New springer pup

[Cmac NI]

Hi folks, i picked up new springer pup, on friday and she is a wee cutie. She is 10 weeks old and has settled in to her run really well.

I am a complete novice when it comes to training gundogs, She has just had her 1st jag, so she wont be able to go out for a walk yet.

What is the 1st steps in training her??

Where do i start???

What age to i start her at??

All tips would be very helpful

[GW80]

Hi mate, get yourself a good DVD or book, and get swatting up. I like Spaniel Training by Harry Hardwicke and shooting times, it's a good easy to follow DVD which is good but doesn't cover everything you need to know but is good for reference also Joe Irvings book on training spaniels is very good. If you know anybody who has experience of training a springer pick there brain and see if they will let you tag along to a few training sessions to give you the jist of things!! Good luck!!!

[Blackbart]

Good choice

 

Start training straight away.The simple things like sit,stay,fetch etc can all be done in the first few weeks in the garden or house even.Mine is 14 weeks old and it sits,stays,will wait until told to retrieve and comes and sits at my feet on the whistle So in my opinion you can not start too early.The most important thing is to bond with the dog,get it out the kennel as much as possible and play fetch roll around on the floor with it or whatever,try and make sure you are the one that feeds it.

[SXPhil]

and put a picture of her up as well as we are all big softies after all

[roadkill]

work hard on the heel and sit and the rest will come as you move along just don't rush the basics

[Ballymac]

Hi Cmac you have your hands full now. I have a Springer and was a complete novice when I got her. I received some good tips on this section of the forum. Read through the pinned subjects mostly from new to the flock. You will get a step by step guide to training the pup and tips on how to prevent the dog from becoming gunshy etc.

 

Are you going to use the dog for formal shoots or just a bit of rough shooting etc?

 

One area to work on from an early age is retrieving. Get the pup interested in retrieving from an early age as they will tend to hunt very well but not retrieve as well unless encouraged to do so.

 

I have a set of training notes that were sent to me from someone off here and can forward them to you sned a pm and I will forward them to you.

 

BTW what part of N.I are you in?

[CollioureII]

Hi folks, i picked up new springer pup, on friday and she is a wee cutie. She is 10 weeks old and has settled in to her run really well.

I am a complete novice when it comes to training gundogs, She has just had her 1st jag, so she wont be able to go out for a walk yet.

What is the 1st steps in training her??

Where do i start???

What age to i start her at??

All tips would be very helpful

 

 

Hi Cmac,

 

Like you I'm a complete novice and I got my Springer pup two weeks ago, she is showing great signs already she is retrieving perfectly to hand and is quite responsive.....my pup is at 10 weeks now and I'm going to hold off on the retrieves and concentrate on the hunting for a week or so as I need to bring her hunting on more....she's looking back at me a bit rather than working the scent.....I don't think this is a major thing...I'm a lot happer she is retreiving as if it were the other way around it is a lot harder to fix..... You will get varying opinions on this but I'm of the view that I like to have the dog hunting well with a few retrieves before I I begin any other training.

 

I bought Joe irving book on spaniels which is great and should be your first purchase......however I found that I would love to see the training being done so I bought David Lissets DVD on springer training...it's a 4 DVD box set and contains everything you need to know in detail and i found his training etiquette excellent....it is a bit saucy in or around the 100 pounds mark....although the DVD's are not essential but if you are serious in doing all the training it is a great investment

 

So all the best let know how you are getting on as you progress

[Spaniel]

She is looking at you for guidance, as she is still very young.

 

When i got my pup i concerntrated on the following

 

Getting her to sit (Voice command) at Food times, then gradually extend the amount of time i had her in the sit position.

Then I introduced the sit to whistle and voice, so i would say Sit then as soon as she was sat, i would give a peep on the whistle and give her the voice command again.

Then slowly over time just gave her the whistle command.

 

Playing in the garden etc, as soon as she would turn towards me, and started to come to me, i would call her name and make a lot of fuss to get her to me.........crouch down with a few claps of the hands etc....

In time she will then come to you when you call her.

When she is doing this, then add the whistle command at the same time and eventually you will be able to call her back on the whistle..

 

Hunting

I just took her down the field and played with her, take a tennis ball and make it a fun game of hide & seek, you dont have to lob the ball out just keep it close by, and excite her when she gets near it, "whats this , whats this, normaly will get them excited.....But i wouldnt do more then 10 mins max per day as she may get bored.

 

Keep it fun, dont over do the training as she will get bored and always end on a good positive note.....

 

My eldest is 4 and i was new to the training lark, listened to, to many people and everyone as a different idea, but i took her beating and shooting the other week and she was fine

The pup....2 yrs old i started her training as above from the day i brought her home, at 8 weeks old, although i did bond with her as it was my FIL litter from a much earlier age.

She is so much more responsive and as already been pigeon shooting and retrieved dead and live woodies, something the eldest isnt to keen on....maybe its the dog or maybe its because i have been on her ref training from day 1 i dont know,

 

But enjoy your pup

[Cmac NI]

Thanks guys for the great tips, I will be using her mostly for retrieving wildfowl and pigeons, but i do have parts of my permission that is good for the odd woodcock, so i would like her to hunt through the rough ground, she is already retrieving a tennis ball so hopefully she is on the right tracks. I think i will have to invest in a dvd as i think watching a dog being trained would be easier to follow.

I am still struggling with guilt about keeping her in the run :blink: but reading through the posts on here and my mates advising me, its the best thing to do.

I will get a picture of her on here soon, and i am sure i will be on picking your brains again lads

 

Thanks again

colin

[ollie]

I like you mate had to train my 1st springer pup this year and although it is hard work it is very rewarding when they start finally listening to you .

 

I started really taking it walks on the lead and making sure it would walk to heel. Then getting it to sit while moving further away from it every time and rewarding it with biscuits when it sat. If you are getting it to sit and it moves always take it back to the same point again. Like yourself I am training my dog for rough shooting and I found the book 'training the rough shooters dog very useful'

 

Good luck and keep us updated. My pup is 5 months old and although it is a great retriever and very biddable it hasn't really started hunting the cover yet.