Training Videos Produced by Prairie-Flusstal
I want to help other people train their Deutsch Drahthaars for testing in the JGHV system. As a judge, I love seeing dogs that are well-prepared for tests because that reassures me that those dogs are going to be capable and talented hunting dogs. I have started to develop a few different video series to assist people in training their dogs. I have also included some videos on this page to illustrate a few other training tips (how to start a dog on a blood track, retrieving drills, how to lay a drag, etc.).
Every Single Session: Force Fetch Tutorial Videos for JGHV Dog Owners
Many of our puppies are sold out of state so it is difficult for us to help most of our puppy buyers train their pups in person. Force-Fetch is usually the type of training that we get the most questions about. A couple years ago, I put together a YouTube Playlist after I recorded every training session with a Deutsch Langhaar that we had in for training. The videos gave folks a good idea of the steps they could follow to properly force-fetch their dog. In February 2022, I decided to make a more formal tutorial as I force-broke my young Deutsch Drahthaar, Liesel. Once again, I have recorded every single force-fetch session with my dog. This time, I have also typed up Training Objectives and Training Summaries for each session. This video series is entitled “Every Single Session: Force Fetch Tutorial Videos for JGHV Dog Owners”. Below, you can find the first training session video and a button to download the entire tutorial syllabus. The entire playlist can be found HERE.
Age-Appropriate Training Advice for Raising a Deutsch Drahthaar Puppy
While raising our next Deutsch Drahthaar, Enzo vom Brewhaus, I thought it might be useful to share the types of training that I do with young Deutsch Drahthaars at various age ranges. This video series, entitled “Age-Appropriate Training Advice for Raising a Deutsch Drahthaar Puppy” is available on my YouTube channel HERE. The first video in this series is posted below. This video series uses Enzo to demonstrate advice for training a DD puppy at three, four, and five/six months of age. My outline for this video series is also available below.
Introduction to the E-Collar
Electronic Collars (e-collars) are a valuable dog training tool when used appropriately. E-collars should NOT be used to teach any new commands to a dog. They should only be used to reinforce commands that your dog already knows. This means that you need to be sure that your dog definitely knows each command BEFORE you ever issue a correction for that command with an e-collar.
I put e-collars on my dogs every time I take them for a walk, go training, or go hunting. Because I am putting the e-collars on every time we are going outside to do something fun, the dogs have a wonderful positive association with e-collars. They can hardly contain their excitement when they see me pull out the e-collars because they are so excited about whatever fun thing we might be about to do. If you use e-collars appropriately, you will see this same behavior in your dogs. If your dog is not excited every time you pull out the e-collar, you have used it incorrectly and need to re-think your training program.
How to Introduce a Dog to Blind Retrieves at the Water
Once your dog is comfortable swimming and making marked retrieves, it is time to introduce your dog to blind retrieves at the water. In the video below, we show you a simple 4-retrieve drill to transition your dog from marked retrieves to blind retrieves at the water.
Have your training partner set up on the opposite shoreline with the supplies (duck call, rocks, dummies) to pull your pup across. We want your pup to think that if they just swim across the water, they will find something really fun. Your pup needs to learn that there is something fun to retrieve on the opposite shore of every water body you bring him to.
You can keep things fun and interesting by using different dummies, switching to thawed game, and eventually releasing live ducks for your pup to pursue on blind retrieves. Continue increasing the level of difficulty throughout the summer by introducing your pup to new water bodies with different cover types and varying the distances sent.
