Time to make a plan

Without a doubt, October to February is the most exciting time to be out with our dogs in the field, but if we want to ensure our working companions continue to progress year on year, it is imperative that we make the most of that so-often-underused 6–8-month period when the breeks stay in the cupboard.

Avoiding the ‘until next season’ mentality

One of the greatest errors I see as a professional trainer is this ‘until next season’ mentality amongst gundog owners. It’s a bit like putting your gun away in the cabinet on 1 February, not touching it throughout the spring and summer until your first day of the next season, and still expecting to shoot well. The nature of activity with your dogs during this time is equally important; infrequent training sessions with no real structure, element of consistency or end goal do little for a dog’s progress, but can mean weak areas or issues are not addressed and are instead compounded.

A Well-Earned Rest

After three or four months of hard work, I always give my dogs a rest in February, letting them completely relax and switch off from their usual working or training regime. They are allowed to run freely around the paddock at home and play with each other in a controlled environment.

Focusing on recovery and condition

During these few weeks, the focus is on regaining the dog’s condition. The spaniels in particular are often a little sore after their enthusiastic bramble-bashing and working in thick cover, and I’ll look to put a little more weight on the dogs as they often become very fit when out working regularly. Each dog is different, but I generally maintain food volumes administered throughout the season for the whole of February. As they are less active, the dogs soon start to put weight on and get a good shine back in their coats.

By March, then, the dogs have had a chance to relax and recover and they’re ready to get going with their off-season training.

Making a Plan

During the shooting season, we all notice areas in which our dogs can improve. These should be the focus of our spring and summer training.

Identifying weaknesses and setting goals

Because of my job, I am able to address any issues as and when they arise, but not everyone is able to do this.

Of course, a major issue such as ignoring the recall completely, aggression, or running into a drive must be addressed and resolved in training before a dog is taken into the field again – for obvious reasons. Most likely, however, you will begin noticing sloppiness or bad habits gradually creeping in – the sort of things that do not cause huge alarm but gradually worsen over the course of the season.

It’s a good idea to keep a note of all the things that have gone wrong whilst out in the field, even if they seem minor and quite insignificant at the time. The smallest of things can quickly develop into frustrating habits if left to manifest over several seasons.

I ask my clients to keep a record of what has happened and then when it comes to drawing up a training plan, we address each point systematically, asking: Why has it happened?; How has it happened?; And is it me or is it the dog? It’s worth taking your time when considering each of these questions – time invested at this stage can save you weeks in the training paddock.

Once the cause of each issue noted down has been determined, it’s time to draw up a training plan. With my dogs I conduct two short, sharp sessions a day, each of which have a specific focus. A session typically lasts for 15 minutes, always ending on a positive note, and progress is tracked as we go.

Dogs thrive on structure and routine, it’s how they learn, but it is important to keep training sessions interesting and stimulating to prevent boredom. Regardless of progress, I therefore give a dog a break from training for three or four days every 4–6 weeks, dependent on the dog’s nature and how easily it loses focus. It’s important to remember dogs are not robots and too much for too long can be counterproductive.

Many problems stem from working our dogs in a fashion they are not used to in training. We can set up situations whilst training our dogs to increase the likelihood of success, but of course we cannot always do this on a shoot day, and our dogs inevitably begin finding success themselves. As a result they can start to believe in themselves a little more than they believe in their owners. It is this trust and belief that ‘if I listen to Mum/Dad, I will find more’, we must endeavour to instil.

The Stop Whistle and Final Recall

As the shooting season progresses, it’s not uncommon for a dog to start becoming a little sloppy on the stop whistle and recall.

Reinforcing obedience with positive associations

Most of us train our dogs to do both of these things using reward-based methods; the dog learns that if it stops promptly or returns to us upon the command, it will be directed to a bowl of food at mealtimes, or something exciting to retrieve. However, during the season, these often turn into negative commands, meaning ‘stop, because there’s a problem or you’re doing something wrong’. We want a dog to associate the stop whistle and recall with positive experiences – a dog that obeys a command because it wants to work with you is much better than one that obeys a command because it has to.

For the stop whistle, go back to basics and begin stopping your dog on the way to its food at mealtimes, just as you would when first introducing the command to a puppy…

Keeping Them Close

This is of particular importance to those who work their dog(s) in the beating line or do a lot of walked-up shooting…

Using the off season to maintain close work

Happily, there’s much we can do as handlers during the off season to remind the dog why it should stay close to us whilst working…

Out of Season Opportunities

There are, of course, sporting situations throughout the spring and summer months that can offer the perfect opportunity to train your dog in a new and exciting environment…