A brief overview of the video I created with Tawzer Dog in 2013 entitled Harnessing the Hunter – Building your relationship & reliability with a hunting dog. I include video examples of my protocol for working on predation issues in dogs using before and after footage. There are many methods to train dogs, in this video I use Progressive Reinforcement Training, this is a way of training that doesn’t involve the use of intentional physical or psychological intimidation. One reason I really like this method is that the hunting behaviors are instinctual so instead of punishing them, you can get the dog to want to do the alternative behaviors you want and choose interacting with you and listening to you over chasing prey.
Product Description
Harnessing the Hunter: Building your relationship & reliability with a hunting dog
Here is the link to the video on demand: https://dogmantics.com/product/harnessing-the-hunter-vod/
This streamed video covers the most important foundation behaviors and exercises to train your hunting dog in order to build your relationship and gain reliability around prey. The tutorials will cover exercises to lower arousal and stress, build attention, proof important behaviors, and teach impulse control. These techniques are not only useful for those who have hunting breeds and never want them to hunt, but also for people who do want to hunt with their dog, but would like their dog to have an off switch from hunting. However, this video will not cover how to teach a dog to hunt, only how to get reliability of behaviors around prey. Emily came up with the idea to make this video while training her spouse’s two rescued hunting dogs. Trisch, her Podenco was one of the most stressed and excitable dogs she had ever seen around prey. She would literally make herself sick after seeing an animal on leash, or pursuing an animal off leash. After lunging, barking, and screaming madly or simply seeing an animal, her eyes would get bloodshot, her ears would go bright red, and she would have allergies for the next 3 days, scratching herself until she bled and being in a high state of arousal. Emily knew she had to put a stop to this, not only for her own piece of mind, but for Trisch’s well-being and happiness too.
Running Time: 2 hrs 7 mins
Produced by Tawzer Dog LLC
Filmed 2013
Copyright 2013 Tawzer Dog LLC
Topics covered in order:
Intro
Basics of Training/Building your relationship and trust
Interrupting behavior with an attention noise
Attention games
Calm foundations
Setting yourself up for success- management and prevention
Important exercises for hunting dogs:
1 Attention – Positive Interrupter
2 Recall
3 Leave it
4 Get it drop it
Counter conditioning
Reinforcement
Walking Skills:
1 Giving Into Pressure
2 Lets go
3 Teaching the dog to stop when you stop
4 Impulse control on leash
Using a long line to train
Building attention and lowering arousal around prey
Games for hunters:
1 Rapid fire
2 Leave it
3 Strike a pose
4 Naming
5 Premack
Regression and Touch up training
Hello everyone this video is a brief Introduction to my protocol for working With dogs with issues with predation Back in 2013 i made a video on this Protocol through tozzer dog video Entitled harnessing the hunter building Your relationship and reliability with Your hunting dog and you can find a link To where you can buy that video on Demand on my website on that same year i Made a protocol for reactive dogs as Well If you’ve come across my videos through Youtube you might think that i’m just a Dog trainer who makes videos in their Own house but i actually have an Extensive professional career in dog Training over the last decade i’ve Traveled to six continents giving Seminars and being invited to multiple Conferences i’ve actually presented this Material at the art and science of Animal training in texas and i’ve also Presented how i break up steps when Using this protocol for behavior and Emotional modification at the clicker Expo europe there are many different Ways of training dogs but in the way That i train using errorless learning And positive reinforcement differential Reinforcement of an incompatible Behavior i don’t want to see the dog Rehearsing the undesirable behavior Because the focus is on creating those
Neural pathways and stronger pathways to The behavior you do want so you’re Building this new pathway in the woods There’s two pathways and you’re building A new one you don’t want the dog You know making the other pathway Stronger by rehearsing the behavior just So you can see what it looks like so in This footage that i’m going to show you I am actually showing the dogs behaving Uh Undesirably my terrier and also my Ex-wife’s dog trish who was a hunting Podenko who had a history of hunting and Being overexcited by prey uh before she Rescued the dog and my terrier who Didn’t have a history of hunting and Then we moved to sweden and he saw these New animals and his brain um switched on I wouldn’t set a dog up to rehearse Undesirable behavior that you’re trying To get rid of on purpose just to see it But in these circumstances i happened to Catch it on film when say for example we Were in a big field and there was no Escape from seeing whatever it was Part of the protocol for working on These issues with your dog is using Management and prevention so we had to Prevent these situations from happening During the training process for tug this Little terrier here he got very excited The first time he moved to sweden and His training actually only took a month
Before we didn’t have to use any more Management and prevention And trish the podenko who had a history Of hunting before adoption she took six Months before we could have her dragging A long line After some training Good boy Yes Look trish rabbits look Good girl all right Baby Josh Hi josh i know it’s pretty exciting they All ran didn’t they Yes Leave it Yes Leave it Awesome Come on let’s go Once again go play Tug Here good boy Okay tug Tug free Tug-free come on go What’s play go play free go All right tiggerling let’s go Good job trish Yeah Good boy Very good So
