Blind Retrievers

The Dane County puppy raisers met for some training. Most people attend dog training thinking that the dog will be trained. However, these sessions are really to train the raisers, so that they can train their puppies. Dog training requires more effort than an hour a week.

Although it seemed as if the primary objective of this session was to make the puppy raisers look foolish as they attempted to retrieve waste while blindfolded. We were mildly successful at retrieval, but excelled at looking foolish as we groped for our simulated poop. We should note that poop generally doesn't roll away. More importantly, the exercise reinforced the importance of training the dog to relieve himself on any surface, in one location, while being touched to locate the deposit site.

After our blindfolded retrieval, we practiced blindfolded recalls by calling the puppy from across the room. It's very different when not able to make eye contact with your puppy or tell if she has started to move, or if she is off visiting other dogs. This reinforced the importance of having the puppy touch you when they come to you.

Again these are things that we need to practice with our puppies everyday.

Of course the people aren't the only ones required to look/feel foolish. The puppies were also introduced to the comfort muzzle, which may be required in some of the states we visit. It is important to get them used to it before needed, because their first reaction is usually to paw at the apparatus or hop around trying to dislodge the foreign object.