Wintertime can be difficult when training a dog for a number of reasons. First, it’s cold and it can be difficult to motivate yourself to get out and train. Second, it’s not always fun to stand around outside and freeze your ears off. Also, one’s patience is often shorter when it’s cold out. Lastly, it’s dark. It makes it difficult to get much field training done when you get off work at five and the sun has already set.
One idea for wintertime training is to work on the “search” command. Dogs that have been force fetched or are natural retrievers can strengthen their search effort by planting a dummy out in the dark and sending the dog to find it with a “search†command. For some of the hunt tests, dogs are required to search unassisted for up to 10 minutes. Now is a great time to get them started.
Start by tossing the dummy into the dark to the same spot over and over so the dog comes to expect the dummy in that spot. Then plant the dummy there unseen by the dog. Bring the dog out and give your “fetch†command and have them go out and get it. Do it again, except use the “search†command spoken with exactly the same intonation as you give the fetch command. Do this several times. Then start to toss the dummy a little ways away so the dog has to search for it. Doing this in the dark or into 3 or 4 inches of snow forces the dog to use their nose. Intersperse searching for dog bumpers with frozen and thawed birds. You can gradually make it more challenging, so the dog learns that on a search command their target is out their, they just need to stay out and use their nose until they find it. Then, the next time you down a bird into thick cover unseen by the dog, you can confidently give your dog the search command. I guarentee this training will pay off come next season.Â
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