Hold the Line
106 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 28 ratingsTHE podcast for force-free gundog training! Hold the Line is committed to helping you to train your dog to an advanced level, using motivational methods and without the use of fear. Or pain. Or anything else nasty.
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Episodes
Episode 55 - crate training a puppy, taking 'walks' versus training and how to train the turn whistle (cont)
July 14, 2021 12:00 - 29 minutes - 20 MBIn this episode, I answer some listener questions about crate training, walks versus training and how to train the turn whistle. (We covered the turn whistle a few episodes ago, but here's some more info :) )
Episode 54 - positive interruptors, do they inadvertently reinforce unwanted behaviour? And some thoughts about food motivation
May 22, 2021 23:00 - 35 minutes - 24.5 MBIn this episode, I answer a listener's question about positive interruptors - and whether using them can actually reinforce the unwanted behaviour preceding them. When is a chain being formed? And I share some thoughts about food motivation, after battling low food motivation with our GSP for a year.
Episode 54 - positive interrupters, do they inadvertently reinforce unwanted behaviour? And some thoughts about food motivation
May 22, 2021 23:00 - 36 minutes - 24.8 MBIn this episode, I answer a listener's question about positive interrupters - and whether using them can actually reinforce the unwanted behaviour preceding them. When is a chain being formed? And I share some thoughts about food motivation, after battling low food motivation with our GSP for a year.
Episode 53 - questions about shot, marked retrieves, and dealing with male dogs that want to pee on everything
May 15, 2021 16:00 - 32 minutes - 22.7 MBIn this episode, I address some listener questions about marked retrieves, shot, the sequence of events during a mark (how to communicate to the dog that you don't want a retrieve) and also dealing with male dogs who want to pee on everyone else's pee...
Episode 52 - introducing your dog to shot and gundog training for vegetarians
April 18, 2021 11:00 - 22 minutes - 15.3 MBHow to introduce your dog to shot, so that the shot comes to cue 'sit' (and not 'run in and Get The Thing!'). And - what exactly can you get involved with, if you're a vegetarian and you own a gundog?
Episode 51 - Why not to introduce your little puppy to live birds and why instead you should develop alternative reinforcers
April 08, 2021 21:00 - 35 minutes - 24.6 MBIn this episode, I pull out some threads from earlier interviews with Jane Ardern (Episode 39) and Leanne Smith (Episode 9) to flesh out some thinking about developing control in the presence of game...
Episode 50 - listener questions and equipment recommendations
March 29, 2021 10:00 - 31 minutes - 21.8 MBIn this episode, I answer the questions of a few newbies and also give some equipment recommendations for folks who are getting ready to start training.
Episode 49 - introducing Steady! (my new course)
March 12, 2021 12:00 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBI talk here about my new 5 week course, Steady! - control at the point, flush and fall - available from forcefreegundog.com I also answer a listener's question about 'happiness' in dogs trained using force-free methods and issues around walking young dogs on leash for extended periods of time.
Episode 48 - swapping and 3HC (3 handed casting)
February 25, 2021 15:00 - 45 minutes - 31.2 MBI answer a listener's question about swapping and then I waffle, hopefully in a way which makes sense, about 3-handed casting...
Episode 47 - Interview with Penney Baker (about using the Pet Tutor for retrieving drills)
February 04, 2021 12:00 - 55 minutes - 38 MBThe Pet Tutor is a remote treat dispenser. In this episode, I chat with Penney Baker - who participates in field work and hunt tests with her Labradors. Penney recently ran into a problem with blinds, with one of her young Labs, and she used the Pet Tutor to help solve it. If you'd like to learn more about the Pet Tutor or see some of the videos Penney has made, using it, do join the Pet Tutor Users Facebook group.
Episode 46 - the Workbook is here!
January 21, 2021 18:00 - 30 minutes - 21 MBIn this episode, I introduce you to the Workbook which accompanies Force-Free Gundog Training: The Fundamentals for Success. And I answer some meaty listener questions!
