A lot of people rather like the ‘solitary’ nature of gundog training
They like being at one with nature, and just the dog for company.
This is all very well, but some gundog owners get into difficulties, because they are trying to train entirely on their own.
Day in and day out
You need help
Here’s the thing. You cannot train your dog alone.
This is nothing to do with your ability as a trainer. Or your dog’s ability as a gundog.
It is the nature of the process.
Proofing
Initial obedience training needs to be established in isolation. You need to be entirely free from distractions.
Just you and the dog.
But soon, often sooner than you think, you will need to ‘proof ‘ this training.[wp_ad_camp_1]If you are not sure what proofing is, check this out:
And this is just for pet dogs!
Working gundogs on the other hand, need proofing against some pretty challenging distractions.
Bolting rabbits, gunshots, flushing pheasants, and other dogs whizzing out to retrieve are but to name a few.
And you cannot do this by yourself.
Professional trainers
To teach your dog to ‘honour’ another dog’s work, you need other dogs. To teach your dog to obey basic commands such as heel, and ‘stop’ in the presence of live game, you need live game.
Getting help for most people, means contacting a professional trainer, where you will have access to his trained dogs and other facilities.
Even before this stage you will need help from friends
A training buddy
In order to be able to ‘mark’ gundogs need to learn that retrieves come from somewhere other than their handler. At quite an early stage in training you will need to rope in some dummy throwers.
Bribe your kids, beg your spouse, or better still train with a friend so that you can throw for each other.
It may be a bit of a ‘big deal’, it may not be quite what you intended, but you owe it to your dog to do the job properly
You can find a list of professional gundog instructors here, and you can join the forum to meet other gundog owners that are interested in working their dogs.
Gundog training is actually quite a social activity. Which may not be what you expected, but it is actually a great way of making new friends.
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