looks like they were straight not at a angle !!!!!! TO EASY , MARY YOU HAVE BEEN AROUND CAR SALESMAN BILL TO LONG !!!!!

Hi, I'm a new subscriber. I have posed this question on several retriever channels but have not had a response yet. Years ago when I owned and trained retrievers, one of the books I read on training retrievers was Roger Wolters Water Dog. He strongly recommended taking a pup from its mother and littermates on the 49th day and back it up with some scientific literature at that time. Is his 7-week "rule" still valid and, if not, what is your recommendation? Thanks!

NICE THE DOG SHOPS !!!!!

VERY SLOPPY !!!! COME ON !!!!

I have a pup with a few watermarks in the pedigree. He’s awesome!

I haven’t been able to get my dog to heal for anything and he is a clone of this dog - size, behavior, color - all of it. I have listened to so many people, healing sticks, constant ecollar pressure and none of it made sense to me; it also caused other problems namely anxiety. I got my dog back from a trainer who clearly was very heavy on the ecollar with the heal from the blind to the line which caused him to be extremely vocal and a blubbering mess. I had little success because the conditioning process was not well understood or the collar was not introduced properly - I could tell right away when the collar came out the shirking and cowering began. - there was no success until I did this, and it works like magic along with the anxiety being gone. Now my dogs know they are getting ready to work and get excited when I pull the collar out. IMO the most important part of this video is even the most excitable dogs need to maintain a positive attitude and have fun! Otherwise, it becomes associated with pain and anxiety - the opposite of what motivates any creature including us! I also think this method slows the brain down a little bit. I am so glad I found this video and all of Bill’s videos - especially his online training system which I highly recommend. hope I can attend a seminar! Thanks 🙏!

I assume if you don’t want the dog to sit but just stop and stand beside you, you would use the word whoa?

I’ve got a Shadow Pup. Gonna be ready in June. Super excited

Thanks for all that you do! appreciate the info! You’re a blessing!

What is the nik for after they sit?

What was the age of the dog?

I enjoy your approach and demeanor! Thanks for the video

Love the video work and watching these young dogs develop

Whats 'nick'?

Power, grace, and enthusiasm. All of the training makes it looks effortless. What a handsome, intelligent dog.

This is just your version of what I call Walking Fetch

Good Job Mary!

was it very hot?

The sit should be taught as a separate exercise.

Great work really enjoy watching how you work. With young puppies.

Mr. Hillman, Im curious, you obviously had a plan for shadow which worked well. Questions,, How did you select him as the student of your efforts??? Breeding?, breeding but correct pick from the litter? Obviously the method worked.But what type of pup does it take to get to such a high level, or could you do it with any old beagle?? No offense to beagles, had one as a kid.

I'd pay $500 to see a Squirrel run by at arms length. A real test...

Mary, Howdy’s 14 year old “puppy” Huck is still hanging in there. One tough old man. He’s a finished gun dog (trained by Brady Collins in TN). We recently found out that he has cancer and probably won’t be around much longer. But in typical Huck style, he is acting strong and healthy and fighting with every fiber of his being. If dogs do indeed go to heaven, the breed will be Texas Watermark Retrievers. I can’t tell you what a blessing he is to our family. ❤️❤️❤️ Janie

Best method I have ever seen. I will try it. Because I never succeeded yet the heel position with my dog. He understands basic commands and is very obedient but way too hyper and playful when wanting to walk and he just does not want to walk properly. But this method seems promising. Thank you.

I have a 1 year old progeny of Shadow. She loves water, and is the best dog I've ever had

Wow, great work for so young.

Bill is awesome.

Praise the Lord

What's Nick?

Super demo Mary!

You are good training dogs I wish I had that gift great job Bill

At what age do you feel like is right to start heel work?

Perhaps I’m missing some of the nuances of the method, being visually impaired by the left to right smoke screen from the camera man’s ‘baccy habit, but I fail to see any relationship between elevating the dog’s prey drive with the fun dummies and the heeling/sit drills. This “new way” appears to be little more than an attempted application of the Premack principle. During the fun fetches, the dog reveals some good genes. However, the moment heel cue is dropped, often the moment the dummy is out of play, the dog totally checks out, his drive goes into neutral, even reverse. This shows that at least one other person senses the disconnect between the fetch and heel/sit, namely the dog. The Premack principle is a superlative tool, when used correctly. While I agree with Bill that one must avoid nagging with repetitive cues and leash pops, as far as I can see he is merely tradition the aversive leash pops with remote nicks on the e-collar. I am serious about the dogs drive slipping into reverse using this method. For the collar nicks, irregardless of the dog’s performance of the cue/command is literally the textbook scenario for developing learned helplessness in a dog. Look at American psychologist, Martin Seligman’s research on dogs touching this learned state back in the late ‘60s. The second part of his experiment involving the shock floors and shuttle box is remarkable in principle to the method advanced here.

Is Shadow related to Howdy? We have one of Howdy's pups, and he looks and acts like a clone of Shadow. He's a great finished gun dog as well as family pet. 13 years loved rotten, and he is still going strong. ❤😁

Is Star related to Howdy?

Mary, Thank you for all of the love and training you invest in your dogs. Watching your videos gives pleasure to all dog lovers...especially lab lovers. 😊

Mary, Larry and I are watching this. Is this Ace’s litter mate?

Thanks Bill. Its work:-);-)

Glad you do not teach with food rewards!

Very nice! This is a great illustration of a training session where the pup is having fun and is not being pushed to learn outside of her comfort zone. Yet, the accumulation of this method of training results in great progress ... a young puppy successfully and happily accomplishing foundational retriever skills. In a driveway and urban/suburban neighborhood! 😀

How old is Merc is the video?

0:21 pretty-hot-gilrs.online

👍👍👍 nice

I really appreciate you sharing this series with us! I also appreciate you showing Fee struggling with the directionals. Heaven knows we all struggle with things like that and showing that you struggled and then what your solution was, for Fee to have a successful retrieve to end the exercise, was great. Thank you for the honesty and the tip!

Awesome!!

Mary, would love to hear any insight into your thoughts on picking a puppy. "Picking the litter" is undoubtedly the most important step, but as a breeder/trainer have you noticed a correlation of "puppy traits" that seen to translate well to adulthood? Have you identified traits that seem to identify puppies that are best suited for gun dogs, competition etc? Having trained several "Hillmann style puppies", the consistency in the development of dogs that have a willingness to learn and cooperate is quite remarkable. So I think ultimately "what you do with them" (nurture) is the biggest driving factor, but would love to hear some thoughts on the "nature" side if it!

If I were a puppy, I would want to be at Watermarks with Mary Tatum.

Music volume dwarfed comments

any pups available?

Are you nicking him at all on the way to the pile?