I agree with Linda.......... most pet owners can train their pets the bare basics, however most train completely the wrong way, dog 'catch on' eventually (because they are clever) despite this poor way of training however it takes four times longer to train anything.
Human senses are ears, eyes, nose, where as dogs senses are the complete opposite ( nose. eyes. ears) which means humans tend to train to their own strengths so 'command words' before the dog knows what a particular command word 'action' means, humans then get frustrated as the dog doesn't 'get it' and so the training fails ( and too many 'dog trainers' also use this poor method)........ Whereas if you train according to a dogs strengths, dogs pick up new training very easily but it means a human being silent ( not talking) to get the 'action' before adding the command word.
You need to break down any training into steps...so basic 'find' and the easiest way to do that, is daily when you feed your dog you let him watch, 'sit'... 'wait'..... you hide his meal while he watches you....then command 'find', as he has seen where you hide it, he understands......this is using his second sense ( eyes...watching) and his first sense ( nose... smelling) Hide it in a different place sometimes in sight, sometimes not for a week with him watching/ waiting until you move on to hiding it with him not watching where you put it, you will then see immediately if he understands the 'find' command. You can then do that same training with a toy/treats..... and before you 'hide it' you lets him smell whatever you are hiding and hide it out of his sight..... once he has 'got it' then you can hide other things, letting him smell them before hiding and never be worried about taking training back a step eg don't rush him, always set him up to succeed/win as a praised dog will always learn quicker( and 'the praise' is NOT verbal, the praise is whatever he 'finds')....so the majority of your training is silent as 'ears' are your human first sense not the dogs.
) then i tried using a gopher bone. Dont ask where i got that.... anyway i also tried to teach "search" to him. Its a command to locate objects. Firearms, wallets, cell phones, flashlights. (I was not training with a firearm, Though i do have access. ) any help or suggestions?
