Training in the Winter

[thedanimalkmk]

Now that the duck season has wrapped up and the ditch chicken season closes in a month how do you work your dogs in the winter. My pup is seven months old and I'm looking for ideas that people have used to continue with training during these sometimes snowy and cold months that lie ahead. Any tips would be appreciated.

Dan

[Ralph Wiggum]

Obedience or specifically hunting training?

[thedanimalkmk]

Ralph-

I will be working on both. Thanks

Dan

[Ralph Wiggum]

For obedience training, it's great to find a school nearby. It's warmer than outside, and you'll get help from qualified trainers. It is a lot harder to motivate yourself to work with your pup in the winter (because of the weather), but having a weekly class to attend helps motivate me to make sure we keep working on things.

Also, there is a lot of things you can work on in the house. Sit stays and down stays in the house are easy. Make the dog sit stay and watch you do dishes. Once he'she gets good at that, throw a treat on the ground and try to get him/her to sit stay and ignore the treat. You can work on hand signals from your couch (sit, down, stand, come). Heeling inside is good, too. Get the dog to work with you on tight turns, figure 8s, etc.

Our dog gets two walks a day, no matter the weather. If it's real cold or snowy, we shorten the walks up, but make him work harder so he still gets a good mental workout (instead of letting him sniff at his leisure, I'll make him heel the entire walk and work on turns, about-turns, circles, etc).

[thedanimalkmk]

Thanks Ralph. Mine will get walked everyday to, as I can definately tell the days that I miss because he has way more energy. I appreciate the good suggestions. It would probably benefit both me and him to enroll in a basic obedience class. I have found it is always good to see other ways of doing things related to training dogs.

Dan

[rmkod]

Dan, what kind of dog do you have?

[Ralph Wiggum]

It would probably benefit both me and him to enroll in a basic obedience class. I have found it is always good to see other ways of doing things related to training dogs.

I know I've learned more than my dog has in obedience classes Another thing I like about them is that they give you the opportunity to work with the dog with a lot of distractions (ie other dogs and strangers in the immediate area). If they can do it there, they can do it anywhere!

[Todd Caswell]

I highly recomend joining a retriever club, most continue to have training sessions during the winter, you'll be around people that can help, and you'll meet some great people as well.

You have Benton County retriever grounds close to you and Central MN retriever club in St. cloud..

CMRC will be holding a informal club trial on the third Sat. of every monthe DEc. through April

Also I don't know if or what training program your following but the winter is a great time to get alot of "Yard work" done. You aren't pressured to try and get to a certain point in your training befor the season starts, you can be very thorough in your teachings.

[thedanimalkmk]

I have actually thought about looking into the Benton County Club, just haven't had the time yet. I have had a pointer in the past and this is my first lab which I forgot to mention in the intial post.

Dan