oscarsdad Posted November 18, 2013 Report Share Posted November 18, 2013 (edited) I have been undecided about whether to work my young cocker Jet this year, he has just turned 2 he is a fantastic little dog but can be very frustrating when out training him as he is easily distracted. He has been out with me in the summer on the pigeons and did some great long distance retrieves including over water and into a wood, but I was just unsure of his steadiness based on my training experiences - how wrong I was! I decided to give him one chance this Saturday down on the shoot we beat on - he was to have his first go at picking up rather than beating as I wanted him to spend as much time sitting and watching as doing anything and didnt want him running himself ragged in the beating line. I honestly believe something switched in him and he must have thought "oh, this is the real thing now not that silly training" as he was immaculately behaved! We walked across the first cover field as a line of beaters before we were to take our picking up position he worked the field quartering perfectly through dried thistles and cover crop within 30ft of me and when birds did get up he had a good look but sat on the whistle perfectly. We took up our position behind the line of guns and he watched and marked every single bird which came near us and was shot he also amused me greatly as he watched a cock bird fly straight over the gun in front of us and then when he had missed it twice, Jet gave the gun a real dirty look to express his disappointment! So when the first drive was over, Jet and I were to sweep and pick up inside the deer fencing in very very thick cover. I sent him off hunting and he stayed within 35-40 feet of me and worked fearlessly through all of the brambles and after some frantic searching he pulled a huge cock bird out of the thickest brambles you could imagine and delivered it seated and straight to hand! I was very very proud of him. He went on the cover the rest of the ground and found another hen bird as well. The next drive we were on stop so this gave him a good opportunity to get his breath back and just watch. In the afternoon we were picking up on open fields (whilst my wife was beating with my border terrier who does tend to take advantage of her more than he would dare with me so at one point all I could hear was her screaming at him as he tried his hand at catching a hare lol! (obviously without success!)) unfortunately we didnt get the opportunity to pick up any more birds as the guns' dogs swept up everything and Jet was very disappointed that he had marked a bird and the two cockers owned by the gun who downed it couldnt find it they did eventually but Jet was dying to beat them to it, only prevent by me reinforcing his sit with a short peep on the whistle. I was very pleased with him as he sat there watching for the whole drive, only shuffling around slightly to watch one of several hares come running past. So despite his limited picking up (the bag was only about 20 birds anyway) opportunities I am very proud of my little dog, he is no longer a dunce and will become part of the picking up team for the remainder of the season! He was very tired and very very muddy by the time he was back in the car with his fleece coat on but obviously thoroughly enjoyed himself He was absolutely knackered yesterday as he missed out on his usual afternoon nap on Saturday! Edited November 18, 2013 by oscarsdad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted November 18, 2013 Report Share Posted November 18, 2013 Fantastic for you and the dog. You will be exceptionally proud. All of the novice gun dog owners who try their dogs out on game when they are really too young and have not mastered basic training take note. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean93 Posted November 18, 2013 Report Share Posted November 18, 2013 Its a great feeling when all that training comes together and the dog does well. I to took a young dog out on derbyshire peaks on a grouse shoot this year and he did really well, sitting, waiting and watching what was going on. Hes a lovely worker but didnt like picking grouse up at first but soon got used to them, he has now been picking up and on the beating line on a local estate on 250 bird days and he has took to it like a duck to water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cockermax Posted November 18, 2013 Report Share Posted November 18, 2013 Great feeling seeing all that hard work and training put into practice in the shooting field. Only way to see if you got it right. Well done on what sounds like a succesfull day out. 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.