Episode 45 - interview with Josephine Lock
January 01, 2021 18:00 - 50 minutes - 34.7 MBIn this episode I chat with Jo Lock from the organisation Nose No Limit. Nose No Limit offers trained conservation dogs for a variety of projects. Jo's background is in Search and Rescue, before she moved into conservation work. Originally from the UK, she moved across to the US in 2011. She has two Labradors - and is currently on the search for a new puppy!
Episode 44 - the turn whistle and using tugs and flirt poles for steadiness and pointing
November 26, 2020 16:00 - 44 minutes - 30.8 MBIn this episode, I talk about the turn whistle and using flirt poles and tugs to train steadiness and a flush on cue.
Episode 43 - introducing forcefreegundog.com
October 24, 2020 18:00 - 29 minutes - 20 MBYes, finally I got my ass in gear and created an online site where you can purchase courses showing you how to train your dog using force-free methods. Hurrah! It's called forcefreegundog.com Even better, there's a 10% discount code for podcast listeners for any course purchased on the site this month. The code is HOLDTHELINE10 In this episode, I answer a listener question about how to avoid punishing the recall by stopping the dog during it when we use it as a 'come in' whistle on a ret...
Episode 42 - Interview with Craig Koshyk
October 08, 2020 15:00 - 1 hour - 54.8 MBIn this episode, I chat with photographer, researcher and author Craig Koshyk about the history and culture of working gundog breeds. Check out Craig's podcast, Hunting Dog Confidential, the magazine he's behind - Project Upland - and his book 'Pointing Dogs: Volume 1 - The Continentals'.
Episode 41 - lining across water (and not bank-running)
October 02, 2020 10:00 - 34 minutes - 23.5 MBIn this episode, I answer a listener's question about maintaining straight lines across water and give some training suggestions for approaching this.
Episode 40 - fitness during the season and some thoughts about 'triangulation'
September 12, 2020 22:00 - 20 minutes - 14.1 MBIf you want to catch up with the interview with me in the great podcast Sporting Dog Talk, you can find it in episode 87 - here. In this episode, I talk about canine fitness during the shooting season (not that I am an expert on fitness, I hasten to add!) and give some preliminary thoughts about a concept I call 'triangulation'.
Episode 39 - Interview with Jane Ardern
August 28, 2020 22:00 - 1 hour - 52.6 MBIn this episode, I talk with Jane Ardern of Waggawuffins Canine College in Bury (Manchester, UK). Jane is Full Member of the APDT(UK) and a member of the COAPE Association of Pet Behaviourists and Trainers. She is an Accredited Animal Behaviourist with ICAN and a Gundog Club Accredited Instructor/Assessor. Jane works and breeds cocker spaniels and takes a special interest in impulse control. We talk quite a bit about getting control after the flush through proofing and generalisation. Jane h...
Episode 38 - Puppy exercise and developing food motivation
August 06, 2020 14:00 - 45 minutes - 31.1 MBHere are the sources I mention in this episode: Housing and exercise-related risk factors - Krontveit et al, 2012 Avidog - How much exercise do puppies need? Puppy Culture - Puppy Fitness that Fits the Puppy
Episode 37 - questions about transitioning the clicker retrieve to outdoors and popping on retrieves
July 07, 2020 12:00 - 16 minutes - 11.2 MBTwo listener questions...
Episode 36 - putting handling together
June 17, 2020 00:00 - 44 minutes - 30.6 MBHere is a link to the video from Fanny Gott where a dog learns to work around a female in season. Or: http://www.fannygott.com/epic-learning-a-big-lesson?fbclid=IwAR1FStZ8xbccKrNItRB7tI7H2RcPTVA7_4WRn2rYfZ4-Z05ojcJUisyOWHk
Episode 35 - what to do with dogs that disappoint us
June 02, 2020 11:00 - 16 minutes - 11.6 MBI ponder the options available when we are disappointed by a dog which fails to live up to our expectations in some way.
