How am I doing?
Re: How am I doing?
Calm demeanour, most likely involves concise and clear communication with no ambiguity and no negotiation which is the essence of training. Some people have it naturally or are able to learn.
Re: How am I doing?
Calm manipulation works well! Experienced people know how to get the dog to succeed first time so they can praise / reward it. It's possibly the most difficult thing to teach a beginner too.
As for running a dog down, don't take it literally, if you are a calm, gentle trainer 99% of the time, when you do "go off in one" you only have to take a few paces towards them a little faster than your normal gait whilst mentioning words the Vicar wouldn't like to hear and in tones entirely different to your normal voice for the dog to think "eyup, she means it". Works every time.
As for running a dog down, don't take it literally, if you are a calm, gentle trainer 99% of the time, when you do "go off in one" you only have to take a few paces towards them a little faster than your normal gait whilst mentioning words the Vicar wouldn't like to hear and in tones entirely different to your normal voice for the dog to think "eyup, she means it". Works every time.
In life, it is important to know when to stop arguing with people and simply let them be wrong.
Re: How am I doing?
Sorry for the delayed response to all your comments and thanks to all - I was travelling for work and then thought I would wait a while because the passage of time often makes clearer what are transient problems or fluctuations.
First, CockerCanuck, thank you. Your kind and reassuring words were very welcomed at the time I posted, and helpful to go back to in uncertainty!
Naj, the trainer is perfectly at ease with progress. Much like all of you, they say it takes at least 18 months to train a gundog, and if my dog can do at 12 months what their own trial winning dogs are doing at 4 months, things are going well. Now on one hand, this makes perfect sense - they are training me to train the dog, and all the variables that go with it. On the other hand, I too would be perfectly at ease for things to take as long as they need to with the amount I am paying them regularly
Thinking about everything you have all said, I see it like this: I've boarded this particular train. It might be a slow train but I can either stay on it to the destination, or get off and risk being stranded in the middle of nowhere with a long hike to another station for an alternative route... so perhaps will suck up the cost and keep going now!
Wrt letting a pup off lead from a young age. Of course you are all right, but I also take this with a grain of salt because you are all very experienced! The most cautionary thread I read here was one where everyone was talking about letting dogs chase birds, because they quickly learn that they can't catch them and more rewarding things are to be had focusing on their owner. There was even a video linked of an american with a satchel of pigeons, releasing them one at a time for the dog to fail to catch
In the midst of all this advice, a novice turned up and said (paraphrasing) it had been a disaster and their dog never learned not to chase, because the chase was more stimulating than anything else. And the very reasonable response was, well of course it depends on reading the dog etc etc 
The talk above about calmness and expecting to be obeyed feeds into this, doesn't it!
So in the right hands I can see freedom from an early age works very well... I was not the right hands at the critical time. Would feel more confident now, but there are lots of detracting factors: she is older and more confident too; retrieving is currently woeful, so can't be used as a reward or mechanism to tempt her back; the forest and all its game is where hiding has worked best, but has become particularly stimulating - you can see her getting wound up (to the point where I have stopped taking her to the forest for now, because she isn't learning anything useful and as the trainer says, "if you are not progressing, you are regressing").... One of the experienced regulars in the forest has a three year old springer who runs off lead in ever widening circles but comes back to touch base every so often. It works fine, but I'd like a bit more control than that, especially around boar
I'd definitely try it from scratch with my next dog though.
That being said, am pleased with progress in the past few weeks. She has started to turn reliably on the whistle+turn of my shoulders - the line is really a safety net mostly. In the house she has graduated to the whole downstairs (previously restricted to the kitchen) and will leave most things alone. We worked on give and take, and I am more relaxed about not cornering her for her "trophies" - the trainer had said to never let her run around holding anything, but Nick's advice has been far more realistic and relaxing, thank you (and I can't see that it can be damaging her retrieve any more than cornering her to set up a delivery does!) Obedience in the garden is hit and miss, but she has graduated to the whole garden, and a firm command works when whatever she's got isn't very rewarding
We are working on recall repetitions as Naj suggested. And most importantly... she sat in the pub for 3 hours of the premier league final day on Sunday like an angel
First, CockerCanuck, thank you. Your kind and reassuring words were very welcomed at the time I posted, and helpful to go back to in uncertainty!
