Sporting Shooter UK – August 2019

minute session. And 2: if something doesn’t work,

then change the technique. As the famous quote

goes – ‘the definition of insanity is doing the same

thing over and over again and expecting a

different result’. Remember, it doesn’t take long

for bad habits to form.

Now the main point of this is actually to do with

golden rule number 1 – overdoing it. The 2-2

method helps with the real basics and getting

them established quickly, but we need to move on

and keep things interesting. That can also mean

changing the training areas to include more

interesting surroundings. But don’t forget, we still

want to accomplish our goals in these new and

more exciting places, so keep ‘achievable’ in sight

at all times.

So stepping out of the 2-2 training we need to

increase the length of our training sessions and up

the exposure. The real training now needs to be

geared towards the end goal/big picture. As I said

last month, this should always be in your mind

when you step out of the door to do some

training. So if you want to primarily hunt your dog

and go beating or shoot over it, then learn how to

hunt it and stay away from generic gundog

classes that line everyone up and

basically do retrieving scenarios

week after week. This is not

conducive to your end goal. Yes,

you learn in part about

retrieving, but you’ll be missing out on your

hunting. But if 200-yard blind retrieves over walls

and fences etc are commonplace scenarios for a

beating spaniel on your shoot, then by all means

• crack on!

Don’t overdo it

Last month, I introduced you to one of our young

dogs, Lula – a now 13-month-old little cocker that

showed some natural ability from as young as four

weeks old. Lula has taken to her training like a

duck to water and her two siblings that we have

are also coming along. However, moving house

last month has kept me very busy and has meant

that all the dogs have been missing out on some

training. I can honestly say that I haven’t done

anything formal with Lula for well over two

months, so I’ve yet to really start testing her. The

initial 2-2 training helped me install her basics

solidly. But coupled with that I’ve exposed her to

various other things that I deem conducive to her

end goals.

I mentioned last month that she’s destined for

trialling, rough-shooting and beating duties, with

perhaps some peg work should she show the

potential. I’m not concerned that she’s had

little input from me recently as I know it’ll

all be in there when we pick things up

again. Providing I haven’t done

anything in these last two months

that will induce bad habits (and I

haven’t), then I know all will be fine.

In fact, at the end of February, when

she was around 10 months old, I

could stop her sharply at distance, she

would sit patiently for a good length of

time, she would heel well, recall quickly, mark

well and retrieve to hand. Plus she had a whistle

command to aid her hunting. Now if I was to do

nothing else with her, and simply allow her to

grow-up, yet shield her from forming bad habits,

for example not taking her for wild walks – would

all those things not be considered the traits of a

trained dog?! Surely a dog of four years that did

all those things on a shoot day would stand out!

Yet I guarantee that the overdoing it scenario can

undo any training just as quickly as allowing a dog

to continually pick up bad habits.

Other exposure

So, what else has she been exposed to? Well, I

like to take a young dog on a small shoot as soon

as possible. Remember, I’m not a big fan of

regimental timescales written down in many a

book. I feel you should let your dog be the guide

GUNDOG FOCUS

Ryan Kay is a

keen trialler and trainer

and is a Kennel Club Accredited

Instructor for Working Gundogs.

He runs FarlaVale Gundogs in

North Yorkshire.

http://www.farlavale.co.uk

PICTURES:

RYAN KAY; LEE BEEL

with Ryan Kay KCAI (WG)

L

ast month, I highlighted my training technique,

which I’ve called 2-2 training. The first ‘2’

being two minutes of training and the second ‘2’

being the two-hour gap until the next two minutes

of training. The idea being that you eventually

accumulate 10 minutes of intense two-minute

sessions throughout a day. You should aim to

keep these concentrated sessions light and fun

and of high quality. The method is aimed at

keeping the developing dog engaged and

learning, rather than overdoing the lessons and

boring a young dog to tears.

Aimed primarily at dogs in their first year of life,

the 2-2 method will help a particular area of

training sink in much more quickly as the gap is

just two hours in between learning. The dog

remembers the fun from a couple of hours earlier,

and so it helps the handler to be proficient and

train across a weekend where time is often limited

through the working week. Have two or three

goals/areas in mind (say, heel, sit/wait and

perhaps a retrieve). The first two minutes may

consist of just heel, then the next two minutes can

comprise of heel and perhaps 10 seconds of sit/

wait. The third two minutes may then have a

minute of heel and more sit/wait, with a little

retrieve thrown in at the end.

The golden rules are... 1: not to overdo it, (as in

bore the dog), so once you’ve nailed a particular

element, don’t keep including that in the next two

2-2 training: the next level

Following on from the introduction of his time-saving training technique last month,

Ryan Kay explains how to progress with it, stressing the importance of not overdoing things

THE

GOLDEN RULES

Don’t overdo your training

and risk boring your dog, and

try a different technique if

something isn’t working.

Ryan has a minimalist approach to retrieving