Is professional gun dog training the answer?

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Is professional gundog training the answer?

Professional training will lead to better results in the field.

By Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday, 21 July 2009

I’m in two minds about sending my 13-month-old labrador to a professional trainer.

He is quite a sensitive type but can equally be stubborn, which is why I’m having problems.

Friends say that harsh training methods are used at professional kennels and that my gun dog will not be able to cope with the discipline.

I’m afraid, however, that if I don’t do something soon I won’t have a gun dog for next season.

JEREMY HUNT SAYS: I don’t think you should make any decision on how to tackle this until you have looked at all the options.

At 13 months old your labrador needs to be showing some signs of progress in his training, but you have obviously hit a bad-patch.

As I see it, you have three options.

Firstly, I would suggest you contact several professional trainers and discuss your situation with them.

These people are experts who not only have vast experience in training gun dogs, but also in understanding the idiosyncrasies of gun dogs and their owners.

Take advice from them. Look at what training services they can offer in terms of time, price and what stage of training your gun dog will have reached by the time you get him back.

You may decide that your gun dog would be able to cope with a remedial period spent in kennels with a trainer.

Always remember to choose a trainer who is prepared to spend time with you and the gun dog afterwards and not just hand back your gun dog after six weeks or so.

You’ll just end up going back to square one otherwise.

Secondly, you could undertake some private lessons with a trainer over a period of weeks or months.

Thirdly, you could join a local gun dog training club to get to know experienced amateur trainers in your area that you can join up with for training sessions.

Like children at school, gun dogs will often respond well to a training regime away from their safe environment.

If you do decide to send your gun dog away to a trainer, I suggest you go with your gut reaction.

If you like the person and the set up of the kennels, and feel the gun dogs are well balanced and happy in their work, then I’m sure you and your gun dog will benefit from the experience.

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Comments

Georgie

Wed, 9th Sep 2009 12:32:57

My partner and I decided to send our labrador puppy away to be trained and it was possibly the worst mistake we ever made. I had to keep chasing them to send us invoices and get updates on her development, I was always promised this but it was never sent through. Eventualy my partner called to discuss when she would be ready to come home (5 months after having been there) and we were told he had lost our contact details so hadn't been able to get in touch and that our puppy was gun shy. She is now very timid around load noises and we are unsure if we can ever regain her confidence. This is a great disappointment as we are both young and have never trained a dog before so thought we were doing the right thing. The trainer was recommended, advised he would do training with the pup and my partner on her return, and infact owns the father to our pup. I think I would recommend option 2 or 3 above and go to a trainer with the dog, having sessions together rather than sending a dog away to be trained. I hope this helps, and if anyone has any advice for how to regain a dogs confidence in loud and sudden noises please advise.

Stewart North

Fri, 24th Jul 2009 11:33:08

There are some very good gundog trainers, who lack the skills to train handlers; there are some very good academics who think they can train a gundog? some methods could be deemed harsh?, Some methods are harsh? Some methods are reward based? Some dogs learn quickly, others can take some time. A good trainer should be able to assess your dog and set short term goals for the dog and handler, sound progress is only achieved with a balanced approach to the aspirations of the owner. Jeremy's advice is very sound, but there is no substitute for personal recommendation! http://workinggundogs.co.uk