Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

Great subscription deals at http://www.sportinggunsubs.co.uk MAY 2019 SPORTING GUN 65

GUNDOGS

Training

story short, I have never had a ‘dedicated’
training ground instead making do with
what I had around my village. However, a
month ago I got permission to use some
ideal gundog training ground on an estate
not far from where I live. The ground consists
of a very large fi eld full of rough grass and
a bit of set-a-side; someone has even cut
rides through part of the cover, which make
perfect retrieving lanes. There is also a huge
block of woodland that has areas of sedge
grass and low bramble with plenty of stick
piles. It is the ideal place to tighten up Ted’s
hunting. Many years ago there was a shoot
on the ground and now and again the odd
pheasant might turn up but generally there

improvement in Ted’s response. I have

created a training plan that includes a few

working tests. My new training ground gives

me a great opportunity to test and train Ted

for various scenarios. As well as his hunting, I

have been working on refi ning his retrieving

and tidying up his deliveries, developing

the complexity by putting out dummies

over ditches and in stick piles and bramble

patches. I am constantly thinking about and

setting tasks that we may encounter in the

shooting fi eld.

A couple of months ago I wrote about

‘January dog syndrome’, which manifests in

the best of gundogs as the shooting season

comes to an end. The symptoms come down

to the dog seemingly forgetting everything

it has ever been taught. I know plenty

of owners who, come February, let their

gundogs do pretty much nothing for the

spring and summer but then expect them

to perform faultlessly come October. This

time of the year is perfect for getting back

to basics: the dogs are fi t, the weather is not

too warm and what needs working on is still

fresh in our minds; and let ’s face it, most of

us get our Saturdays back again, so it ’s either

do those long-postponed DIY jobs or getting

out and do some dog training. I know what I

would rather be doing.

isn’t much scent about. But I learnt a long

time ago that you have to work with what

you have got.

Remedial training

The warm weather at the end of February

gave me plenty of opportunity to get

out early in the morning and late in the

afternoon to start Ted on his remedial

training programme. The fi rst thing I had

to do was to get him used to the quieter

whistle, which wasn’t as diffi cult as I thought

it would be. In fact, the biggest problem

was that every time I blew the turn peep,

I spat the whistle out. Once I had sorted

out my blowing technique, I noticed an

A silent whistle (left)

and Acme 210 ½ (right)

Practising retrieving

and tidier deliveries

Retrieving dummies

from sticks or brambles

Using a silent whistle

won’t upset other Guns