Testimonial – Gundog Training Wurly the Springer Spaniel

This is written as a genuine thank you to Damian for everything he has done for myself & Wurly and to anyone reading this wondering if they should try this type of training, do it now, don’t wait, you won’t regret choosing Damian as your trainer.

We have had Wurly since he was a puppy & attended training sessions as soon as we could. Unfortunately, the quality of that training was not specific to a springers needs & whilst Wurly was well behaved in the house as he got bigger he started to pull on the lead & his recall was non-existent.

I tried 2 trainers (including a gun dog expert). Again, this had no effect & Wurly started to run off from the house & would regularly take a half an hour run around the field & return to me when I was practically hysterical with worry! He once left home for over three hours & was found chasing livestock.

The final straw was when we went on holiday & Wurly got free from his lead & decided to chase some sheep, got one in the loch & was holding it under when we eventually caught up with him.

At this point we had to agree as a family that we were unable to keep Wurly. It was no fun for us & most importantly we weren’t doing the best for our boy. I decided to try one last attempt & had a look on the internet. I was drawn to Damian as his testimonials were very positive & there was a clear message that Damian is passionate about his work which wasn’t always my experience of other trainers.

At the first lesson, Damian had Wurly walking to heel almost immediately and it was very clear that despite my efforts I was the one in need of training. Damian is a great guy, very direct with comments & humour and very helpful with his advice & follow up. The thing that I felt immediately was that Damian not only knows his stuff but he is clearly passionate about dogs being trained to do what dogs are meant to do. Damian has a way of communicating with the dogs that shows he understands what they need & can get the best from them.

I started to make progress with Wurly but due to some personal issues the training lapsed & I found myself back at the beginning. At this point I decided to invest in Wurly & booked him in for a four week residential. The change in our boy has been unbelievable. We have had to make some small changes at home as a family but the improvement is visible to anyone.

Wurly now walks on his lead & doesn’t chase the children on a family walk. I can now let him off the lead which I still can’t believe is possible after our earlier mishaps! The first time he was off the lead at training was quite emotional. Wurly was hunting around the bushes, working with Damian & the other dogs, returning on the whistle & it was obvious that he was happy which in turn makes the family happy.

We are still in training and I will continue to go to sessions to with Damian. I can now let Wurly off the lead & he hunts and plays with us rather than against us. He stills likes the rabbits but he no longer heads for the fields and returns hours later.

My advice would be not to wait until you have an issue with your dog before calling Damian but go for sessions as soon as you can. The lessons are an investment & will result in a happier dog.

I am looking forward to the next chapter of gun dog training and seeing what else my crazy spaniel & I can do with Damian’s help.

Posted: January 1, 2017