From the start we've attended obedience training one weekend and then group gundog training the following week. His obedience has come on really well but the gundog side was always a bit of a disaster. It's shows how everything he's already learnt can go completely down the pan once a few dummies start flying about! However, we've stuck with it and recently I've been able to make some real progress with him. We have now dropped the obedience class and attend the twice monthly group gundog class plus a 1:1 session most weeks.
It's great having people to share knowledge with and chat about the progress (good and bad) of our dogs and I think it's really helped push me on.
So ..... our objective. Working Tests EEEEK! Even if we never enter them I would like to know we tried our very hardest and put all the training in place so we have a good chance. I'd also like to take him on a real shoot as I think he'll really come into his own but I have zero experience so that is on a definite back shelf for now.
This is where we're currently at:
Heel Work - after 13 hard months Chester finally walks on a lose lead 95% of the time. Things that stop him doing this are usually dogs ahead of him (walking in the same direction). He will also walk to heel off lead and understands the command but this still needs working on.
Recall - This is also good and has improved so much over the last couple of months (mostly since I realised you need a good recall for a good retrieve!). We keep working on this, calling away from distractions etc.
Stop Whistle - I consider this our finest achievement! Chester will stop and sit 100% of the time to the whistle. He'll also do it very fast. This is mostly because he thinks he's going to get a tennis ball thrown in his direction but it works!
Retrieve - Chester has no problem going out to any object but bringing it back is always a struggle. We've alternated between running up to me then darting off in another direction, doing a victory lap and now dropping it about 1m from me feet. More on this in another entry.
Pointing - I haven't trained this at all (must look up how) but Chester will point and hold the point on pretty much everything that isn't moving v quickly. Usually a bird. We don't get a lot of practice as most birds fly off before we get a chance to get close but the local stalk provides a good pointing lesson most mornings.
Quartering - I recently discovered 1.) what quartering was and 2.) that Chester was already doing this we just had to refine it. I haven't spent a lot of time on this but he will move from left to right in front of me and turn to my whistle. Again, it's usually in the hope of finding the sacred tennis ball!
Hunting - If you call it sniffing the ground on a permanent basis when I use the cue word 'find it' then yes we can hunt. We definitely don't know how to do it properly but I do know that if I say the command then he will keep on searching until the object is found (even if he doesn't know what it is!). I am sure this will need some work at a later stage.
So that's where we're pretty much up to 13 months in. I'm hoping by recording our training that I will be able to see some progress :)
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