Hold the Line – Details, episodes & analysis

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I talk about how to stop mouthing or rolling of the dummy (it's the clicker retrieve again, this time the part of it called 'proofing the hold against food').

🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃

In this episode I answer a few listener questions and then waffle about why we need to keep shot unattached to a retrieve for as long as possible. Shot means 'sit'. Like the sit whistle means 'sit'.

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In this episode, I answer listener questions about in-a-row blinds, dealing with frustration in blinds and the use of aversives.

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In this episode, I chat with force-free gundog trainer, Jules Morgan.  Jules is a full APDT (UK) member and an accredited trainer and assessor for the Gundog Club. 

Jules' training organisation is called Dog Training Naturally and she's been a professional dog trainer for about 25 years.  She is entirely force-free and she is also a crossover trainer, so she really understands the journey that is made when people move from using aversives to being force-free. 

Along with Helen Phillips, Jules has set up the Gundog Trainers' Academy - to train trainers(!) how to work with gundogs in a force-free way. 

Jules herself owns and works both cockers and labradors and has experience working on many different types of shoots.  She has judged gundog working tests and organised KC Working Gundog Certificate days and she is a co-founder of the Leconfield Working Spaniel Club.

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In this episode, I cover Phase 1 of the clicker retrieve.  There are eight phases and I'll be covering these at various points in upcoming podcasts.

The clicker retrieve is the force-free equivalent to force-fetch.  If you have any problems following these steps or you have any questions, feel free to email me for help and I will cover the issue on a future podcast!

If you'd like more detail on the clicker retrieve, I offer a 5 week online clicker retrieve course.  You are emailed videos, information and a handout sheet each week of the course and you also have access to a Facebook group where you can post videos of your training and get feedback from me (and others!).  

Email me at jo@dogworks.org.uk for more information.

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After a question from a listener, I talk about the clicker retrieve and how to get things set up to begin a clicker retrieve session.  The plan is to continue, in future episodes, to talk listeners through how to train the clicker retrieve(!).  There are eight 'phases' to the clicker retrieve process I use.  This episode is the first in the series on the clicker retrieve.

I do offer an online clicker retrieve course, which you can take - wherever you are, in the world.  You will receive videos, handout sheets and emailed info each week for 5 weeks.  You will have access to a Facebook group where you can post videos and get my feedback.  The course is £35.  If you'd like to enrol, email me at jo@dogworks.org.uk or galody@mac.com

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In this episode, I interview Leanne Smith.  Leanne is a force-free gundog trainer and handler, based in Devon UK.  She is a full member of the APDT (UK), holds a diploma from COAPE, and is a Gundog Club trainer and instructor.  Leanne owns and works three cocker spaniels.  Leanne's training organisation is called Dogs R Dogs and, via Dogs R Dogs, she also organises the biannual Positive Gundog Training Conference.  

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I talk about the Really Bad Thing that just happened with the book I've written and the manner in which what's happened reflects the conflict between mainstream training and force-free training.

Then I talk about 'arousal levels' and frustration-based behaviours - and what we can do, to help gundogs with these.

For more information on the 'Superman pose' research, check out that link.  And, to find out more about Control Unleashed, take a look at Leslie McDevitt's website.

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I talk about harnesses:  Back-fastening harnesses and front-fastening harnesses.  Harnesses which have a Y-front, versus those which barricade the chest.  Fit.  And gape-age (I made that word up!) at the shoulder, as something to avoid.

I discuss the recent history of harnesses - and how the force-free dog training scene has been transformed by the appearance of the front-attachment point.

I talk especially about using a harness when it comes to gundog training and some of the conflict (internal and external) there - including when to use a harness and when to use a slip-lead.

And then I review the new super-duper DOGCopenhagen Comfort Walk Air harness, which is my current fav harness.

During the episode, I mention Emily Larlham's great article 'Is it harmful to attach a leash to your dog's neck?'.  

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In this episode, I talk with Dr Claire Brand.  Claire works springer spaniels and is a trustee of the Gundog Club.  The Gundog Club is a UK-based organisation which offers a graded testing scheme for gundogs.  It is a force-free organisation, with all Gundog Club instructors and assessors being committed to force-free gundog training.  You can find out more about the Gundog Club from the website:  www.thegundogclub.co.uk