[Closed] Proper Gun Dog stuff.... what to expect?

I've had 2 Springers so I can only comment on them but..

At shoots we used to go to it became clear to let the dogs find and relate to a pack, let them sniff around, get their bearings and if well enough trained your dog should come back to you as you are it's leader.
Keep the dog under control if it gets jumpy at the bangs, but it ought to find watching other dogs scoot around and fetching a simple thing to follow.
Go make yourself a friend of the shoot organiser, tell him about your new dog, he'll point(er) you in the right direction towards the main "pack" owner who will help you.

Mine loved the thrill of a shoot.
I loved it too.

Pic of the dog would help 😉

If your dog is not trained 100% and will respond instantly plus do nothing 'wrong', also take a lead.

Picking up our new Workning Cocker pup in a weeks time, hes from a long line of feild trial champions and i would like to know how to get more involved in shoots etc, hopefully when he has grown strong enough to run for a bit i can take him with the bike on the Quantock trails during the summer to keep his fitness up. Has/does anyone do this?

Our Spinger goes beating once a week with my mother/trainer, both of them are knackered after. I have the job of picking out all the splinters, ticks and finding all the cuts.

Are you beating or picking up? If beating you will be walking a lot, through bushes and things. Expect you and your dog to be knackered after if you are doing a full day. Depending on where you are going, you should be fed after too! I wouldn't ask what it is, Pigeon pie is surprisingly nice tho!

I would wrap up warm with layers, you will get hot, earthy colours. Waterproof trousers, decent walking boots, etc. Towel and things for the dog, ours needs a bloody energy drink in the afternoon or she shuts down. Slip lead and possibly a pingy pongy lead. Don't forget your whistle if you dog is trained to a whistle.

There are a lot of do's and don'ts again depending on how upper class the shoot is, they can pay £5k+ per person to shoot!

Don't get stressed or anxious, when a gun goes off, ignore it as that's what you want your dog to do.

What part of the country is the shoot? Below Gloucester?

This is an interesting thread. My brother in law shoots and has once or twice suggested I take Angus (ma hound) along, angus is a very well trained dog, but he isn't gundog trained, Nick seemed to think he would do fine, whereas I was worried he'd be a nusance, and wonder off with someone elses pheasant... Although he does understand (instinctively i suppose) some gestures, he spots things when they land, and sweeps pretty well, so I have often wondered if he'd do ok...

This is a friend of mine whose You Tube video as just gone viral. It's just gone viral from a few viewings to 44,000+. Her dogs are gun dogs so I reckon this must be vital training for them 😉

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gun dog training[/url]

we're keeping him on a lead for tomorrows shoot anyway, his recall is fantastic from most situations and its getting much better even when playing with other dogs but if he's got a scent up his nose its like his ears switch off!

tomorrow is new for becca, myself and the dog so there's no pressure on us, we're going to help with the beating i think.

just don't let it run into the next copse before the beaters, this will. not. go. down. well.

Springers are pack animals, they like jumping around on other dogs and are most definetly seekers. You need to keep the training up early on so they are kept in tune when hunting, but once embeded they will act to your commands very well indeed. Make sure they know you are the boss and keep them enguaged, they get bored easily and chewing is a passtime of theirs so make sure they have something around to chew on, like your sofa.

Shoots are easy to get into. The Gun Dog Soc helped us out and as I bought mine from a Farmer he encouraged us to let him train them for working, this was the best piece of advice I could have wished for.
We followed the Shropshire Shoots over Ironbridge/Brosley/Bridgnorth way and the dogs could tell when it was about time to go out on one (1 every 4-5 weeks)
Training is by far the best thing, forget the local Puppy Clubs, these dogs are working dogs and need commanding right from the outset. Train early and be firm. Once they get that they'll be yours forever.

Look out for Clay Shoots in your area, Google your friend here.

he's got a scent up his nose its like his ears switch off!

Everyone is always very welcoming and generally love to take first timers under their wings. Have fun!

can't say where the shoot is unfortunately, its a military thing apparently and the squadies who've been naughty have to make food and drinks for everyone type job.

apparently the shoot master does free gun dog training in the summer so that could be awesome if it works out.

hmmmm might need to take becca shopping early morning for some earthy colours, she's a pretty bright and colourful person with her clothing!

as above, keep the dog on the lead until trained.

Someone turned up at a shoot last season with some mongrelly thing that charged straight through the beater line and out the other side of the cover. It was lucky there was a ban on shooting ground game that day 😉

If you get offered the chance, you might want to teach your dog how to carry some dead game with a soft mouth. Be ready to discipline it if it starts munching...

hmmmm its difficult with a pointer cos from what i understand they're not there to retrieve, just to lead the pack and point at stuff like an idiot

😆

the other thing we want to get the balance right with is helping the rescue dog in him feel safe with us and being firm enough with him that we're on top of naughty dogness from as early as possibly"

I would +1 the advice above, if you have gun dog, train it.

Wish I'd trained angus, and if i got another goldie I would deff train it.

The usual puppy training is fine, but it is a one size fits all training and different breeds vary hugely.

hmm, a military type thing, scoff supplied by the blokes who;ve been busted and would rather be doing their own thing - - Bring your own scoff mate!!

