And how do we keep the hunt in our goldens? Though selective breeding or genetics as some people call it. Basically what you put into your breeding is what you get out. What I look for in my goldens is what I call the three A's. (Ability, Aggressiveness and Attitude).

 Let me explain what I mean.

Ability  To have the ability I mean "physical ability". Just like the athlete that plays a sport, they must physically possess the bone structure or size and muscle mass to play that sport. The same applies to our dogs. Lets look at the size of a golden or bone structure. The GRCA set the standards for our goldens. Females are 21.5" to 22.5" and males are 23" to 24" to the shoulders. For the most part these standards are ok but it is all relative to the type of hunting that you do. In the description of our goldens the GRCA states that the dog must be able to do a days work in the field. What field and where? Your field might be a river in Alaska where you hunt ducks and someone else's might be a low cut farm in Georgia. It is all relative to what you hunt and where. Can the dog do the work? Size will play a part in the hunt as does muscle strength.

So, lets look at the muscle strength of a dog. Muscle strength is hard to define and can not be determined by size. A small dog can be very powerful  and strong. So, what do you look for in a dog? First, I look for speed and endurance. Then I look at the dogs leaping ability. How high can they jump. At a sitting position the dog should be able to jump 4 ft. Muscle strength and bone structure go hand in hand. A pronounced chest, stout hind legs, straight back and an average size head is a must. To many breeders today are breeding the large boned goldens with the blocky head look. I call this the "Air Bud Look", it's a made for TV look and not practical for a hunting dog.

Aggressiveness  Let me define. Some people call this drive. I do not mean aggression toward people, kids or other dogs. I mean the aggressive behavior in the way they are towards the game we hunt. If a dog does not want to have that duck or bird in its mouth as soon as it sees it, then that dog is not aggressive. You can teach just about any retriever to retrieve just about anything, but why? A good dog knows it wants the game and will do anything to get it. Even if that means going into a brier hedgerow.

Attitude  This is a must! Not all goldens have the attitude to make a good hunting dog. They can not be shy, skittish or aggressive to other dogs. They must be adaptable to all situations that come up. Such as honoring another dog when you are hunting with a buddy, sitting still for long periods of time in a blind and putting up with kids pulling its tail. It does happen.

Having the three A’s is what it takes to keep the hunt in our Goldens.

Communicating With Your Dog

There have been a lot of posts lately about how we teach our dogs what we want them to learn. What kind of tools we use and do we use force or use attrition? The tools and methods we use (when we train), communicate to our dogs, what we want, when we want it and how we want it done.

So, let us say that when we go out to “train” we are going out to “communicate”. If this statement is true then we should learn how dogs communicate to each other so we can transfer our information in a way that our dogs will best understand us.

I like to watch those nature programs on TV and I always look for the ones with anything to do with dogs in the wild.  You know the ones, the wolves in Alaska or the wild dogs in Africa.  It’s neat how they can take a wolf pup at 6 weeks of age and put them with a family and they will grow up as if they were a domestic dog. I also pay close attention to the way they communicate to one another. It seems that once the pack order is established they do not use any real “force” to get their point across to each another.  They use “body language”. They may show their teeth and growl.  The way they stand. The position of their tail. The position of their ears and the fur on their backside.  Staring down another dog, etc.

We have taken a few of these and use them to our advantage. Such as stopping an aggressive pup by turning him over on its back and grabbing him by the throat. There is no real force but it does show the pup who is the head of the pack.

I have also noticed when I watch some pros run their dogs that they use a lot of body language. They way they walk to the line, the way they look or not look at their dogs, their stance and posture, their tone, volume and definition of their voices.

So, I guess I have come to my question(s).

1.      What type of body language do you use to communicate(train) your dog.

2.      What  do you look for in your dog that  tells you that he understands what you wanted? (reading your dog)

 wish dogs could talk……or can they?

A Day Away

Every day is an adventure in the life of a Handler and his Dog. We work very hard training for those bands and ribbons. Just when you think you have it, you don’t.  Then, when you think she has no idea, she does.  Being human, I can only pretend to know and understand what my four legged friend thinks or feels.  But there are something’s I do know.  I know that she is a good dog.  She loves to retrieve.  She’s smart. (for a dog)  She loves ice cubes and beer (not together) and she loves to hunt as much as I do.

So, we go on!  Back to the basics.  If it was up to me, I would have giving up but she loves the game.  So, I have to remember that it is just that, a game.  The real test is how we do during the hunting season.  How many birds we bring back.  Right?  So,

for now “it is what it is”,  fun, exciting, disappointing, rewarding, frustrating and a day away from the real world.  We have a good time together and that’s what counts.  It is a great opportunity to enjoy life.

Mark Mulhollem

JerseyGold Retrievers