Principles of Training
from the
Mike Lardy Total Retriever Series

1. Respect for animals is primary.

2. Diet, exercise, airing, and watering regimes affect response to training. Proper conditioning reduced injury and increases concentration Stress is reduced by proper care. Dogs are creatures of habit -- meet their needs and expectations.

3. Effectiveness of training is due to :

   1. OVERALL METHOD

   2. TIME OR EFFORT
   3. FACILITIES - land, water, help

Can we distinguish methods from the other two? Or put another way, does the dog do "x" because of what we do or in spite of what we do? Scientific reasoning with appropriate analysis of "data" gives us insights, but we can't control enough variables.

4. Work to achieve balance in training. Training that enhances one aspect of training diminishes another (almost always)

5. Emphasize communication. Through consistency in command, movement, etc. you can communicate what you want (e.g. which bird, what line). This is a team sport.

6. Establish and maintain standards. Keep your standards consistent so the dog knows what to expect. It is better to reduce the level of difficulty of the task than to reduce the standard on a difficult task.

7. Don't teach with the e-collar. Use the e-collar to enforce the command after the dog has been taught.

8. Dogs can tolerate or even thrive, on large amounts of pressure, IF they understand how to get out of the pressure.. A proper correction always involves the dog knowing how to end the pressure. They must know the way out.

9. Dog training is not an exacting science. It involves communication and interpretation. Therefore exact training methods may not be as important as you think.