Here’s some footage of my terrier just Sniffing around in the morning on my Property and there’s a rabbit that runs Out in front of him and he just looks Curiously at it And there’s one on the hose pipe that Runs away but he doesn’t even notice it Because there’s always a lot of rabbits In my backyard I had to work with my dogs around Chickens and i also worked with them Around rabbits pet rabbits There were always rabbits and squirrels On my property but they never dared go Into my backyard that’s fenced where my Dogs like to hang out And so the first time that the squirrels Came in which is uh in this footage the Dogs were mildly interested because There was someone new in their property But as you can see no one really did Anything The rabbits and the squirrels soon Figured out that my dogs don’t chase Them so they would come and live in my Backyard Obviously for safety reasons and because Of the food source so i actually had to Start chasing them away myself because It started to get ridiculous how many Squirrels and rabbits were sharing the Yard with us There’s a stupid squirrel under here Sadly trish passed in 2020 but she had a
Wonderful life with martina in sweden Running free in the forests and getting To do fun activities like sledding and Canine freestyle which would have been Impossible because martina needed to Practice in her yard which didn’t have a Fence and that wildlife would move Through so before any of the training That she did with the freestyle she Really built trish’s interest in wanting To be with her and work with her and Choose her over hunting So i made the video when i was living in Sweden and it was just a really really Wonderful experience working With my ex-wife’s dogs trish and also Lacey she rescued a lurcher so i had These two hunting dogs that i lived with And they trained me so well i learned so Much Now i’m having an issue a predation Issue with my little terrier and it’s so Interesting to see the difference Because with my little terrier he’s on And then he’s off so he hunts He’s killed and then right after it’s Like he’s not excited anymore but with These um With the podenko Uh trish sadly what was happening was a Downward spiral um even if she got even If she was off leash and chased Something it actually was worse because Of the stress the good stress of chasing
The animal made her so excited she Became physically sick If she chased an animal in the forest And then we were inside the house um she She would just go red and her skin just Broke out in sores from allergies um and Uh it it re reinstated her separation Anxiety so that she would hunt come home And then immediately if we were going to Try and leave she was extremely anxious Like she’d had no training for her Separation anxiety training and then the More it was like a downward spiral Because then the separation anxiety Would then trigger her to want to hunt More and get stressed by it so she just Got worse and worse and that’s when i Started making this Video on demand harnessing the hunter Trying to help her because she got so Sick that she actually um started being Allergic to all different foods so we Actually had her on a kibble Made of feathers mainly feathers or Vegan stuff We tried two different kibbles and That’s how we trained her To stop hunting using vegan kibbles so It is possible and the key that makes it Possible is making the steps small Enough so the dog is succeeding every Step of the way and the conditioning is Pure and you’re you’re making sure that You’re not jumping ahead and watering
Down your conditioning to where Your dog is practicing the behavior or Feeling stressed so What after working on on Reducing her excitement around prey and Building her uh Her motivation to want to listen it Really Drastically decreased her um Her her her allergies she was able to Eat different types of food and she was Also a she was able to have a wonderful Life being off leash and or on a long Line and um it also helped with their Separation anxiety so uh i really really Think that this is a a great method for Working with dogs with hunting issues Because you’re not punishing them for Doing the what they were instinctually Bred for Instead you’re teaching them how to deal With those emotions and be okay when They can’t get to the thing that they Want to get in harnessing the hunter i Go over important exercises and Behaviors to train your hunting dog to Build your dog’s reliability for Listening to you as well as build your Relationship with your dog one of the Exercises that i go over is teaching Your dog an attention noise which i’ve Coined the term positive interrupter for Because you can use it to interrupt your Dog’s undesirable behavior so i go over
How to work on that um on that behavior But i do have a lot of videos on youtube That you can find if you search for Attention noise attention game and Positive interrupter i also go over the Protocol for raising criteria when Working with a dog around a trigger such As prey and i’ll show you a little clip Of that now Reinforce for looking Good girl Reinforce for looking back at you after Looking at the prey Reinforce for not looking at all Hi Yes Hi Good girl The video also covers games to play with Your hunting dog and a default leave it From prey and i’ll show you an example Of that right now Naming the animals game Look dears Yes Cheers yes Leave it from prey Leave it Yes Look Look A rabbit You see it Leave it
Trish Yes Good girl Just leave it Yes Good girl Leave it Yeah Good girl Here’s an example of a default leave it From prey this means that the situation Of the rabbit being in the road up ahead Of us and running off of the road cues Trish to look at it and then to leave it And go the other way So here you can see she’s seeing the Rabbit and then turning and walking the Other way without any verbal cue or Visual cue from me Thank you so much for watching don’t Forget to check out the description for The links to the videos and the protocol See you later You