Basic training with a pup

[Aimeetess]

What would you be doing with a 5 month Cocker pup?

Hes a pet as well and lives indoors with us (sofas his favorite spot) but keen to get him learning as hes keen. Plan is to have him as a picking up dog for me to work with our black lab, shes fast but not keen on cover something i'm hoping sort out and be a good team. He has his puppy hood playing with our other dogs/friends/work dogs across the fields daily so he does get a lot of fun, I am by no means strict but he enjoys learning. But in between his puppy hood we've mastered sit, stay we are working on daily but good for a dog his age, heel hes ace on the lead but working on him off the lead.
Recall to voice and the whistle (started that 3/4 weeks ago) is great. Started the sit whistle when hes close with the flat hand.

Use a ball/or small dummy a few times a week down a single straight grass track for barely 5 minutes, just throwing and retrieving as a game keeping it all fun. I have just progressed to throwing, asking him to stay (currently on a loose lead as hes so eager) and then 'get out' to retrieve. Got to the point he'll stay on his own but need to get him more steady to dummies.

He comes feeding with us as my other half owns/runs a shoot, which i know may be frowned upon but hes done this since 12 weeks. He'll either stay in the mule watching or i'll get him out while feeding and he knows to stay 'close' and he knows 'leave' if there is a pheasant directly in front of him. He wants to chase, but listens and ignores. Hes never pushed the pheasants back as he'd get far to eager, only comes up when I feed which i hoped would help with steadiness. My work also own golden pheasants, guinea fowl, chickens so he knows to leave pretty well. I attend a lot of game fairs with work, he comes along, so hes use to gunshots due to most having clay shoots etc as well as busy crowds.

New to all of this don't want to over do it and i'm not 'all serious' with his training, its more just fun with a fun reward.
Any advice would be appreciated!

[ips]

Wow, you sound like your doing fabulously well on your own

I cant offer advice as I am not experienced enough to do so (you will know more than me anyway ) but I look forward to following your progress

[trekmoor]

It all sounds good to me and so far I have only one concern. That is if the pup is told too often to "leave it" when it sees game it may refuse to retrieve any bird that can still run. Hope that makes sense ?

Wullie

[Naj]

.... Wouldn't worry about it. But I agree you're doing very well. Do as much as the pup will take in while it is still receptive and hasn't reached the independent stage. And I'd keep it around game as much as I could so it just becomes background noise.

Naj

[Judy]

It all sounds good to me and so far I have only one concern. That is if the pup is told too often to "leave it" when it sees game it may refuse to retrieve any bird that can still run. Hope that makes sense ?

Wullie

Been there, ticked that one off! Took a while for her to unlearn leaving running birds alone, 'tis a fine dividing line.

[Jangles]

It all sounds good to me and so far I have only one concern. That is if the pup is told too often to "leave it" when it sees game it may refuse to retrieve any bird that can still run. Hope that makes sense ?

Saw a perfect example of the above at a Retriever trial yesterday - duck shot and fell in some light game crop. A dog was sent to pick and as it approached the duck waddled off - the dog left it and refused to go back for it.

Jangles

[Naj]

It all sounds good to me and so far I have only one concern. That is if the pup is told too often to "leave it" when it sees game it may refuse to retrieve any bird that can still run. Hope that makes sense ?

Wullie

Been there, ticked that one off! Took a while for her to unlearn leaving running birds alone, 'tis a fine dividing line.

.... but she learnt in the end.

[trekmoor]

I saw a spaniel refuse to retrieve a pricked rabbit in a trial. His owner told me she'd "sharpened up his stop" in a rabbit pen a few days before the trial . Sometimes you get what you are training for ......

Wullie

[Springfield Pointers]

inbloodydeedy.

[Judy]

Naj, much easier when you don't have to retrain a dog. (You're being argumentative again!)