hunting

[laurie_champagne]

Sorry to be ignorant but could someone tell me what a spaniel does when it is hunting ? I have only romantic & vague ideas about hunting from English movies (you know - setting off in the cool misty morning in your wellingtons & soft cap, rifle and trusty dog by your side......) Why I am curious is that I have read so often that the sign of a good breed is that the dogs can still do the work they were designed for (even though now most Cockers' jobs now are to be companions). I have a lovely little show dog & am thrilled with his temperament & affectionate nature, his ability to trot along, his long nose - actually I love everything about him but as I don't know what hunting entails I have always just taken as given that his size & shape etc are perfect for finding birds. Does a hunting spaniel walk along all day with occaional bursts of running to flush or retrieve a bird or ...how does he do his job ? I thought there might be others like myself who have never hunted and perhaps some of our experts on this forum could give us some info - just for interests sake. (  It also might come in handy when designing exercise routines - we mostly go for long on-leash (extendable leash) walks in woods & parks so Ranger can sniff away at whatever he finds interesting & play fetch & tug at hoem  but maybe I'm missing soemthing he would love to do) thanks in advance
  I do know that a good nose & tracking is part of the effort & my little Ranger certainly does love to sniff along.

[Helen]

that is indeed a romantic view of hunting    Scenting is only a part of what cockers do on a shoot.

To save typing out a mega reply here's a link for you to get an idea of what a working cockers 'job' should be

http://www.felsteadgundogs.com/

(by the way I don't ascribe to some of the training methods listed here but it gives you an idea of what extent of training a working cocker should have in the field)

and a description of beating - by the way walking in a dead straight line beating can involve neck high brambles, barbed wire, having to crawl etc and that's for the human let alone the dog....it's certainly not a stroll along a path

http://nobs.org.uk/html/beating.asp


and picking up

http://nobs.org.uk/html/pickingup.asp

what I think you're thinking of is 'rough shooting' which, if you know people that do it, you can still do - you still have to have your dog completely under control off lead (there's no way if you have a gun that you can be controlling a lead as well)
Rough shooting is where several guns walk through a woodland, moor or field and shoot the birds their dogs put up.  It is less formal and may be funded by several people grouping together to form a "syndicate", paying a certain amount each year towards pheasants, habitat maintenance, etc.

hope this is a start for you you 

[seaangler]

There is a program on I.T.V at the moment all about the Yorkshire Dales...I think it was last weeks dales this particular episode(you can get it on I Player)..You will see how all the gundogs work together gathering the days shoot(Cockers Labs Golden retriver Springers ect)(as to picking up like in Helens second link) ...The links Helen has given you will find interesting and well informative or just go on U Tube and type in gun dogs at work....I do not brag about (well i do )We hardly at to tell her what to do..(Peggy phoos)She just does it as it came with part and parcel with her if you know what i mean.....

[PippaMattinson]

Hi there

Maybe I’m missing something he would love to do

Modern spaniels are dual purpose dogs.  They are ‘hunting retrievers’  though the original purpose of the spaniel was simply to hunt,  and we view that as the primary purpose of the spaniel today.
However, most modern spaniels are also great retrievers as this has been bred into them heavily over the last few generations
The spaniel is required to hunt within gunshot (a maximum of 40-50 yards) and usually works no more than 20 yards from his handler quartering fast in a pattern from side to side.

I grew up with show cockers,  and many have lost the intense hunting drive that you see in working cockers.  However, many will still hunt if a little more sedately and many make excellent retrievers.  On land and water.

I think cockers thrive on the physical and mental stimulation of gundog style training or active sports like agility,  so if you fancy a go,  do not let your dog’s ancestry stand in your way.

Pippa

[laurie_champagne]

Helen - Thanks for all your information -it was very interesting (thanks also to Seangler & Pippa). It reinforces what I had been thinking which is that our dogs have endurance and would profit from the ability to not only explore but also use their brains attending to commands. I'm not likely to end up hunting (I live in Canada but in a city) but will certainly explore ways to use Ranger's endurance & intelligence. thanks again
 Laurie

[Helen]

Helen - Thanks for all your information -it was very interesting (thanks also to Seangler & Pippa). It reinforces what I had been thinking which is that our dogs have endurance and would profit from the ability to not only explore but also use their brains attending to commands. I'm not likely to end up hunting (I live in Canada but in a city) but will certainly explore ways to use Ranger's endurance & intelligence. thanks again
 Laurie

Hi Laurie - cockers, whether show or working, love the training and direction too.  It's really good for bonding with your dog     You don't need to be in the middle of the english countryside to train your dog, a canadian park would be a good start, and maybe some gundog dummy training 

[Sarah1985]

Scenting work is great mental stimulation as well as brilliant for bonding. My two love it.

If your interested there's a book called scent work for dogs by Roy hunter. He takes you through the steps of introducing scent discrimination and combines it well with retrieves in a way that I found really appealed to my cockers. 

[winewood]

As I can no longer attend my field trials/hunting days (moved country and Itlay does'nt have wild rabbits) we just play games in the garden to keep the brains working in scent work so don't laugh too hard but we play chickens?  which means that the dogs are put in a sit stay and I spread their dry food all around the garden " like feeding chickens"  I then release them to find, then I will use the stop whistle then give direction to find more keeps them busy for ages and there tails go in circles they love the game makes them work for the food I do this once a week. Its great when you want to sit in the garden with a glass of wine watch the dogs work

[hanandhen]

Hehe, when Henry hunts, he goes where he is sent until he flushes his first bird, upon which he vanishes off in a state of high excitement to look for more all by himself Meanwhile, I will be stuck in some brambles or slithering about in the mud, clad in a super sexy wax jacket, waterproof trousers, wellies and a bushman's hat (all caked in mud) with bits of twig in my hair and mud on my face, hoping to catch a glimpse of my dog every once in a while! Fortunately the shoot know him, so they just tell me when I can let him loose to do his worst, otherwise he stays on a lead

Nose to the ground, eyes shining, tail going nineteen to the dozen, big grin on his face - it's the happiest I think he ever is, and he's a generally jolly little lad anyway