Gun dog training

druid said:
He learnt a lot from watching the proper workers, he already retrieved to hand when lamping bunnies so it was just a case of teaching him to be steady and handle. He will not quarter but he does hunt well for his retrieves, works on blinds and is rock steady on a peg. I occasionally bring him to visit other shoots for a bit of devilment as my peg dog.
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I'm not sure if he says more for your skills as a trainer or his as a worker, but well done. :-)
 
My lot love water retrieves.
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cinnamontoast said:
My lot love water retrieves.
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PLEASE be very careful about allowing your dog to enter water thus. Many a dog has been badly injured. Unless you know what is below the surface of the water you run the risk of your dog being injured - sometimes badly, and (hearsay) also fatally. You may think it is safe, but unless you own the river/lake and can prevent access of anyone else to your land who may dump litter /rubbish you never know.

Most people who work their gundogs train them to enter water more circumspectly.
Having said all that it is a fab picture, but it did make me cringe for the above reasons.
 
Well we survived .
My head is still spinning .
The dog was super he's a little star .
We walked a while with the trainer in charge of Dram and he showed how he gets the leader work perfect , Drams pretty good on the lead but quickly upped his game to another level he kept trying to get eye contact with me ( which was not allowed ) so I had to watch without watching if you see what I mean .
After a while we let him off the lead and he checked his recall (he's great at recall ) which went well apart from the dog coming back to me instead of the trainer .
And tidied up him sitting beside him in the best place .
We did heel work and he introduced the whistle I had a go but I am really uncomfortable and shy about it I need to practise alone until I get over it .
He then got Drams dummy out of his pocket , Dram ran straight to him and sat down I was so proud of him .
He worked with Dram with the dummy showed me the things to practise , I have done a bit of this already and apart from Dram getting confused and trying to bring the dummy to me it went well.
He said the dog is sharp with a lot of drive and I need to restrict the retrieving and work to get him very very steady and some days take the dummy but never use it .
We did one retrieve from thickish undergrowth and he said Drams natural instinct to seek it out was spot on .
After the dummy work which was great fun we went back to heel and then to the leader and the dog was very settled .
I really enjoyed it and it lovely to see someone really good at what he does his timing is spot on .
He said he liked Dram and I had done a good job so far but he would hardly say he hated your dog .
Last night Dram was exhausted and flaked out .
We are to go back in three weeks having worked on what I was shown .
Wish me luck .
 
Well done you, and Dram too!! Bonding with a dog is such a buzz, isn't it?!!

It sounds as though you've had excellent advice, and though I expect that the point has already been made, the slower the progress, so the better the finished product. I've no doubt that this summer you'll be taking part in proper working tests, once you've grown in confidence.

Alec.
 
It was so exciting seeing him searching for a dummy for the first time when it was thrown to undergrowth I felt a bit tearful .
Drams quiet today's and watching me closely I wonder what he's thinking .
 
I have got a half trained (!) but quite efficient young lab here, she is the first one I trained myself and our link is like nothing I have had with a dog before. There is no doubt that working dogs love the person that works them above all others. I hope you and Dram have a long and successful shooting career ahead of you. I think your husband is starting up a shoot this year? It will be a great opportunity to take Dram out without feeling you have to put any pressure on him.
 
Yes Clodagh that's the idea ,just some work for fun at the shoot based on last years bag he's unlikely to be overworked .
 
So pleased you had a good time. My spaniel disgraced himself whilst training on Wednesday. Keeping him close, hunting 'blind' dummies in thick cover. Threw dummy into the edge of thick bramble where we could just see it, whilst he was retrieving another.

Let him hunt on, he quickly found the dummy, touched it with his nose and the dummy bolted from the brambles. It had landed right next to a hare that had sat tight. Beans immediately went deaf and cleared off in pursuit. Hare jinked and Beans lost it but his blood was up, luckily he ran back and fore at a distance, never getting further away. He came back after a few minutes. Lead put on and taken to a 'safer' enclosed bit of the wood where we worked on seen and memory retrieves. I couldn't send him to hunt again as he was still full of adrenalin.

They will always find a way to show you up. A friend told me today about his labs misdemeanour. His dog is the best dog on the shoot, hunts, retrieves and is superbly steady. He sent the dog for a runner. The dog dived into the hedge and came back with a stuffed toy pheasant that was rather bedraggled. One of the land owners children remembered a puppy losing it 2 years previously.
 
Thistle said:
So pleased you had a good time. My spaniel disgraced himself whilst training on Wednesday. Keeping him close, hunting 'blind' dummies in thick cover. Threw dummy into the edge of thick bramble where we could just see it, whilst he was retrieving another.

Let him hunt on, he quickly found the dummy, touched it with his nose and the dummy bolted from the brambles. It had landed right next to a hare that had sat tight. Beans immediately went deaf and cleared off in pursuit. Hare jinked and Beans lost it but his blood was up, luckily he ran back and fore at a distance, never getting further away. He came back after a few minutes. Lead put on and taken to a 'safer' enclosed bit of the wood where we worked on seen and memory retrieves. I couldn't send him to hunt again as he was still full of adrenalin.

They will always find a way to show you up. A friend told me today about his labs misdemeanour. His dog is the best dog on the shoot, hunts, retrieves and is superbly steady. He sent the dog for a runner. The dog dived into the hedge and came back with a stuffed toy pheasant that was rather bedraggled. One of the land owners children remembered a puppy losing it 2 years previously.
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Love the story about the toy .
On runners when we where walking and chatting the trainer said I never send a lab after runners until their three and starts explaining why etc etc eventully I had to ask what's a runner as I had visions of the three year Dram dragging back one of those 118118 boys .
 
Tawny has picked up runners that are not running, as in alive birds tucked in brambles or whatever. She has only done one actual runner and did it well, but it has only just been her first season so I didn't want her getting too keen, she is very 'hot'!
LOL at vision of Dram retrieving 118 boy!
 
It's a deep river, he jumps in from a bank some feet above. I see your point about not knowing what's in there, I'm worried now! We're not going in for any trials, may look at dock jumping! They normally go in flatter:
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The runners thing depends on the dog - Dan (ESS) was picking them at the end of his first season at 16/18 months old, he's mature enough, lots of dogs I wouldn't ask that of until older.
 
Had a good session this afternoon just the two of us .
Lead work was great ,a little work needed at first with the heel work , but it's the first time I have attempted a training session in out wood he's normally in there with the girls for a riot so he took a little while to settle to heel .
As we walked doing do distance sits as we went he put up three pheasants I did the 'leave it' the trainer taught him and he came straight back to me .
We did some dummy work with me getting the dummy in nine out of ten times .
The wood is growing in an old quarry so it's a series of deep rides between tree covered piles of spoil .
He had run up to the top of one of the piles of spoil and I put him into sit he was a fair distance from me , I then threw the dummy along the ride he waited until I signaled him to go he went straight to the dummy and brought it back gave it to me .
It was perfect I can't believe the amount one session has taught him .
We then did some settling work with me getting the dummy sat in the sun for a while and had a chat .
I really really enjoyed myself .
Pointless post but MrGS doesn't get why I think it's exciting .
He is sharp though I am not going to use the dummy tomorrow .
 
Brilliant, well done.
I do have a bone to pick with you though, you have got me so inspired I have joined the URC and am off for a training session next weekend - all your doing. :-)
 
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