The Golden Retriever has been around since the 19th century with the breed considered to be a Scottish breed. The true origins of the Golden Retriever has changed so depending on who you ask the answer may be different. The original belief is that the Golden Retriever are direct descendants of some Russian circus dogs that were purchased by a gentleman named Lord Tweedmouth, known as Sir Dudley Marjoribanks at time of purchase. They were purchased with the purpose of hunting deer and due to their skills being acceptable they were later bred with a sandy colored bloodhound to reduce their size (they must have been massive) and improve their scenting capabilities. This origin story has since been debunked after the studbook of Lord Tweedmouth had been released by a descendant of his. This studbook shows that Tweedmouth had purchased an unregistered yellow retriever named “Nous” who was an offspring of two black retrievers. This is relevant because at the time the belief was that black dogs were better hunters and offspring that were any other color would be disposed of. Tweedmouth then bred Nous to a Tweed Water Spaniel (now extinct) named Belle and that the Golden Retrievers today are descendants of Nous and Belle. According to one source there are some chromo-lithograph pictures (which is a type of color photograph where the term is mainly used for 19th century photographs) on the cover of a magazine that shows 2 dogs with one highly resembling what looks to be a Golden Retriever. This magazine is titled “The Game Keeper” by Edmund Walker and the photo was after a painting done by Richard Ansdell. This magazine was printed 11 years before Tweedmouth purchased Nous. With this evidence the origin story of the Golden Retriever is still up for debate. There is plenty more information so I do encourage you to read the sources, particularly the GRCA.org source. One thing that can be agreed upon is the Golden Retriever was bred as a 19th century gundog and water retriever. This breed is skilled in hunting both on land and in water for pheasant, quail and deer for example. They are hardy, multitalented and excellent swimmers. They have a gentle and loving temperament (so don’t get one if you need a protection dog). This gentle and loving temperament does not mean they do not have a desire to work and will be easy going apartment dogs. They will still require exercise everyday both mentally and physically. They also thrive on having the human connection so being able to have time for your Golden is a must for their mental and emotional wellbeing.

Something that I think people can often forget when it comes to training dogs is us. We forget how integral we are to the training process. This is not to say that you are expected to be able to know how to handle and train every scenario, sport, discipline, etc. but how you handle those (possibly temporary) shortcomings is more important than people may realize. I have heard from a very knowledgeable canine trainer (@Paul Bunker ) that what makes a good dog handler/trainer is knowing when to ask for help and then actually asking for that help. Dog training is not by chance or magic. It is dedicated time and effort. So, this leads me into the topic I would like to discuss this week: reframing "failure" in training. I personally do not like to use the word “failure” or “fail” in dog training or other areas of life, but that is not what this community is really about haha. I prefer to frame “failure” as a “learning opportunity”. This just means that you and your dog encountered a situation or scenario that he was maybe not ready for yet or you were not prepared to counter/reward and so the learning opportunity was lost and/or maybe you and your dog lost some progress. THIS IS OK AND CERTAINLY NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!! Our dogs are constantly learning so every encounter or situation is a learning opportunity. It is optimal to go out with all of the tools we will need for whatever we encounter with our dogs which I am sure most of us do. We have a training goal in mind based on where our dog is and we do our best to set them up for success for the next step. If something were to happen that was not part of your training goal and it isn’t too difficult for your dog then you may just have to shift training goals for that day and that is ok. I know sometimes I have gone out with minimal or nothing for my dog because “we are just going to go over there real quick what could happen?” and that is when I am reminded why you should always be prepared. This is something that, thankfully, does not happen to much anymore haha.

