Take a look at these two scenarios. You are working a young pointing dog out in the field on game and your dog slams into a beautiful point. As you approach the dog you begin telling him to whoa in an assertive voice repeatedly. The dog is standing as you attempt to flush but can't find the birds. You continue to whoa the dog while you flush and the dog's composure starts to melt. You raise your voice to make sure he doesn't move and his head and tail both drop. Now as you approach him to tap him for a relocation his belly almost goes to the ground. I have seen this happen more times than I want to remember over twenty years of judging field trials and rehabilitating dogs that people have messed up.

Now look what happens when good training is added to the above scene. The dog has slammed into a point again. As you approach you say ' whoa' once in a soft assertive voice. As you flush you look back at the dog and say 'good' as you flush to build the dog's confidence as you attempt to flush. You kick a bush and the dog doesn't bat an eye and you immediately say 'good'. Every time you raise the stakes during the flushing effort and the dog stays on point you say 'good'. Now as you walk back to your dog to let him relocate one more 'good' as he continues to stand. Now with a tap to release him he moves forward to re-establish point.

Many would say that the second dog did better because he was praised and let it go at that but there is much more happening than meets the eye. Some call it a gift, some call it an art, some call it good training yet actually it is the science of training better known as Operant conditioning. There have always been people with the intrinsic knowledge of knowing how to train but it can be learned by anyone.

In scene one the handler never lets his dog know that he is doing a good job. On the contrary he is actually teaching the dog to need to be 'whoaed' many times because of his uncertainties. He obviously doesn't know where the bird is or if his dog will remain standing. In scene two there is more training than meets the eye. The word 'good' is an established conditioned reinforcer. It is a positive conditioned reinforcer. A conditioned reinforcer can be established by pairing sound, movement, or stimulation with food, petting, or other real reinforcers. If you say good every time that you pet a dog soon you will see a dog that will work just as a hard to hear the word good as well as petting. It is important that a cue for a reinforcer to be concise. The word 'good' is much better than 'good dog Joe' because it does a better job of marking the exact time when a enforceable (something that you like or is desirable) behavior occurs. For example let's take a look at teaching a dog to walk at heel. A dog on lead drifts in and out of the heel position four times in five seconds-just try saying 'good' four times versus 'good dog Joe' four times in five seconds. The word 'good' will mark time very well in those five seconds while 'good dog Joe' will become babble as it all runs together.

The primary reinforcer in both scenes is the scent of the bird. The whoa command is a secondary reinforcer in the presence of a bird but would be the primary reinforcer when given with no bird present. The sad story for the first dog is that every thing that occurs while the dog remains steady are also secondary reinforcers. The bungled flushing attempt, the multiple commands, even the handler's frustration communicated thru body language are all secondary reinforcers that will help to create undesirable behavior if this event happens often. The second dog has been blessed with a skillful handler. As the handler approaches the dog on point he scans where the bird maybe while confidently reinforcing his dog with one whoa command as he steps ahead of his charge. Every time he expands his flushing effort he reinforces the dog's continuing good behavior with 'good'. The dog remains high and tight through the entire flushing effort because he continues to be reinforced for good behavior not only by the 'good' cue but also all of the handler's confidence and skill during the flushing attempt are positive secondary reinforcers. Most handlers in field trials fire a blank gun to the side or a shotgun over the shoulder when birds are flushed. Without knowing these handler's strike the same posture that also can become a cue to remain tight or to let down depending on how it is taught or learned naturally by the dog.

One of the most annoying training mistakes to me is the long time tradition of putting a dog back in place if it breaks point but whoa's on command after the break. Any dog that performs a given command properly should never be corrected for a action that happened prior to the command. Only praise (a properly conditioned reinforcer) should follow a properly executed command. Notice the difference here that a dog on a checkcord and not steady or that needs to be run down it is acceptable to put back in place.

Anyone who has every trained a dog has dabbled with reinforcement training (Operant Conditioning) without a real knowledge of the techniques involved. If you have a real understanding of this knowledge you will become a much better animal trainer. I highly recommend Karen Pryor's book "Don't Shoot The Dog". This is not a how to train the dog book. It is the best way to explore the amazing methods of reinforcement training because it enjoyable and easy reading on a subject that can be quite complex especially for someone's whose training methods are based on traditional methods. It will require thought to integrate reinforcement training with traditional training methods for bird dogs but I will assure you it is worth the effort.