WI Spaniel trainer

Lee192233

Lee192233

Active member
Hey guys,
I will be getting an English cocker pup in March or April 2017. My current dog is 6 years old. I trained her myself. She's great at quartering, trailing and flushing birds. She lacks in the retrieving department. I didn't force fetch her. She can retrieve a ball all day. Give her a bird and she just stands by it. I concentrated on chasing birds when she was a puppy. I made some mistakes when I was doing the retrieving training. I want to get the most out of this puppy. Thanks for your time and any info you have.

Lee
 
Fallen Wings Spaniels

Fallen Wings Kennels, Hilbert, WI. Mike and Rumi Schroeder have one of the best FBECS lines extant. They could help you get your pup started right or know someone who will.

Better yet, buy your pup from FW. My gunsmith got a FW pup last spring and we were killing birds over him this fall. A natural born bird dog with a nice soft mouth.:)

NB
 
Congratulations on your upcoming puppy! Is your 6 year old a English Cocker also?

I am not sure by your post if you are looking at sending your dog to a trainer or general help with training your next pup yourself? I do know that some cockers are a bit more into the hunt than the retrieve but training no doubt can help even dogs with weaker retrieving instincts.
 
NB, Thanks. Hilbert is only a half hour ride from my house. I'll give fallen Wings a call.

Chrokeva, Thanks, my current dog is an English cocker. Love hunting with her. She just needs some refinement. I'm probably going to attempt it myself again. I just would like a trainer in my back pocket that I can fall back on when I get stuck.
 
Any other ideas for trainers? I would like to talk to 2 or 3 to figure out who would be the best fit for me. I really want my next pup to be a more refined hunter. Thanks again for your time and info! Merry Christmas!
 
Depending on your location...I highly recommend Jason Goslinga owner of Pro Shot Gundogs in New Albin Iowa. NE corner of Iowa. He can do extraordinary things with gundogs.

Good luck.

Just my experience but: Spending a little of that hard earned cash now to help us enjoy our passion is money well spent.
 
Quailman said:
Depending on your location...I highly recommend Jason Goslinga owner of Pro Shot Gundogs in New Albin Iowa. NE corner of Iowa. He can do extraordinary things with gundogs.

Good luck.

Just my experience but: Spending a little of that hard earned cash now to help us enjoy our passion is money well spent.
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I've herd of this kennel b4 from a friend of a friend in iowa took a springer there worth every penny the guy said... I seen the dog hunt on a go pro video he's a machine... Outstanding retriever land & water...

Seen & herd some pheasants while turkey hunting up near there this spring love the driftless region...
 
Not trying to talk anyone into or out of a particular training style or paying to have a pro do it. But here are a couple of my experiences. I accidentally taught my current springer Buzz not to retrieve & that finding was acceptable. I hunted him with my first dog Walt one season before Walt died. In that season, Walt retrieved EVERY bird, regardless of which dog got to it first. Then I praised both of them. The following 3 years Buzz found them just great but wouldn't pick them up. He always acted like he wasn't SUPPOSED to pick them up & he was really proud to have found them. So, because I wasn't losing birds, I accepted that & praised him every time. Why would he do anything different then, right? But he'll fetch ANYTHING else thrown for him, with a FIERCE love for fetching in water. It finally dawned on me to throw a pheasant in the water. He LOVED it! Then we threw it in the weeds, in the cattails, etc. Great fun! This was about the first weekend of this season, & I haven't had to pick one up since. His retrieving has been really great & he LOVES it! He doesn't have quite the aggression toward lively birds that Walt had, but good enough to eventually pin them down & pick them up.
Depending on your requirements, force fetching or other methods might be preferred or even necessary, but this worked for me.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
Not trying to talk anyone into or out of a particular training style or paying to have a pro do it. But here are a couple of my experiences. I accidentally taught my current springer Buzz not to retrieve & that finding was acceptable. I hunted him with my first dog Walt one season before Walt died. In that season, Walt retrieved EVERY bird, regardless of which dog got to it first. Then I praised both of them. The following 3 years Buzz found them just great but wouldn't pick them up. He always acted like he wasn't SUPPOSED to pick them up & he was really proud to have found them. So, because I wasn't losing birds, I accepted that & praised him every time. Why would he do anything different then, right? But he'll fetch ANYTHING else thrown for him, with a FIERCE love for fetching in water. It finally dawned on me to throw a pheasant in the water. He LOVED it! Then we threw it in the weeds, in the cattails, etc. Great fun! This was about the first weekend of this season, & I haven't had to pick one up since. His retrieving has been really great & he LOVES it! He doesn't have quite the aggression toward lively birds that Walt had, but good enough to eventually pin them down & pick them up.
Depending on your requirements, force fetching or other methods might be preferred or even necessary, but this worked for me.
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I'll have to give the water trick a try with Ellie. She'll retrieve anything I throw in the water also. I never thought of throwing a pheasant in the water. Thanks for the idea!
 
Lee192233 said:
I'll have to give the water trick a try with Ellie. She'll retrieve anything I throw in the water also. I never thought of throwing a pheasant in the water. Thanks for the idea!
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Make sure its dead pheasant they can swim believe it or not... My dog has to pick up 2+ pheasants a season dropped in water great to teach ur dog that...

I 2nd A5s. Hunt the dog with a more seasoned or stronger retriever even a canned hunt make sure ur dog understands u get praised when u bring back the bird... Dogs wanna please...

I still & my dogs 4.6 old. Drop things & tell her to pick it up & Bring it to me my keys news paper shoes anything once they understand get it & bring it back to me its amazing what they will do...

I trained my dog takes time & repetition time & repetition.

P.S. I'd train the next dog to hunt dead my next dog I will do this its more for finding a bird in a situation west there was multiple birds either flushed & 1 shot & dropped or 2 birds down on the flush & my dog did not see 2nd bird fall. . lots of times a dog can be overwhelmed by all that scent teaching dead bird will help them calm down & find more birds in my opinion
 
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Thanks for the information and advice. This forum is truly a wealth of knowledge. I'll be sure to keep you guys posted on the training progress. Thanks again!

Happy new year!
Lee
 
Lee192233 said:
Any other ideas for trainers? I would like to talk to 2 or 3 to figure out who would be the best fit for me. I really want my next pup to be a more refined hunter. Thanks again for your time and info! Merry Christmas!
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I would strongly recommend the following 2 sources. I have no affiliation with the following.

1= Todd Agnew owner of Craney Hill Kennels. He has a great training system ,you could attend his 3 day seminar at Windrift Kennels in Cocherton PA. I attended his seminar last year with my Springer pup, the seminar is a 10/10 IMO. Christine Laver of Windrift Kennels has a amazing facility.
Check out Todd web site and seminar info.
www.spanieltraining.com

You can tell Todd I sent you..

2= Simon Tyres has a video series ,I have it good training info. He is Hawcroft Gun Dogs. Look for the video series at paul French videos from UK.

Pete
 
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