Thursday, April 16, 2009
Training Tip - Nature Walks with Pup, Introduction to Cover and Water
Whether your new Boykin Spaniel Puppy is going to be a family pet, a go anywhere companion dog, or a hunting retriever, introducing a young pup to the environment, what Mother Nature offers, is a great step in socialization. It also has many added benefits as well. 
As your new pup starts “Bolding Up”, he will want to start exploring and checking things out. This is a good thing, as long as we control it. What I mean is we do not want pup to form the habit of letting his curiosity getting the better of him and not coming when called, thus the use of a leash. I never recommend taking a young
pup, under 4 months of age and without his full series of puppy vaccinations to City Parks or Doggie Parks. There are too many life threatening diseases out there. All pup has to do to contract Parvo is to lick or eat grass where Parvo infected poop once laid. They say Parvo can survive in the ground for up to ten years and at these public places, the high concentration of dogs, is a greater likelihood of encountering it. It happens all the time, just ask your vet.
As a much better alternative, I suggest nature walks. If you do not have open access to farmland or pasture land, there are many state parks and such with tall grass fields and nature trails. I like to take pups to places such as these that have a wide array of various environmental conditions such as woods, water, and tall grass.
It is at these places that I like to let pup stretch his legs a bit. Remember from a previous training tip, I stated that pup does not like to be left alone. You will find if you take a nice leisurely stroll, pup will search around and investigate all that Mother Nature has provided. If you get a little ahead of him, use your recall whistle and clap your hands, and pup will come a running. Praise him when he returns to you, letting him know that this was a great thing.
As you walk, pup will encounter many different things. Small limbs on the ground that are major obstacles for him, thus he will learn about crossing obstacles. He will find tall grass and undergrowth in the woods that he will plow into to investigate. All this he is teaching himself about cover. Cover that a downed bird might fall in and he have to dive into in order to retrieve the bird. A dog that is
never introduced to this till later on, will not have that fearless drive to dive right in, and many times, cannot even be forced in. For the pet and retriever alike, this is an all too important step in the process of socialization. Teaching pup that just because there is a new experience in front of him, there is nothing to fear.
If water is available (weather permitting), this is a great time to start the introduction to water. I like to wait till nearer the end of the walk, allowing pup to build up heat from all his physical exertion. What I do is when I am nearing the water, I stop and put my puppy leash on him.
Next we continue our walk down to the water. I do not stop at the water’s edge, rather I head right in. 9 times out of 10, pup will follow you right in. It is best to find shallow water where pup can easily touch the bottom. You do not want pup’s first water experience to be where he has to swim since the bottom is out of reach. We want to always, with new experiences, set pup up for success and success is more likely in water depth of just a few inches.
The next time him a bit further out. There is always the exception to the rule with the pup that heads out to deeper water and swims right from the start. It was this way with my young male Yocona River’s Fudgetown Crossing “Url”. By 4 months of age he was diving off of tree stands in flooded timber retrieving bumpers.
By introducing water at a very early age, pup will not have such a fear of water as he will have if you wait until 4, 6, or 8 months of age. Then it is a problem that for a hunter, you will have to work through, and it can be difficult at times. This is just like at Wildrose Kennels. We had a series of platforms and ramps that simulated raised duck blinds that are very common in Arkansas, Louisiana, and the Mississippi Delta.
We would take pups at 8 weeks of age and start teaching them to walk up the ramps and cross from one platform to another using interlinking ramps. In comparison, Wildrose periodically imports Finished Dogs and new brood stock from England, Ireland, and Scotland. These adult dogs, while fantastic retrievers with literally thousands of birds under their belts, had never seen such contraptions. It was always a chore getting these dogs to perform on the ramps. While some would take to it easier than others, they all were unsure of it on their first few times to try it.
In closing, I want to impress upon you the importance of the socialization aspect of this. Dogs that are raised at home and predominantly socialized around only their immediate family and an occasional guest are less likely to be functional adults in public. They will be unsure of every new encounter they meet. So regardless of whether you are raising your new Boykin Spaniel Puppy as a pet or retriever, get him out of the house and introduce him to as much as possible. These nature walks are great exercise for pup physically and mentally.
