Gunner Quinn
When your dog has mastered the whistle stops, with him stopping mid-sprint to turn and look at you, waiting for direction, it gives you the biggest sense of accomplishment. But once he stops, you have to get him where you need him. At this point, it is a must that you have the hand signals conquered as well. Left and right “overs,” as well as “back,” are necessary to guide your dog to that hidden bird lying out of sight. But what about when the dog explodes with so much speed and intensity that he runs right past the bird without even noticing it?
Most folks think they can simply call the dog back to them, and he will see it and pick it up along the way. But if he doesn’t even know that it’s there, the chances are that he will overlook it again. Being able to tell him to look for the duck on the way back in, rather than just calling him “here,” alerts him that the hidden duck is there.
So, how do you direct him to the duck he missed from this point? There is one direction to teach that is often overlooked, “In.” Different trainers call it different things, but no matter the title, they all have the same goal: to direct the dog to the bird/bumper between him and you. But how do you go about teaching this skill?
Training Setup
Most hand signal drills are set up using a baseball diamond layout, with the dog sitting at the pitcher’s mound and the trainer standing at home plate. Your dog stays seated while you throw to first or third, then you show and teach him the “over” signal. The same routine is done to teach “back” by throwing to second base.
Now, once the dog is skillful in those three directions, it is time to start “in” training. Move him to second base and set him up just as you had previously done at the pitcher’s mound. Next, with him watching you, toss a bumper to the pitcher’s mound, making sure to reinforce “sit” as you throw it, as this mark tends to be even more tempting to break on than the others.
Once you have thrown it and he is staring at it like he should be, it’s time to introduce the new command. With it being brand new, he might be hesitant to respond to it as you would like, so it is important to be energetic and positive towards him during this phase. Point your hand down at a 45-degree angle towards the ground and yell “in.” If he is fired up to go after it, a lot of times this is all it takes. He will charge after it and grab it with all of his excitement. Then call him to heel to deliver to hand like normal.
If he is somewhat unsure of what to do, you might have to walk out towards it some while continuing your pointing and commanding, still in an encouraging manner. If it requires you to walk all the way to the bumper, that is fine; don’t fret. Simply pick it up and shake it for him and quickly give it a soft toss in front of you, and immediately command “in.” It may take some time, but with this command, he should begin to understand what you are asking of him.
The Next Phase
After he is used to coming in to pick up the mark, the next step is to place it there with him seeing it, but without you tossing it. Use the same setup as before, except instead of throwing the mark, just walk out and lay it down in the same place as before. He should be watching with great anticipation! Walk back to home plate and give the “in” signal and command. He should go after it just as he did when he witnessed you toss it out there. Just like every step, run lots of reps with this for a few days.
Once he has excelled at the previous two stages, you can now set it up as a blind. Just like all blind work, plant it out in the field before you bring him out there. Put him at second base without him being able to notice it on the pitcher’s mound. When you get to home, go through the same routine with him as before. In most cases, he should be just as excited with this setup as the earlier one, if not more so.
If it happens not to go as smoothly as you hoped, be ready to walk out to it. Even if this extra step is needed, he should be accustomed to following the new directional command at this point. Most people don’t realize the usefulness of this command until it is needed in the field, at which time it is too late. Preparing for this additional direction can save you some headaches out in the duck blind.
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