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Week 9 Of Training

Duration: 2 Weeks

Welcome to the ninth week of training with your puppy! This is typically when you start to see more independence from your puppy and that is why an important part of this lesson will be collar conditioning! Remember you will be working on training goals in each of the below sections simultaneously. Though these training goals typically coincide with training a puppy, they can also be adapted to training with any dog, no matter their age!

Obedience Goals: Over the next couple of weeks you will be working on obedience training sessions that include collar conditioning for recall as well as starting to shape the heeling behavior via clicker training.

Developmental Goals: You will also be continuing to work on secondary goals with your puppy which include continuing to condition nail maintenance and other physical handling goals as well as continuing to work on retrieving and a water introduction for your puppy.

Complimentary Goals: If you have hunting goals for your puppy you will also be working on introducing gunfire over the next couple of weeks.

Be sure to check out our Supporting Documents at the bottom of the page for helpful links to a recommended training items shopping list, sample weekly training schedule, daily training journal and training checklist. As well as a way to schedule a video training consult.

Note: Yes, there are a few videos of GSPs and not retrievers or flushers… however, the same expectations and obedience behaviors can be applied to all breeds!

Collar Conditioning

Obedience Goals

Collar Conditioning Recall

Overview: Puppies typically start to get very independent around this stage. They are bold and confident thanks to the foundation of socialization you worked on and are ready to explore their world. It also means they aren’t interested in listening to you for a treat anymore. Now it is time to reinforce their recall via collar conditioning.

Frequency: We recommend spending a week working on collar conditioning for recall in a very controlled environment, then spending a week working on collar conditioning recall in more generalized environments.

Heeling

Shaping The Heel Behavior

Overview: It is important to start shaping the behavior of heel with positive reinforcement just like we taught our puppies to recall, sit and kennel. This will be the foundation of teaching them how to heel.

Frequency: This would be a good exercise to incorporate into your puppy’s meals.

Developmental Goals

Nail Maintenance & Physical Handling

Nail Maintenance/Physical Handling

Overview: Continuing to develop a puppy that is comfortable with being physically handled will help not only with nail trims but vet appointments and tailgate checks as well.

Frequency: Though your puppy will not need their nails trimmed multiple times a week, spending time a few days a week continuing to keep them comfortable being handled and put into a nail trimming position will help them become more tolerant of physical handling. You should work this into your weekly routine.

Retrieving

Continue Retrieving - Retrieving To A Platform

Overview: You should incorporate outdoor retrieving into your retrieving sessions. Until your puppy is fully collar conditioned for recall and kennel it is important to have control over the situation to help our puppy be successful coming back to us with their retrieves. Utilizing a platform in these sessions will help maintain that control.

Frequency: You should be able to build up to a few more retrieves per session with your puppy as you build drive and excitement for retrieving. Typically 5-10 retrieves a session and 3 sessions a week is a good starting point.

Water Introduction

Water Introduction (Weather Dependent)

Overview: You can start to incorporate retrieves into your puppy’s water introduction sessions. Utilizing retrieving with a puppy that has a lot of retrieving desire can help a puppy gain the confidence they need to enter the water on their own.

Key Takeaway: Keep in mind that the water and air temperature should be comfortable for your puppy to be working on a water introduction.

Gunfire Introduction

Complimentary Goals

Gunfire Introduction With Birds

Overview: Make sure you properly introduce gunfire to your puppy in order to prevent them from becoming gunshy. If you plan to use birds for your gunfire introduction make sure your puppy is bold and confident and excited to chase down birds before adding gunfire to the session.

Frequency: Typically you will only need to do 1-2 sessions a week with your puppy. Your puppy should not react or acknowledge the gunfire during the training session.

Key Takeaway: If at any time your puppy reacts or pays attention to the gunfire, hesitates to continue chasing the bird or in any way acts adverse to the gunfire DO NOT CONTINUE SHOOTING AROUND YOUR PUPPY!

Gunfire Introduction With Bumpers

Overview: If your puppy is very excited and driven for bumper retrieves you can utilize bumpers when introducing gunfire. Make sure you properly introduce gunfire to your puppy in order to prevent them from becoming gunshy.

Frequency: Typically you will only need to do 1-2 sessions a week with your puppy. Your puppy should not react or acknowledge the gunfire during the training session.

Supporting Documents

Here are some links that will be helpful for this week’s training goals:

Shopping List: Week 5-12 Of Training

Sample Training Routine: Week 9-10

Daily Activity Journal

Weekly Training Checklist

Schedule a Video Consult

We would love to set up a consult with you. Please sign up here to schedule a video consult. This is a great way to connect with us to ask questions about the training goals for this week or to schedule a video check in to show us where your pup is at in their training journey. We look forward to answering your questions and working with you and your pup!