Some interesting reading here for training etc: http://www.gundogtrainingforum.co.uk/phpbb/index.php

i think i'm more worried about becca's reaction to the gun shots than anything else, she jumps at fireworks so i might need to lock her in the car with the window open a little 😆

My Grandparents were land owners and organized shoots. I saw some of what was involved in training dogs - gotta have a soft mouth.

hmmmm its difficult with a pointer cos from what i understand they're not there to retrieve, just to lead the pack and point at stuff like an idiot

Yep - like Pluto when he goes rigid when sees something exciting.

we're keeping him on a lead for tomorrows shoot anyway, his recall is fantastic from most situations and its getting much better even when playing with other dogs but if he's got a scent up his nose its like his ears switch off!

tomorrow is new for becca, myself and the dog so there's no pressure on us, we're going to help with the beating i think.

Should be plenty of opportunities between the drives to let the dog off the lead and have a run around. Let it get it out of its system a bit and then get it back to heel. Get there a bit early and give the dog a run and let it get used to it's surroundings. If it's organised enough to have a keeper in charge then speak to him and ask him what he wants you to do regarding the dog. If it's a smaller shoot with a relatively small bag the dog will do much less harm if it gets a bit carried away. If it's a big shoot with a lot of pheasants on the ground then you'd be better keeping it on the lead during the drive. This is easier said than done if there is a lot of undergrowth, you'll constantly be fighting with brambles and the dog will always go round the other side of trees. On the plus side if there is a lot of cover the pheasants are less likely to all go up in a oner. It might be worth leaving the dog at home first time, that way you can just concentrate on what you have to do instead of worrying about the dog and going wrong yourself. Don't be afraid to ask what's happening at the start of a drive, which direction you are supposed to be going in and what direction the pheasants are being driven. Enjoy it, it's a great day out. Oh and at least you don't have a spaniel 😉

I have a spaniel 🙂

We're beating every weekend till February,

Mines a total fruit cake, but is highly in demand as he's such a good worker!

We beat for 3 local shoots and I have to give him arthritis meta cam to keep him moving.

Hes had 4 operations and has pins and screw through all his elbows, limps permanently (I carry a letter from the vets stating he's fit to work in case anyone gets stroppy, but it wouldnt be any of the regulars as they all know my dog).

He lives to work and it keeps us both happy during the shoot season.

Never let a dog loose on a shoot that isn't 100% steady, it'll end in tears.
Prefer working tests to to driven shoots, although true rough shooting for the pot is real team work

It might be worth leaving the dog at home first time,

We have a couple of Spaniel men on our shoot, one of whom has a business card that says dog trainer on it. I can only assume he's very busy training other peopls dogs and not ot time forchis as his are shite. Therefore he gets the shit jobs cos his dogs run in. -2'c I know who's going on stop for 2 drives 😉 tbh I only think he gets asked back cos he supplies the radios.

But as above keep it on a lead until you get the lay of the land. There may be certain drives where you can let the dogs off as it doesn't matter if they run forward. Find yourself the #2 in charge and try to get in line next to them. Then you can't go far wrong.

thanks for the advice everyone 🙂

we'll be taking the dog as we were invited with a warm 'you can let him off the lead if you want but if you're not certain then it's up to you if you want to keep him on the lead'. the chap who invited us is close with the guy running the shoot and will be meeting us before hand to head down there with us.

i'm not going to risk our dog ruining it for everyone so the plan is to keep him on the lead and let him watch and learn, we're going to be learning too!

it sounds a pretty friendly group and apparently if they like us then in the summer we should be offered free gun dog training with the big guys there 🙂

plan is to take the slip lead to keep him close but some research says lots of people use 9ish meter training lines for new dogs so we might take our training line with us just in case we're told to use it... if not then it's not at least we've got his slip lead.

thanks again everyone! 🙂

well that was an experience 😀

cookie loved it, not bothered by the guns at all, flushed a few pheasant out and contributed to the total of about 18-20 pheasants by the end of the shoot. were given a bird for our efforts which becca and myself have skinned, gutted and is sitting nicely in the freezer for christmas.

got given a chestnut beating stick by one of the guys there as a gift and been invited back again 🙂 free gun dog training in the summer.

an experience!

Ace news! Glad things worked out for you and you had a good time. Beating is a great way to socialise and get a bit of exercise, but it can get very cold and wet.

Which reminds me, I need to get Ted out on a shoot soon.

everyone we met seemed really nice, mixture of ex military and posh people... will keep next saturday free to go again 🙂

shots of whisky before setting off and lots of people complimenting our silly rescue dog... couldn't have gone better really!

Finished and home! We're still on last drive!

skinned, gutted and is sitting nicely in the freezer for christmas.

bit quick, better hung for a while first. Unless they gave you one of last week's.

Still glad you enjoyed it. It's a great day out and to do it through a season you get a great feeling for the change in the season from October through February. and you get much closer to your dog too.

nowhere really to hang a pheasant and the guys there just gave us advice on how to skin/gut etc.... nobody mentioned hanging it so i'm guessing they assumed we'd know and us being complete newbies didn't even think about it!

http://www.farminmypocket.co.uk/livestock/meat-from-the-wild/hanging-and-skinning-pheasants

😉

There's always somewhere to hang a pheasant. Kid's bedroom is fine. Gives them something to play with...

useful link 🙂 no meat hanger here though 🙁

our mistake.... not sure what we'll do with the next one as I can't think where we'd hang one and be able to regulate the temperature other than the fridge! can't afford to keep the heating on all the time.

got a garage?

no garage 🙁

got an old falling apart shed in the garden but the door doesnt close so local cats would be in there like a shot.... spare room but cant imagine becca allowing that to happen, i'm guessing they smell when hung for a week?

Not really no. Ive got some from a fortnight ago to do tmrw. They've been in the car..