Very excited about watching Hawcroft Gundog CS Training vid

[moola]

... a pressie from Father Christmas.  I can't wait to see it!!!  I have the house to myself for the next 2 days so I am going to sit down note book in hand.  Slightly anxious though - bet I've been doing loads of stuff wrong....

We've seen the Drakeshead ones for labs - they are excellent although we got somewhat overwhelmed at the thought of trying to direct a dog that was out of sight   .   Incredible.  I can't imagine we'd ever get to this level, even in our wildest dreams!

 

[Nicola]

The Hawcroft DVDs are brilliant, you'll really enjoy them and get a lot out of them. Simon is Caoimhe's sire's owner and is hopefully going to trial her for me next season, he knows his stuff and he can explain it really well.

[DLK]

Nicolar, merry christmas to you.  Why are you not trialing your own dog?

[Nicola]

Nicolar, merry christmas to you.  Why are you not trialing your own dog?

Merry christmas to you too  The main reason that Simon will/should be running Caoimhe is because she appears thus far to be an exceptional dog and I'm a trialling novice. He can give her the chance to see how far she's capable of getting and I'm learning a huge amount from the help he's giving us, I'm in training too and the long-term plan is for her to be my introduction to competitions. Apart from that he's also better able to actually get runs for her, which as I'm sure you know isn't easy, particuarly for a newcomer to the scene. We'll see what happens this year though, I've got some tests planned for her over the summer so we'll see how we go in those.

With my Mod hat on, this is really off-topic for this thread so if there are any other questions about Caoimhe's training she has a thread or pm me, thanks!

[moola]

I can understand where you're coming from Nicola....and you are so lucky to have such valuable advice and assistance.  It would be a shame not to get the absolute best out of her and a fantastic 'way in' for you.  It sounds like a very good idea. 

As for our little chap - well, having seen these video it seems that I have done things wrong.  I have based my training thus far on my limited experience with labs and basic level obedience.  So what I have basically done is get to 'level 2' which has looked at commands and steadiness/recall as opposed to encouraging hunting and retrieving.  Thankfully he is only just 6 mths and is still madly keen so fingers crossed I can take some steps back and get his drive going again in the way that is shown in this film. 

Of course, the breeds do different jobs, but myself and my husband were amazed at how closely you train cockers.  It is completely different from labs where you aim for steadiness at distance. I am going to think carefully about a new training schedule (I'll read yours with interest Nicola )  and where I can take Pippin (working on different ground etc). corrrrr what a challenge.

[EddieP]

Those DVD's sound great. Can you point me in the direction of where I can get hold of them?

Need to go back to basics with Alfie - he has discovered chasing birds is the best and most rewarding thing ever and has gone completely deaf as a result  - time to get that sorted out.

[Nicola]

Those DVD's sound great. Can you point me in the direction of where I can get hold of them?

I got mine from here, they're not cheap but they're very good... http://www.paulfrenchvideo.com/cockertrainingfilms.html

[spanielcrazy]

Of course, the breeds do different jobs, but myself and my husband were amazed at how closely you train cockers.  It is completely different from labs where you aim for steadiness at distance.

Absoulutely, it's the difference between the jobs they do; flushing vs. retrieveing.
A flushing spaniel has to stay within gun range, a bird flushed  out of range is useless  While some of the "how to's" are the same, you really need to get hold of books or videos of spaniel training (if you are doing it yourself) as they have a completely different style of hunting. Not to mention that coming from another breed to cockers, you find things such as the zig-zagging "windshield wiper" style of movement that cockers do is correct and serves a purpose (other than to drive you crazy  )

[EddieP]

Thanks Nicola that's great. Now just need to get them signed off. 

[Martin E]

Hope the Hawcroft DVD's didn't disappoint. I'm going to follow them for training Jack. It's really good for me because I haven't trained a Cocker before, so it gives great tips on where he should be at through various stages of development and also what he should be able to do well before moving on.

[pete19873.5efi]

you could always get the video form the man himself

http://www.hawcroftgundogs.co.uk