Gundog work training Training

Well...the owners of the 2 labs I have staying have decided they want them trained for gundog work.

the main difficulty is that they are only 7 months, which (from what most people have said) is too young to start proper training.

I have been working on the recall to the whistle (3 short blasts) and a distance sit (one long one) which they are responding to really well. We also play self control games - waiting for some food to be throw then sending them to different peices.

We are off to meet a gundog trainer this morning but I would be interested to hear of any other suggestions.

BTW.....these are show bred Labs through and through - no working element in thier pedigree at all

I was told that play as a pup is very important (never had a pup!) - encouraging them to pick things up and carry them about.

Not a problem

Seeing items of laundry trotting past then?

...and the hose pipe..the handbag.....the coats.....

Kidding aside, we have always made a fuss when they have brought things back - even things they shouldn;t have they have been encouraged to put them in our hands.

He was quite impressed with how they were. Seems we have started them on the right track. They were good boys and it was quite a lot of fun

I did gundog classes for a while. They were fun, but some other members of the class were so aggressive and heavy handed (old school training I suppose you could say...) with their dogs that I found it awful to watch. I remember one woman pushing her Weimeraner into the mud and holding it there face down for what seemed like forever, simply because it didn't want to 'sit' (in the mud). So, I left.

That wasn't much help, was it.

Try looking for courses run by the gundog club. I am too far away to attend any but you can buy a training mannual which is step by step and soooo easy to follow, it has a problem solving section too. The methods are all positive and encourage the dog to think for itself. I love it and it's going really well so far!

Thanks - but I am not going to have him long enogh to really get him trained. I have started him off and I am really working on his 'steadyness' (he is great at this now) but I don; want to push him beyond...if he has the makings of a good gundog it would be a shame for me to muck it up by trying to move too fast.

Not sure what his owners will decide to do - he has never trained a Gundog before :?

Here are a few steadiness exercises to do with dummies if the dogs are keen to retrieve already(toys? Whatever you have). Don't let the dogs do any retrieve while you are working on this.
Walk the dog to heel for 20 yards the get the dog to sit. Continue walking a few pace and turn around and face the dog. Take a dummy out of your bag and set it down gently beside you. If the dog moves towards the dummy, intercept it and sit it down again in the original position and keep trying and reseating the dog until the dog sits still when you place the dummy on the ground. Once you have managed this, advance onto throwing the dummy slightly out to the side of you, using the same method as before. Once you've done that you can sit the dog at the centre of an imaginary circle. Walk around the circle placing dummies at regular intervals (think 12, 3, 6 and 9 'o' colck). You should have at least 4 dummies. Then go back around and pick the dummies back up. The dog is allowed to turn it's head but should remain seated in the same position. Next stage is throwing dummins out to the sides and eventaully over the dogs head, all whilst the dog remains rock steady, no hint of being on the verge of running out to the dummies. HTH.

He is at the stage of me bing 15/20ft away and being able to throw the dummies about - then I will retrieve them.

If I am doing a fetch with him I am placing the Dummie (not throwing it)

I allow him to fetch maybe once in 5-7 times of practicing the trowing.

It sounds as if you are doing well. The one mistake I find people make when training gundogs, is the time spend on retrieving, something a good dog does naturally. Steadiness is the key I believe, moving to retriever training more when this is achieved

ooo just read the thread and there are some interesting points made here which i think ill be teaching my dog. Of course with my springer only being 8mths old and doing bronze kennel club, i think ill wait until i have done up to gold. Or do you think i should be doing both kinds of training with her?