In summary, here are a few guidelines to keep in mind when training for Blind Water Retrieves:
- Always place game (or throw a dummy) on/from opposite shoreline
- NEVER throw anything from your shoreline
- Start with a good visual (training partner waving or a dummy landing in the water)
- Transition to noise (duck call) only
- Slowly wean the dog off of all visual/auditory cues
- Always ensure dog is rewarded with retrieve
Retrieving Drills
Baseball Diamond Drill - This is a retrieving drill that I really like to use to improve handling in my dogs and I always incorporate it into my force fetch program. Before introducing this drill, you will want to be sure that your dog has completed force fetch and that responds to a "halt" or "stop" command. You will need the halt/stop command to issue corrections if your dog goes in the wrong direction. To set up the drill, think about a baseball diamond. Place your dog on the pitcher's mound and place dummies at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base around your dog. You will be standing at what is basically home plate. Start with the dummies fairly close to the dog and clearly visible. After more repetition, you can increase the level of difficulty in this drill by placing the dummies further and further from the dog, placing yourself further and further away from the dog (remember, you are going to eventually want to handle your dog from across a pond), and by making the retrieves blind (hide the dummies before you bring out your dog). If you complete this drill on a regular basis with your dog, he/she will become very reliable at handling for retrieves.
Ladder Drill - This is a simply retrieving drill that I always use in my force fetch training and occasionally revisit from time to time later. This drill is especially helpful as you are preparing your dog for the VGP Stoebern (Independent Forest Search) and/or the BTR (Retrieving Reliability Test). In the video below, you can see that I laid out 3 dummies in our driveway for my 7-month old Deutsch Langhaar to retrieve. She does well on the first two retrieves, but is then hesitant to complete the third and final retrieve. This is pretty common in dogs to be unsure about completing the furthest retrieve. To correct the dog, I simply stop her with a whistle and then resend her from a slightly closer location for the last retrieve. It is important for your dog to learn that they MUST complete every retrieve they are sent for. You can help the dog succeed (by moving closer in this case) as long as they still ultimately complete the retrieve as commanded.
Fox Over Obstacle ("Fox in the Box") - I like to get an early start on preparing my dogs for retrieving over an obstacle. At the VGP, there is a test subject called the "Fox Over Obstacle" but most people in the US refer to this subject as the "Fox in the Box". While I like introducing this retrieving drill early, I do not like asking young dogs to retrieve heavy foxes and raccoons (which must be over 7.7lbs for testing purposes) and jumping up and over a nearly 3-foot obstacle. That just cannot be good for developing joints. So I start this training with a nice light 2lb cottontail rabbit. As the dog ages, I eventually transition from the rabbit to a fox or raccoon.
How to Lay a Drag
Drags are an incredibly useful training technique that you will use with your puppy/dog at all ages. Drags are a great way to introduce puppies to tracking and using their nose. And as they get older, they will have to follow a drag for up to 300m in the field and woods to find and retrieve a piece of game. With young puppies, I usually start by laying a drag with an easy piece of game to retrieve: a chukar, pigeon, or squirrel. I usually only have the game half-thawed out so that the puppy isn't tempted to mouth/chew on it very much. Pull a few feathers/tufts of fur to mark your starting point. Place a rope around the game and slowly start dragging DOWNWIND for a short distance in short easy cover (like your mowed lawn). You want to drag downwind to ensure that your pup has to put his nose down and track rather than pick his head up to air scent and free-search until he finds the game. Once you reach the end of your drag, remove the rope but leave your game laying there. Do NOT backtrack or cross the scent line in any way. Go get your pup and put a couple of treats in your pocket. Bring your pup to the starting point of the drag. Show him the feathers/fur and then release him for the track. Your pup should take the track and work his way to the game. Hopefully he picks the game up and brings it back to you. Call him as soon as he picks up the game and praise him heavily for coming in your direction. When he gets to you, be sure to give him a treat for bringing you the game. If your pup cannot be convinced to retrieve the game for a treat, you will need to leave a checkcord on him for his next drag to reinforce the idea of bringing game back to you.
How to Start a Dog on a Blood Track
When you are starting a dog on a blood track, it is extremely important to have a set routine or ritual. This ritual is a strong physical cue to the dog that we are going to be completing a blood track and NOTHING else while in the woods. You don't want your dog excited about rabbit hunting or finding any other game. The starting ritual is also important because it helps your dog calm down and focus on the track. In the video below, you can see that blow the 16-month old Deutsch Langhaar down before swapping out his regular collar for a blood tracking collar and lead, then I slowly unwind the blood tracking lead before taking a few steps a head of the dog to find the first few drops of blood identifying the line I will want to start us on. Finally, I make sure that the blood tracking lead is under my dog's closest leg before finally showing him first blood and releasing him for the track. You will want to establish a similar routine with your dog to help get him calm and focused before any blood track.
