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TRAINING AT WEST LANCS GUNDOGS  For puppies out of quarantine, or the initial 10 day period after vaccines, we offer a socialisation. This involves the most important period of your young gundog’s life, learning to run and play with other similar aged dogs.The age to which to start your pup's training must be carefully considered. It may be that he is timid or even bold, once this is decided the schedule of training may commence. Spaniels can start at around 5 months old, Labrador or Retriever breeds may take a little longer to mature but normally between 6/7 months old. Be patient, don't rush his training, consider his charachter. In most cases it is down to the individual dog, I start training my dog's from the minute they are able to mix with others. Hence why socialising is very important, the sooner they mix the sooner they mature. Good early training techniques are without doubt the foundation to your training and the eventual finished article. Dont be hard, but at the same time dont be afraid to instill a little discipline now for future results.  Training (Early Stages)Once the basics of his training have been accomplished, eg, Lead work, learning to sit on command and the occasional retrieve plus recall, he can then move onto the Whistle and the next stage. Although the training is stepped up it is still done in such a way that he never gets bored. The basis now is successful training and to reduce negative thoughts in both handler and dog. I have found that 10 or 15 minutes every morning and the same in the evening is sufficient for a young dog. If we are attempting to encourage a young spaniel to enter cover or water he needs to feel safe and confident. Ensure the cover is not heavy and the water is not too deep. I would now introduce the tennis ball, as a find article, hidden in the cover.  Training (Introduction to Game)Steadiness is a massive achievement in a gundog. Initially you have to allow your dog to hunt or chase so you can teach him not to do it. The controlled use of a rabbit pen is an ideal instrument for this type of training as it allows the handler and dog to get really involved. But remember there is a very thin line with training in this environment, once your dog has experienced a little chasing it can become difficult to convince him otherwise, but by using the correct methods will be achieved. West Lancs Gundogs has a rabbit pen for this early training, the site can be hired under supervision by completing an online contact form, to discuss numbers, dates and costs etc. Below is a useful guidance document from BASC (British Association for Shooting and Conservation) regarding blank fire pistols and dummy launchers, simply double click to open, read and print.
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