Naj, the trainer is perfectly at ease with progress. Much like all of you, they say it takes at least 18 months to train a gundog, and if my dog can do at 12 months what their own trial winning dogs are doing at 4 months, things are going well. Now on one hand, this makes perfect sense - they are training me to train the dog, and all the variables that go with it. On the other hand, I too would be perfectly at ease for things to take as long as they need to with the amount I am paying them regularly
Thinking about everything you have all said, I see it like this: I've boarded this particular train. It might be a slow train but I can either stay on it to the destination, or get off and risk being stranded in the middle of nowhere with a long hike to another station for an alternative route... so perhaps will suck up the cost and keep going now!
Wrt letting a pup off lead from a young age. Of course you are all right, but I also take this with a grain of salt because you are all very experienced! The most cautionary thread I read here was one where everyone was talking about letting dogs chase birds, because they quickly learn that they can't catch them and more rewarding things are to be had focusing on their owner. There was even a video linked of an american with a satchel of pigeons, releasing them one at a time for the dog to fail to catch
In the midst of all this advice, a novice turned up and said (paraphrasing) it had been a disaster and their dog never learned not to chase, because the chase was more stimulating than anything else. And the very reasonable response was, well of course it depends on reading the dog etc etc The talk above about calmness and expecting to be obeyed feeds into this, doesn't it!So in the right hands I can see freedom from an early age works very well... I was not the right hands at the critical time. Would feel more confident now, but there are lots of detracting factors: she is older and more confident too; retrieving is currently woeful, so can't be used as a reward or mechanism to tempt her back; the forest and all its game is where hiding has worked best, but has become particularly stimulating - you can see her getting wound up (to the point where I have stopped taking her to the forest for now, because she isn't learning anything useful and as the trainer says, "if you are not progressing, you are regressing").... One of the experienced regulars in the forest has a three year old springer who runs off lead in ever widening circles but comes back to touch base every so often. It works fine, but I'd like a bit more control than that, especially around boar
I'd definitely try it from scratch with my next dog though.That being said, am pleased with progress in the past few weeks. She has started to turn reliably on the whistle+turn of my shoulders - the line is really a safety net mostly. In the house she has graduated to the whole downstairs (previously restricted to the kitchen) and will leave most things alone. We worked on give and take, and I am more relaxed about not cornering her for her "trophies" - the trainer had said to never let her run around holding anything, but Nick's advice has been far more realistic and relaxing, thank you (and I can't see that it can be damaging her retrieve any more than cornering her to set up a delivery does!) Obedience in the garden is hit and miss, but she has graduated to the whole garden, and a firm command works when whatever she's got isn't very rewarding
We are working on recall repetitions as Naj suggested. And most importantly... she sat in the pub for 3 hours of the premier league final day on Sunday like an angel
Last edited by Nutter on Mon May 25, 2026 9:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: How am I doing?
I think this is the crux of it - suspect my trainer takes the long way round in some things because it's quite hard to teach this to beginners. Reassuring really - I suspect whatever method I had started with, I would be quite a bit behind compared with all these experienced folk, so feel quite sanguine now thanks
Re: How am I doing?
Don't forget all dogs are different too, some just take longer than others regardless of how experienced the trainer is. I've had one dog that I took to a shoot with complete confidence when she was 9 months old, others have been 9 years or more and I still lacked confidence with them.Nutter wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2026 9:01 pmI think this is the crux of it - suspect my trainer takes the long way round in some things because it's quite hard to teach this to beginners. Reassuring really - I suspect whatever method I had started with, I would be quite a bit behind compared with all these experienced folk, so feel quite sanguine now thanks
In life, it is important to know when to stop arguing with people and simply let them be wrong.
