Dave good post. My trainer stresses the "silent treatment". Meaning he only teaches a couple commands (whoa, here, a couple obediance commands) and expects that the rest will just become 2nd nature. He also eliminates all "good dogs", "good boy", "ata-boys"....only a couple small strokes of the back as praise. He says yelling "good boy" at your dog only confuses them. Might as well make it easy for them to understand whats correct and whats not. The most effective thing that I have found is to teach the dog what they are supposed to do before even saying anything. I.E. I am working on Whoa training my dog now...we are about two months in and I am just now introducing the actual "Whoa" command. He has the action down, so adding the command will be a small association. Speaking the command too early in my opinion only confuses the dog more. Another thing Dave, that I remember you posted about way back in the day is saying the command once...and only once. Doing that from the start helps BIG TIME. Good post!!

i agree with you (and the old saying): keep it simple, stupid.

I usually try to use just single words to do multiple tasks. Both Sit and fetch are great examples of this and I use both. I also use place which means place, sit and stay, and if Cooper has a dummy or a bird in his mouth it means place, sit stay and hold.

I usually try to use just single words to do multiple tasks. Both Sit and fetch are great examples of this and I use both. I also use place which means place, sit and stay, and if Cooper has a dummy or a bird in his mouth it means place, sit stay and hold.

Learning your dogs escapes from training can be as important as the commands.The head and body shake,high tail,tail in line with the body,tail tucked between the legs,and etc.the list goes even the good ones licking of the lips.All tips I got from a great trainer read the body language.This will help to know when he or she is loosing interest in the lesson or its sinking in.Hold was taught before fetch the command hold stops shaking of anything bird,dummy,etc. He retrieves on three commands,fetch,the whistle,and Magnum.The whistle works great when he is way out in the field with a cast for blinds(beats yelling anytime),his name is great in the blind with the guys and other dogs,and fetch is a great reminder of the conditioned retrieve when his body language tells he is loosing interest.This works for us.

I occasionally hunt my dog with other dogs and hunters, it amazes me how often they are talking and shouting to their dogs. I consider it a good day when I need to give very few commands to my dog. She naturally knows my hunting style and little direction is needed. My last Brittany could hunt all day with me giving her only hand signals. I often would spot a "sneaking" bird that would come toward me not knowing I was there because of my silence.