The Steady Retriever: A New Approach
By Pat Nolan

Training for steadiness is a challenge we all face with retrievers. For gundogs, steadiness is essential. An unsteady dog bouncing around in a blind is a nuisance, but if you hunt hidden in the weeds or from a layout field rig he is a liability. Few things are more frustrating than having your dog flare birds before you greet them yourself.

Unfortunately, conventional methods of teaching steadiness sometimes have the unintended effect of reducing retrieving drive. Is there a better way to teach steadiness? 

Recently, while introducing young dogs to the Hide-A-Pooch portable dog blinds for field shooting, we made an exciting discovery. Using a new twist to begin steadying, we found that we could teach wild, unsteady dogs to sit off leash, steady to shot and thrown birds within 15 minutes, with minimal correction. (Note: your dog can learn to be steady quickly, but making his new skill a habit takes consistent repetition.)

The key to the success of this technique is getting the dog to understand one basic rule: The blind is an observation deck and not a launching pad. He is never allowed to retrieve from the blind.

Getting Started

There are two steps to teaching this technique: 1) review of sit stay, and 2) retrieving after watching birds down from the blind (or crate for teaching).

To start, your dog must know sit-stay and force fetch. For training purposes, the bottom half of your conventional plastic airline shipping crate makes a good substitute for the Hide-A-Pooch. You will need a 6-foot leash and a choke chain, a 15-foot line, a blank gun, bumpers, and your dead fowl trainers (Dokkens). Eventually you will include your shotgun, calls, and birds. Start with bumpers, as the lower level of excitement makes it easier for your dog to understand the “rule.” When he does understand, increase the distraction levels until they match the intensity of hunting.

Step One: Review Sit-Stay

1.      Place your dog on a sit-stay. Go to the end of your 6-foot leash and wait for 1 minute. If he moves before you return to him, use your leash and choke chain to correct him back to the spot. After he completes a 1-minute sit-stay, return to him and pause before heeling him off the spot, or call him to you. This is crucial: Never use a release command such as “OK” to turn him loose after a stay.

2.      When your dog will reliably hold for a 1-minute stay, you are ready to add distractions. Place him on a stay in situations where you think he might break. For example, have him stay while you open a gate and allow other dogs out, do stays with children playing catch nearby, etc. Work to see that he will stay in his crate or the truck after you open the door, and have him stay until you tell him to load after you open the door of the truck or drop the tailgate. While you are working on the distractions, gradually increase the length of the stays to 5 minutes and use longer lines to increase his distance from you to 15 feet.

Do not work him off leash. Work as many different situations in the yard and field as needed to bring him to the point of reliability. Do some of these stays in your crate half. Whenever your dog breaks the stay command, using your leash, correct him back to where you left him; when he holds his stay, praise him. With work he will choose to stay until you command him otherwise. 

Why use a leash correction here instead of the e-collar? The e-collar is an excellent tool for polishing a steady dog. However, it is not the proper tool for correction during the initial training on steadiness. With the e-collar, when your dog moves to retrieve before being sent, you re-command “sit,” and correct. He sits. The discomfort stops when he sits in the new position. The good news is your dog is going to get better at sitting on command at a distance; however, the bad news is he will not get better at staying. The e-collar correction is teaching him to creep and to go unless you to remind him to sit. You end up having to watch him, not your birds.

What happens when you use the leash to correct him for breaking? When he breaks, you correct him back to the spot from where he broke. The discomfort stops when he is seated back in the crate. He learns to hold his stay and is not dependant on you to command, “sit,” “sit,” “sit.” Your dog learns to stay until commanded to retrieve, not go until commanded to sit. You can watch your birds, not your dog.  

Later, when your dog is very steady, the e-collar is a wonderful tool for polishing and the occasional correction needed when transitioning him to off-leash work.

Step Two: Retrieving After Watching Birds Down from the Crate

1.      Using your 6-foot leash, place your dog on a sit-stay in the crate and step off to the side; after a 1-minute stay, return to him and heel him out. When you come to a stop, have him sit by your side and throw a bumper mark, pause a few seconds, and then send him to retrieve. Do this three times.

2.      On the fourth sit-stay, with your dog still in the crate and you standing to the side at the end of your 6-foot leash, hand-throw a bumper mark. After the mark is thrown, wait for 30 seconds and then heel him out, coming to a complete stop. Pause a few seconds, and then send him to retrieve the bumper. If he moves to retrieve or return to your side before you heel him out, correct him with the leash and choke chain back into the crate — do not allow him to retrieve after breaking.

3.      Midway through the next stay, throw again; chances are he’ll stay. Pause a few seconds, heel him out, and pause again before sending. Ten or 15 of these should find him waiting quietly for your command to heel.

4.      Now that he understands that he doesn’t retrieve from inside the crate, begin to increase the attractiveness of the marks: add a thrower, decoys and calls, blank shots, and finally birds. You want to show him everything he will see in the field. Don’t heel him out of the crate as soon as the marks are thrown; work deliberately and slowly, varying the length of the pauses. It is important that he never successfully exit the crate on his own and that you set the pace. When you are sure your dog will remain seated in the crate no matter how inviting you make the marks, work a little longer in the crate before moving to the Hide-A-Pooch. Have your dog do a few sit-stays in his blind before adding the retrieves. Start with the least inviting bumpers and quickly work through to the most tempting marks you can throw in training. Remember to heel your dog out of his blind and come to a complete stop before releasing him to retrieve.

Using these techniques, we have been able to steady dogs in a fraction of the time normally required using a fraction of the correction. There is little down side to this approach: soft dogs don’t mistake the corrections as effort to stop them from retrieving, and the hardest going dogs learn quickly to wait until sent. Indeed, most dogs show improved concentration on the falls.

One final note: while your dog can be steady in 15 minutes, he will not be ready to hunt — you’ll still need to work on steadiness. But by teaching steadiness in this way, you will spend more time practicing and praising for staying and less time correcting for breaking. Your dog will be a more enjoyable hunting companion and much less likely to flare birds or be in front of any firearms discharge.