Photos from last weeks training group.

Here are some photos from last Thursdays training group.



Training in woodland - Langsett.

Tuesday 2nd of March 2011

We went out training today in an area with dence woodland, streams, valleys and ponds, and focused on retrieves that was in heavy cover - enaballing the dogs to use their natural hunting skills.

To start off with we threw a dummy into cover and then walked away round the the boundary of the wood - using the path system. The test was to range the dogs out diagonally through the dence woodland - over chopped logs, through brambles and over ditches, for the memory retrieve. The dogs were to use the woodland both on the way out and on the way back in - and not retrace our steps on the paths. The distance covered on this test was around 230 yards. All 4 dogs did well on this test and all 4 did go through the woods and not on the paths.

The next test we did was to throw a dummy down a ravine and across onto the other side - over a stream. We then walked away - again using the winding path system - to a distance of around 250 yards.

The test was to straight line the dogs through the heavy wooded area, down into the ravine, over the stream and up the other side of the ravine to retrieve the dummy. The dogs had to get their noses down and hunt the area well, as the ground was littered with chopped logs, brambles, rocks and holes and was also covered in pheasant and rabbit scents from nearby pens and burrows. For the majority of this test the dogs were out of view so were obviously left to get on with the job. Again all the dogs completed the test, and all came back proudly carrying the dummies which they delivered to hand.

We continued with a couple of other tests - then called it a day, as we were ready for our fish and chips and a nice hot cuppa. A good day was had by all.

Pete's two young dogs did exeptionally well today, as this was fresh land for them and which had plenty of distractions so they could quite easily have been tempted away from the retrieves.

(Please ignore dates on photos as the date/time etc has not been set properly).

Training the young ones.

I took one of the young dogs out today to go through the basics that he has already done , but also introduced some new commands as well. I always like to start the training session off lightly with a few simple commands like the recall and stop whistle, then move onto directional work using dummies, straight lining, and today I have started to increase the distance with the retrieves. One of the tests that I introduced today was to throw a dummy to the left, and another dummy to the right - landing around 30/40 yards away. Then I turned and walked back another 20 yards - so the dog had to mark well and remember where the dummies were. I first sent him for the left dummy which he went straight out for, picked it neatly and delivered it to hand. I then sent him for the right one - which again he had marked well - picked it and delivered it. I repeated this test again - increasing the distance of the dummies and increasing the distance that I walked back. Another test that I tried today was to throw a dummy out, sent the dog - and then stopped him on the whistle as close to the dummy as possible - then to recall him without him picking the dummy. This test is to learn the dog to be steady, patient and that he cannot have every retrieve that falls. He was actually stood right over the dummy - looking down on it, but when I recalled him he came straight back to me without touching the dummy. I was very pleased with him today as he took every command and every test in his stride and for a young dog is proving to be quite an intelligent, steady and thoughtful little chap. I am hoping to introduce him to a working test at some stage this year - we'll have to wait and see.

Had A great Day Training With Our Good Friend Pete From Woodpath Gundogs

We had a fantastic day today when our good friend - Pete came up from Norfolk to spend a days training with us. We started the training session off at about 11ish, up on some local farm land. We firstly excersised the dogs - letting them blow off a bit of steam then moved onto the basics of training. We started by assessing the young ones, seeing what we needed to concentrate on, and then moved on to a few simple excercises. We also introduced cold game to some of the young ones today, and each dog did exeptionally well. We were promoting steadiness with the more experienced adult dogs, they were stood watching whilst all the training was going on - and the birds were been thrown.

After a short break for dinner, we swapped the dogs over and then went back out to do some simple seen retrieves with the cold game, a bit of straight lining, a bit of whistle work, and delivery. Again everything went smoothly, and as the light started to fade - we packed up and came home for a nice cup of hot tea.

It was very nice to see Pete as we hadn't seen him for a couple of months, but  it was even more rewarding to see his young dogs working so well.

He has done remarkably well in training his young ones over the past few months - the dogs have improved dramatically since we last saw them. They were all very well behaved, very quiet and steady workers, and they put alot of thought into their work. It was a pleasure to watch them.

Pete set off from his home in Norfork about 6ish am and didnt return - and get home till about 10ish at night - so he had an extremely long day. He proberbly won't be doing a repeat of the journey for a good few months yet!

Heres some photos of the day.