teaching a spaniel to beat the line

[beagle1812 0]

Hi All,

 

I have a 3year old rescue spaiel, he is fantastic at coming back when called (not that he goes too far away). The problem I'm having with him is teaching him to go ahead and flush. He a a bit stupid and will go into any cover to chase a tennis ball(so I know he is willing).

 

Any tips on teaching him to run along a line to the end will be appreciated.

 

thanks.

[eli 0]

Hi All,

 

I have a 3year old rescue spaiel, he is fantastic at coming back when called (not that he goes too far away). The problem I'm having with him is teaching him to go ahead and flush. He a a bit stupid and will go into any cover to chase a tennis ball(so I know he is willing).

 

Any tips on teaching him to run along a line to the end will be appreciated.

 

thanks.out to your right recall back to your feet send to your left sorry 10 yards each way

[spec 45]

start giving him some hand signals- show him you're excited in a piece of cover or whatever, and gesture in, get him following your hand to the left and right and start him off quartering that way.

 

you may have your work cut out with a three year old though- whereabouts in dorset are you as I could possibly give you some help?

[beagle1812 0]

start giving him some hand signals- show him you're excited in a piece of cover or whatever, and gesture in, get him following your hand to the left and right and start him off quartering that way.

 

you may have your work cut out with a three year old though- whereabouts in dorset are you as I could possibly give you some help?

 

Hi there,

 

Thanks for your reply. I live near Dorchester.

[Clare 33]

This may be of some help :)after you have taught him direction

 

Start training on ground where there is unlikely to be much game and aim to

keep the dog moving within a rectangle ten metres in front and ten metres to

either side of you. Later you will extend the range a little but it is better to

start with a restricted questing limit. Using the command "Hi-seek", wave the

dog out in front of you. When he reaches the ten metre limit give two short

peeps on the whistle and, having thus attracted his attention, signal him out to

the right, again giving the command "Hi-seek". When he reaches ten metres

to your right, once more give two short peeps and signal him to the left with

the same verbal command and hand signal. When he reaches ten metres to

the left, stop him with the whistle, walk up to him and give him praise.

After three days of this exercise, start slowly walking forward as you work

him from side to side in front of you. Always use the whistle when he reaches

the limit in any direction and give bold arm signals and the command "Hiseek"

at every change of direction. Praise often but intermittently.

Should a bird or rabbit be flushed during this exercise, stop the dog

immediately with the stop whistle. Move to ground which will hold game and

encourage him to investigate bushes or clumps of rough as he quests from

side to side. Be ready to stop him if anything flushes.

Edited June 18, 2011 by Clare

[bullshot 5]

This may be of some help :)after you have taught him direction

 

Start training on ground where there is unlikely to be much game and aim to

keep the dog moving within a rectangle ten metres in front and ten metres to

either side of you. Later you will extend the range a little but it is better to

start with a restricted questing limit. Using the command "Hi-seek", wave the

dog out in front of you. When he reaches the ten metre limit give two short

peeps on the whistle and, having thus attracted his attention, signal him out to

the right, again giving the command "Hi-seek". When he reaches ten metres

to your right, once more give two short peeps and signal him to the left with

the same verbal command and hand signal. When he reaches ten metres to

the left, stop him with the whistle, walk up to him and give him praise.

After three days of this exercise, start slowly walking forward as you work

him from side to side in front of you. Always use the whistle when he reaches

the limit in any direction and give bold arm signals and the command "Hiseek"

at every change of direction. Praise often but intermittently.

Should a bird or rabbit be flushed during this exercise, stop the dog

immediately with the stop whistle. Move to ground which will hold game and

encourage him to investigate bushes or clumps of rough as he quests from

side to side. Be ready to stop him if anything flushes.

Are you a pro trainer? if not you should be

[beagle1812 0]

This may be of some help :)after you have taught him direction

 

Start training on ground where there is unlikely to be much game and aim to

keep the dog moving within a rectangle ten metres in front and ten metres to

either side of you. Later you will extend the range a little but it is better to

start with a restricted questing limit. Using the command "Hi-seek", wave the

dog out in front of you. When he reaches the ten metre limit give two short

peeps on the whistle and, having thus attracted his attention, signal him out to

the right, again giving the command "Hi-seek". When he reaches ten metres

to your right, once more give two short peeps and signal him to the left with

the same verbal command and hand signal. When he reaches ten metres to

the left, stop him with the whistle, walk up to him and give him praise.

After three days of this exercise, start slowly walking forward as you work

him from side to side in front of you. Always use the whistle when he reaches

the limit in any direction and give bold arm signals and the command "Hiseek"

at every change of direction. Praise often but intermittently.

Should a bird or rabbit be flushed during this exercise, stop the dog

immediately with the stop whistle. Move to ground which will hold game and

encourage him to investigate bushes or clumps of rough as he quests from

side to side. Be ready to stop him if anything flushes.

 

 

This is excellent, thank you so much.