Steady to Wing, Shot, and Fall
I am always surprised at how many people have never seen a finished dog in the field. And I'm even more surprised when I hear people say that they don't want to train their dog to be steady to wing, shot, and fall for whatever reason. If you run your pup in a VGP, he will have to be steady to wing and shot. If you run your pups in a NAVHDA Utility and NAVHDA Invitational, he will have to be steady to wing, shot, and fall. When I am actually hunting wild pheasants, I do let my dogs break at the shot because I want them to be quick in getting to a potentially wounded/running rooster. But I assure you, dogs are very smart and they can figure out really quickly the difference between a training/testing situation and a hunting situation. All of my dogs have always been able to switch pretty seamlessly from being completely steady to wing/shot/fall in training/testing situations but then breaking at the shot in hunting situations. The first video below shows me working with an 8-month old Deutsch Drahthaar...on just his 4th session with live captive-bred birds ever. This video (along with the article attached below) describes how we train with young dogs to get them steady to wing, shot, and fall.
The second video below shows me working with a 16-month old Deutsch Langhaar 1 week before his VGP. He is demonstrating being steady to wing, shot, and fall. He remains standing nicely even when it takes me several seconds to convince the chukar to fly. And he waits until he is released for the retrieve with a tap on the back of the head. Training a dog to be steady to wing, shot, and fall is the end goal for me for all of our dogs in the field. I hope that you will make it your end goal as well.
How to Train for Totverweisen (Dead Game Guiding)
Totverweisen (Dead Game Guiding) is an optional subject of the VGP that is meant to prepare your dog for a hunting situation in which you are tracking a wounded deer that gets jumped out of its wound bed. During the on-lead blood tracking portion of a VGP, you and your dog will track blood aged for 2-5 hours (if you selected a day track) or 14+ hours (if you selected an overnight track) for 400m. After completing this section, you will be asked to wait while the judges lay a fresh 200m blood track to stimulate a mortally wounded deer being jumped from its wound bed. After the fresh track is laid, you will be allowed to send your dog to complete their off-lead track and Dead Game Guiding work.
I have trained 5 different dogs to complete Totverweisen. On Dog #4, I finally took some time to write out each of the steps I work through while training my dogs. And then I filmed one of my dogs who has successfully completed Totverweisen at both of her VGPs (Liesel) to demonstrate each of the steps. Below, you can find the first video for the "How to Train for Totverweisen" video series, as well as a button to download my written instructions to complete the training. The entire playlist can be found HERE.
How to Train for Totverbellen (Dead Game Baying) - Incomplete
Totverbellen (Dead Game Baying) is an optional subject of the VGP that is meant to prepare your dog for a hunting situation in which you are tracking a wounded deer that gets jumped out of its wound bed. During the on-lead blood tracking portion of a VGP, you and your dog will track blood aged for 2-5 hours (if you selected a day track) or 14+ hours (if you selected an overnight track) for 400m. After completing this section, you will be asked to wait while the judges lay a fresh 200m blood track to stimulate a mortally wounded deer being jumped from its wound bed. After the fresh track is laid, you will be allowed to send your dog to complete their off-lead track and Dead Game Baying work.
When I got Enzo, I wanted to try something different. I have trained multiple dogs for Totverwiesen (Dead Game Guiding), but never Totverbellen. I decided to record my journey as I attempt to train Enzo for Totverbellen. I wrote out my training plan and have been filming each step as we make progress towards our end goal. There is not a video for Step 1 because that is just establishing a normal feeding routine for your pup. The "How to Train for Totverbellen" Video Series begins on Step 2. Below, you can find the first video for Step 2, as well as a button to download my written instructions to complete the training. The playlist can be found HERE. Unfortunately, I was not able to complete this series as further training with Enzo showed that he was not a good candidate for this type of training. But I think these steps could still be a good start for someone interested in completing this type of training with their dog.