Episode 34 - 3-in-a-row drill and listener questions
May 22, 2020 09:00 - 51 minutes - 35.2 MBToday I answer questions about biting puppies and recall problems in hunting dogs. I also describe another great lining drill, the 3-in-a-row drill.
Episode 33 - Wagonwheels and 'settling' dogs down
April 15, 2020 12:00 - 34 minutes - 23.7 MBIn this episode, I describe a 4-spoked and 8-spoked wagonwheel lining drill - which requires very little space to train, so can be done in your yard or garden. I also answer a listener's question about settling her dog down in various different settings.
Episode 32 - Exercising and socialising during the coronavirus
March 27, 2020 15:00 - 39 minutes - 27.3 MBI ponder the implications of the recent 'lockdown' in the UK: Can you drive a short distance to exercise your dog in a remote area, or do you have to exercise in a crowded place where everyone else is? And how do we socialise puppies so they grow up to be well-adjusted, despite all these restrictions on daily life?
Episode 31 - a brief word about coronavirus
March 21, 2020 22:00 - 14 minutes - 10.1 MBLet's keep the economy going and help small businesses that have had to move online :)
Episode 30 - Sight blinds, permanent blinds and cold blinds
March 08, 2020 22:00 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBToday, I talk about the most important qualities for training a blind retrieve: Run or confidence Maintaining a straight line And which types of blind retrieve we can use, to ensure we really isolate those components of our chain and work on them - without muddying the waters by ending up handling and casting and stop whistling the dog...
Episode 29 - Interview with Hannah Branigan
February 21, 2020 18:00 - 1 hour - 48.3 MBIn this episode, I chat with Hannah Branigan about: food motivation - and how to work with dogs which lack it (especially in the field or in high arousal situations) and the importance of planning our training sessions You can find out more about Hannah herself via her own website. But she also has her own dog sports podcast, called Drinking From the Toilet - which you most definitely want to check out and subscribe to. Hannah has two competition obedience DVDs available - Obedience FUN...
Episode 28 - Interview with Ellen Naumann about BAT
January 17, 2020 06:00 - 53 minutes - 36.5 MBIn this episode, I talk with Ellen Nauman - programme director of OBATs - the Official BAT School. We discuss BAT, developed by Grisha Stewart - and how BAT helps dogs to remain under-threshold in the presence of triggers which would previously have put them over-threshold. These triggers are conventionally other people or other dogs, but can also be game - or anything else animate. If you'd like more information about training as a BAT instructor, check out the link above to the Offi...
Episode 27 - the draw for my book, COIs and thoughts about blind retrieves
December 20, 2019 06:00 - 36 minutes - 25.3 MBIn this episode: I do the draw to find out who is going to win the one remaining proof of my book! I have a mini-rant about COIs and people disregarding them. And (mostly) I talk about blind retrieves, and the difference between a 'hunt everywhere' type of blind retrieve and one where straight lines are expected and upheld. Where have these differences come from? The article by Dr Carol Beuchat on COIs can be found here. If you haven't been lucky enough to win a copy of my book in the ...
Episode 26 - Phase 7 & 8 of the clicker retrieve - the final instalment of the clicker retrieve!
December 13, 2019 06:00 - 33 minutes - 22.7 MBThis episode covers Phase 7 & 8 of the clicker retrieve process and is the final instalment in this process. Do look back at earlier episodes of this podcast to follow the process from the beginning. You can also check out my book - Force Free Gundog Training: The Fundamentals for Success, available from Amazon - for full illustrated details of the process. And, if that's not enough, you can sign up for my online clicker retrieve course - wherever you are in the world! It's a 5 week c...
Episode 25 - listener questions
December 06, 2019 06:00 - 39 minutes - 27.3 MBIn this episode I answer questions about: Why is the clicker retrieve trained in the way it is? Should or could we teach dogs to quarter between visible targets like white posts or buckets? What is the connection between breeding/genetics and training methods - what are the implications of training dogs using positive reinforcement if they have been bred to be trained using aversives...?
