It's a dogs life, training the hard way, and learning from my mistakes.
Meet Ivy!
Isn’t she beautiful? Ivy came to live with us on the farm only a week ago. Already she is like part of the family…joyful, energetic, sleeps a lot, eats a lot, makes a lot of mess and demands my almost constant attention. Just like my children!
She is here to join my merry little band of gundogs/friends. We have six dogs on the farm. My Farmers two sheepdogs, Ben and Dan, and my dogs. Torro the Labrador. Flo and Breeze the Working Cocker Spaniels, and, of course, Rustle. A Jack Russell and the only dog here without a job! He is the family pet and much loved. The only dog allowed on the beds too!
We have a fortunate life here on the farm, where all the dogs have a very varied day. We have our routines, but I also like to take the day as it comes. Wherever I can I will fit my work around the dogs. If there’s a part of my day when they can all join me, that’s great. But generally, we have one long walk a day all together, usually in the afternoon after school pick up and before feed time. The rest of the day is split into the morning wake up and scurry around a field (always changing to keep it interesting and dependant on where the livestock is), with bed making and cleaning of kennels. If I’m back in the house for paperwork(yawn!), then my crew all come in for a cup of tea and toast…me…and a snooze by the Aga…them! Then it’s a lunchtime short walk for everyone and out into their kennel and paddock. Training is either dropped in on a walk or at set aside times for Breeze in particular, as my youngest at two years old. As you can see, the dogs do take up a lot of my day. I love it!
All the dogs live outside, except for Rustle, he’s with me wherever I go. He hasn’t required any training at all. Phew! He’s just happy to stick around and do what everyone else is doing. When I’m training, he just snuffles around at the side of the field. Such a good boy.
My days are very varied. Juggling mum, farmhand, shepherdess, stable girl, gardener, housekeeper, office secretary, kennel maid and dog trainer. Plus, a taxi service! The hours I spend in my car is shocking. No buses going past this front door.
It all means it’s hard to take time over anything at all. I’ve learnt that it’s so vital not to rush dog training though. It needs to be calm. With enough extra time allowed to ensure you end on a positive note. It’s also important to know when to stop. Sometimes less is more. Don’t rush the weeks away either. Especially with the early training. Some dogs take longer to mature, and some are brighter than others. The basics are SO important. Just because you can’t wait to get your dog out on a shoot or to the beach, don’t just cross your fingers and hope it goes ok. You’ve got to be sure they’re ready. There’s a lot of temptation and distraction out in the big, wide world. Take your time.
I’m fortunate that I have our own open fields to train in. With a river, streams, a large pond and acres of woodland. But I have a reverse problem to many people. Its too open here! I haven’t had an enclosed garden. All my training is with the wildlife on Exmoor sitting on my shoulder. It can be SO frustrating!
When we moved here with my first spaniel, Barley, I realised immediately how difficult this may be. I had set up a nice little dummy retrieve along a hedge line. The idea being that I would send Barley out for the dummy, using the hedge as a nice straight line for him to use for the retrieve. He was half way out to the dummy when a fox with a rabbit in its mouth popped its head out of the hedge and proceeded to leg it across the field. With Barley in hot pursuit. His desire to hunt and chase had been sparked.
The ‘Self employed’ Barley
It wouldn’t have been a disaster on its own, as he was still young. But combined with my lack of experience it was inevitable that Barley and I had a ‘troubled’ relationship! I have learnt from bitter experience that the most vital part of a dogs training is the recall. If you can’t get them back, then you can’t keep them safe, and you have huge limitations in what you can do with the dog. As a working companion or a pet. Remember Fenton? The Labrador chasing deer in Windsor Great Park, with his highly stressed owner desperately trying to get him back. I could have had exactly that scenario with Barley.
