Trainig for a beginner - Where to start?

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Trainig for a beginner - Where to start?

Postby Steve_Hawkes » Tue 15 Aug 2006 9:36 am

Hi everyone, just thought i would quickly introduce myself and seek a bit of advise for a beginner like myeslf.

I've just joined the forum after attending The Working Gundog Club of NSW training day on the weekend at Marulan. Had a great day and was amazed at the levels of training that you can get a dog to. I'm pretty new to the dog scene and am from a show background (of only 1 year) and thought that it would be good to see my 2 weimaraners having a go at what they were bred to do as well as showing.

Thanks very much to Jason, Bob, Jack and Joe by the way for a great day on Saturday. Hope there are some more in the future.

Now, my question... Where to start? My boys are 16 and 17 months old and have a very limited level of obediece, so i assume that would be where i should start? Just by observing at the training day i would guess that the dog really needs to be able to heel off lead and have pretty good general control off lead before attempting to go any further. Would this be right and if so, where to from there? Should i move on to those baseball drills? Oh, and where can i get the bumpers (hope i said that right. There's a lot of jargon in this sport).

Some direction here would be great. Thanks guys

Steve
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Postby Jason Ferris » Tue 15 Aug 2006 1:55 pm

Hi Steve

Welcome to the site and welcome to retrieving. I'm glad you enjoyed the training day.

I think you are right in saying that you need to work on your obedience, but I wouldn't do it exclusively. I would also suggest that you work on their marking now. I would start off with them running with a short lead attached to their collar as Bob demonstrated or a length of cord attached to your belt and slipped through their collar as I demonstrated.

Start on the oval with a white bumper at short distances (30m) and as the dogs have success increase the distance out to 100m or so. Vary the distance between sessions. Have someone throw the dummies for you, and initially get them to attract the dogs attention by calling their names or "Hey hey" before throwing. Use the cord to hold the dogs for a moment or two before sending them to retrieve. When they pick up the bumper, call them and run in the opposite direction to reinforce the idea of coming back to you. Over time you will see them develop focus (looking out for the bird being thrown), steadiness (waiting to be sent), and a desire to retrieve.

Once you have this happening on the oval, find some good training spots and introduce factors like terrain, cover and water into the equation.

You can also get started on the handling and casting drills that Jack and Bob demonstrated once your dogs have shown a desire to retrieve.

The bumpers and dummies can be purchased from Specialised Dog Accessories. Joe Law is the NSW agent. You can contact him on jlawaus@bigpond.com.

The Working Gundog Club is just starting to plan for a "Getting started in Retrieving" training day early in 2007. Stay tuned to this site for further information.

Cheers, Jason.
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