gun dog training?

[joeanne]

a question for the gun dog owners.... we have 2 springers, both from working stock.
we didnt buy them to work (and the bitch never will due to being too nervous) and we wanted dogs that could "keep up" with us but i dont think its enough for our other dog who clearly needs a "reason" for getting up in the morning!
he is currently 7 months old has been "exposed" to gun noise, and will swim happily after objects thrown into water.
what comes next? and where do i find it?
and will him not being docked make any difference?

 

[Ravenwood]

So are you planning to work the other dog?

My advise would be to get him whistle trained. The recall and stop whistle are just about the most important thing and has to be perfected!!

I use a 2/11 with two peeps for recall and one peep for stop. I have a very basic gundog training manual that I will never use again if you would like to borrow it - just pm me with your address.

If you work him with an undocked tail you may very well get away with him not splitting it but once they do its a real nightmare to get it to heal.

 

[Scranny_Ann]

Agree with RW your basic training for working your dog comes from standard obebience and nothing less that perfect whistle commands. I.e. sit (using voice command and eventually the whistle), stay, walk to heel (on and off lead), stop and recall. Once you have this perfected ... which obviously cannot be rushed and will be painfully repetative for you BUT defo worth it

it will make life much easier when you introduce working into his life ... for both of you

good luck

 

[heidi123]

Whats the max age they can be gundog trained??

 

[Ravenwood]

As long as the basic obedience has been done, I don't think there is a maximum age, it would help obviously if he came from working parents.