[spec 45]

Clare has it totally right, she's wasted on labs! I just posted this article below in response to another post earlier up, but it might be useful to you too as I said there too it's aimed at someone training a young spaniel pup, so not all relevant. Tracy at Corbinsbere Dog Training in Bere Regis near you (I'm right up the other end of Dorset, asked incase you were right on the doorstep, but if you still want to come on a walk out sometime and I can try and give you a hand you're welcome ) is excellent and will definately put you on the right track.-

 

From an early age encourage the dog to quarter in short sessions – as a very young puppy you can capitalise on its natural curiosity and dependency upon you by walking tight zig-zags and encouraging the pup to follow by whatever means works for you and the dog. As the dog gets bolder you can reinforce the distances by using the lead or a longer check lead (if needed). It’s never too early to start introducing the turn whistle either – when at the extent of your flanks/turns give a ‘pip pip’ and turn the dog at the very same time. If the dog ignores the whistle – stop it, run that particular part of the task again correcting it and using EXACTLY the same commands. If it is successful reinforce it with positive praise. Don’t expect instant results or a young dog to understand the entire process of quartering – deconstruct the exercise, train one bit at a time (i.e., teach the cast, then the turn, then the distance, etc…) eventually putting the parts all together into bigger parts until the whole discipline can be practised as a whole.

 

Think also about the environment you are training in – make sure it has been walked clear of game and there are no real distractions, try and find a bit of very light cover (white grass) to stop a young dog from pushing too far ahead. I use a long paddock exactly the right width I want my dogs to quarter, each time they approach the fence I pip-pip the whistle and turn them back towards me in the opposite direction – they will soon get used to the distances - I know not everyone has the luxury of a paddock but think about an area that could fit the bill.

 

With a younger dog you can use a wing, rabbit skin, tennis ball, etc… to gain the dog’s desire to ‘hunt’ simply by tossing them slightly forward and out to the flanks, point to the ball/object with your finger and when the pup ‘finds’ it praise him and toss it out in the opposite direction into the prevailing wind, as he turns give the ‘pip-pip’ reinforcement, again point to the ball – this is useful for later when you can simply send your dog on a route anywhere into cover where you point.

 

Whenever the dog starts doing its own thing STOP it and correct it again – remember to break quartering down into component parts and then rebuild it. If you have to do it on a lead then so be it. But DON’T let the dog decide what it should do. With a slightly bolder pup EVERY time it gets out too far STOP it and take it back to the spot and recast it this time closer and then turn it almost instantly before it gets any speed up in any one direction - keep repeating this consistently.

 

Ensure you cast your dog out to the side or very slightly backwards, NOT forwards – and STAND still while you cast it – if you walk forward and cast your dog forward, then hey, that’s the direction it will always head! Also vary the time between taking the lead off your dog to when you cast him - that way it lessens his anticipation and develops patience and response to your cast command. When you cast your dog give the first turn whistle command at only a few yards to start with – that way you can stop/correct the dog if it doesn’t pick it up quickly.

 

If you secret a number of tennis balls parallel to each other about 15-25m apart in cover and work the dog forward INTO the wind then your dog will use its nose to pick up on the scent cones so long as it is interested in tennis balls, etc… If you cast a young dog downwind you are asking for trouble because it will range outwards trying to pick up scent. Quartering a dog effectively back towards you is an advanced skill - work first on the easy stuff.

 

Always use the turn whistle and insist 100% on compliance to turn. Again if it doesn’t turn stop it get out after the dog as quick as possible taking it by the jowls, physically turn it whilst reinforcing the action with the exact same whistle command. If you can get to the dog as it is disobeying/ignoring you then add a growl or gruff voice make the correction and reinforce with the right command followed instantly by praise.

 

You can also start adding hand directional commands to aid quartering too – this can be started early when you feed the pup – put down the food to one side and give the appropriate command – amazing what the gutsy little things will do for food! When you start the pup quartering you can also toss out little tit-bits in the areas you want it to hunt in - if that’s what motivates your dog and use the same directional hand commands when quartering training. Personally I’d be aiming for a dog that will bid without food – but its horses for courses.

 

When the dog is getting bold then quarter it in thicker cover to slow it down making sure you move forward SLOWLY also turning your body in the direction you want the dog to go – as the dog picks it up you can give hand commands until eventually you can drop the whistle and hand commands and simply turn your dog by dropping your shoulder in the desired direction. From an early age also try to encourage your dog to turn into you when it passes – as you slowly work forward you can toss out a dummy or tennis ball near your feet to encourage it to come in and seek it close to you – over time this will make condition the dog to always be mindful that there may be something close to your feet - quartering should be like a herring bone pattern with the dog turning inwards and towards you.

 

I also train quartering in the dark as the dog is more intent and attentive and will look/hear closer to you for directions and commands. I do this simply by standing on one side of a paddock fence with the dog on the other side – I walk, or move in the direction I want the dog to go and then turn about giving the turn whistle command or hand commands.

 

Sounds easy, eh? Well it’s not… this is why you will hear so many times that you have to ensure that you have the STOP and RECALL pretty much in the bag concurrently – contrary to some dogs I see ‘working’, quartering is thorough, slow (moving forward – the dog will be shifting tho’) , deliberate and consistent. When you have mastered quartering into the wind then you can start training for crosswind and downwind quartering.

 

Oh yes, once you have got your dog quartering well the worse thing you can do is put an young inexperienced dog in a beating line and expect it to quarter methodically and diligently because the effect of all of the other dogs - if not as well trained - will be to pull your dog out further and faster until you end up with a dog that keeps questing on forward disregarding your commands and missing game.