When training a dog, there will be times when it doesn’t respond quite the way we thought it should. It’s entirely possible that the dog is simply being deliberately disobedient, but it’s much more likely that the dog is uncertain of what it should be doing. In other words, the dog is confused; and any time there is a student and a teacher and a learning process, there is probably going to be some confusion. Confusion is part of the learning process, but it’s a part we’d like to keep to a minimum.

The Important thing about confusion is recognizing it for what it is and then eliminating it. How do we tell if a dog’s confused or is just plain being stubborn or defiant? One way is to read your dog’s body language and attitude, as a dog that is confused will show it very easily. Extreme confusion can manifest itself as fear, resulting in the dog bolting, crouching, crawling, slinking around, and even, if pressured too hard, biting. Simple confusion is read by noticing little changes in body posture, such as acting tentative or less bold than normal; drooping or pinning back it ears; tucking its tail; stopping and looking at you from a distance; dropping its shoulders; and sometimes tilting the head to the side slightly while giving you a puzzled look. A defiant dog may ignore you completely while it does what it wants; have its tail and ears up; and have a confident body posture with a raised head. A confused dog will not.

Confusion means the dog is unsure, and whether it’s unsure about what it’s supposed to do on its own or unsure of what you’ve asked or how you’ve asked it, the problem needs to be addressed. In most training situations, confusion stems from an unclear message from the handler. This means we haven’t explained things well enough or given adequate information for the dog to work with. We haven’t provided the dog with the mental tools to do what we’re asking. Remember: All training is based on repetition and association; our human impatience is what leads to confused dogs.

It’s far easier to avoid confusion than to have to fix it later. Any time a dog is confused, ask yourself if you’ve laid the proper groundwork for whatever it is you’re asking. Has there been enough repetition to form an association? Are there steps missing or perhaps hurried through? Have you asked the dog to do something it has never done before just because the situation presented itself?

Often, A young dog will show confusion when it is pushed too fast and isn’t mature enough to do what you’re asking. Immaturity is a big cause of confusion and can be eliminated by taking things more slowly.

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Let’s assume we’re noticing signs of confusion in a dog. What do we do next? First, we’ll assume we are the Alpha dog and that the dog in question knows that – If there is any question about who’s in charge, it only serves to intensify confusion because the dog doesn’t trust you enough to take your direction. The next step is figuring out where the confusion entered into the training. Did it start when we were introducing something new? Or was it something the dog has done and understands, only with added distraction or in a different location? From there we can figure out how to handle it and help the dog succeed.

If it’s a new training concept, the best way to work through it is to break the training down into smaller steps. Find a way the dog can do half as much as you were asking, and see if that helps. If not, break the halves into quarters and try again. Continue breaking the steps down until your dog does what you were hoping for, and then stop.

At this point, you’ve determined where the confusion came in – it was just past the step where your dog had success. If it’s a familiar concept only with added distractions, you’ll need to backtrack a few steps and solidify the foundation leading up to what you were working on.

A good example of this would be “whoa.” Let’s say you’ve worked thought the whoa-post in your yard training and now have the dog stopping reliably with the flank collar. So you decide to take your dog to a large field to run and suddenly, “whoa” doesn’t happen. The dog may show some signs of confusion and slow down, hesitate, look back at you or at its flank, drop the tail, pin the ears back, or even bolt. Remember: It’s a new place, and the dog may not relate “whoa” to anywhere but your backyard at this point in the training.

So, how do we proceed from here? Bring a whoa-post or three to the field and work through the foundation for “whoa” again. Back up and work through the steps until your dog understands that “whoa” happens anywhere, not just in your backyard. Go at the dog’s pace, and take your time with the training as well as the fixing problems part.

A big part of curing confusion is making sure we’re not confused ourselves. If we don’t go into each training session with a game plan, we’re likely to confuse the dog because we aren’t confident about what we want to do. If we aren’t focused, the dog senses it and we lose some of that dog’s respect for us as leaders. Always go into a training session knowing what you want to work on, and be confident. This inspires confidence in your dog as well.

Another piece of the puzzle that is a common cause of confusion is over-doing the “here” command. Overusing “here” tends to cause confusion and encourages the dog to run to you whenever it feels uncertain or confused. Obviously, when a dog is on a tentative point and then breaks it to run to you, the “here” command has been overdone. Having a dog that’s overly dependent on the handler is not going to create a confident bird dog.

Rushing a dog’s training too fast can also be a cause of major confusion. For example, asking a dog to be steady on birds when they haven’t been taught to stand still is a recipe for disaster. Keep the steady part for later, and first teach them to stand still when birds are not around. Any confusion around birds is counterproductive and can create more problems, including blinking and bird shyness. A huge part of the preliminary training for a bird dog is developing pre-chase drive. This gets a dog excited about birds and builds a fire that is hard to put out. The higher you can build the prey drive, the less likely you are to have problems later on.

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There are some other kinds of confusion we’d like to address. Let’s say you’re hunting with someone who is constantly hollering at their dog and blowing a whistle. If you’ve trained your dog to work with a minimum of handling and then run it with someone who is screaming and hacking on their dog, it’s likely to cause confusion in yours. And since they don’t make doggy earplugs, your only choice is to not hunt your dog with people like that. Some dogs can learn to ignore it while others can have a meltdown and quit. Again, know your dog and be able to read it, and then act accordingly.

The same goes for hunting with an untrained, out-of-control dog. If your dog has been taught to be steady and then is hunted with a dog that is constantly busting birds, not handling, and being a general nuisance, your dog may well be confused and learn to do the same thing. The older and more confirmed a dog is in its training, the more likely it will be able to handle other dogs misbehaving like this, but we’d never recommend hunting a young dog that is just learning to be steady with an out-of-control, maniacal dog.

Be careful with retrieving as well, since it can be a turnoff for your dog and be very frustrating, intimidating, and confusing when another dog keeps trying to take the bird out of its mouth. After all the work we go through to get a dog to retrieve well, confusing it by allowing another dog to take its retrieve away is not a good thing.

One more form of confusion found in retrieving is switching, which is when your dog is brining back one bird and another bird is shot before your dog delivers the first one to you. Often, the dog will drop the bird it had and go for the new one, so be ready to enforce the retrieves all the way back so there is no confusion in the dog’s mind as to which bird to bring in.

Some dogs will get confused when being handled by someone new. By having different people work with your dog and teaching the people the correct cues, this confusion is quickly and easily worked through.

Most hunting confusion can be handled by more experience. For example, if your dog has only been on pen-raised birds, it will have to learn how to handle wild birds. This just takes time and patience, plus a little help from the handler. Different species have different scents and mannerisms, and only experience can teach a dog how to handle them. An experienced dog is not one that’s been hunted four or five times, two dozen would be a closer number, and even that can and will be built upon. Let experience take over that kind of confusion (plus it’s a great excuse to take more hunting trips, which is never a bad thing).

Simply, confusion can be handled by taking your time, going at the dog’s pace in learning, and having realistic expectations. Don’t expect a one-year-old dog to hunt like a three-year-old. If you haven’t tuned up your dog before hunting season, don’t expect it to hunt like a tuned-up dog. And during the season, if your dog starts to come unraveled, don’t expect it to do much until you take the time to go back and tune it up. If you allow the dog to come undone, you’ve confused it, since it doesn’t know what to expect.

Time, patience, and common sense can cure most any kind of confusion you may run into. Take a deep breath, slow down, and find the root of the problem; it will become a non-issue. Then you can move forward and enjoy that finely trained bird dog you’re so proud of.