go pick them up yourself while the dog watches you, followed by throwing one that you send him to get in a controlled way. Another good idea is to sometimes throw a bumper, make him mark, and then heel him away and have him retrieve the bumper from a different spot than you were in when you threw it. I like doing that a lot and I do it often. Just be careful with a young dog because you don’t want to confuse him.

Always reward a young dog (any age dog for that matter) for being patient on a retrieve. Not with a treat, which is just a distraction, but with praise. As he is sitting and waiting, keep him calm by gently rubbing his head and softly tell him what a good boy he is. No treats – being sent for the bumper is his ultimate reward.

Be smart about shooting.

Reinforcing steady is a primary reason why you should not shoot on your dog’s first or first few hunts. Let your buddies shoot and you sit with your dog and help him to be steady through every phase of the process. Your dog best learns skills taught in small doses over time. Be patient. I know, I know, this is tough to do. You’ve been working hard with your dog for a long time and you want to shoot his first duck. Try this: On your dog’s first hunt, take your favorite hunting partner with you and tell him/her that you want them to have the honor of shooting your dog’s first duck. Then set it up as best you can for that to happen. You will discover that watching your dog perform gives you greater satisfaction that shooting.

In training, retriever launchers that fire a 22 blank cartridge and/or starter guns are helpful when fired by you or a partner at a short distance away. Gunfire is the ultimate stimulation to overcome for a steady dog. But DO NOT – DO NOT – DO NOT add any shotgun shooting at any distance to teach being steady until your dog has been properly conditioned to the gun. DO NOT.

After he is gun conditioned, you will want to introduce shotgun fire to help teach being steady. Shotgun blasts will fire up a dog but regardless, he has to be steady. Shoot a real gun before you take him hunting so he knows what to expect.

As with many of my recommendations, having a ProCoach help you get started with teaching steady, is a wonderful idea.