June/July 09

One on One
An Early Mistake
How I made it, and how I fixed it… mostly.
by James Keldsen
Photos by James & Victoria Keldsen

ome say Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I really don’t know whether or not Einstein owned dogs, but his words are certainly appropriate for us dog people at one time or another. It’s easy to pull a dog from the truck, run a mark or drill, and watch the dog make a small mistake or indiscretion. The trainer overlooks the misstep since it’s minor and not directly related to the training concept. Later, in a different situation, the transgression occurs again; however, it was again minor and the dog completed its retrieve, so he does nothing about it. The relative minor infraction leads the trainer to believe that, over time, the problem will go away on its own or be remedied with some other part of training. But continuing to train in the same way over and over, while expecting the dog to improve, is insanity.

With my first Lab, I allowed some apparently minor problems to grow into major problems. Not unlike many new and not-so-new dog trainers do every year, I dug myself and my dog into holes that were difficult to climb out of. My dog made bad choices that I allowed to happen, all the while believing the problems would work themselves out over time. After all, I had heard that time heals all wounds. Only later did I learn that time also hardens concrete, and once concrete has set, it’s difficult to finish.

A new retriever’s enthusiasm and quick learning curve can make that dog a pleasure to work with. As Bridger progressed in his training, he seemed to get better every day. His retrieves became more reliable, his attention span increased, and he never tired of retrieving. I read every book I could find, researched the field trial and hunt test programs, dreamed of duck hunts with a Field Champion, and made big plans as to how advanced my dog would become.

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