Any "working dog" training from Day 1?

[MuckyMeech]

Hi there,

My brain is currently on overdrive thinking through every element of 'working cocker' ownership before we pick up Bomber

I appreciate the little guy is only 2mths old at the moment  and it will be at least a year before we can consider doing any real work, but I thought there must be some "early stage" training that might help/not hinder his progress in the future??

My particular queries were about which training can be undertaken from Day 1 (I assume saying 'hup' when he plonks his little botty on the floor wont hurt, for example?)

and also which training should be avoided as it may cause issues later (perhaps like de-sensitising him to his name, or trying some of the aversive techniques??) 

Any advice very welcome (and any referalls to previous posts also gratefully received- I don't think I've got the hang of searching for old threads yet    )

Thanks!!

[Nicola]

It depends what you want to do with them as to how strict you want to be but I start as I mean to go on and I am pretty strict with mine. Probably the most important thing is that they get only individual walks and training until I'm happy their training is at the requisite level and that generally means when they're well over a year old. They get playtime with the other dogs every day but they don't go on walks with them (or very seldom, Caoimhe's been on 3 or 4 group walks and she's now 11 months) as I don't want them to get into the habit of free hunting and/or haring around with the other dogs when they're out and not paying attention to me. It's a lot to ask a puppy to ignore the other dogs buzzing around and focus on me so I don't put them (or me!) in the predicament.

With both Rodaidh and Caoimhe I bought them at just over 5 months old and all Ro could do at that age was sit and walk on a lead but by 11 months he was in his first field tests so there's no big rush to do everything when they're really tiny. Caoimhe was a bit more advanced at that age but she still really only had the very basics and everything's been built up since then. I like to start proper training as in hunting and retrieving at 5-6 months. Prior to that teaching them their name, recall and getting them focussing on me and building a really solid relationship with them are the main things I work on, I want them to be focussed on me and see me as the source of all interesting things. I teach them sit (and 'sit' means 'sit until you're told to move', few working people teach a separate stay command), down, introduce them to the lead and start on a bit of off lead heelwork, a 'look at me' command and I start to introduce the whistle and also expose them lightly to gunfire but that would be about it for the first few months.

I don't overdo the training at a young age, tbh it's more about things I don't do than things I do. I don't walk them with the other dogs; I don't play casual fetch with them, any and all retrieves are done properly; I don't play tug games; I don't let them get into the habit of carrying toys etc. around and not wanting to give them back, anything they pick up gets brought to me straight away (I do let them play with toys and chew on chewies though and to most pro gundog trainers this makes me 'soft'); I don't ever ever ever let them chase anything - no bird chasing, bunny chasing, cat chasing etc.; I don't let them go more than about 5-7 yards away from me when they're out and I don't ever let them take themselves off free hunting... It sounds harsh and it is I suppose but as I said it depends what you want to do with them, I trained Rodaidh to work on big driven shoots and to run in field tests and Caoimhe's training is even more intensive as she's got trialling potential and it's an unbelieveable amount of work.  

This thread might be useful for you, I've done a bit of a training diary with Caoimhe, she came to me at 5 months so a bit older than your pup will be but it goes through the stages of what I've done with her, I actually have another instalment to put on it... http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=61489.0

[MuckyMeech]

Nicola,

Thank you so much for your post- that was exactly the kind of information I am looking for  

Out of interest did you get your dogs directly from the breeder at 5mths? If not, what was their history before they came to you?

Ali x  

[Nicola]

Nicola,

Thank you so much for your post- that was exactly the kind of information I am looking for  

Out of interest did you get your dogs directly from the breeder at 5mths? If not, what was their history before they came to you?

Ali x  

Rodaidh, now 3, came directly from his breeder who is a gundog trainer. Ro was the pick of the litter from good working parents and he'd kept him to train up but I nagged him over a period of about 6 weeks until he agreed to sell him to me. With Caoimhe, now 11 months, I was looking around for a bitch pup, I was looking for trialling potential so I knew the pedigree lines I wanted and the ones I didn't want and the kind of traits I wanted the pup to have. I wasn't having any success, I enquired about a lot of litters but couldn't find any I liked and then I got a call from a very working Cocker knowledgable friend about a very well bred, bold, 5 month old pup that might be for sale due to a change in her owner's circumstances so I went to see her and she was everything I'd been looking for. I was incredibly lucky to get her, she's a quality little dog. I do like to buy them in a little bit older, you can see more clearly how they're shaping up as their personality and traits are coming out more clearly than in an 8 week old.
 
My oldest girl Tilly is a rescue, I got her at 2 years old already trained to work and although she'd never make a competition dog she's a cracking worker, she's 5 now and she knows what it's all about

[spanielcrazy]

Nicola's given some great info.    I'm too lazy to type tonight , so enjoy:

http://spanieljournal.com/24lbaughan.html

http://spanieljournal.com/3mdeeley.html

http://spanieljournal.com/2mdeeley.html

http://spanieljournal.com/2mhaglin.html

http://spanieljournal.com/rharrison.html

http://spanieljournal.com/2gmiller.html

[MuckyMeech]

Ah I see- I wondered if keeping them until 5mths was something unique to cocker breeders and was a bit   that Bomber might be coming away too early -I'm pleased to read getting them at 5mths isn't typical  

Was Tilly from a working background previously? Or have you trained her from scratch as a 2yr old?

I will enjoy reading through the rest of the thread about your dogs progress (how do you pronounce her name by the way?) and I'm sure I will be bothering you for advice along the way- big thank you in advance  

[Nicola]

Oh no, it's not a typical thing so don't worry about that  

Tills was trained to work when I got her and I had her out beating and picking up less than 3 weeks after she came home. Her training still needed a bit of work but she was pretty much there. As I said she'd never be able to compete, she's not the right kind of dog and wouldn't cut it at that level no matter how much training she'd had (but nor would most dogs!) but she's fantastic to have out on a shoot, she'll bulldoze any cover and retrieve absolutely anything.

Caoimhe is pronounced key-va and Rodaidh is ro-day, they're not typical names either