# Thoughts about a relaxed training pace



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Now it's time for us to ease up a bit. Hunting season is upon us and we can ease up on the rigors of training. 

I realized that every time I take Buffy out of the house it is for work---either in the field or obedience. I almost never play with her. I never bring her out and just let her be a dog and I think she needs that. You know, let her hair down, so to speak. Thirty seconds with a happy bumper doesn't do it. She needs just to be a dog for a bit, run around, sniff things out, play tag.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I love taking my crew to the east side of town. There we can walk as far as we want off leash. There are creeks and peat bogs and ponds to chase each other around in. I still usually put their ecollars on and occasionally practice some recalls, but usually I just let them go and be dogs. In the winter we have to walk in the dark. It's a riot seeing the lighted collars bobbing through the trees and reflecting off the snow. I don't "play" with them, I just let them be dogs. I just wish they didn't love to roll in the moose pee since they are in rut and especially stinky. I can do happy bumpers with Reilly, but Lucy is way too serious, so no happy bumpers for her.

So what's your plan for Buffy for fun? Somewhere off leash you can go?


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

I do have places where she can go off leash.There are a couple of fields where she can run like mad and we can play tag. I also have wooded areas where she can run. She needs that.


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

I hear ya! For awhile I was working her too much. She was starting to get depressed, I could tell. So I just stopped and made it fun! I even had our trainer just play with her for awhile and no training that day, just play. I laid off for two weeks straight and it worked wonders! Now, I try to balance it more. Sometimes you just forget and I felt terrible when I realized I was just working her too much. 
It was funny, we are learning casting and doing lots of drills. Now, between each drill I do a fun bumper. The other dogs can push through and be fine but not her. She just can't go long without getting bored and burnt out so we work harder at letting her have fun at training and it is working wonders with her skills, too!


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Buffy smiled for me today. I played with her and she looked for more. I guess there is a need for this.


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## Lucylulu (Aug 4, 2013)

Doggies need to be doggies!!)) it's their magical gift to bring so much joy!!!


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Lucylulu said:


> Doggies need to be doggies!!)) it's their magical gift to bring so much joy!!!


You are absolutely right. Sometimes I forget.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

My experience training is with horses. They get 'turn out' every day. They never mind 'working' because for them it's fun with their girl...being petted, loved on, praised for a good job and treats. 

Everybody needs some down time every day, just to be horses or dogs; to roll in the dirt and dung; to just 'be' in the sunshine. 

It does work wonders!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

FWIW - with my dogs play, snuggle & exercise time has a higher priority than other activities. Yes, that means some days they may only have 10-15 minutes of training each but overall it works for me.

Agility, rally, obedience and field work all are worked into the schedule throughout a week but I have had to prioritize my available time for what is most important to me - and that is truly happy dogs with wagging tails


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

I must pay more attention to the consequences of "All work and no play...". 

Buffy is smiling more for me these days now that I do play with her a bit.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

Depends a lot on the dog. Alder, the poodle boy, loves going for off-leash walks through the fields. He can happily entertain himself for hours with sniffing and exploring. In the yard, he loves to play. I must constantly make myself intersperse play among short obedience training session or I notice a definite decline in enthusiasm.

Then there's Maple, the golden. She enjoys her walks, for a short time. Then she will be at my side, in perfect heel position, trying to get me to start a training session. Treats are a big motivation, but I also think she craves the interaction. During training sessions, I play a little with her, especially if we're working on something difficult, but our training sessions are much longer than with Alder and she is always reluctant to quit. 

When I take a break from training, it is for ME, and I pay for it. Maple becomes an insufferable pest if she doesn't get at least a short session of training.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

I am the "slacker". I let them play mostly and try to direct the play sessions with a little training. Both of them love the field training. Rose is quite funny in obedience (I get the "not that again" look). I started taking a bumper at class and give her at least one retrieve during the class. 
As I type this they got tired of begging me to go outside and now they are playing on the floor.


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## EvanG (Apr 26, 2008)

I would assert that it does depend on each dog's temperament, but only to a small degree. And I've trained dogs for clients that just hated to train. Those are rare, and are usually a result of how they were introduced to regular training.

It mostly depends on the quality and balance of daily training. My dogs get as excited to load up and go train as they do to load up and go hunt.

If you have a dog that sinks emotionally when faced with training, do some serious soul searching about how you do things. A micro-managed dog is an unhappy and insecure dog.

