4 year old springer.

[JamesBridgman]

Right... where do i start?

I bought an ESS nearly 4 years ago as a pup as a pet. Since then I have decided to join a local syndicate shoot which means I need a dog. PROBLEM! She isn't trained and I am finding it hard. The bitch is very food orientated which is a blessing but am struggling on a number of aspects:

recall - sometimes it's brilliant and other times it's awful especially when she's flushed a bird as she'll chase, tried long lead for a few months but hasn't worked along with food which has improved but not perfect.
hunting - when we're walking through our farm she will just run off a lot further than wanted and obviously having no good solid recall I cant get her back. I want her to work in front of me so also need to address this.

The stop whistle isn't bad but just needs a bit of conditioning and lead work to heel also isn't bad. She has no interest in a ball or retrieving so not going to mention that at this stage as want the basics nailed. If anyone could help it would be very appreciated.

James

[CockerCanuck]

Well my opinion is you have a lot of work to do but you OP indicates lots of reason for optimism. Her enthusiasm to chase birds indicates a strong desire to hunt. This really can't be trained so be thankful it is there in her nature. The other issues are all things which can be trained without a lot of difficulty including retrieving.

I don't think I have the strength to help you with everything tonight but I would start with building a solid recall. As she is food oriented this should not be that difficult. I have read (and not seen evidence to disagree) that it takes 30 repetitions for a dog to learn a command. If they have been allowed to ignore it, it takes 90 to fix that. I would suggest you start your 90 repetitions of enforced and praised recall with no more than 4-5 a day. In a month you will be ready to move on to the next stage and at that time come back and ask for more advice.

Sorry I can't offer a quick fix but they are dogs and not robots (thank God)

[Gundogguy]

Well my opinion is you have a lot of work to do but you OP indicates lots of reason for optimism. Her enthusiasm to chase birds indicates a strong desire to hunt. This really can't be trained so be thankful it is there in her nature. The other issues are all things which can be trained without a lot of difficulty including retrieving.

I don't think I have the strength to help you with everything tonight but I would start with building a solid recall. As she is food oriented this should not be that difficult. I have read (and not seen evidence to disagree) that it takes 30 repetitions for a dog to learn a command. If they have been allowed to ignore it, it takes 90 to fix that. I would suggest you start your 90 repetitions of enforced and praised recall with no more than 4-5 a day. In a month you will be ready to move on to the next stage and at that time come back and ask for more advice.

Sorry I can't offer a quick fix but they are dogs and not robots (thank God)

CC has you starting in a good place. You will have your work cut out for you. as the initial recall training develops begin work on retrieving short distances in the beginning 10-20 ft expand as the dog develops strengths. Gun proofing is going to be very important as well Lets not cover that at this time. There are many ways to it however I only believe in one way, the right way, I' ll post a link on that subject if needed.