Episode 24 - Fyr at 12wks and listener questions
November 29, 2019 06:00 - 53 minutes - 36.9 MBIn this episode, I talk about what I'm getting up to with Fyr - in terms of both socialisation and training. And I answer listener questions :)
Episode 23 - a question about the Remote Sit and Phase 7 of the clicker retrieve
November 15, 2019 06:00 - 32 minutes - 22 MBIn this episode, I answer a question about training the Remote Sit. And I cover Phase 7 of the clicker retrieve - putting the hand target and pick-up together.
Episode 22 - my book is published and some questions about reinforcement whilst working a dog
November 08, 2019 06:00 - 33 minutes - 23 MBMy book, Force-Free Gundog Training: The Fundamentals for Success, is now available on Amazon (world-wide!). If you do pick up a copy, please do leave an Amazon review to give me some click and treats and make it more likely that I will be motivated to get to work on the next book!! I have a proof left over - a copy of the book which is exactly the same as those sold, except it says 'Not for resale' across the front. I'm going to draw a name from a hat for it! If you'd like to enter t...
Episode 21 - Interview with Anne Taguchi
August 30, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 45.9 MBIn this episode, I chat with Anne Taguchi from Touchstone Weimaraners in Los Angeles. Anne is a seasoned and accomplished field trial competitor and breeder of working Weimaraners for the field and for hunting purposes. Anne also runs a popular website called Just Weimaraners - which is about everything-Weimaraner.
Episode 20 - Planning your training
August 23, 2019 05:00 - 16 minutes - 11.6 MBIn this episode, I talk about why it's important to plan your training sessions. I also mention a great free template you can download for planning your training, which is available from Hannah Branigan's super website. You can listen to Hannah talking about planning training sessions on her own podcast (Drinking from the Toilet) here. It's episode 21, 'Why Bother with Training Plans?'.
Episode 19 - Phase 6 of the Clicker Retrieve
August 16, 2019 05:00 - 20 minutes - 14.2 MBIn this episode, I look at Phase 6 of the clicker retrieve process: Proofing the hold against food. If your dog can master this step, you will have an extremely reliable retrieve. Your dog will be unlikely to drop in the presence of distractions and you will be able to use this when your dog exits water to achieve a reliable hold and to avoid the dog dropping when wet to shake. This step also prevents rolling or mouthing of the dummy or retrieve item, in the dog's mouth - since the m...
Episode 18 - Interview with Dr Gayle Watkins from Avidog
August 09, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 43.5 MBIn this episode, I chat with Dr Gayle Watkins about what Avidog has to offer us as breeders, puppy owners and handlers. If you'd like more information about Avidog, please email [email protected] Gayle is based in the US and she has been a breeder for over 40 years. She breeds multipurpose golden retrievers under the Gaylans affix. Her dogs have been super-successful in numerous hunt test and working certificate tests and field trials - and in a wide variety of dog sports. She has Qualifi...
Episode 17 - Heelwork, Part 2
August 02, 2019 05:00 - 46 minutes - 31.7 MBIn this episode, I attempt to cover several heelwork exercises at breakneck speed. I also answer a question from Ally about over-arousal during heelwork.
Episode 16 - Heelwork, Part 1
July 26, 2019 05:00 - 42 minutes - 29.5 MBIn this episode, I discuss the difference between heelwork and loose-lead walking. I conceptualise heelwork and what it is (a moving stay, with a beginning and an end - and duration in between). And I discuss one huge consideration for training specifically retriever heelwork, when using positive reinforcement: How do we prevent the dog staring up at us, and missing marks?
Episode 15 - Interview with Nick Benger - on engagement and 'talking with the other side'
July 19, 2019 04:00 - 1 hour - 41.9 MBIn this episode, I talk with Nick Benger about two completely different subjects: Training dogs to focus on their handlers in distracting environments (otherwise known as 'engagement' training), which is a special interest of his - and we also talk about how (and why) to have conversations with trainers who use aversives. Nick himself has a podcast - called Dog Talk With Nick Benger - which I highly recommend that you subscribe to, because it's one of my favourite podcasts. Nick has a deg...
