When a retriever marks the fall of a bird, the idea is for him to not just see the bird go down, but also to remember where the bird went down. This process has been described as taking a “visual snapshot” and storing it in working memory. Marking is an inherited ability, and some dogs are naturally better at it than others. No matter where a dog is on the marking spectrum, he’ll benefit from drills designed to keep that snapshot fresh in his memory, even in the face of distractions and the erosive effects of time.
Here, professional trainer Jimmy Rodgers of Mallard Run Kennels in Kentucky explains how to use real birds or retrieving dummies throughout a series of four progressively more demanding drills to strengthen “the memory muscle.” Once the young dog has completed a force-fetching program and is delivering to hand—at around nine to 10 months of age, typically—Rodgers starts with a drill he calls “bird-in-the-mouth singles.”
“The way this works,” he explains, “is that I throw a single. The dog retrieves it, comes in, and while the first bird’s still in his mouth I throw another single. Once that mark’s on the ground, I take the bird from the dog’s mouth, breaking his focus momentarily before lining him up and getting him to re-focus on the mark. This is my most basic memory drill: a short mark, a short lapse of time, nothing difficult. It’s the first step in teaching a dog to maintain focus.”
From there, Rodgers moves to a drill he calls “off-line doubles.” He starts by having a helper throw a bird. Once the dog has marked that bird, he throws another bird in a different direction while standing at the dog’s side. “Then I send the dog for the bird I just threw,” Rodgers says. “When he’s completed that retrieve, I get him to look out to where the first bird went down. Then I line him up and send him for that retrieve. This really teaches a young dog to use his memory.”
The third drill doesn’t have a name, but it works like this: A helper throws a bird that the dog marks. Then Rodgers turns the dog away from that bird and sends him on a blind retrieve. Once the dog’s completed the blind, Rodgers sends him back out for the mark. “I use this drill a ton,” Rodgers says. “It forces the dog to keep that mark in his memory while he’s engaged in a completely different act, and it also introduces a time element. I think it’s all about the time it takes, meaning that if a dog’s working memory is five minutes, he’ll hold on to that mark for five minutes. If you ask him to remember for six minutes, though, that memory will be gone. What we’re trying to do is build up the dog’s memory to help him remember those marks for as long as possible.”
Finally, Rodgers begins giving his dogs multiple marks: doubles, triples, quads, etc. After sending the dog for the “go” bird (the last bird thrown), he moves on to the “memory” birds.
As you strengthen the dog’s memory and focus, you also instill discipline and build trust. “That’s so important,” Rodgers says, “especially in those instances when the dog’s not sure of the mark. If your dog trusts you, he knows that when you send him for a mark, it’s because there’s a bird out there—and he’s going to look for it.
“Communication is really important too,” he notes. “You can help your dog with birds he may not remember perfectly by adding verbal cues that can help refresh his memory. For example, if a bird sails and falls at long range I’ll say, ‘get your mark’ and add ‘way out.’ I’ll also put more inflection in the dog’s name on a long bird. Instead of simply saying ‘Daisy’ in a normal tone of voice, which I’d do for a short mark, I’ll say ‘DAY-zee.’”
Rodgers offers this closing advice: “You can’t push the memory stuff. You have to give it time. So many people expect too much too soon. They’ll lay down a triple, for example, and get irritated when their dog can’t do it. You can’t expect a dog to do something that his training hasn’t prepared him to do.”
Drills
1. A helper stands at a distance and throws a dummy while your retriever watches and “marks” its location.
2. Turn your dog in a different direction and send him to retrieve a dummy that you placed earlier without him seeing you do it (the “blind retrieve”).
3. After the blind retrieve is complete, send him to retrieve the first dummy (the “memory bird”).
