close hunting / quartering

[darren m]

hunting close

 

ok we've been over this before i,m sure , but i just want to go over it again .

never know might find some good tips i,ve not thought of .

 

question -- how did OR do you get your springer to hunt close in and quarter close in - ie shoe polishing ,for beating or walked up and not run about like a total tw*t too far in front .

 

cheers

[Fatcatsplat]

Keep calling them back and pointing where you want them to go - Keep them interested in the ground around you

[FalconFN]

I'm not too fussed with keeping mine that close but if I wanted to I would try this:

 

Walk it to heel then send it out to the left and immediately whistle to quarter, if it runs on call it back to heel and start again. If it is quartering too far in front try sending out to the left then call to quarter and immediately call it back to you, give a small treat and praise and send straight out to the right, then back, small treat, out to left. Do this a few times and then try giving the quarter command without the recall but present the treat. Then replace the treat with a very quick stroke and praise, then gradually replace the stroke with just praise.

 

Well, I am a complete amateur but that is how I would begin.

 

Good luck.

[GW80]

I am no great expert but i make sure that first my dog understands a stop whistle evry time i blow it he must stop that instant, then i get him/her to turn towards me with 2 pips as i move foward making sure that they are going in the direction i am indicating. Also make sure that the dog is obeying your command 100%, not just when it feels like it. Also if the dog is maybe disobeying your instruction nip out and give it a reminder who's the boss, i'm not talking giving it a beating but just a timely reminder that you are in control.

 

Also try zig zagging a dead rabit in the pattern that you would like your dog quartering and you will be amazed how they remember the pattern and will repeat it without you having to be on them all the time!!

[WGD]

If you want a hard, close hunting dog it starts with training from 8 weeks IMO. It is all based around the dog having its hunting rewarded by hunting close to you and there are many varied and successful methods to achieve that. The nature and drive of the dog play a big part, but the minute the dog realises it can get further and further away from you and find more and more good things, or it is allowed to free hunt and self reward on a "walk" you are on a slippery slope to losing control.

[MadSpringer]

If you want a hard, close hunting dog it starts with training from 8 weeks IMO. It is all based around the dog having its hunting rewarded by hunting close to you and there are many varied and successful methods to achieve that. The nature and drive of the dog play a big part, but the minute the dog realises it can get further and further away from you and find more and more good things, or it is allowed to free hunt and self reward on a "walk" you are on a slippery slope to losing control.

 

Could not have put it better WGD!

 

Sound Advice

 

 

Cheers

[kent]

hunting close

 

ok we've been over this before i,m sure , but i just want to go over it again .

never know might find some good tips i,ve not thought of .

 

question -- how did OR do you get your springer to hunt close in and quarter close in - ie shoe polishing ,for beating or walked up and not run about like a total tw*t too far in front .

 

cheers

anything can be achieved, some things are just a little harder when they become the established norm for the dog. perhaps you might try turning his world upside down for a few weeks or months? keep him on a leash or to heel, allow him only out on retrieves and back to heel, no free running period end of story. Keep it that way for a good long while, then and only then start him on that close pattern (idealy closer than you want him coz he is gonna start to drift). if he breaks outside of this area recall him to heel or leash. above all do it regular, not just once or twice a week.

However be sure the dog isn't mearly following foot scent and going off transfixed on it with ears turned off as thats a different issue.

Hey at the end of the day i am not a spaniel man and this is just my take on it from HPR's were range is measured by " i can still see him, now i cant" Don't get in a twist or become flustrated or disolusioned with the dog though as it will just make things worse. There are loads of great pro spaniel men out there why not use one?

[darren m]

If you want a hard, close hunting dog it starts with training from 8 weeks IMO. It is all based around the dog having its hunting rewarded by hunting close to you and there are many varied and successful methods to achieve that. The nature and drive of the dog play a big part, but the minute the dog realises it can get further and further away from you and find more and more good things, or it is allowed to free hunt and self reward on a "walk" you are on a slippery slope to losing control.

 

just seen these replys to my thread started a month a so back.

thanks guys - MAD you,ve said this to me before if i remember rightly

 

shes 2 1/2 just over ,and have tried it in the past with a tennis ball , but the damn tennis ball just makes her hyper .

think i,ll get back on it again or is it too late , OR can you think of another way

 

thanks

[WGD]

it'll be hard to reign her in now darren but if you don't try she will just pull further and further out.

 

i know good trialling dogs that take in too much ground if game is scarce, sounds like yours is hard going and determined - great where game is plentiful but hard to hold when there's not much to find.

 

Andy Platt was put out of this years Championships for his dog taking in too much ground, game was I understand a bit scarce at that stage and she was raking a bit... he won the champs in 2008 with the same dog!