Posted by Butch Cappel
on September 23, 2009, 11:49 am, in reply to "Re: butch (or anyone else), what are you thoughts on table training"
99.174.201.23
Table training has been around a long, long, time. It started as a technique first used by bird hunters. I believe a trainer named Webster Pierce came up with it in the thirties, or maybe before that.
Originally it was used to make teaching a forced retrieve easier. It put the dog up in a secure spot that made it easier to apply the "force" in "Forced Retrieve".
When it was discovered the insecurity of being off the ground, with limited footing, made the dogs a little more attentive, trainers like Larry Mueller began using tables to teach dogs a Freeze or Whoa from an accidental flush, and other control movements. And as every dog man has to be THE man others modified Mr. Pierce's table and used Barrels and all sorts of gadgets so they could be the next big thing
Early American SchH trainers (maybe with a bird dog background)began using it to teach the SchH dumbbell retrieve in SchH. They too seemed to have noticed the heightened sense of insecurity of dogs off the ground and then began using it to make defense training easier.
It is a tool or technique like any other, and there are dogs that it will work very well on and there are others that will not respond as well.
So, yes, you can use a back tie as well as use a table, as well as a long line, as well as an E-collar as well as a slingshot, oh well, you get the idea.
I will say this about the people I have noticed doing internet videos of table training. I think most are really just "Table Working" in other words I see no opportunity in their actions for the dog to learn anything. They just put the dog on a table and do what they had been doing on the ground, with a back tie or the handler holding.
But I was not there and have no idea what they did not put up for viewing, so that could be entirely wrong of me.
It is kinda like what passes for muzzle work today, no one really studies the goals or the skill required to get the most out of Tables or Muzzles, they just saw someone do it and decided they would do it too. Sort of like those early bird dog trainers that saw Mr. Pierces' table and decided to use a bench or a 55 gal drum or anything different just so they could claim to be an "expert"
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