HELP on MARKS

At some point your dog will need assistance to successfully complete a retrieve.  What that assistance (HELP) looks like will be determined by the factors surrounding the need for help.

1.  Was the need for help Lack of Effort (LOE) related?  in other words, did the dog fail a factor: cheat the water, fade with the wind, fall of the hill, cut into land early on a water retrieve, or fail to push through a row of cover or other physical obstacle?   If the help is LOE driven - then we generally HANDLE to the bird.  

A handle is a correction.  The human has now taken over and the dog must give control to the handler.  A word of caution: if you are handling on marks on a consistent basis, there is something amiss in your training.   Either the dog is not trying or you are asking too much of them. Heads up: if you consistently handle on marks a lot of dogs will develop a "popping" problem.   They will learn to quit and kind of say "okay human, tell me where it is".  This is a common by product of handling on marks.  

2.  Dog is trying and just failed the mark - got lost, lack of experience, mark was just too much for them, etc.  In this case we give gunner assistance: throw another bird/bumper, have the gunner give a verbal cue ("hey-hey, duck call"), gunner is visible or the gunner gives movement to get them to the area.  

HERE ARE A FEW GUIDELINES TO DETERMINE WHEN HELP IS NEEDED: 

• when the lesson is lost - dog is just kind of randomly running around with no clear purpose or destination 
• safety - dog is getting hot, dog has been in water a long time, there is a safety factor in play (getting close to a road, hazard in the field, stray dog is in the scene , etc.) 
• dog is starting to lose momentum- young dog driving a long way, going through an old fall, pushing past a physical obstacle like a road, slot, water, etc. 

If the dog needs gunner help here are a few guidelines

• Gunner becomes visible - step out from the holding blind - the old adage is: FIND THE GUNNER, FIND THE BIRD 
• if gunner assistance is required then try and imagine there is an invisible rope between the gunner and the dog.  The gunner should try and "pull" the dog across the bumper. 
• do not go to the bumper, pick it up and then toss it - this will inadvertently teach the dog to just go to the gunner for help 
• if the dog has stopped hunting and is just staring at the gunner for help - DO NOT MOVE - let the dog resume its hunt on its own or the handler has to come out in the field to help.   If the gunner responds to the stop in hunting and helps the dog will learn to stop and just get the gun to show them where the bird is.  
• the gunner should always have a MINIMUM of FOUR things to throw.  One for the mark and three for helping as needed.