0:31 Announcer: GundogsOnline.com helping you get the most from your hunting dog. Brought to you by George Hickox Bird Dogs.

0:44 What a good girl. Hi, I'm George Hickox. We're here in our summer training grounds in North Dakota. Today I'd like to talk about the four curses, the things that you as a trainer should never do.

0:57 One of 'em, don't ever be guilty of variable reinforcement. Variable reinforcement  is correcting a dog for bad behavior some times and not other times. The dog won't know what's expected of him. Be consistent.

1:09 And no free lunch. Don't reward the dog for no reason at all. What you want to do is reward him for giving an effort. If he goes in the kennel, reward him. If he stands, reward him. But no free lunch.

1:22 And you need to make sure that the dog understands why he's being corrected. If he's corrected and he doesn't know why, he'll make the wrong association and it may be difficult for you to get over that. Preventive medicine is a whole bunch better than surgery after the fact.

1:36 And don't say the command twice. Just say it one time. Teach the dog to expect to comply to your command the very first time you give it.

1:47 [Closing]

2:10 Announcer: GundogsOnline.com helping you get the most from your hunting dog. Brought to you by George Hickox's Bird Dog Training School.