Achieving Results with Patience and not Punishment – Gundog Training

Training any dog to achieve basic obedience takes time but to train a gundog to work in the shooting field takes consistancy and a huge amount of patience.

I structure gundog training into three stage, first is the bond you build with your dog, second is the basic obedience such as sit/wait/recall and third is advance training and this is where gundog training fits in. Expecting your dog to be ready for the shooting field without training is foolish, taking a dog on a shoot untrained is disastorous.

Recently I read a post on Facebook that highlighted the joy of a Labrador owner on their first shoot. To my horror I notice the use of an electric collar. This particular client had trained with me over 12 months ago when their dog was a puppy and then towards last year they stopped training. At the point they stopped training their dog still required further training for steadiness as he was over enthusiastic to the retrieve and would run in. From looking at the pictures I can only assume he’s still unsteady and no further time has been given to correcting the training required.

Punishing your dog is unforgivable, using a electric collar is barbaric. Sometimes I wish I could put the collar on the owners and see how they would like it.

If you feel you and your dog are not ready for your first shoot day then feel free to call and discuss how I can help to polish off the last few rough edges.

Posted: January 28, 2016