The Brittany Forum

guy · Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:57 pm Post subject: stop whistle

After an original article on the now defunct gundog forum.

A suggested order of introduction to ‘factors of difficulty’ in teaching a stop whistle

Dogs do not like being stopped. They like to keep moving. In some situations they want to keep moving very much indeed, they are highly motivated to keep going. The highest level of motivation is probably where the ‘high prey drive dog’ is chasing game. Stopping the dog under these conditions would be the most advanced form of stop. Yet often people try to teach this before they have taught all the others in the list below. This sets them and their dogs up to fail.

This suggested order of training takes into account how difficult it is for the dog to stop. The following are factors of difficulty. Each time you introduce a new factor of difficulty, reduce the level of difficulty of the factor you introduced previously and then build it back up again. This gives you the highest chances of succeeding with minimal corrections and keeps your training upbeat and positive.

Primary factors - these must be reduced each time a new motivating factor is introduced, and built back up again gradually

The speed of the dog
Distance from the handler

Motivating factors - things which the dog desires to do rather than stop

Return to the handler*
Collect a retrieve*
Pursue a moving (inanimate) object
Pursue flushing game

Introduce your factors in this order

Speed
The dog is more likely to keep going when it is already travelling at speed. This may seem obvious but is often overlooked in training. Teach the dog to stop at a walk before you teach him to stop at a run.

DistanceThe dog is more likely to ‘stop’ when the handler is close by, more likely to keep going when the handler is far away. Distance erodes control. Teach the dog to stop next to you before introducing distance.

MotivationThe dog is more motivated to keep going when it wants to leave the area. To reduce the motivation of the dog to keep going, have the dog in an area that it does not want to leave. This is easiest to achieve by using the ‘area of fall’. Remember the rule - new factor of difficulty, so reduce level of the other factors. Reduce distance, and speed. Hunting the area of fall achieves both of these objectives. See this thread for the 'stolen retrieve' exercise http://www.thegundogclub.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1662

Only when the dog is highly competent at stopping whilst hunting an area, at appropriate distances, should you consider introducing more traditional stop whistle exercises which stop the dog when he is highly motivated to continue. E.g. when he is recalling, and especially when he is retrieving, and finally (in spaniels) when he is flushing game.

*Caution - beware of 'interrupting other skills
The following are activities we want the dog to continue doing on most occasions.

Return to the handler
Collect a retrieve

We also want him to do these things quickly and with enthusiasm. We want him to do them ‘fluently’ and without hesitation. Stop whistle training using these activities has great potential for harm because it interrupts the very behaviour we want the dog to carry out fluently at other times. The fact that these factors are less motivating for the dog than the ones we teach later (stop to flush in spaniels for example) is a double edged sword. It makes them easier to teach, but it also increases the potential for ruining the fluency of the actions of the dog.
Lots of books and articles will offer you exercises for stopping the dog during recall and/or retrieve.

Do make sure your dog is competent at stopping in the area of fall before attempting these exercises.
Do use these drills with great caution and sparingly.
Do mix any stopped recall with many many recalls where the dog is not stopped at all.
Do mix any ‘stopped retrieves’ with many where the dog is allowed to retrieve without interruption.
Do reward any ‘whistle stops’ generously with something that the dog actually values - give them a purpose such as another retrieve, or walk out to the dog and reward with food or whatever else the dog really enjoys. (Many dogs, are not interested in praise whilst out in the field)

_________________
Guy, Ellie, Topaz, Catja and in memory Barley
Beauty from Structure
www.epagneulbreton.org.uk