Quartering

[Mig]

Surely if something in innate, is a natural ability, then we may suppress it with training but it we won't remove it. Therefore, whether we walk our dogs in straight lines or not as pups, when we then train them (or remind/encourage them) to quarter this ability will merely come to the fore once again?

I agree with Snick, dogs are wonderful at recognizing context.

And by the look of Archie I don't think you have gone far wrong Col, he's still a young dog. I'd also would have worked on quartering more as part of game play when Inde was younger if I had realised what was needed, but I can see no reason why, if such an ability is innate, that it can't be trained at a slightly later stage, and successfully so. (IMVHO).

Mig

[col]

Do you always take you dog out training for its exercise or do you go for walks too?

Judy, i remember Pippa's view on the whole walking the dog issue in one of the handbooks, she mentioned something about the sunday walk and how it sould be avoided.
With that in mind i keep the dogs training as its exercise, he gets put in the car to go 150 yds down the road just to empty himself in the morning on his favourite grassy patch. The neighbours probaly thing i'm lazy can't blame them.

PS Contender is a she!

Oop's, my apologies

[trekmoor]

It may be correct to only do a lot of retrieve training with a spaniel after its hunting is sorted out but the opposite is held to be true with the H.P.R. breeds. The advice given for them is to not let them hunt much until the retrieving is going well. Most of those breeds have a strong hunt instinct that can completely take over and you land up with a dog that will hunt like stink but which may be a non retriever. An H.P.R. with a strong hunt instinct will always hunt even if retrieving has been taught first. This does not always seem to apply when reversed.....?

Giving these breeds long retrieves won't affect their hunting because they are meant to get out well away from the handler while hunting.
I have met a few spaniels that didn't like retrieving but which did like hunting. I can only suppose they have had too much hunting and not enough early retrieving for that to become established behaviour ?

Once more much seems to depend upon what you want the spaniel for. It is unlikely that I will ever trial a spaniel , I go picking up not beating, So while I would certainly like my spaniel to hunt in a way suitable for trials or maybe beating I need a picking up dog so I do train a bit more for retrieving than most spaniel folk would want.

My wife does walks with our dogs that are just walks. She goes into a wood at one end with the dogs running free. She looks at the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees until she emerges a 1/4 to 1/2 a mile further on. She calls the dogs by voice and she fully expects the dogs to be back to her from the depths of the wood within a couple of minutes. She takes it for granted that dogs will do this and was very surprised to discover that I trained them to come back. To quote her words, " I thought dogs just did it !!!" She is taking very experienced hunting dogs out for a "walk !" She does no training except by accident.

I am the opposite , I do training walks. I walk with the dogs running free then call in one or more of them and do a retrieve or two or a bit of heelwork etc.
If all I could do with a dog was take it a walk without ever training it then I wouldn't bother to go walking - my dogs would be porkers ! The walk gives pleasure to my training and my training gives pleasure to my walk. . . . . . . .. . Whatever floats your boat ???

Wulle

[Snicklefritz]

wullie, you just made my point. There is no such thing as a 'training walk. You are training! The fact that you happen to be walking is incidental

[Judy]

I have read in several places that one should get the retrieve established in Cockers before they learn how exciting hunting is so it looks like same rules apply to HPR's and Spaniels. I can understand that, it must be much more fun to hooley around than bring things back, just like kids!

I tend towards the train or exercise school, I enjoy a good walk with my dogs although they do get recalls and some heelwork it isn't a training session by any means. I get away with it because they are all 'retrievers', I don't want the Cockers to stay close to me and keep a pattern as I would if I were using them for beating or competitions.

Mig I think even though quartering is innate it can fall by the wayside a bit if the dog is allowed to roam at will, certainly seems so with my two.

Judy

[trekmoor]

I agree with your post Snick but I call it a walk .

This brings up another question ,or at least consideration. Maybe it needs a thread of its own ? I refer to working in a training field or fields or doing as I do and making a point of going to different places several times a week. I like to work dogs under almost " battle conditions." I start pups in nice easy places but as soon as possible I take them to wilder places with game scent and get the pups used to behaving under those conditions.

I have always done this and was actually surprised to find out that many other trainers don't do this. They tend to do nearly all the preliminary training in just one or two fields.

What do the others on here do ?

Wullie

[Stacia]

I have always been told to train the dog in 'battlefield conditions' as that is where it will be working! I try to take my dogs to different places for training as a dog will learn to do it in one field but not necessarily be able to do it in another field. This is why I am taking my Labrador who won't bring the retrieve back in company, to all the different company I can find, be it the local park of even the shopping area (haven't done that one yet!).

Jelinga

[trekmoor]

I am taking my Labrador who won't bring the retrieve back in company, to all the different company I can find, be it the local park of even the shopping area (haven't done that one yet!).

Jelinga

Shopping areas are a doddle apart from low flying shopping trolleys with wummin drivers !

To make my Brittany damn near bomb proof to anything I did a couple of training session with her in Edinburghs main railway station , Waverley Station !!! She didn't get any hunting but general obedience and a couple of short retrieves among all the noise and movement made sure she was paying attention to me. On those same training sessions I went just over the road from the railway station ,pretended I couldn't read and took Vicky into Princes St. Gardens. I fed bread and peanuts to mobs of pigeons and a couple of squirrels as she sat there right in the middle of it all , smashing steadiness training but the local park keeper is a torn faced old git - we got tossed out !

Wullie

[Judy]

I should go to far more places than I do Having just one car doesn't help any but thats about to change!! Little blighters wont know whats hit 'em
Judy

[Stacia]

Wullie,

Loved the thought of the park keeper having a fit and you there happily training your dog Good for you!

Jelinga