For some reason the old post about what commands to use got deleted. My pup will be two months on friday and we are about to start a training routine.Just wondering if I could get those commands and mabye some tips from you guys.

Thanks,
Chris

what kind of dog do you have?

She is half lab, half gsp I have no idea if she will hunt, but she already points and she retrieves well. I have versitile gun dog books on the way but I hunt upland birds.

Here she is at about 6 weeks laying next to my 130# ridgeback

Hope this helps:
Buddy’s Obedience and Retriever Commands

1) Sit (Collar Conditioned)
2) Stay = same as sit
3) Wait = dog will wait by door, will not bolt out door, vehicle, or kennel until released on name (“Buddy” or “Let’s Go”).
4) Break! = Buddy’s release command = relax
5) Buddy/Here = recall command (Collar Conditioned)
6) Let’s Go = to get Buddy moving or to follow you
7) Heel = Buddy heels on right side, use right arm down next to left knee and command heel at same time when dog is near you (within 10 feet) otherwise use Here command. (Collar Conditioned)
8) Heel = Move dog backwards into heel position
9) Load Up = get into vehicle
10) Kennel = go into kennel
11) Off = to get off vehicle, people or furniture, bed, etc.
12) Fetch (Collar Conditioned)
13) Hold = hold bumper until told to Give
14) Give = dog will release bumper or bird
15) Mark = tells dog to expect a mark/bird
16) Leave It = tells dog not to pick it up
17) Dead Bird = search for a dead bird in cover
18) NO!
19) Inside = go inside house
20) Outside = go outside house
21) Kennel = go into kennel
22) Quiet!
23) Get Busy = Go potty
24) Beer/Get a Beer = Buddy will get a beer or bottled water out of a cooler (cooler lid must be open).

here ya go...

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/ubbthre...true#Post201962

What is the best way to get started on whoa? What I mean by this is how do I get her to understand that whoa mean still?

I did mine after Heel, once we had heel down fairly well I would stop, give the whoa command and give a pop with the pinch collar all at the same, and hit him with the collar everytime he moved his feet.

there are many ways to go about it, that is just the one I used, and that was kinda a mile high view

have you bought any books or videos? perfection Kennels has a series called Perfetct Start. very easy to follow and understand, pricey but worth every penny.

You can start as simply as doing it when going on walks around the neighborhood. Get a check cord (fancy name for a 30’ piece of rope). When you walk the pup, let it have some freedom to explore the length of the rope... give the command “WHOA” one time and make the dog stop with the check cord. Then say “OK” or any release command that you want, some guys want to touch the dog on the head to release it, but just use a release command and let the dog have rope again. Do this 30 times every time you walk. Within a short amount of time, the pup will start to learn what “WHOA” means. to stop and stand still.

After you see the dog start to “get it” … start enforcing it by giving the command, and if the dog doesn’t stop immediately, or tries to come back to you, drop the rope, walk to the dog (walk on the rope so it can’t move) and reset it back to the spot where you told it to whoa and say the command again. Don’t get upset, just reinforce the command.

After you get “whoa” and “ok” going a little with the pup, start to work in “HERE”. Tell the dog “whoa” and as it is standing still, give the “HERE” command and reel the dog in by tugging on the rope and rub the pup up real good for coming in to you so it knows coming in is a good thing.

Once you get going with Whoa, Ok, and Here… make sure to vary them so that you are reinforcing the commands and not the action of just coming to you right after every time they here the command whoa.

Walk the dog and say “here”, they should just turn and come in… then... Whoa… Ok…. Whoa, …here. Ok… here… ok… whoa
Sorta like that, giving the dog the opportunity to cast out the length of the rope and walk a little every time. Walk your dog everyday for 10-15 minutes and do this 20-30 times and in two weeks your dog will have those three commands down pat. Don’t get upset if he doesn’t get it right away… just keep doing it the same way over and over and over… and he’ll get it.

FC, you train whoa and then here?

not necessarily, but I always start my pups off with those three commands first and generally teach them together, just walking around the neighborhood because I'm walking the dog anyways... so he might as well be learning something. I work my dogs daily when they are pups... even if it's for 5 minutes. "whoa", "here", and "ok" are the foundation and go together in my book, so i teach them together. I don't teach "heel" until after these three commands are down.

when teaching whoa how far out are you letting them get on the CC? seems like at a certain point you would not be able to stop them very quick

he's asking about "introducing" a two month old pup to WHOA. It doesn't matter if they are at the end or not, I don't necessary give them that much slack anyway when in the 'hood. I just let the cord run out through my hand and start to ease a little pressure on it when they get close to the end. You can teach a dog to "creep" like this too... by letting the dog get 5-6' from the end everytime and telling the dog "EASY" and slow him down with just finger pressure on the rope sliding through your gloves or let him hit the end if he doesn't slow down (but that's something for WAY after WHOA training and the dog is fairly advanced on wild birds). I'm just referring to getting the puppy used to listening to commands and "introducing them" to whoa, here, and a release command with full control over the pup. Obviously, there are many other more agressive ways to reinforce whoa and as the dog gets older and can handle some of that pressure, you might have to apply it to get them staunch and steady to wing/shot, but as a pup, you can do a lot just around the house with a CC.

I'm not sure if I asnswered your question or not, but when i tell a young pup "whoa" when training, most of the time, I'm going to have to stop them with the cc anyway... easily at first, but as they progress, and I feel they are "getting it", I might let them hit the end of the rope after whoaing them to get their attention. Early on, I'll give the command, then usually walk to the dog, tell them whoa over again, in a good deep soft voice and stroke their stomach or neck to let them know they are doing what I want. ALWAYS releasing them with a command, mine is "OK", but this is a very important aspect, otherwise, your pup won't know when it IS ok to release and will never be totally steady.

Besides, when my dogs are on a check cord, they are usually always at the end of it anyway, pulling like a sled dog!!! I don't necessarily want the dog staying close to me.

We talked a little about all this stuff a while back, and discussed not working pups, on birds, commands, till they are 6 months, a year, blah blah blah. My point then, was that I spend a lot more time in the first 6-8 months of a pups life being committed to handling and obedience than I do putting a pup on live birds wanting him to point and chase birds when that's what they do naturally. When I turn a dog out on wild birds for the first few times, I want them to understand when I tell them WHOA, what it means... it has just always helped me bring my dogs along quicker like this. I usually have my pups hunting at 10 months to 1 year and WHOA better work!!

I read a book once called "Pointing Dogs Made Easy" by Steve Mulak and in it, he states that the 5 most important commands that you can teach a bird dog are:
1. Whoa
2. Whoa
3. Whoa
4. Whoa
5. Whoa

I always thought this was funny... (but true!)

thats cool, I was just curious how you taught whoa, i had already forgotten about the original post, sorry for the highjack Chris.

Whoa has been the best thing i ever taught my dog, he has a very high drive even when compared to other GSP's. just this morning I let him out of his crate, first thing he did was sprint to the living room, grab my wifes shoe and tried to play keep away. without whoa i would still be chasing that mutt!!

I "teach" whoa with a E-Collar... just like everybody else does!!!

but... i "introduce" whoa to a pup with a check cord!!!

there is something to be said about making the dog understand the seriousness of whoa with a little electricity!

thats funny, strap that collar on and you have a differant dog