Help with ESS puppy retrieve...

Hobie1026

Hobie1026

Active member
Hi,

I'm looking for suggestions on how to inbed good retrieving habits into my 4 month old English Springer Spaniel puppy as I start to train him. Right now I do the retreive in a hallway with a puppy-sized bumper. I just toss it, he brings it back and sometimes holds it for me and sometimes just drops it and goes off chasing things only he can see.

My main concern is that I don't encourage him to drop it but I'm not sure how much focus I should put on form at this age. I just do 4-5 retrieves each night when I get home from work. Other than that it's just basic obedience.

My other question for you Springer trainers is when did you feel it was time to introduce your puppy to clip wing pigeons?

Overall I'm just looking to keep it fun and get him bonded tight to me but I don't want to instill bad habits either. Thanks for the help!
 
Sounds like everything is fine.
 
I agree, sounds like you are doing good by the pup. Depending on your dogs boldness I would say it maybe time to start introducing some birds in a controlled environment.:cheers:
 
You should write a textbook. :)

Is a fun time in a puppy's life. He is doing what you want, don't confuse him too much. Work on refinement when he is a young adult...say 18 months or so.

Order some pheasant wings and, as a treat, toss one of them out. He won't want to bring it back right away, but gently and firmly, keep on requesting "fetch." Let it be a special treat, used almost as a reward.

Nice work.

:)
 
You are doing it right. Let him keep the bumper for a short time. Spray some scent on it to keep him interested. Get on the floor and block his escape route. When he comes in really love him up. As far as birds, I would start retrieving deadnpigeons at about 6 months. All of your training is fun until he is about a year old. I suggest Mike Smith's book. Replace tripe with cat food, the dry and stinky stuff, I use fish flavor if I can. Any more questions just ask.
 
My ESS would not show any interest in retrieving a dummy, balls, or anything that was not a bird that was flushed in her neighborhood. Birds she would find, flush, mark (if I hit them), find again , pick up, and strut all the way back to me, proudly retrieving and dropping in my hand. I learned well how to pick up thrown dummies and return to my starting point. Very good exercise.
 
I get pups on birds right away. For a young pup just wrap a piece of tape around it to keep the wings in for the first couple of contacts. When the dog seems confident enough, I tape each wing up so they can flap but can't fly- that way you can use the bird as a flier later.
 
If you start with clip wings on a flushing dog, you might scare the pup and this could lead to blinking, soft flush or they may not want anything to do with birds. With a flusher, you want to devlope a strong enthusiastic flush.the order that I use is dead birds, clip wings and finally fliers. Making sure that pup is bold, enthusiastic and happy (wagging1 tail) If he starts acting different, he is not ready for the next step. I use Mike Smith "Working springrs and cockers" , Kenneth Roebuck "Gundog training Spaniels and Retrievers" or Keith Erlandson "Gundog Training" . Good luck and enjoy the pup.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top