One of my favorite drills to do with my dogs is playing fetch with a dog training dummy. A dummy can be anything from an old sock or tennis ball to a commercial dummy with a rope attached like the one pictured above. What you use for a training dummy doesn’t matter so much to the dogs. But, the commercial dummies do have some good features that make them worth their $4-$5 cost. My favorite dog training dummy is the “Lucky Dog” Soft Knobby Plastic Dummy available online from GunDogSupply.com. It comes in a variety of sizes and colors to match your dog training needs.

The best thing about the plastic dummies is their durability, they just seem to hold up real well over time. The rope handle is also a nice feature and I use the rope to throw the dummy. The soft knobby texture makes it easier for the dogs to grip and hold in their mouth. Dog training dummies are available in many shapes and sizes but this one has proven to be a good training tool for me and my german shorthairs. My dogs seem to be natural retrievers and enjoy playing fetch. I am careful to always end the game of fetch when the puppy begins to lose interest. For some dogs this happens after 3-4 throws while others will play for hours. I like to use treats to encourage a few more retrieves out of my dogs with less interest. The main thing is to keep the training fun and positive.

With 3 puppies I am finding it hard to balance my time between having fun with my kids and training my german shorthair puppies. This week I started enlisting the help of my children when working with the dogs and taking them for walks. In the picture above I am coaching my 6 year old daughter on how to keep our youngest puppy Rocky in check. One of the things that I am trying to accomplish is to get my young children to be confident and strong when handling the pups. This can be difficult when the dogs get wound up and start bouncing off the walls, my two daughters become terrified and run for their lives.

Jake has begun to calm down a bit as his first birthday approaches. It is nice to see a glimmer of hope that there can be some calmness in this very active breed called the german shorthaired pointer. Since this is my first experience in raising and training shorthairs I must admit that I did not know what to expect. The shorthairs that I had hunted behind were mature and very well-trained leading me to beleive that they were born that way. But, like most things in life the reward comes after many hours of hard work and loving care. With a little time each day I can see the beginnings of greatness starting to peak through.