Gundog training

[BenBhoy]

Hi all

Just wondering if people attend classes/groups when training gundog puppy?

I've trained enough dogs basics before but never a gundog specific. She's a great pup, learns quick & has general obedience (sit,wait,stay, recall etc) spot on. Whistle recall is perfect. She swims. Just unsure how to introduce anything else. She's got hell of a nose, flushes pheasants, woodcock, squirrels & Robins for fun! Don't know if I should be encouraging that or not? She does then chase what she flushes...

Thanks

 

[shakey jake]

My misses took our springer to classes, multiple dogs, couple of hours for only a few mins of work, made him over excitable and a bit of a txat at times, frustation at not doing.
I would only go 1 on 1

 

[bullet chucker]

If you have trained her to that level what will training classes achieve? I would concentrate now on stopping her giving chase.

BC.

 

[countrryboy]

Wot age is it?
Wot breed is it
And wot are u wanting to achieve wirh it?
A beating line dog, peg dog ir rough shooting etc and the standard u want to achieve

Everyone has their own ideas
If u have no other dogs in the house or mates with dogs, normal bog standard obediance classes can be handy just for socialisation.
And to test ur basic with distractions.
My 1st couple i took to basic obediance classes just to get used to other dogs.
Once i had a few dogs just socialised them with mine and matrs dogs i formally.
Done ny own commands and trained some things slightly different to rest of class


Ive done both group and 1 to 1 lessons in the past.
Its more about trying the trainer than the dog.
Ive picked up a lot of unbelievably simple tricks not a lot different to wot i was doing but nust makes it harder for ur dog to fail.

If u decide to go to a group class try and watch wot triner is doing with the other dogs.
As they will have different problems to urs but urs might start doing that in future or ur next pup

It all depends wot level u want to get ur dog too.
Sounds like ur doing fairly well so far.
A lot will depend on the trainer

 

[Ludders]

Find a trainer that you like, and go for 1 to 1 lessons. The first guy I used was a bit of a cock pheasant. Then found a new trainer through a friends recommendation. Didn’t have to many sessions. It’s more about training you to train your dog, rather than teaching your dog. The real training carries on at home with you

 

[McKenzie]

Classes are only really any good for socialisation & there are plenty of other ways of achieving that.

 

[BenBhoy]

Wot age is it?
Wot breed is it
And wot are u wanting to achieve wirh it?
A beating line dog, peg dog ir rough shooting etc and the standard u want to achieve

7 months end of this month. Lab x springer, looks quite lab but "works" more like a spaniel. A rough/walked up dog, just for me going on an armed ramble around my permissions. Not looking for FTCH standard, just to find & retrieve game.

 

[Jagare]

Get yourself a gundog training book. I still re read my 50 year old Peter Moxon book if I want to refresh my memory on parts of gun dog training.
Read the first chapter, and when your dog is proficient, move on to the next chapter. 10 minutes a day training is sufficient. Dog training to get yourself a good hunting companion ain't rocket surgery.

 

[countrryboy]

To be honest ur probably be ok just on ur own.
As Jagure says not rocket science.
Just repation and consistancy

But like everything their is easy ways and hard ways to do things.
1 or 2 lessens 1 to 1 with a decent trainer will show u the easy ways and little tricks u might not pick up in a book or even a Dvd.

I mind my 1st 1 to1 with a pro trainer it was a complete eye opener ( even thou trained a few gundogs before and being an ex keeper)
Then the local gundog club had a group lesson with same trainer shortly after and showed us a few demos and a tour round his kennels, another eye opener.

Really comes into its own when u start doing directional work.
Possibly not needed for wot ur wanting but very handy when u can send a dog out to an unseen bird and not that hard to teach.

 

[Alex88]

You can train a dog by yourself or at a 1 to 1 class until you're blue in the face and the dog is perfect. Then you go on a shoot or into public, and there's other dogs about, and you're back to square one. Group sessions are very important because they are the only way to teach a young dog how to sit still when another dog retrieves. Or to sit still when another dog runs in!