I begin imprinting whistle recalls, gun and stick, sound and bite association at 6-7 weeks.

Any thoughts on this stage of training.

Jerry

Make sure you look for sensitivity issues and if found do not push it or try to work through them.

Excellent point Vince about the sensitivity issue. If there is a sensitivity to whatever then it is going to show up at this early stage and one can detertmine if the pup should or could work through the problem.

Another aspect though is the other side of the coin where the pup is introduced to a new or stimulating experience that reflects positive imprinting.

Any of our own dogs exposed to early imprinting and show the ability to deflect stress at this early stage have gone on to be the very strongest of dogs be that in Sport Work, Real Police Work and or SAR etc.

Imprinting the whistle is to me the single most important imprint as it developes the need for the dog to attach itself to you for it's needs, support and direction as a team member.

Perhaps others here could share their imprinting drills with us.

Jerry

I understand that some imprinting will vary depending on what you plan to do with the dog. There are even some breeders out there that will imprint one puppy for protection, one puppy for SAR one puppy for X, etc, all in the same litter depending on what their customers are looking for. I've heard things like Hot dogs in straw to wake up their noses etc.

What do breeders feel are some of the most important ones to prepare a puppy for life in general? Without regard to what specifically will be expected of the dog later on. What are some important ones to cover "as many bases as possible"

Well for myself as I stated before the whistle recall is the foundation which can be expanded in many ways.

This type of recall be it for a food treat and or a tug or ball is very helpful in overcoming many problems that might present themselves at a later stage.

One, the recall on a young imprintable puppy must be done over every type of flooring and ground surface imaginable. Self explanitory to say the least.

Here is a little trick to also use for imprinting the food drive to be used to also stabilise the pup to environmental stress.

Put your pups food bowl in a corner and surround it with bamboo sticks in a Tee Pee fashion and blast the whistle to call the pups to feed. Watch how they blow past and spread and knock the Tee Pee apart to get what they need.

Another way to do this is to build a wall of empty soda cans that have a few pennies inside so that the pups can not get at the pennies. They must break the wall of noise and stress down to eat.

Works like a charm

Jerry

I feel that the more you can expose them to the better. Providing that, as Vince said, "you look for sensitivity issues and if found do not push it"

Now, it would seem to me that, in a group situation, your going to have some pups that are not phased by the level of stress they are being asked to deal with, and then there will be some pups that are getting freaked out by the whole thing. Should the "stress" related imprinting be done with them seperately for this reason, so that you can adjust the level <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Or is that unrealistic. After-all you have to find the "pets" somehow Right? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Without a doubt Jason, Yes. For myself any group type imprinting is done at a very early age to be able to see first hand the range of response from the group which then allows us as imprinters to determine what is the next step for each pup individually.

Group imprinting can have a downside if you spend too much time showing off with the group/litter as the imprint will apply in a dog pack context.

Imprinting should be very individual in application as all dogs are not created the same and as mentioned in an earlier post on this thread. Some pups may be imprinted with different avenues of predicted work for later on in life.

Imprinting works very fast and lasts a lifetime. Be careful.

When done correctly, imprinting stages the pup for life and it's stress in a manner that goes beyond having to train a response.

Imprinting a behaviour can take a very short period of real time, sometimes mere moments vs training a dog that was not imprinted that might or might not work out with many, many hours of work to break down a barrier to the dog learning a skill.

Jerry

What about bite imprinting? How have you imprinted pups for bite work? What do you think the best way to go about it is?

Another area where "showing off" can get you in trouble. I see people out there that take great pride in swinging around a pup on a towel, airborn, at a very young age. I don't see the benefits of this outweighing the risks. I would think you want to get the little scoundrels on the towel asap though.

Van Camp IMO Biting is not so much imprinted as it is genetic in nature. With this said though I do imprint the call to bite which has benefits in teaching the out recall down the road much the same as the whistle for food or tug imprint.

I would say that while a puppy is learning to bite correctly that you can imprint an regrip to obtain maximum depth but the desire to bite for my choice of working puppy must be present in a natural genetic form from 5 weeks on, through the stimulation of a prey bite on to a small slice of a soft towel.

Jason, you bring up holding a pup off the ground and swinging it around.

This is the single worst form of an imprint that can be done. Yes, you can imprint poor performance just as easy as you can induce good results.

The puppy who hangs on is yes, on the bite but he is not learning to use the more important parts of it's body to maximize the dogs fighting potential. Off the ground this poor puppy never learns to call upon it's body to assist in the take down.

For me a bite is the given but the real good dogs not only bite but through their body, force the bad guy down by brute physical force that can only be imprinted with the dog on the ground and able to find the resistance to activate the other important body locations and muscles to win the fight.

To do other wise is very silly and dangerous to a pup who's mouth, jaw and teeth are just developing.

Those that think that swinging a pup around off the ground for anything but a mere moment are demonstrating their own lack of bite development ability.

These questions are very good and this thread has a lot of potential.

Does anyone want to take a shot at how to imprint a just weaning pup to learn how to track with a full nose to ground first time and everytime there after tracking human scent complete with a turn.

Jerry Cudahy