Fun Gun Dog Course
Our 4 week Fun Gun Dog course gives you all the skills needed to teach your dog a retrieve, complete with training guides and accompanying videos.
What is it?
Gun Dog Training is broad term that can refer to anything a gun dog must learn to be useful in the field. In this course, we will be working on a retrieve with delivery to hand. This is where a dummy is thrown, the dog waits until it is sent, runs out to the dummy, picks it up, brings it back and holds it until the handler holds onto the item and is cued to drop.
There’s a surprising amount of behaviours for you and your dog to master in a ‘simple’ retrieve. In this course we break down the retrieve to identify where your dog needs more teaching. We work with their instincts and natural drive to make the training as enjoyable and stress free as possible.
A retrieve opens up a whole world of training and rewards for you and your dog. By offering our dogs the opportunity to search, find, hold and retrieve an item, we can more effectively reward recall, disengagement and self-management. Rather than the environment being the source of all things fun, we can be instead.
Who is it for?
Any dog and owner wanting to learn a retrieve, improve impulse control and deliver the toy to hand.
In particular, gun dog breeds (Spaniels, Labradors, Goldens, Pointers, Setters, Poodles and all the crosses) have been selective to do this job – so give them an outlet and see what your dog can do!
Does your dog...?
Run out to the toy but has a party rather than returning it?
Returns with the toy but says, ‘not for you - only looking is allowed!’
Looks at the toy as if to say, ‘we’ll you threw it, you get it’
Not even entertain the idea of a toy: Food is Life.
In this course we troubleshoot all these issues with different techniques for you and your dog to implement to work through these. As always, force free positive reinforcement training.
How can it help me and my dog?
Gun dog training teaches dogs to switch their focus between the dummy and you. Practising switching from focusing on something exciting to focusing on you can help them learn this around other distractions (dogs, people, wildlife, etc).
Gun dog training requires dogs to be patient and still before being cued to retrieve. Learning that good things come to those that wait can help your dog’s impulse control in other areas of their life.
When being sent out for a blind dummy, we teach our dogs to keep hunting until you find a something, that even though you can’t see the reward it is out there. This way they learn that is it valuable and enjoyable to keep working and trying despite a lack of visual reward.
Much of the work we do with our does is in close proximity, dictated by the length of the lead. With gun dog training, we send our dogs out to work independently away from us. This can help build their confidence in search the environment on their own and not to rely on us to point out exactly where everything is.
Gun dog training is true partnership where we rely on our dog to bring the dummy back, and our dogs rely on us to point them in the right direction. This is a great way to show your dog that you’re on their team. If they’re struggling to find the dummy, they ask for our help and we give them a directional cue. It’s a wonderful experience to see your dog ask for and value your help.
Many common pet dog breeds are in the gun dog group. Retrievers (Labradors, Goldens, Flat Coats), Spaniels (Springers, Cockers, Cavaliers), Pointers (German, English), Setters (Irish, Gordon, English) and Poodles (Standards and include the crosses) were all originally bred to be out in the field working. If you don’t give them a job, they’ll go self employed. So give your dog a job, allow them to do the work they were bred for and meet those needs for a happier dog!
To be responsible dogs owners we have to control so much of our dogs life. This may lead to often telling them no, stopping them doing things and restricting their ability to meet their own needs. This can lead our dogs to create a negative association towards us when we approach or talk to them when doing something fun. Gun dog training helps to unlearn that association and in turn strengthen the bond. No longer is it, ‘don’t hunt for that’ or ‘leave that alone’, but instead we say, ‘go find the thing’ and ‘show me what you’ve got’. Much to the relief of our dogs and us.
Details:
As always, force free positive reinforcement training. A maximum of four dogs in a class, secure private outside training area with on-site parking.
All abilities and breeds welcome. Ages 6 months+.
This course is not designed for dogs who resource guard toys or novel items. A common issue with gun dogs but easily rectified, please feel free to reach out for help with this.
What’s covered?
- Automatic Focus
- Hand Touch
- Heel Position
- Front Present
- Middle
- Stay
- Games
- Using their Instincts
- Platforms
- Retrieves
- Delivery to Hand
- Marked Retrieves
- Memory Retrieves
- Blind Retrieves
Fun Gun Dog
£80
4 Week Course |
| 4 x 1hr Group Training Sessions |
| Training Guides |
| Accompanying Videos |
| A Skill For Life |
| Book |
Prefer Individual Training?
Can't make the scheduled course dates or would simply prefer one to one sessions? All our courses are available as private courses, book your sessions for whenever suits you. Ideal for dogs who don't benefit from a group class.