Flodden, my bedlington started his gundog training:)

Bosworth

Bosworth

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Well today was the first day of his training, we had a 1:1 session with the gundog trainer. I accept he is not a classic gundog, but the trainer said he had potential! I suspect that means he can only get better :)

We worked on heel work on the lead, just getting Flodden to walk to heel with me walking straigh forwards, then 90degrees, left or right. then about turns. My timing is not good yet, I find I am checking a little late, and comanding a little early. but we sort of got there a few times. My about turns were laughable. So plenty to work on. We also tried a few sits, and he could do those happily and I could leave him and walk away then come back and circle him. So that is great.

His retrieve is hmmmmm. THe tennis ball might be interesting to spaniels and labs but Flodden just looked at it then the trainer and then back to the ball as though to say, "yup!!!! its a ball!" And when the chap rolled it to get him to pick it up Flodden just batted it aside and looked at him "yes it is still just a ball" So i have to find something that he likes and get him to pick it up and bring it to me. Will have to search for that as bedlingtons are quite disdainful of possessions. So lots to work on there.

His recall - pathetic!!!!!! Far to many interesting things there to do rather than come back, until he realised I had left the field then he came at speed. So any suggestions about how to improve his recall would be great. apparantly the way I have been doing it is wrong. I was taught by an obedience trainer to make the voice high and excited, the gun dog trainer said no definitely not. Flodden comes when I call it high pitched - well he comes 50% of teh time. So how can I make it 100%?

And we finished there really, only an hour, loads of breaks as he is only 5 months, and loads of homework to work on over teh next month and a half. We can join a class at 6 months old but in the meantime I need to get my heelwork, my recall and my retrieve started.

I would also like to add that Flodden did do some heelwork off the lead and he was far better, I suspect that is my fault as we rarely use a lead as he doesn;t go for walks yet as too young, but i do take him round the farm off lead so he used to that rather than the lead work.

Overall the chap seemed to think Flodden will be able to do it. it is in their heritage afterall, they were poachers dogs, they went shooting with their owners, who would leave their kill in a hedge, then once they had got home safely past the gamekeepers they would send their bedlington back for their kill, so they have a retrieving history, just slightly different from the norm. Any hints or help would be most welcome
 
Ah, you will learn to walk in a straight line while heeling eventually, I promise :D :p
Dunno about the recall thing - our recall is very high-pitched Hi-ERRRR! Even the men screech it!
You can build toy/object drive, balls on ropes or dummies on ropes are great toys, you can keep them 'live' and moving and tease the dog with them by dragging them around and keeping them just out of reach, instead of balls, which just stop rolling and become dead, and you can also then have a game of tuggy with the dog and let the dog 'win' it.

This can be worked into the recall, when the dog is off playing with the first object, start winding him up with the second object, run backwards, make a big deal of it, throw it behind you or between your legs to encourage him to come in straight to you. So giving up one thing, always results in a reward with something else.

You can try hand feeding with the recall, every time my dog comes back to me, even if he pauses on the lead and comes back to say hi, he will get a pat and a dog nut (I take it out of his daily ration and feed from my pocket) this can also work with the heelwork and encourage him to keep his head up/keep focused. So coming back to me = always positive. Even if he has tanked off and gone to say hi to every other dog on the field, like he did yesterday :o
 
Sounds like you had great fun with him :D

Lots of good advice above but please, never, ever play tug of war with a gun dog :eek:

For the recall, has the trainer suggested you introduce a whistle? I start mine off with the whistle from the very beginning. They do seem to respond so much better to that definitive couple of peeps than from your voice ;)

Just out and about in the garden, whilst he is doing his own thing, call him as you would immediately followed by a couple of peeps from the whistle and a really yummy small treat (chopped cooked liver or chicken - still warm is even better) and in no time he will connect the two :)

Good luck but don't forget he is still very, very young.
 
Was just thinking that about the tug of war thing while I was out with my pup just now :p doh!
Buuuuut with a dog not inclined to hold or grip an item in the first place, you can't teach a release without encouraging the dog to hold something. So maybe not proper tuggy times, but definitely encourage him to hold or carry the object in his mouth.

Also the whistle - if you're into clicker training (I am now! It is an immediate mark of good behaviour and doesn't fluctuate like your voice if you are bored/tired/moody :p) there's a great little gadget from the Company of Animals which is a clicker and whistle built into one and with a little elastic band so you can keep in on your wrist all the time.

Also agree with RW, there's no rush, you'll have years to practise :)
 
the trainer doesn;t do to whistle yet, apparantly I have to get him to respond to my voice first. He does pick up things on our wanders round the farm, chunks of wood, lumps of poo. So i will just keep going with that and aske him to bring to me and sit.

Is it ok to reward him with food for a recall if you are gundog training, somoone on here told me the retreive was the reward and not to reward with food. I am happy to give liver, I have a freezer full of cooked liver as we had a pig slaughtered last week and i kept the liver - its one huuuuuuuge liver :)
Flodden thoroughly enjoyed it and so did I, we just did 10 mins while we went round the fields checking horses and having night time toilet walk :) I have Poppy with me so off lead heel with them both is easy as Poppy is brilliant to heel. just as we walk along and then I let them go on. I also make him sit when i open gates and then tell him to come.

Not sure how to use the whistle so am worried I would give the wrong note, trainer will be moving on to the whistle next stage, so would i be better to leave that until I have been told what sounds to make.

Thank you for coming back, this is a totally new area. I love him to bits, so he will have as much time as he needs, its all fun.
 
Don't be scared of the whistle - it can't go wrong!

They only need to learn two whistle commands which is usually - two peeps for come and one longer blast for stop.

I would wait until your next session and see what your trainer says.

I only use food rewards at the very beginning if necessary (and usually diced cheese), as soon as they get the message, verbal praise if fine and you're right, don't use food rewards once you start retrieving - you don't want him to drop the bird!
 
brilliant, thank you ravenwood. I will keep on with the food rewards for recall. I am recalling at very very short distances at the moment and rewarding every time he comes. will just increase the distance. I have been told that if he doesn;t come to call then I have to go and grab him and take him back to where I called him from and praise him for coming. Even tho I got him. I cannot let him not come when called. is that right? Sorry loads of questions. I have had several other dogs and trained them all as pets, all very well behaved, but never trained a gundog and don;t want to confuse him.
 
I never go and grab a dog TBH (unless they or a small furry is in imminent danger or the behaviour is rude), with a lot of dogs they will either turn that into a game of chase or feel stressed by it and will evade you, but horses for courses.

Another good game for recall is to grab a friend or relative, get them to hold the dog, you go backwards, wind him up, wait till he is wiggling then the friend will let go and make a huge fuss over the dog when he gets to you.
 
the going and grabbing seemed wrong, also I can see no reason to move from the high pitched call back which work at the moment, to a low pitch that doesn;t work at the moment. surely once I have recall everytime with a high pitched excited voice, I can then drop it slowly to a low pitch and retain the recall. or is that totally wrong. aaaaaaaaaaargh, sorry yet more questions.
 
Do what works :)
Like I say, if our big rufty tufty boys can get away with 'hiiiierrrr!' then why not you :p
The rationale for us is, it is nice and positive, some dogs can get intimitaded by a lower, gruffer voice, you're asking for something/encouraging something, not correcting something.
JMO, doesn't mean either of us is right or wrong.
 
I have always used the high pitched, excited voice for recall. Mind you calling "Pickle pup" to the new arrival in a silly voice does make me feel a bit of a prat. :p
 
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