Hi im after some advice on my springer, he is 2 years old and started gundog training about 5 months ago. Although he has come on well considering he is a late starter to this and being a novice myself i am unsure weather to use him for just beating or beating and retreval work aswell. I know he will never be a show winner being a late starter but id really like to use him for what he was made for? he does retreive well and enjoys it but i feel his
real passion is hunting. We have been invited to join a beating line this season and im told thats all we will be doing no picking up,as they have labs for that so my question is should i concentrate on hunting training with him more so than retreiving? Are there shoots where he could be used for both?
Not having a gun myself or any land i am reliant on going to different shoots to use him.
many thanks Adam
Depends a lot on the shoots you will be beating on but my advice would be to continue to train for both hunting and retrieving.
It is not unusual for pickers up to be limited as to how far they can go before they could interfere with the beat for a later drive. We mark these birds and let the keeper and/or beaters know and they then pick up when beating that drive. It really hinges on how close together your drives are and the lay of the land.
My experience is that just because you are beating don't expect to not encounter a retrieve - it will be a blind whilst hunting rather than a mark
Sarah xx
'To err is human, to forgive canine' - with apologies to Alexander Pope
Hi i would make sure all the basics are well installed before he sees a beating line ie steady to the flush. turning on the whistle . return whistle.etc.I would try and do a bit of dogging in first then if he does take off after a bird its not going to ruin a drive and have the keepers blood boiling.There is nothing like a beating line to make a dog learn bad habits.
Andy
Its no harm to teach it and see were you go. What you don't want is the dog running out to grab a newly downed bird in front of a load of spectators and mangling it, running round etc. Labs are not the ideal dog for every retrieve
Sorry short on time but it is where you shepherd birds that are straying away back to the covers...Your dog gets used to being steady with a lot of birds in front of it and flushing them so they fly home. It is good training but you need to be careful about hedges so your dog is always in your sight for a start....
Always remember that keepers don't give a stuff about all the training you've put into your dog and just want a job done.
Hopefully someone will be along to give you a fuller reply in a bit.
I wont take a dog into a beating line now without it being shot over for a year first. Tried to finish off a dogs training beating and it doesn't work.
Andy
but it is where you shepherd birds that are straying away back to the covers...Your dog gets used to being steady with a lot of birds in front of it and flushing them so they fly home. It is good training but you need to be careful about hedges so your dog is always in your sight for a start....