As your new pup starts “Bolding Up”, he will want to start exploring and checking things out. This is a good thing, as long as we control it. What I mean is we do not want pup to form the habit of letting his curiosity getting the better of him and not coming when called, thus the use of a leash. I never recommend taking a young
pup, under 4 months of age and without his full series of puppy vaccinations to City Parks or Doggie Parks. There are too many life threatening diseases out there. All pup has to do to contract Parvo is to lick or eat grass where Parvo infected poop once laid. They say Parvo can survive in the ground for up to ten years and at these public places, the high concentration of dogs, is a greater likelihood of encountering it. It happens all the time, just ask your vet.As a much better alternative, I suggest nature walks. If you do not have open access to farmland or pasture land, there are many state parks and such with tall grass fields and nature trails. I like to take pups to places such as these that have a wide array of various environmental conditions such as woods, water, and tall grass.
It is at these places that I like to let pup stretch his legs a bit. Remember from a previous training tip, I stated that pup does not like to be left alone. You will find if you take a nice leisurely stroll, pup will search around and investigate all that Mother Nature has provided. If you get a little ahead of him, use your recall whistle and clap your hands, and pup will come a running. Praise him when he returns to you, letting him know that this was a great thing.As you walk, pup will encounter many different things. Small limbs on the ground that are major obstacles for him, thus he will learn about crossing obstacles. He will find tall grass and undergrowth in the woods that he will plow into to investigate. All this he is teaching himself about cover. Cover that a downed bird might fall in and he have to dive into in order to retrieve the bird. A dog that is
never introduced to this till later on, will not have that fearless drive to dive right in, and many times, cannot even be forced in. For the pet and retriever alike, this is an all too important step in the process of socialization. Teaching pup that just because there is a new experience in front of him, there is nothing to fear. If water is available (weather permitting), this is a great time to start the introduction to water. I like to wait till nearer the end of the walk, allowing pup to build up heat from all his physical exertion. What I do is when I am nearing the water, I stop and put my puppy leash on him. Next we continue our walk down to the water. I do not stop at the water’s edge, rather I head right in. 9 times out of 10, pup will follow you right in. It is best to find shallow water where pup can easily touch the bottom. You do not want pup’s first water experience to be where he has to swim since the bottom is out of reach. We want to always, with new experiences, set pup up for success and success is more likely in water depth of just a few inches. The next time him a bit further out. There is always the exception to the rule with the pup that heads out to deeper water and swims right from the start. It was this way with my young male Yocona River’s Fudgetown Crossing “Url”. By 4 months of age he was diving off of tree stands in flooded timber retrieving bumpers. By introducing water at a very early age, pup will not have such a fear of water as he will have if you wait until 4, 6, or 8 months of age. Then it is a problem that for a hunter, you will have to work through, and it can be difficult at times. This is just like at Wildrose Kennels. We had a series of platforms and ramps that simulated raised duck blinds that are very common in Arkansas, Louisiana, and the Mississippi Delta.
We would take pups at 8 weeks of age and start teaching them to walk up the ramps and cross from one platform to another using interlinking ramps. In comparison, Wildrose periodically imports Finished Dogs and new brood stock from England, Ireland, and Scotland. These adult dogs, while fantastic retrievers with literally thousands of birds under their belts, had never seen such contraptions. It was always a chore getting these dogs to perform on the ramps. While some would take to it easier than others, they all were unsure of it on their first few times to try it. In closing, I want to impress upon you the importance of the socialization aspect of this. Dogs that are raised at home and predominantly socialized around only their immediate family and an occasional guest are less likely to be functional adults in public. They will be unsure of every new encounter they meet. So regardless of whether you are raising your new Boykin Spaniel Puppy as a pet or retriever, get him out of the house and introduce him to as much as possible. These nature walks are great exercise for pup physically and mentally.
# posted by Clay Black @ 7:35 AM 
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You are quite welcome. Be sure and come back and visit often. If you have any questions at any time, just post the question here in the comments for that article. If there is a question not related to an artcle, just email me.
Clay Black
Yocona River Boykins
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Clay Black
Yocona River Boykins
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