The importance of teaching the command “whoa” cannot be over-emphasized. It is, perhaps, one of the most important things you will ever teach your hunting dog. For one thing, “whoa” is the basis for being able to teach your hunting dog hold point, to stop and to back, as well as many other more advanced training commands. It can also, most important of all, be the command that can actually save your dog’s life.
Ok – I can see you sitting there staring at your monitor, scratching your head and thinking “What’s this guy talking about? Whoa can save my dog’s life?”
Let’s start with why whoa is important from a training perspective. Whoa is a command that, to a well trained hunting dog, means to immediately stop where he is and stay there until his handler tells him to do something else. Whoa allows you, when the dog has made an error, to go to him, place him back where the error was made and begin again. This keeps you from having to yell the same command three or four times, making the dog think you are either an idiot or that it is ok NOT to sit until he’s heard it several times.
As important as this command is in other areas of training, whoa’s true value lays in the aspect of your dog’s safety. Any dog, and especially a trained hunting dog, can become so focused on what they currently doing that nothing else seems to exist. You’ve either seen or heard about the dog so intent on chasing that ball that he dashes into the street and under the wheels of a passing car. Now think about the dangers inherent to hunting dogs – the incredibly strong current or thin ice of a river where your bird went down, skunks, rattlesnakes or other animals he doesn’t need to tangle with, the barb-wire fence he’s charging at full bore …
To a properly trained hunting dog, their trainer’s voice or whistle command should be paramount. Even at their most excited, the well-trained hunting dog should acknowledge and obey the voice of his trainer. For these dogs, the use of the whoa command could literally mean the difference between life and death.
This having been said, exactly how do you train your dog to follow this extremely important command? There are probably as many different ways of training whoa as there are dog trainers. Various trainers advocate the use of a “whoa post” or use a check cord looped around the dog’s flanks; others use a sling, made from check cords, in what I call the “lift” method. George Hickox, owner of the George Hickox School of Dog Training and Handling, uses some homemade gadgets called a “whoa board” and a “whoa barrel”, combined with a “lift” system he has perfected. Whichever method you choose to use, making sure your dog understands and obeys the whoa command should be a priority item on your training list.
We will explore several methods of teaching “whoa” in a future articles.
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