EvanG


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

EvanG said:


> I would assert that it does depend on each dog's temperament, but only to a small degree. And I've trained dogs for clients that just hated to train. Those are rare, and are usually a result of how they were introduced to regular training.
> 
> It mostly depends on the quality and balance of daily training. My dogs get as excited to load up and go train as they do to load up and go hunt.
> 
> ...


Evan, you are so right about the micromanagement. And that is exactly what I want to avoid.


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

Gabby is almost always working. We train in field, agility and obedience, she has classes on Mon (ob) Wed (agility) and if we are not trialing we go to the field trainers on Sat. She needs to "practice" between lessons, so 3 other days a week we get out and work on something. However, if I take her for a 'walk' its no commands. She doesn't have to 'heel', the only requirement is she stop at all streets and wait for me to say it is ok to cross. It drives my husband CRAZY, because as we walk along, Gabby runs to the end of the leash (6'), runs back LEAPS into the air, runs back out. She does this for about half of the walk. When we get to the park, I let her off leash to run. Run she does. Usually after the park she walks home pretty normal. I figure it one time she does not have to be on a command. It's "her" walk. 

The other day, we went to the park close to our house, we split the dogs up. We took Teddi and Quinn together, and Gabby and Belle together. Teddi ran quite a bit more because Quinn was, and Belle moved around quite a bit more because Gabby was flying all over the place. We should try to do that one day a week because it is good for the older dogs too. 

Gabby LOVES to work, so in her mind it isn't work. I actually try to do something obedience related (work on an exercise, or articles or what) 5 days a week. I only spend 15-20 on it so she can do something else too. If I don't get Gabby out every day she is a basket case the next day. Now that the weather is getting colder and wetter, we have days where we don't get out. There is nothing anymore I can do in my house with her. She is way beyond most of that stuff, and my house is just not big enough to heel, jump, weave whatever one would do inside. 

I'm glad my field trainer trains all year round. Weather permitting, I try to get there at least 2 times a month. It's a 2 hour drive one way and I do need to work around my house from time to time. So twice is all I can commit to. We are talking about going to Florida this winter to see my in-laws. Gabby and Quinn might go to the field trainers for a couple of weeks. They will like that!!!


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

I am working with a pro on our new girl now to get her field trained. at 6 months we took her to the pro and after a few weeks he called and said she is a real good girl, but seem very immature in training. We decided to bring her home for a few weeks and let her mature. She is now a year old and is coming along nicely. We will send her down to Texas in January to complete her initial field training. In this case, slowing down was really important for her and to not waste money with a trainer when she just was not ready.


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## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

Okay, well I have a slightly different perspective on this time of year. 
First, it is indeed soon to be duck season in my area and my FT dogs will certainly get to go duck hunting with me. Since I started training retrievers, I have discovered that duck hunting is now more about the dogs than the ducks! We all (i.e., me and my dogs) love the opportunity to go hunting.
Second, neither me nor my dogs look at training as "work." I LOVE training - they LOVE training. They can hardly wait to get out of the truck when we arrive at our training grounds. Whether it's marks or blinds or drills, they LOVE their "work" (they would laugh at me if they could understand that I was referring to what they were doing as "work" for them). 
Third, we don't take a break from training ... not at ANY time of the year. I train year-round. Now granted, I don't get to train them every day ... maybe 3 to 5 days a week, plus our weekday training sessions are only 1 1/2 hours or so, and with a training group that generally means one set of marks and a blind or two for the blind-running dogs. There is no easing from the rigors of training for me and my dogs ... but none of us want to ease up. 
Fourth, my dogs are in the house during part of the day and all night (with usually at least one on the bed). Of course when doing yard work, they get to hang out as well. Plus, we have a pretty good sized, fenced back yard, so they get to roll in the dirt, eat grass, sniff around for hours every day. For them, that provides plenty of "down time" for just chilling out. 
But the idea of easing up on the training ... why, they'd NEVER go for that!
FTGoldens


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

I do like your comment and insight. Just a little more on my point of view. Buffy is a high roller, maybe the highest roller that I have seen and quite capable of a lot of mischief. Whenever we go out of the house it is for training. She goes from house to crate to obedience or field, then back into the crate and back home. Also, I walk her four times a day---again always with a command with the occasional "Sniff" command which means "OK". She is never left without a command. She loves her work. However, no matter how you slice it, training/learning is stressful. (You hear a retired teacher talking.)

Buffy's down time includes hunting and working at a shooting preserve where she will get 50-100 retrieves a shoot. She is like a kid in a candy store. That's the down time.


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