Gundog Training Forum

Thanks for that Spurr. The vet offered to get the tests done, but experience tells me that it's usually a lot less expensive (and probably more thorough) to find an expert and get them done myself. Your info seems to support that view. Actually, I'm not in Scotland but I'll check out the link.

Yep, I don't think the functionality is too impaired. But I should have mentioned that I'm having my guy DNA-tested for PRA, on the vet's advice.

Has anyone noticed near- or short-sightedness in their dogs? I noticed that my 5 years old Springer was relying on scent for finding objects to retrieve. On short distances, say 30 yards he'll go by sight, but when on any long distance retrieve, he'll bowl out in the general direction and hunt for i...

I've never understood why vets recommend kibble. It seems to me the most unnatural food for a dog. Dogs aren't too far from wolves, and the canine gut evolved to eat raw meat with some herbage. My feller was never too keen on dried food as a puppy, and I thought he was a fussy eater. I went through ...

I'm really glad I didn't read this thread before training a dog - it would have scared me to death. It's as if a PhD in animal behavioral theory is needed. Is this really rocket science, or just a way to enhance the mystique of professional trainers? This is just my way, but I reckon dog training is...

Am I alone in thinking that the dog making a beeline for sweet spring grass and wheat is indicating a need for some sort for vegetable matter? I thaw a handful of frozen cooked veg, or a few boiled spuds into every meal. My ESS dog is 24kg and in very good nick. His daily feeding regime for ages has...

When my lad was little more than a puppy, I was at work and he was inadvertently let out by an incompetent friend who was staying at my place, and who managed to leave both the door to the dog run and the garden gate open after taking him for a walk. At that time, I kept Flynn without a collar and, ...

Sorry, but I think leaving a young puppy for 8 or 9 hours alone OR putting it in a car and visiting very couple of hours are both out of order. Just my view.

Can you not take your dog to work with you? Even if you cannot take her in, you could keep her in the car and go out and potty the dog every couple of hours, that is what I did when my current dog was 7 weeks........ Cripes, what's worse, the kennel with a run or the car? When I last had a new 12 w...

I saw Ian Openshaw at a game fair, demonstrating how to train a young dog to stay close while quartering. The demo was in very long grass in a meadow at Blenheim, and for other sections of his demo with other dogs Opie had been planting pigeons all over the place, so there was plenty of scent about,...