A Complete Course in Training a Young Retriever

Bill starts with an introduction to the most important aspects of “The Game.”  Throughout the whole course Bill develops, advances and uses “the Game” and you will see it in it’s completeness as the puppy trains and gets older. Watching how Bill takes each situation and applies “The Game” is uniquely seen in these lessons. 

There is not a flow chart because six aspects of training are all being developed as Bill describes his way of development with each one. Introduction to Water is started as well as what he recommends you should do if you have a puppy or young dog that is hesitant to go into the water.

Bill explains his way of leading into steadiness.  Because we are watching a young dog being trained in “real time” the whole process is seen from start to finish in the progression of the course. 

There are a few wonderful review chapters detailing the many topics in the way Bill trains.  Bill describes the importance of following the steps in the sequence as presented.

Do not skip ahead. . . It’s okay to lag behind. 

There is what so many people wish to understand and see - a chapter about “What does Training Look Like on a Daily Basis.” Bill explains that every few days, he introduces a new idea ...  When introducing something new, like the “sight blind” he is specific as to how that training day is organized.

Bill emphasizes the Importance of the SEQUENCE of Training Lessons and to keep reviewing previous lessons to avoid skipping over anything. Right now, the training is a building process. Topics covered are how he starts water marking, the use of “the accordian theory,” beginning heeling, the beginning-beginning of sit on the whistle, the difference between reinforcement and corrections, what is necessary in training before initiating a double thrown from his side, and testing the low intensity of the collar on yourself.

Bill starts the beginning of collar conditioning on SIT using a step-by-step process. He describes how to use the collar in a positive way.  Bill starts the beginning of walkout blinds.  

Now that Mallard can do all of the aspects of an actual RETRIEVE:  sit, watch the bird, throw the bird, get the bird, hold the bird, deliver the bird, the sequence  called “the completed retrieve,”  Bill starts to develop memory in marking. He introduces Mallard to a wide range of different types of marks. Throughout all of the training in the course “The Game” is indispensible: it develops a contrast between power and SIT, like an “on-off” switch.  

A BIG also: it makes a wild type puppy focus on YOU, which does not come naturally without it. Focusing on the teacher is utmost so the teacher can teach.

(The exact same thing applies in a classroom in school)

Time is spent on teaching “over” casts, how to determine the type of puppy you have and how to keep him “in balance.”  Training moves to a new location at which point a new walkout blind is taught.  There are steps that are important to Bill shown and described before a dog is ready for a thrower-thrown mark.

Several marking drills that Bill likes are described and shown as well as one that teaches a dog to go to “a spot,” while developing his confidence, without corrections or hollaring. 

Bill delineates the details of how he likes to introduce a very beginning YDrill.   A second beginning version is shown where there is no cover and how he likes to deal with it.   Following topics covered/shown are:  beginning casting, the value of “homeplate” marks, practicing heeling with distractions, learning to go back to “homeplate” after retrieving a mark, and the value and importance of how to create a fast whistle stop.

Developing memory early is an important topic to Bill.  He shows how he likes to develop it early as he says:  “Memory occurs because of a process that you develop.  So, if you have an undeveloped two-year-old dog and throw six marks, my guess is that he won’t act like he remembers them.  It doesn’t mean intellectually they can’t comprehend the concept of six parts of a memory mark.  Memory is something that is taught.  So, working on memory is a pretty good idea.”  

TRAINING ALONE:  There is a big advantage to doing some training alone as you can get many, many more marks than in a training group (included in many chapters).   Also Bill shows the way he likes to keep a dog in good shape. We finish with re-planting a “single-point” blind that Mallard has had previously and going to a location he has run it from before as well. Then Bill throws a set of multiple marks from his side.  After completing the marks, Bill gets Mallard setup to refocus him on the “single-point” blind they just planted, and he remembers and does well.  

Keep in mind this didn’t just happen today . . . this is something we’ve been building towards every day, and that’s the point of this course . . . to get the sequence to get to this point . . . developing memory.