spanj Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 Well, I took my spaniel bitch to see bigbird as I was in the depths of despair about her waywardness and had really fallen out of love with her. Guess what, it wasnt the dog who was wayward, it was me ! (no real surprise if I am honest and certainly not to the wife). Anyway, many thanks to Ali and Steve for showing me where I was going wrong and fingers crossed I can put their sound advice to good use and enjoy shooting over her again. Thoroughly recommend Bigbird to anybody who is in need of help (and even some who think they arent). She and Steve also have some smashing little cockers who will be giving birth soon ................ just saying like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 *blush* It was lovely to meet you all and of course your lovely dogs too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgy dave Posted May 20, 2015 Report Share Posted May 20, 2015 it would be nice to know what was the problem and what was the cure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird Posted May 20, 2015 Report Share Posted May 20, 2015 (edited) I will leave that to spanj to explain - call it a test, if you will Edited May 20, 2015 by bigbird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanj Posted May 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2015 it would be nice to know what was the problem and what was the cure It would be easier to say what wasnt the problem. In all cases the answer was me ! Seriously, I have a springer bitch approaching 6 years old who I acquired "part" trained. Her previous owners had just opened the door and let the dog run so given a bit of open space, off she'd go. They couldnt cope with her so she was returned to the breeder who I sort of knew and who gave her a bit of a refresher training wise. He gave me an honest appraisal and an honest demo and I had her off him thinking I'd be able to stop her running off....... additional problem unbeknownst to me was that she came into season slap bang in the middle of the shooting season which robbed me of a bit of inclination and time to use her. I had a litter of pups from her and kept one, who I am very happy with. I then got her spayed, she put a bit (lot) of weight on, lost a bit of condition and continued to run off. Now to be fair to my dog I had seriously low expectations of her and wasnt the best of handlers (am being quite complimentary to myself in saying that). A quick (ish) visit to Ali and Steve (top brews) quickly showed me where I was going wrong and just what my bitch could do with the right sort of input. I'll bet most guns have a couple rounds of clays as a refresher pre season, I'd throughly recommend Ali and Steve to do the same for your dog handling skills. Recommend them even more to the novice, they have a none patronising attitude to the handler and offer sound advice and a structured session that has reignited my desire to improve my handling skills (not difficult) and enjoy shooting over my dog who was in serious danger of being rehomed again !!! It would be unfair of me to go into technique too much (partly because I dont understand enough lol) as this is Alis business and very good she is too (Steves no slouch either and assures me his pup will whup Alis in the very near future ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsonicnat Posted May 20, 2015 Report Share Posted May 20, 2015 You cannot train a Dog properly till you have had some training yourself, makes sense eh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) I can assure you Steve's pup will NOT whoop my pup in the near future or any time soon, wait until I see him On the wayward side, sometimes another pair of eyes is all you need Edited May 21, 2015 by bigbird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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