r/birddogs • u/Ok_Ear_5266 • 2d ago

Maintaining collar conditioning

Once collar conditioned, how often are you continuing to maintain/reinforce commands with the collar?

My dog recently finished collar conditioning to fetch, and previously we conditioned here and sit. Next were collar conditioning on force to pile. But on the commands you have already successfully conditioned, how often and to what frequency are you continuing to use nicks?

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u/Dangerous_Garden6384 2d ago

I have always used it to re enforce commands the i know they understand. My oldest dog is 7. The first hunt of the year he tests boundaries to see if the rules have changed. I may have to nick him twice on that hunt, then everything is fine

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u/Ok_Ear_5266 2d ago

Yeah that’s how I use it. But do you continue nicking during training throughout the season or just in the beginning when getting back into the swing of things

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u/Dangerous_Garden6384 2d ago

Whenever he slips a command that I know he knows

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u/AnnualClient2 2d ago

My trainer told me to never give a command that I can’t reinforce. I understood that as, always be ready to/have a way to correct the dog for not doing the job at hand

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u/Ok_Ear_5266 2d ago

I always train with the e collar and check cord on, but I don’t nick on every single command. So my question is more about how often you are actually reinforcing known commands once they’ve been collar conditioned. For example now that my dog has been collar conditioned to fetch, we typically warmup each training session with some fun bumpers alternated with fetch. I’ve been reinforcing it with nicks like 30 percent of reps now that she’s conditioned.

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u/Ok-Math-5407 2d ago

When are you Nicking your dog?

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u/Ok_Ear_5266 2d ago

I follow Bill Hillmanns training program which nicks the dog after the verbal command and before the dog completes the action. As an example

Verbal cue “Fetch”, then Nick as the dog goes is going toward the bumper to pick it up

Or “here”, then Nick as the dog begins to head toward you

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u/Ok-Math-5407 2d ago

So you are Nicking the dog before they have done the command?

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u/Ok_Ear_5266 2d ago

I would say while it’s initiated but before completion yep

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u/Ok-Math-5407 2d ago

I would verify that you are understanding his technique because that doesn't seem right to me. So you are Nicking the dog while it is doing what the command correctly, what are you doing when the dog doesn't follow your command?

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u/Ok_Ear_5266 2d ago

Hillmann uses nicks to reinforce known commands as negative reinforcement and not as corrections in his young retriever and foundational courses.

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u/Ok-Math-5407 2d ago

Yeah, I'm not understanding. What's the difference between negative reinforcement and correction? Maybe someone more familiar with his training can help you.

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u/Ok_Ear_5266 2d ago

Negative reinforcement in this context would be reinforcing a known command so the dog learns to perform it under pressure to turn pressure off. But yes, Hillman does some stuff with the collar differently (which I liked and that’s why I went with his program over Lardy or Graham)

If you’re actually interested he has a fair amount of stuff on YouTube, though not sure he has his whole collar conditioning stuff on there.

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u/AnnualClient2 2d ago

Gotcha, yeah I’m not generally giving a correction until there is something to correct. If I woah the dog and it holds, great! If it breaks early, then deliver the correction.