Well

[Cornishbird]

Well (see what I did there ), munstyman you’ve convinced me not to get a tripod thingy. As the young fella is easily distracted at the best of times you’ve helped me decide that maybe this could be just another distraction. When I’ve recorded before and sent the clips to my trainer I didn’t edit the recording as I’ve not enough skills for that type of production and I’d say their feedback was fair.

Nutter, yes we only train 2-3 times per week. However that’s just us, I don’t think there’s hard and fast rule about frequency. Quality here is probably as important as quantity. As I’ve said before my dog doesn’t seem all that interested in gundog work he’s a little comme ci comme ca! But as was suggested in previous posts, maybe I’ve not yet lit the fire in his belly. We go out twice a day usually too, though there are days one outing is enough for him on top of his physio exercises across the week.

Patterns games were designed by Leslie McDevitt an American trainer I think, for dogs who are reactive, need confidence building primarily however they’re also good exercises for building engagement in a range of areas as well as loose lead walking. Mostly done through food, but can be adapted to use with toys. So in between gundog training and physio we do these type of games to help channel the spaniel mind!

There are quite variety of books / online videos about pattern games - it just so happens we’re working with another trainer on a couple of things, loose lead walking is one, and they use some of these games. I’ve found them so useful and the dog enjoys them too, he comes away knackered and our loose lead walking has improved dramatically as has him staying closer to me.

In my reply I feel I’ve missed a question, sorry if I have - I keep having to log back in to post

[Nutter]

Thanks for all of this cb

You and nick are both having post issues it seems... no problems here (android, duck duck go browser, for what it's worth)

[Naj]

I don’t think there should be specific limits on training. I train pups and young dogs everyday when I have them. If the dog is enjoying the training then it should be self rewarding, if they’re not enjoying the experience then perhaps there’s something wrong elsewhere, rather than with the dog. Of course, you shouldn’t let things become boring, especially with retrieves. But it’s very hard to bore a spaniel with hunting! So there’s always that. But hunting bare ground is intrinsically boring. And hunting doesn’t mean turn whistle, turn whistle, turn whistle repeated ad infinitum! If your turn whistle has value to the dog, in that it predicts good things might happen around you, then it will never be boring. So I’d keep up with frequent finds on a rabbit skin ball, or scattered food if that works. You obviously have a retrieving issue that you’re working through but I see that as a separate thing and would continue sneaking in balls even if the dog tends to spit them. But that’s me. You can work on the delivery with dummies. How do you reward the dog for a good delivery? That might be something to look at.

[Nutter]

Thanks Naj, always lots to think about. I have been keeping a diary for the past week - twice a day brief notes on what we did when out.

Each outing is a combo of:

1. Heelwork on slip lead - to get to the grounds but also to calm her down and break up the hunting when she starts to boil over or get distracted

2. Hunting - daily on the same rabbity ground, which she is interested in and has been worked on since little, plus a second outing somewhere new . Sometimes just letting her explore for burrows and droppings, sometimes for kibble. Usually with check cord just trailing for safety (she is liable to run up to other dogs being trained..). This is the majority of what we are doing now. Turn whistle is only occasional as since your advice she is roaming much closer and nose to the ground, and is clesely keen to stay near me so I only need to pip when she has got distracted and pulled further off without keeping an eye on me. This feels much better than the previous version...

3. A very occasional ball throw. I look back at videos where she was so driven for a thrown ball - she would pick it, and while she wouldnt readily come back, she would hold it very possessively. Now she will pick a thrown ball, run halfway back to me as I back away, or fly past, and inevitably drop the ball anywhere en route and go do something else.

You obviously have a retrieving issue that you’re working through but I see that as a separate thing and would continue sneaking in balls even if the dog tends to spit them. But that’s me.

I stopped hiding balls for her while hunting because after initially being really interested in finding them, she quickly started
a) dropping them as soon as she found them
b) running off, getting distracted and dropping them
c) running past them with a cursory nose at them sometimes

So I wondered if I was boring her because balls became less precious. I have tried hiding rabbit skin dummies for hunting and retrieving, and a rabbit ear - same problem. Not got any wings yet. But you think ball exposure in hunting will not affect ball drive in the retrieve?

You can work on the delivery with dummies. How do you reward the dog for a good delivery? That might be something to look at.

She does good deliveries at home all the time(!) as she inevitably picks up things I would rather she didn't and she recalls beautifully to the kitchen for a treat...until the past couple of days where she has started testing the boundaries by staying where she is with an excellent hold on the item, and waiting to see if I will come to her to start a chase - I have been ignoring her and letting her have it until she loses interest. On outings delivery is a different story as above, I thought because of environmental distractions (even in an empty field)...but you are suggesting maybe because of the lack of treat reward? If she did do a good delivery on outings she used to get another throw, but now much less because of wanting to not bore her.

Placeboard holds are going well for treat rewards.

[Cornishbird]

Well, apparently my husband has decided as our WCS isn’t employed, unemployed or self-employed…

He’s a **freelance cocker**

According to the husband, this is because the dog himself decides whether he’s working or not, as he accepts only the jobs that interest him and on occasion, simply refuses to turn up for work.

His current employment package appears to include:
Regular meals
Flexible working hours
The right to ignore management
Early retirement whenever it’s raining
And absolutely no accountability when he’s being a lounge lizard

He does, however, seem to have mastered the art of looking incredibly busy while achieving absolutely nothing.

So there we have it… **Freelance Cocker** it is.

I’m still deciding whether the husband remains employed here too…

[Nutter]

Oh to have a benefits package like that!

Just spent the weekend with one such freelance cocker belonging to a friend - it is an apt description lovely dog when not "clocked off" but I did get "got" so to speak today - friend asked me to wait with him on lead in the forest while they went back to the car for something... was not at all prepared for the whining and barking that ensued eventually with no sign of friend returning I marched him back to the car to hand him over, not my finest moment but it was worth it to stop the racket