How do you teach 6 blinds? - Page 1

 I liked the method one of the clubs I attended trained and proofed the 6 blinds.


I forget what he called it. But basically you trick the dog into wondering which blind the helper is in. 

You get multiple helpers and while the dog isn't looking helpers sneak off and hide in a blind. usually two or three helpers. The dog runs the blinds and finds a helper and immediately gets a bite as the helper rabbits out of the blind. then the handler calls the dog too them, outs the sleeve then commands the  search of the next blind and so on and so forth until a blind or two later the dog finds another helper with a sleeve.

It really helped the dogs I see taught with it, get amped up about the blinds and not just aimlessly search the blinds without enthusiasm.


Another club I have trained with trains the blinds as an obedience exercise and they must search each and every blind or they don't get to go to the last blind to do their B&H


I'm interested to hear what other creative ideas people have used for teaching the 6 blinds. 

I don't know how crazy I am about the teaching using the hot blinds if the dog doesn't know how to already run them. I like hot blinds more for a dog that knows the exercise, but doesn't actually search because they know damn well the helper is in 6. To me, I think it breaks up the exercise to much for teaching, but maybe I'm wrong. The dog goes to one, gets a bite, runs to you to out, he gets sent to two and gets a bite, and so on. I think I would rather do it as obedience or move the bit to the middle of the field. Dog goes around 1, he gets a bite and slip. Around two, bite and slip. Sure, the dog will probably blow by the blinds without an actual search, but once he has the blinds down, then you insert hot blinds. BUT I don't know. Maybe the way you described works great.

 oh no you misunderstood me. The dog already knew how to search all 6 blinds. He just didn't do them enthusiastically. We would randomize the blinds in which the helpers were in. Sometimes they were in the first. Sometimes the 3rd. so on and so forth. And the dog never knew which one they were in.

Not saying its the best method. Just saying I thought it was neat and it definitely got the dogs I saw trained with it, to be more enthusiastic about their blind searches. 

I probably didn't originally explain it in enough detail. sorry about that

Don,

 I taught the blinds with a toy.  It took only two days to teach all six blinds with one dog, and a week with the other.  Each was a retrieving fool, which helped immensely.

I placed the toy in the blind first, then taught the dog to go around the blind to me to get the toy.   After they had that idea for  blind 1, I let the dog see me put the toy in blind #2 and repeated the process.    For blind 3 and 4, I kept the toy as a reward for going around the blind.  4 , 5 and 6 were the easiest at that point.   The second day, I had  the dogs run the blind for the toy after every other blind, then had a helper in #6.    With those two dogs, one missed a blind once in several years and the other never missed a blind at all.

The one I am working now just does not work that way for a toy. Not a retrieving fool, although she likes to retrieve. She is predatory and likes ot hunt and kill possums.  So,  I have been teaching her the concept of going around the blind by having her go around the kennel containing my male, whom she loves to bother.   When she "reviers," her reward is that he is released from his kennel sanctuary from her.   

ShSchH, hot blinds are great for actually searching the blinds and getting a dog to stop thinking about 6.----------------------------Mystere, yeah, you can use a ball, tug, bite pillow , helper, etc. Don't know if I'd use the step of placing the ball in the blind. Most people at the point of teaching 6, have already taught the dog to do 5 and 6. The dog should already know the command and even if it doesn't, you can teach it I think without that step.

I first introduced it with a toy.  It only took a day or two until the dog would run as many blinds in any combination that I wanted.  I trained him to return to me and platz unless I command him to another blind or something different.  My initial command was "go 'round" which once the dog understood the exercise, I slurred into "voran".  Then working this in protection, we just backchain it with the helper running out of each blind and then running out of a random blind so the dog is never sure.  My current dog runs blinds like a fool for a ball.   In protection he is less enthusiastic if he knows the helper is in the 6 blind and he has to run all six.  By putting the helper in random blinds, it keeps the dog on his toes and he searches faster and with more enthusiasm.

The best way I have seen is  after dog learns the 2 blinds start the dog with all six in a circle and the handler in the middle ,distance is up to the dog how fast the dog is usually short circle . and handler will send the dog to the the any blind call the dog back and send it for a hot blind ,And keep sending the dog to different blinds .  then mix it up  and so on .Problem solved

ok .. to answer your question .. i'll ask a question  [ think ] .. my philosophy : THE DOG HAS ALL THE ANSWERS ,, as carried over from another thread .. best to forget " how do we do this" , or what "technique for that ". SO ; ?? what do you need to do in order for the dog to DESIRE / to WANT to search ALL  the blinds [ in union with nyour request]??--  that is how you teach ' the blind search' .. we always think .. of what we think & we want ... if you want to train , do sports, PP .. YOU MUST TRAIN YOUSELF TO " THINK LIKE A DOG "!! in essence .. you must be the essence of the dog !! there is NO [1] WAY !!! For one way ,  switching the times when the dog will expect a bite , yes that can keep the dog honest, wanting  and motivated to go to ALL  the blinds .. dogs will repeat what has worked for them .. if at times they get a bite in blind 2 then it will be motivated to check out blind 2 .. if it has gotten a bite at blind 4 then it will check out blind 4 .. if it gets a bite by always biting in blind 6 .. then where do you think the dog will have the tendency to go to ?? you may want blind 1 to search . blind 3 to searcch .. even though it is a OBEDEINCE EXERCISE[ it is not a protection exercise BTW] , where do you think the dog wants to goif it gets a bite in blind 6 all the time  ?? BTW ... do not think the dogs so stupid .. they can wind scent 1/2 mile , they hear hypesonic .. they learn from repitition /experience .. don't you think most often [ especially the same routine , not like the helper is hiding behind a tree] the dog knows where the helper is , even if you mix it up .. ?? So what do we need to do in order to have the dog always reviere / voran ?? - THAT isthe KEY and  how you train the blinds ..... last point : to me what is more importantthan teaching the 6 blinds  : what you train even before the make use of a  multiple blinds  [ i.e. train the bark/hold and 1st blind work absolutely correctly !!! ]