Force to Water session w/ 15 Mo. old Standard Poodle preparing for HRC Seasoned Retriever Hunt Test

‪@WhitewaterGundogs‬ had good clients/friends Dave and Davie Berg over to take advantage of the beautiful spring weather to introduce Ember to Force to the water. Ember was with us for a couple months this winter for Collar Conditioning and Forcing but the water was too cold that time of year here so nothing was done in the water. Early this month Dave had shared that Ember was reluctant to go into the water in their training sessions at home unless the other dogs where there to appeal to her competitive nature. As Ember is training for running in HRC Retriever Hunt Tests this summer, water work is essential to meeting the standards for those tests, so he asked if Rob could help him with a little force to the water session. Whether its a Spaniel, Lab or in this case a Poodle their natural tendency is to run the bank and find the shortest route to the bird.
That's fine if you're wild bird hunting with your dog but retriever games require a straightest line to the mark as possible. the owner of this Poodle is running her in HRC and bank running will result in a lower score or possible failing the test.
With a properly forced dog you can teach the dogs not to run the bank. As you can see by watching this video we made a huge difference on how Ember enters the water with only one session. She'll need several more to ensure that she understands what we are asking of her.
Ember is a talented retriever and loves the game, which she shows as she progresses through this session confidently. Dave is an excellent student and eager to learn as little miss Ember is the first dog that is being trained and Run by Dave and he is doing an excellent job.