Re: How am I doing?
Just a word of caution Naj, I have been helping someone with a setter (show bred unfortunately) who is quite a nice dog but had no initial training and is a big strong lad. Yesterday morning my dogs were restless and I got up to see what was going on rather earlier than usual to find him sitting in my garden apparently waiting for me!
He walked happily around the village with me looking for his owner to no avail and she wasn't answering her phone. Eventually I got a message to her and she appeared very flustered. She said he obviously preferred being with me to her as he had bogged off on her and come back to my place - she also asked if I wanted him which if he was working bred I might have considered.
Do you want a border collie as that might come next!?
Re: How am I doing?
No thanks,Nickheref wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2026 9:05 amJust a word of caution Naj, I have been helping someone with a setter (show bred unfortunately) who is quite a nice dog but had no initial training and is a big strong lad. Yesterday morning my dogs were restless and I got up to see what was going on rather earlier than usual to find him sitting in my garden apparently waiting for me!
He walked happily around the village with me looking for his owner to no avail and she wasn't answering her phone. Eventually I got a message to her and she appeared very flustered. She said he obviously preferred being with me to her as he had bogged off on her and come back to my place - she also asked if I wanted him which if he was working bred I might have considered.
Do you want a border collie as that might come next!?
Re: How am I doing?
Just a quick update a month on if anyone has more advice and in thanks for the contributions
Retrieving off lead in a lane is going well - she will sit without running in (or come back to verbal correction if she breaks!), and come back with the dummy and a great hold. The tip of running away was the thing that cracked it thanks - I had been previously going to her which made her want to run further will keep practicing this aiming to graduate out of the lane I guess
I think I probably misrepresented how bad her recall off lead was in my initial post - she has a trailing long line a lot now when we go out and she DOES recall very well to be fair, the issue was really recall in the context of a retrieve which I have started to understand better above. As Nick and Naj allude to the problem is how I have been taught not the dog but anyway for now sticking with the trainer who is insistent not to let her totally free yet so the trailing line is a useful safety net and comfort blanket (and a good way to placate all the green spaces we go where dogs must be on lead)
When she gets things she shouldnt, I am doing either give and take or swapping her for edible rewards. She learned the drill very quickly! She very much knows the difference between a retrieve and contrabrand though, little so and so. Yesterday she seized upon a small sparrow that had become dazed in the heat. Still has a soft mouth - I took the bird and it flew away without even a ruffled feather
I made a separate post about water.
Judy what you say about the individual dog makes lots of sense - she is a pretty chilled springer (is that an oxymoron?) and so can't push her too much in training or she loses motivation. And I am learning and muddling through all along. So things are going along gently and slowly!
Retrieving off lead in a lane is going well - she will sit without running in (or come back to verbal correction if she breaks!), and come back with the dummy and a great hold. The tip of running away was the thing that cracked it thanks - I had been previously going to her which made her want to run further
will keep practicing this aiming to graduate out of the lane I guessI think I probably misrepresented how bad her recall off lead was in my initial post - she has a trailing long line a lot now when we go out and she DOES recall very well to be fair, the issue was really recall in the context of a retrieve which I have started to understand better above. As Nick and Naj allude to the problem is how I have been taught not the dog
but anyway for now sticking with the trainer who is insistent not to let her totally free yet so the trailing line is a useful safety net and comfort blanket (and a good way to placate all the green spaces we go where dogs must be on lead)When she gets things she shouldnt, I am doing either give and take or swapping her for edible rewards. She learned the drill very quickly! She very much knows the difference between a retrieve and contrabrand though, little so and so. Yesterday she seized upon a small sparrow that had become dazed in the heat. Still has a soft mouth - I took the bird and it flew away without even a ruffled feather
I made a separate post about water.
Judy what you say about the individual dog makes lots of sense - she is a pretty chilled springer (is that an oxymoron?) and so can't push her too much in training or she loses motivation. And I am learning and muddling through all along. So things are going along gently and slowly!