The Check Cord

Try a Different Approach

- Alec Sparks

Flushing Dogs

ALEC SPARKS has been training dogs professionally for over 22 years. He can be reached at www.snowboundkennels.com or on Facebook at Snowbound Kennels.

Laying a great foundation for a flushing dog is so important, especially at a very young age. Rewards-based training can be both productive and beneficial in this respect.

This training method creates an entirely different dynamic than the old school compulsion training techniques do. The benefit is that it develops a dog that thinks and wants to figure out what you want. The dog in early training learns to be “active,” and the trainer is reactive. In traditional leash/collar training, the trainer is active, and the dog is reactive. Let me explain.

In traditional leash and collar foundation (Sit/Hup, Heel recall), training the trainer activates the leash (pulls) and physically influences the dog’s position. The trainer is active, and the dog is reactive. In many cases, the dog learns what not to do for fear of correction (bad experience).

With marker training, you would first get a behavior like