Spaniel Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 I normally carryout my spaniel training during the day time, but been a bit rushed of late so i decided to have a session down the field tonight instead. One thing i noticed was the vast improvement with my springers hunting, im happy with her during the day but in the dark she was like a little hoover, turning nicely without much whistle work. Gave her a few sits on the whistle while hunting and launched the dummy out and when i sent her for the retrieve, she was straight on it each time.. The land as plenty of scent (Bunnies) and i always hunt her into the wind,,,yep very pleased with her tonight may have to do a few more sessions like this .. Anybody else do the same and do you notice a change in your dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 I think because theres no light the dog can't just look at the ground and say "Nope nothing there!" n move on. Hence the more intense hunting Although I dont go out too much in the dark cos I cant see where Im going lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniel Posted February 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 Well i think this night training may get her very good on the nose, so i will give it another go on Saturday, plus its only going to assist me when i take her wildfowling next season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingmike Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 might try that with mine. he tends to rush about a bit and has his head up looking. Might just sharpen him up a bit.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasons gold Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 might try that with mine. he tends to rush about a bit and has his head up looking. Might just sharpen him up a bit.... I do this every winter this type of training as there senses are more heightened in the dark and every body i have mentioned this to as a theory think i am mad but it works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKPoacher Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 A lot of wild canine breeds hunt in the dark. It's quite natural for them whereas for us it's a bigger issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n0vice Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 In the summer my pup started to not use her nose too much , and used to run over the dummy quite a bit before finding it, Once it started to get dark in the mornings ( about September the time of morning that I take her out) I noticed a big improvement in her hunting using her nose , and this stayed good for daylight training sessions on the weekend too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popgun Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 I think the rabbits are out and about in the dark so there is a lot more fresh scent about which realy livens a dog up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKPoacher Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 At the risk of sounding anal I have studied scent and scent distribution as part of my work as a police dog handler. There are reasons why dogs seem to find it hard to work scent in some conditions, especially hot sunny days and very cold ones. The time when more ground scent is available to a dog is usually around dusk and into the evening when the air temperature cools below that of the ground temperature. This sandwiches rising scent between the ground and the cooler air. You can see the same effect in the smoke from chimneys that flattens out at a certain height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniel Posted February 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 I was only reading my gundog training book (Joe Irvins) the other day , and that was about scent and how various weather conditions effect scent and the dog etc all really interesting to be honest Im thinking about getting myself a dummy launcher to use on an evening also, just to introduce some noise to throwing a dummy etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.