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Memory & Marking Drill

Wagon wheel lining drills, cover drills, and heeling drills are all excellent drills,each addressing a different skill needed for successful marking. Along with teaching your dog to go straight in the field and concept marks, work on these drills will improve your dog’s performance on multiple marks. However, none of this directly addresses memory improvement. Is the memory component of marking simply an inborn trait or can we improve it through work?

This Memory and Marking (M&M) drill is a hand-thrown marking exercise that improves your dog’s memory. The drill is fun and quick and takes little room; you can do it in a suburban yard or park. It requires little equipment and no help. You can throw two or three multiple mark setups in about five minutes. You will learn to recognize where your dog is lined and where he intends to go; he will learn to work with you on line and to allow you to select the order of the retrieves. You should see genuine improvement in his memory and confidence on multiple marks.

Visible Targets Boost Memory and Aid Learning

Studies with humans have consistently shown that practicing memorizing lists does not improve memory. This means that simply doing multiple marks doesn’t improve a dog’s memory. Other studies, again with humans, have shown that use of mnemonic devices or memory aids can result in dramatic improvements in memory. Mental imagery, a type of memory aid people find useful, also happens to be a device that most readily lends itself to dog training. Simply put, if you are trying to memorize something and you draw a vivid mental image or picture, it is easier for you to recall the picture and thus the information.

How do we apply mental imagery techniques in this drill? We do this by throwing all memory marks to visible targets or objectives. With experience your dog will begin to focus on the marks in relationship to the objectives.

This drill is versatile. You can start throwing easy multiples as soon as your dog will deliver to hand. When he will handle, increase the number and difficulty of the marks. After each setup, walk a short distance and throw to another set of targets or incorporate some of the same targets but run from a different line and direction. You can do several setups in a matter of minutes. Two or three setups daily is optimal. The diagram on the next page shows four sets of marks run from four different lines using the same arrangement of objectives or targets.

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