Bavarian Mountain Hounds come from, you guessed it, Germany where they are known as Bayerischer Gebirgsschweisshund (no a cat did not just walk on my laptop). They are said to be descended from a breed called a Bracken which is “the original hunting dog”. The Bavarian Mountain Hound was bred to be lighter for more versatility and agility and this was done in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries by Baron Karg-Bebenburg when he crossed Red Mountain Hounds with Hanoverian Scenthounds. The Bavarian Mountain Hound was bred for tracking game, both wounded and bloodied, and has an amazing “cold nose” which means they possess an amazing sense of smell that they can detect older trails better than other dogs. This breed is even tempered, agile, robust and versatile. They have the stamina to pursue game until the game cannot run anymore even in mountainous terrain. They are still used for tracking game to this day but can also be used for tracking/trailing for search and rescue groups like their bloodhound counterparts. The Bavarian Mountain Hound was recognized by the UKC on January 1, 1996. The Club for Bavarian Mountain Hounds, which is headquartered in Munich, came about in 1912. The FCI published a breed standard in 1996 and they were included in the AKC Foundation Stock Service in October 2016. Sources: https://www.ukcdogs.com/bavarian-mountain-hound, https://pulsarvision.com/journal/the-original-hunting-dog-bavarian-mountain-scent-hound/, https://gundogcentral.com/hunting-dog-breeds/Bavarian-Mountain-hound,https://www.101dogbreeds.com/bavarian-mountain-hound.asp

In order to understand and identify your dog’s predatory trigger it is highly beneficial to know what breed(s) of dog you have and to know what that breed was bred to do. For example, my Vizslas were bred to locate birds and other small game. Most dogs are not born with impulse control and so it must be taught otherwise they will see a trigger (or what I also call a stimulus) and want to chase after it. The chase part of the predatory motor sequence is only the beginning of the upswing for the undesired portion of the PMS on dopamine, and other feel good hormones. The peak is if they are successful in grab biting. That is when the dopamine and other hormones will start to come down and the dog will start to relax in satisfaction. Depending on what your dog is bred for, prefers on an individual level and personal experience the types of triggers will vary. Some dogs learn to use their eyes heavily to look for that exciting trigger. Some dogs will use their nose to sniff out a critter trail and some will use their ears to listen for a disturbance to bolt after. Many dogs will use all 3 of these approaches but not all at equal levels all of the time. Paying attention to your dog while out on walks (even while on leash) is very important. This is the best and safest way to teach your dog how to be safe and have impulse control around wildlife. So be sure to not be on your phone and if you have to take an important phone call do your best to be in as little of a distracting area as possible while that call takes place (even if you are using Bluetooth or otherwise hands free). So now let’s talk about threshold levels. There are three different thresholds that we should be aware of: under threshold, at threshold and over threshold. You can think of them this way: - Under threshold = green light - At threshold = yellow light - Over threshold = red light Green light threshold, a dog is able to think, be engaged with you enthusiastically and listen to you when you give a command.

I want to start out by saying that setbacks or regression are not the end of the world. In fact, I choose to look at them as learning opportunities: - Where did I go wrong? - How can I better communicate my goal with my dog? - Did I move us on/progress too fast? - Have I been consistent? Did you notice a theme with those questions? They all had “I” in them. This is because we, the trainer, the handler/guardian, are responsible for setting our dogs up for success. If something needs addressed 9 times out of 10 if not 9.9 times out 10 it is a failure in communication of some kind with our dogs. Our dogs are very good at telling us and those around us what they have and have not been taught (except for that one thing that one time that they had never done before…). We should listen to our dogs when they tell us there is a gap in their understanding and if we are not sure how to address that please seek out help from a professional. Something else to remember is that each dog is an individual. How each dog learns and what motivates them is just as unique as they are. Some dogs prefer treats only, some prefer toys only, some like both, some like both but are quite particular. Another thing to remember is that some dogs require the steps to be broken down into even smaller steps. It is important to have patience and understand that training is not linear. Training will have ebbs and flows of good days and bad days. If your dog seems to be having an off day in training (or in general) it is important to rule out anything veterinary first. - Did your dog eat like normal? Was their energy the same about eating? Are they drinking more, less or the same amount of water? - What do their gums look like? Are they pink, moist with a capillary refill time (CRT) of less than 2 seconds? - Did your dog have normal bowel movements? - Are they limping or licking an area excessively? - Is there head hanging low? Is their back arched? - Do they seem hesitant to be in a certain position?