Shooting - Bolting the line :(

practice practice practice, not on the field though.
set up senarios that make the dog break the wait/stay-then practice practice practice.
Although a dog that has learnt it can bolt is unlikely to ever be 100% reliable.
Until a dog is 100% reliable the opportunity to bolt should never be available to it.
If the dog bolts on the field it needs to be kept on the lead.
 
Thanks for the reply Twiggy. He is only 2 and with a very solid recall at home. Our horses are kept on shooting land and at home I can call him off anything or at least keep him to heal off the lead without any issues around other dogs, game, rabbits etc. I will just say he is not used as a peg dog and hunts with me as a walking gun on the flanks of the beaters line.

We hadn't had any issues with him bolting until the time before last that he went shooting with me. He was having a cracking day, working really well until 2 other dogs bolted the line. He took off after them, head down, other dogs paying no attention to their owner either. When he came back I ignored him, put him on a lead and stayed on it for the rest of the day. Thankfully the drive wasn't ruined this time.

After this I tried to re-create what had happened and alas at home he remains solid, even while shooting clays - gun association he is brilliant. Even had other dogs running around (they are badly behaved and will not come back).

We've been out shooting since and he was back to his normal very good self, even after a hare got up, he looked at it, looked at me and came straight back to me but had a friend of a friend comment about my control of him last night and it's playing on my mind about going next week now. Am I being too soft with not wanting to go, even after he redeemed himself last time out? Did I deal with him bolting properly by ignoring him and keeping him on a lead afterwards (he wasn't a happy puppy!)
 
So it was a one off? Give him the benefit of the doubt - even field trial champions have slip ups. Reinforce the recall at home and trust him on the shoot. If he misbehaves again a tactic change might be needed but for one misdemeanor I wouldn't be overly concerned.
 
I would re enforce the lesson by treating him like a pup and keeping him o the lead at least for the next few times you are shooting, he obviously finds the real thing exciting and you just want to make sure the steadiness is set in stone.
It is very hard to put right what has gone wrong but so easy to make sure it goes right.
I am guessing so would like a dog that is steady and trustworthy for a good few years yet? A 2yrs he is still a young dog and you need to set him up to succeed.
 
@Druid. It was a one off on the field Druid. He obviously ran off a fair few times as a pup until he learnt what was asked of him. Husband has pretty much said same as you, he's young, very fit and isn't a machine and so I shouldn't worry too much. I think I am a bit sensitive. This guy ha said stuff about me before, I'm the only female that attends and this guy is very 'old tradition' and not in a good way but has a slightly misogynistic view of women.

@Twiggy. I think I may try this, more I think to get my own confidence back with him. I suppose a lunge line would be ok would it? We used a soft rope on the few first drives at the backend of last year but found it got tangled up in the hedge. I guess a lunge line with it being thicker probably wouldn't do this. Yes completely with you on this regarding wanting him to succeed and I do appreciate he is still young, a pup really (but then he will always be a pup to me)

@Druid. He went out 2 or 3 times last year at a year old on a soft long rope just for a couple of low key drives. The last 2 drives of the last shoot of last year we let him off with an older, steady dog and let him work on what we had practiced at home. He learnt alot from her in just a short space of time and left it at that for the close of season.

Through the summer and every day now he is on the yard with me for 2 hours a morning and an hour an evening so he is fit. When i ride he will run alongside and although he will send birds up while on the farm he won't bolt and I can confidently call him off anything like this at home. We practiced over the summer mainly on getting the re-call sharper and immediate and also worked on the stay whistle (which I had previously asked for advice on, on here) In summary, this is his first season, he had been out 4 or 5 times this season prior to the 'bolt' incident and once after it with another day planned this week before close season. So not alot of experience really. I suppose my redeeming factor is he bolted after 2 other dogs (who should know better) who broke the line, rather than him starting it off his own back!
 
Ok, so he's young and inexperienced - do you hunt him at home? (as in does he get trained for quartering). Do you walk him? Is he loose on the yard when he goes with you?

If a tether of some sort would comfort you use washing line, it doesn't snag like rope does.

I run a picking up team as well as trialing spaniels. Personally, if he is running loose on the yard I'd knock that on the head. He's at heel, he's retrieving or he's quartering. Dogs don't bolt when they don't know it's a possibility. "Free" time is running/playing in our meadow only on the "go play" command. Otherwise, outside, you do exactly as I ask. If you enjoy taking him riding that's fine but he should be heeled or close to the horse - mine learn "close" as a command specifically for this.

I'd also get your stop whistle as sharp as you can - it will save you far more than the recall ever will. Stop even if a bolting rabbit dummy crosses his path, even if a pigeon is released in front of him, etc! Have fun setting up scenarios for him to succeed at. Repetition is key. Also dog in over the summer if at all possible.

For comparison my 17 month old dog is picking up on a large driven shoot being sent for carefully selected birds and trialing....so it is possible even with pups....don't worry too much :)
 
I have none of the experience of Druid but my young lab is in her second season and is still only on limited retreives, she will be two this month. She has some drives where out of necessity she has to do a lot of work, but then also drives where she sits and watches. I pick up, so she is behind the guns.
I must say I admire anyone who can train a spaniel and it sounds like you are doing great. Mine are not at heel all the time on a walk or at home either.
 
And another thing - having just been for a walk and fed the flight pond, while thinking about spaniels. If your dog is just with you all the time a lot of what they know is just picked up en route, rather than in set training sessions. A pheasant got out of the hedge today, young lab was well in front but not working the hedge. She sat when it came out, gave me a filthy look for not shooting it, and then ran back to me for instruction. None of that has been consciously taught. I say again though, spaniels seem a different kettle of fish.
 
Clodagh said:
And another thing - having just been for a walk and fed the flight pond, while thinking about spaniels. If your dog is just with you all the time a lot of what they know is just picked up en route, rather than in set training sessions. A pheasant got out of the hedge today, young lab was well in front but not working the hedge. She sat when it came out, gave me a filthy look for not shooting it, and then ran back to me for instruction. None of that has been consciously taught. I say again though, spaniels seem a different kettle of fish.
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Labradors are born half trained, spaniels die half trained ;)
 
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