Gundog Training Forum

alan250582 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:15 am Straight in at 8 weeks old?
Any advice on getting pup to settle the first night?

It won't. Put it in another room where you can get some peace from it. Some pups are quicker to settle down than others but you can guarantee the first night will be brutal.

Judy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2023 6:55 am TEN YEARS?!! Blimey, I remember you going to get him as a pup.

I know! So crazy!

Cut out all other retrieving. The lesson she needs to learn right now is hold. If you keep throwing retrieves for her outside of your hold sessions then she'll most likely revert to spitting it out like she was doing. She's a lab, she won't lose her desire to retrieve. Spend the time and do it right.

I've been running the pup solo since the season started as it's her first season and between work and the kids my time is limited. Yesterday I decided to run both dogs together. Literally 10 years to the day when I shot my first grouse over Jake the old man put on a show. He had this beauty young re...

Just an observation but generally I find bitches are more reluctant to hand over whatever prize they have picked up than dogs, who seem quite happy to give them to me if I ask, almost as a way of communicating with me. This bitch pup I'm working on right now definitely matches your sentiments. Shot...

Unless you're hunting for yourself, the dog should be more focused on its surroundings than you. That's not to say it blows you off when you give it a command or hit the whistle..... but until then it should be doing its thing and seeking game.

I think you're micromanaging that poor dog. Who cares if it wants to carry a stick? Sometimes you need to let a dog be a dog. After all, it's the best version of them. They're not meant to be robots.

Well the next 3 days are supposed to be hovering around 30C here... what a poor excuse for an October! Hopefully it cools down soon so the woodcock start migrating. It's been crazy dry, hard to find even a puddle for the dogs to cool off in these days. https://www.michigan-sportsman.com/media/202309...

Most likely you'll end up with a flushing spaniel that likes to push boundaries. Sounds like my kinda dog lol. It's a crap shoot at 8 weeks... pick the cutest one.

She could just be out of shape. One thing I have noticed as mine gets older is that conditioning needs to be given appropriate thought and effort. I'm sure even in her younger years you could probably notice a difference in her stamina at the beginning of the season as opposed to the last half of th...