UKPoacher Posted November 17, 2009 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 About four years ago when I was working in Police Dog Training I took on a load of spaniels from all sorts of homes and rescue centres. Many were basket cases when we got them. All but one made it as drugs, explosives or currency detection dogs. The one who didn't make it into Her Majesty's Service was kidnapped by myself and kept as a pet. I paid the ransom at the animal sanctuary and took her home after convincing my wife that we really needed another dog, after we had both agreed to simplify our upcoming emigration without one. We were intending going to Cyprus around 2011 and Cyprus isn't pet friendly. Ruby, or Roobs, or Doobs as she is known was physically and mentally wrecked. Her back legs were virtually locked and she has always suffered from infections in her ears, allergy to nettles and everything else you can spend money on. Luckily she is insured and my wife works at a vets or we would be broke. Ruby also was very insecure and introverted. Her previous owner had left her 12 hours a day, 6 days a week on her own and she hated it. She had no play drive, energy or interests. Initially I took her to work and she helped me train other springers and labs once I had instilled a ball motivation in her and got her fit. Later, when I was moved to ordinary duties away from the Dog Training School she went to work with my wife and settles under her desk all day. She has always come fishing with me and is absolutely no trouble. Similarly she accompanies me on air rifle hunting trips and again is no trouble. She only learnt to hunt about a year ago and is 100% reliable to recall. She was initially afraid of the gun, but now looks forward to going out with me. A few months ago she would have run away if a shotgun went off in the distance. Last week however she was with me when I had a walk round with the shoot owner and never flinched when he suddenly let off a left and a right at pigeons. Ruby will spend all day searching for her ball, but I have never trained her to retrieve, mainly because I shoot vermin and it can be dangerous for a novice dog to pick up squirrels and crows. Pigeons are also difficult to retrieve due to their soft feathers. A couple of weeks ago however I killed a squirrel that I wanted to take for a friend as ferret food. The only way I could get to it was to cross a stream so I sent the dog. With a bit of encouragement she picked it up and brought it back. Since then I've let her find and mark, but not retrieve other shot vermin. She'll run up to wood pigeon 'runners' and put her paw on it until I get there. I reckon that now, at 6 years old, she is ready for a half day's beating. How she'll fare in the rough and tumble of a beat is a gamble, but I'm hoping that with a steady introduction on partridge she'll be able to graduate to the more demanding pheasant shoots later on this month. I'll get her Mum to drop her off at half time and we'll see how she goes. ****************************************** (Today - five weeks later) Well, she's now completed three and a half days in the beating line and loving every minute of it. Each successive day has seen her gain confidence and experience and she now will clear 60 yds of hedgerow each side of me, and return immediately on the whistle command. I've been doing a bit of retrieve training with Ruby too. She'll bring balls back all day long, but I've not let her retrieve vermin as they have a nasty habit of biting or pecking. Now that she has overcome her gun shyness and am taking her beating I thought I'd teach her to retrieve properly. On our normal walks I have now insisted that she 'presents' properly rather than just chucking the ball at me as she has been allowed to do previously. She has only mouthed game once when I sent her to a dead squirrel that I couldn't reach myself. She did retrieve, but in a fashion. Today, I used another squirrel and started from absolute basics of putting it in her mouth in the correct position, praising her, taking a step back then asking her to 'Fetch' and praising her for the one step retrieve. I did that twice then told her to 'Stay' and put the squirrel down a few yards away. Once I was back at her side I sent her to 'Fetch'. It took four goes to get from a "What do you want me to do Dad?" expression, to her jumping over a tree trunk, through a hedgerow, and back the same way with a perfect presentation at the end. A hour later as we were walking back to the car I threw the squirrel out to one side, downwind, made her walk to heel for fifty yards then sent her back to fetch it. She naturally worked along my scent path and as the squirrel was downwind she didn't find it. I've also been working on hand signals so I put that into practice for the first time. A 'Left' signal put her straight into the scent stream and she worked it beautifully, picking up and retrieving to a 'sit' presentation. Chuffed? You bet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSS Posted November 17, 2009 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 Great to see a dog come on like that, you seem to have a talent with training? Good write up too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWspringer Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Great story mate, glad it worked out for you..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth Stalker Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Lovely story mate & a new lease of life for the pooch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdunc Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Great story - well done on getting the dog out of her shell and giving her something to enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 As above, thats the right way to approach training a dog.....well done and good luck with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKPoacher Posted November 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 Thanks Lads! Yesterday we tried retrieving a freshly shot squirrel and tried a couple of blind retrieves. Progressing nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 Old dog new tricks, well done and good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKPoacher Posted November 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 Moved up a gear today. I kept one of the squirrels I'd shot back to go cold and also put a woodie away for an hour. When we got back I let he sniff both bodies then did a few fun retrieves with the squirrel. Once she'd progressed to a blind retrieve I switched to a simple retrieve using the pigeon. I'd put a couple of elastic bands round to wrap the wings round the breast. She did OK. A little sniffing at first, but she soon picked it up - literally. Beating tomorrow - she might get chance of a partridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKPoacher Posted December 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 Fourth day out beating and our Ruby's found a new lease of life. She'll work a hedgerow left and right of my position on hand signals, work a wooded area on her own and return immediately to the whistle, and quarter grassland and arable working on the wind. She even got me up at 7 on the dot this morning - no need for an alarm clock. But, best of all................. ................................... she picked her first bird today. I'm so proud We had driven pheasants over the guns out of their home wood and then went round to bring them back out of a willow plantation. We had the dogs spaced out between those beaters who don't have dogs. The young lad on my left called out that she'd got a bird and seeing her running back with a hen pheasant in her mouth my first thoughts were that she'd pegged it. She retrieved it to hand and I discovered that it was dead as a Dodo. On checking further their was a wound in its chest. Most likely lightly shot on the previous drive and dropped in the plantation. As it was the last drive I made sure that it was in my brace and on skinning it the bird has definitely been shot. That's her first blind retrieve, her first feather retrieve, and she did it all on her won - bless her. I'll be putting our names down for the CLA Game Fair gun dog trials next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatcatsplat Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 Well done that man and his dog - Keep at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyB Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 excellent, you should be proud of your self Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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