We used to joke that he wasn’t a Working Cocker but a Self-Employed Cocker! In fact, it wasn’t a joke at all. The inevitable happened and Barley took himself off hunting pheasants one day and was hit and killed by a car. Thank god he didn’t kill anyone else. Think of Fenton as he chased those deer across the busy road. That man was so lucky to have not caused an accident. I wasn’t so lucky, and it was entirely my fault. He had too much access to freedom as a young dog. With some breeds maybe that’s fine, but he was from a strong working line and was bred to hunt. I was supposed to have harnessed that natural instinct. A lesson learnt the hardest way.
I still struggle having working dogs who are pets too. Many gundog owners keep their dogs purely in kennels with the shoot always in their mind. Many are like me who maybe have to live with a little imperfection as they fit their dogs into their lives in other ways too. But recall is never compromised.
A few other things I have learnt that were invaluable to me are:
1.My voice. I was too squeaky and heard too often!
I was advised to adopt a deeper tone when using a command and to go higher when praising. More distinction needed between tones. It worked a treat. Constant chatter whether it’s praise or scolding is just ‘noise’ too. Clear commands, joyous praise and definitely don’t overuse their name.
I used to call Barley on a walk, saying ‘Barley, here, here’ as we walked. He never had to stay with me as he could hear where I was all the time! Obvious isn’t it?! What an idiot I feel now, when I look back. Now I am quiet on a walk. I surprise the dogs where I am turning, which direction I’m taking. Sometimes I hide from them. They have to look for me all the time. They have to stay near me and keep an eye on what I’m doing. Not the other way around. I recall with a whistle sometimes, a name at others. At times I recall the dog and let it come near and then we keep moving, other times I recall them to sit at my feet. Perhaps walk at heel for a while (off the lead), then release them with a cheery ‘Get on!’ That way they don’t avoid me, thinking the fun is over and its straight on the lead.
2. Love and respect don’t always go together.
A bond is different to love. All dogs are born loving with a desire to please. Some have more desire than others! Your dog has to respect you and want to do things for you. It will always cuddle with you at the end of the day. But will it come back to you on a walk, or with a pheasant?
A bond isn’t built on brute force or shouting. You can be firm, but fair. Are you sure they understand what you mean? They will test you, but be clear what you want. You need to understand your dog’s nature. Is it nervous or confident? Is it quick to learn or does it need more time? Patience is vital.
3. Be clear, consistent and persistent.
You don’t want to bore the dog, but repetition is key. It really pays off. Short training sessions of three 10-minutes a day rather than one hour long session is often better. If the training is going wrong, stop and think, why? Maybe you need to go back a few steps, or ease off a little. Perhaps the dog has lost confidence? Build it up by going back to something they did well. It will put a smile on your face too!
4. Make it fun!
No explanation needed😊
I have now prepared my dog areas so they work better for me and my team. I have put netting on the bottom of the field gate, in a well fenced field. No escapees! New kennels are being built in a fully enclosed paddock, so that when the beasts are released from their lair, they don’t have immediate access to the whole of the moor. Although I’m having terrible trouble keeping Flo in. She is such an escape artist. Its driving me crazy! It will be razor wire, sentry towers and patrolling soldiers soon!
Torro and Flo both just need reminding of their job now and again and a tightening up of manners. Breeze is only two and missed a lot of training last year because of my back injury. She should have been lightly worked towards the end of last season, but it wasn’t possible. I managed a few visits to the shoot after the operation on my spine, but I couldn’t walk far. I was able to sit Breeze up next to me when the guns were shooting, and she did some lovely retrieves at the end of the drive. Although it wasn’t much, it was so valuable to see how she behaved on a working shoot, and for her to retrieve live game for the first time. It always helps when they finally get to see what it’s all about!
Breeze after her first experience at a shoot
She was amazing and I was so proud of the little girl. We found a few things to iron out too. Having had a rather unseemly fight over a cock bird, I can see that the delivery to hand of fresh game is very different to a boring old dummy for Breeze. She gave it to me and then changed her mind and tried to take it back! Lots to work on before next season then.
Then there’s Ivy. It’s going to be another busy year!