Episode 14 - Phase 4 and 5 of the clicker retrieve
July 12, 2019 06:00 - 39 minutes - 27.2 MBIn this episode, I talk about Phase 4 and 5 of the clicker retrieve. Phase 4 is the Hand Target and Phase 5 is Introducing Slight Distance and a Mini-Hold. Be sure to check out my YouTube channel for some free videos giving an overview of the clicker retrieve process. If you'd like to join us on the 5 week online clicker retrieve course (costing £35 and accessible worldwide), please email me for more info at [email protected]
Episode 13 - Phase 2 and 3 of the clicker retrieve
July 05, 2019 06:00 - 34 minutes - 23.9 MBI cover Phase 1 (just a touch) and Phase 2 (pick-ups) of the clicker retrieve process. We now have lots of people, the world over, taking a 5 week clicker retrieve course which follows these methods. If you'd like to join us, please email me at [email protected] for more information. The clicker retrieve is the force-free alternative to force-fetch.
Episode 12 - Interview with Jules Morgan
June 28, 2019 06:00 - 1 hour - 41.8 MBIn this episode, I chat with force-free gundog trainer, Jules Morgan. Jules is a full APDT (UK) member and an accredited trainer and assessor for the Gundog Club. Jules' training organisation is called Dog Training Naturally and she's been a professional dog trainer for about 25 years. She is entirely force-free and she is also a crossover trainer, so she really understands the journey that is made when people move from using aversives to being force-free. Along with Helen Phillips, ...
Episode 11 - Phase 1 of the clicker retrieve
June 21, 2019 09:00 - 21 minutes - 14.5 MBIn this episode, I cover Phase 1 of the clicker retrieve. There are eight phases and I'll be covering these at various points in upcoming podcasts. The clicker retrieve is the force-free equivalent to force-fetch. If you have any problems following these steps or you have any questions, feel free to email me for help and I will cover the issue on a future podcast! If you'd like more detail on the clicker retrieve, I offer a 5 week online clicker retrieve course. You are emailed videos, ...
Episode 10 - An introduction to the clicker retrieve
June 14, 2019 10:00 - 32 minutes - 22.6 MBAfter a question from a listener, I talk about the clicker retrieve and how to get things set up to begin a clicker retrieve session. The plan is to continue, in future episodes, to talk listeners through how to train the clicker retrieve(!). There are eight 'phases' to the clicker retrieve process I use. This episode is the first in the series on the clicker retrieve. I do offer an online clicker retrieve course, which you can take - wherever you are, in the world. You will receive vid...
Episode 9 - Interview with Leanne Smith
June 07, 2019 11:00 - 55 minutes - 38.2 MBIn this episode, I interview Leanne Smith. Leanne is a force-free gundog trainer and handler, based in Devon UK. She is a full member of the APDT (UK), holds a diploma from COAPE, and is a Gundog Club trainer and instructor. Leanne owns and works three cocker spaniels. Leanne's training organisation is called Dogs R Dogs and, via Dogs R Dogs, she also organises the biannual Positive Gundog Training Conference.
Episode 8 - arousal, frustration and an update on the book
May 31, 2019 17:00 - 1 hour - 43.1 MBI talk about the Really Bad Thing that just happened with the book I've written and the manner in which what's happened reflects the conflict between mainstream training and force-free training. Then I talk about 'arousal levels' and frustration-based behaviours - and what we can do, to help gundogs with these. For more information on the 'Superman pose' research, check out that link. And, to find out more about Control Unleashed, take a look at Leslie McDevitt's website.
Episode 7 - Harnesses and gundog work
May 24, 2019 09:00 - 42 minutes - 29.4 MBI talk about harnesses: Back-fastening harnesses and front-fastening harnesses. Harnesses which have a Y-front, versus those which barricade the chest. Fit. And gape-age (I made that word up!) at the shoulder, as something to avoid. I discuss the recent history of harnesses - and how the force-free dog training scene has been transformed by the appearance of the front-attachment point. I talk especially about using a harness when it comes to gundog training and some of the conflict (in...