Back to it…

[PRH]

I joined a group training class yesterday which was full of January dogs….the class had the same membership pre-season and most of the dogs were steady then, but exposure to picking up and peg work changed the game. Ginger was steady, even to the bolting rabbit (a furry dummy on a long elastic line which whizzed past). His delivery was not as bad as I’d expected although he really doesn’t like these plastic bird shaped dummies, canvas all the way please…

It was a jolly enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half on a crisp Sunday morning, so much so that I’ve signed up to take Tarka to the earlier class. It might be a bit daft given she’s 7 now but I enjoy it and she’s absolutely wired for it, so why not. Classes are fortnightly.

The annual newsletter from the Wye Valley Retrievers dropped in this week and registration for that block of training is open, so I’m looking forward to that too.

Is anyone else back at school?!

[Stacia]

Sounds great to have those classes and Wye Valley starting soon. Both my Labs are deceases now.

[Naj]

Once I’ve trained a young dog through its first year and into its first shooting season (in my case I get all that done before they hit their second birthday) I just shoot over it and don’t do any Gundog specific training other than that. During the close season I try to get out shooting rabbits and pigeon a couple of times a month or so but other than that they slot back into pet walking/gardening/holidaying/slobbing around the house modes, and they accompany me on the boat when I’m trout fishing. If they’re with you all the time I find that whatever relationship and routines you’ve developed undergo continuous maintenance without the need for specific training. Context again. If I was interested in competing in working tests I’d just incorporate training for that into their day to day stuff, more or less as a separate routine to tag on to their others.

Just posting this for a bit of interest.

[Nickheref]

I must be honest once trained I don't do much, just a few retrieves occasionally but that is really because they seem to absolutely love doing it rather than they need it. Once in a while I will hunt them as if we were shooting just to check they have remembered as the rest of the time they hunt out huge bits of ground for fun with no limits. I think some frown on giving so much freedom but mine always seem to understand the difference between fun/exercise and work! Having said that I have overheard them discussing that a bit of clay shooting practice by me wouldn't hurt!

[ips]

I don't have a great deal of credibility but my story with my one and only dog. I put a lot of time into training her (i like to think) for the first two years then worked her twice a week on average for the next 7 years then once a week for the next year which brings us up to 10 seasons (i think ) and I never threw a dummy or did any training after the initial 2 years and she slipped straight into work mode come nov no problem .....

[Judy]

I have to confess; for the first time ever I took what I would call an untrained dog out picking up. She arrived as a pup at the start of a very difficult seventeen months for me with little spare time and a distinct lack of concentration on my part. She was walked twice a day with the others, we did a bit of recall work and heel work during those quick walks and that was pretty much it. The few times I got her out to do a bit of retrieve training she wouldn't retrieve for reasons I'm not too sure of, even running out to the retrieve and sitting behind it looking at me! Anyway, she came out on the shoot with the others, proved herself a demonic hunter (uh-oh) and took a couple of trips to realise the others were allowed to pick birds before slotting in perfectly and managing an eye-wipe (of Labs, do they count?) on her second or third day out.
I'm hoping to be able to get her going out in a straight line for blinds this summer if only to save me having to walk as far but I'm not too stressed if she still hates retrieving inanimate objects.
She seems to have proved my theory that it's not so much the training but more how you live with the dog that counts.

[PRH]

There’s something in that. I’m away quite a bit with work and the dogs are in the capable hands of Mrs H. If I’m honest I just enjoy being pushed with the training….it all rolls into the ‘next’ dog!

[Judy]

There’s something in that. I’m away quite a bit with work and the dogs are in the capable hands of Mrs H. If I’m honest I just enjoy being pushed with the training….it all rolls into the ‘next’ dog!

Don't get me wrong, I loved going to URC training when I had the Flatcoats, once I switched to Cockers I found the local Spanner training wasn't what I had in mind. By that time I was less keen on competing so just trained the Cockers for picking up, I still miss the URC days and have, occasionally (OK very occasionally) thought about getting another Flatcoat and going back to classes but I'm a firm believer in the old saying "You can't step in the same river twice".

[CockerCanuck]

I am with you Judy. I find retriever training groups very useful and still participate in one several times a month mostly because my CBR Hamish enjoys it so much. It seems to work well for retrievers where working with others allows for much longer retrieves and more complex challenges. I have never found the same value in group training for spaniels. At least the way I use them for rough-shooting their job is pretty simple and easily taught on my own.

[PRH]

I took Tarka and Ginger to training on Sunday, doing the first class with Tarka and the second with Ginger. The second class was almost a re-run of the first so it was interesting to compare the dogs afterwards. Tarka was very focused on me, not for nothing is she known as Dobby at home, can’t do enough to please. She was steady throughout, even with the bolting rabbit, retrieved well, stop whistle was good etc, what you’d expect for coming up 8! Ginger did all the same things but in between exercises he switched off completely and laid down, perfectly chilled. He then did the exercises with more style, hard to define exactly but for example his long marked retrieve over a brow was arrow straight out and back every time. Anyway, it surprised me in a nice way because he’s an absolute fool at home. We still need to work on his delivery, he doesn’t like hard plastic dummies or the bird shaped things, but it is improving. Here is Tarka watching to see how he’s getting on….

Tarka pick up.jpeg