Stepping up to the big time

Q: Both of my older labs are experienced pickers-up and know the routine at our two regular shoots. However my two-and-a-half-year-old will be joining them full-time this season, having had a few successful initial forays on his own last time round. Should I take him out on his own for the first day or with one other dog or just take all three and be selective about what I send him for? All advice welcome. 

Laura Hill: This very much depends on the shoots to which you have access. It would be ill-advised to just take him along to a large commercial day with heavy drives and throw him straight into the action with your other dogs. However, if you have a smaller day you can attend for his first outing then this would be a far better introduction. 

You say he has attended a few days last season, but presumably this was just to watch some action on the lead and then perhaps to do some limited sweeping after one or two of the drives? If you have established from this, and his summer training, that he is steady and calm, with no vices then the best course of action would be to take him out on his own for a drive or two on the first day. Speak to the head of the picking-up team and ask if someone else can cover your job for that day, so you can concentrate on just introducing him sensitively to the field, and monitoring how he is reacting. This way you won’t feel pressurised into sending him for any retrieves he is not ready for, and you will be able to assess whether he is really ready to become a member of your team.   

If all goes well on this initial outing, you can start taking him out with your other dogs, either in a full team or by swapping him in so that each dog gets some time out for a drive or two. Try to be selective with what you allow him to do. You don’t want him thinking every runner will be for him, so initially you can let him sit calmly while you send an older dog for a runner.  When you let him off at the end of the drive to sweep, you may find firstly he just follows your other dogs as he is unsure what to do. Once he starts to find birds for himself, though, he will soon get the hang of things and hopefully become an asset to your days picking-up.