springers`

EastTyrone

ok, first post on the forum so here it goes. I'm 16, do abit of shooting for about 3 years now, mostly targets/rabbits with both 12 gauge and air riflle, and have shot .17 hmr and .22 lr. Any way,I have only been out rough shooting once and would really like to get into it when I'm older. Which brings me on springers, I really want to own one when I'm older, I don't care about pedigrees etc, as long as it's a good worker It'l do me, I want to know how mch you would pay for a good working dog, and training, what age should I start training etc?

foxshooter243

EastTyrone wrote: »

ok, first post on the forum so here it goes. I'm 16, do abit of shooting for about 3 years now, mostly targets/rabbits with both 12 gauge and air riflle, and have shot .17 hmr and .22 lr. Any way,I have only been out rough shooting once and would really like to get into it when I'm older. Which brings me on springers, I really want to own one when I'm older, I don't care about pedigrees etc, as long as it's a good worker It'l do me, I want to know how mch you would pay for a good working dog, and training, what age should I start training etc?

The best advice i could give you would be to do a bit of research on the
project you have in mind. Its that time of the year when the game fairs are happening, so go along to one and watch the spaniel trials, this will give you a picture of what a well trained gundog can do.
secondly buy yourself a couple of gundog training manuals and read them thoroughly to get an idea of whats involved in training a spaniel.
youll get lots of advice from folks. some will be good and some not so good..before taking advice from someone look at his dog in action and it will represent his knowledge on the subject;)
Then do a bit of looking around for a good bloodline, its okay saying that any old dog will do but if your planning to put in a lot of work and hoping to produce a hunting companion that will give you good service for a good number of years, then it makes sense to start with a good foundation ie; a good pup! Remember a good one requires the same feeding and care as
a bad one.
As for cost, I bought my first springer back 30 years ago and paid the sum of 150 pounds sterling, a handsome sum in those days and two weeks wages for me:eek:-however with the aid of gundog training manuals by Kieth Erlandson and Peter Moxon, I turned out a dog to be proud of, the money was soon forgotten, but my memories of that first dog I will take to the grave!..you will only get out of this what you put in.

Best of luck.

greenpeter

Thats really sound advice by foxshooter243. I'm training a springer pup a the minute well he's a year old tomorrow and it my first dog to train. The only thing i would do different now is buy the pup as soon as he's ready to leave the mother cause its that time when the bonding is done, i bought him at 7months in a big panic to get him ready for next season but at the minute i'm back at square one because i rushed into training. Its a long process and it is also fun if you take the right approach and hopefully after a lot of work what you will have is a good hunting team (whick you lead). Best of luck

macnab

IMO real training starts when the pup reaches 6 months old. Up till then you are teaching the standard "sit" "kennel" "here boy". The pup wont have the maturity to endure real training until then so it will be frustrating for you and him to start too early. The best advice I can give you is: Buy a manual/book as stated above.

dave999

EastTyrone wrote: »

ok, first post on the forum so here it goes. I'm 16, do abit of shooting for about 3 years now, mostly targets/rabbits with both 12 gauge and air riflle, and have shot .17 hmr and .22 lr. Any way,I have only been out rough shooting once and would really like to get into it when I'm older. Which brings me on springers, I really want to own one when I'm older, I don't care about pedigrees etc, as long as it's a good worker It'l do me, I want to know how mch you would pay for a good working dog, and training, what age should I start training etc?

I have no idea if the 4 dvd's about training cockers on the thread shown below (from the International Falconry Forum) are any good, but they look the biz.
David

http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=65030

EastTyrone

ok, thanks for all the info, is it hard to train a god for a beginner like me?

foxshooter243

EastTyrone wrote: »

ok, thanks for all the info, is it hard to train a god for a beginner like me?

Its not hard to train a dog if you approach the subject properly, its like anything else, experience is valuable but you have to start somewhere.
When i first trained a dog from pup to field, i went to town and did my homework.First off as i have said I attended a few trials to get to know what a good dog looked like in action, I am an avid reader so I armed myself with several good training manuals and studied them over, there are several ways to skin a cat and each manual will address different problems differently, so when you find yourself running into a problem which you inevitably will , then the answer may be found in a different book or even in the gundog section of some shooting magazine.
you may have the fortune of having someone with experience to ask in your area, if you have then make contact and ask for help!, most of the good doggy men will help you if you ask.

Now the next piece of advice im going to give you is in selecting a pup,
if your serious about the project then you will be intending to put in a lot of time and energy into it, the pup will require care and looking after the same as any other dog-so go out and find the best you can get-look for reliable working bloodlines so as not to be wasting your time on a lacklustre animal-its a once off and should stand you in good stead for quite a few years. I have seen more dogs passing through shooters hands
in over thirty years of shooting simply because they think the next dog they get free or rescue from a shelter will be a field trial champion, to know that by playing those averages it doesnt work!
Now ,having done your homework and with a good quality pup in your mitts, form a good bond with the pup during its formative months , which
will stand you in good stead when the training begins, as its on this bond that a lot of the training will be based,,about 7 or eight months is around the time to get your spaniel introduced to its early training, dont rush and build on each step as you go-the manuals will have told you the pitfalls to avoid in the early months- if you do your homework youll discover that a pup born about november will be at a nice stage when the long evenings come in, giving you plenty of daylight and good river conditions for starting water work take your time and dont lose your head cos you will be tempted:D-its a great and steep learning curve -but you will get there if you approach it right;)

EastTyrone

foxshooter243 wrote: »

Its not hard to train a dog if you approach the subject properly, its like anything else, experience is valuable but you have to start somewhere.
When i first trained a dog from pup to field, i went to town and did my homework.First off as i have said I attended a few trials to get to know what a good dog looked like in action, I am an avid reader so I armed myself with several good training manuals and studied them over, there are several ways to skin a cat and each manual will address different problems differently, so when you find yourself running into a problem which you inevitably will , then the answer may be found in a different book or even in the gundog section of some shooting magazine.
you may have the fortune of having someone with experience to ask in your area, if you have then make contact and ask for help!, most of the good doggy men will help you if you ask.

Now the next piece of advice im going to give you is in selecting a pup,
if your serious about the project then you will be intending to put in a lot of time and energy into it, the pup will require care and looking after the same as any other dog-so go out and find the best you can get-look for reliable working bloodlines so as not to be wasting your time on a lacklustre animal-its a once off and should stand you in good stead for quite a few years. I have seen more dogs passing through shooters hands
in over thirty years of shooting simply because they think the next dog they get free or rescue from a shelter will be a field trial champion, to know that by playing those averages it doesnt work!
Now ,having done your homework and with a good quality pup in your mitts, form a good bond with the pup during its formative months , which
will stand you in good stead when the training begins, as its on this bond that a lot of the training will be based,,about 7 or eight months is around the time to get your spaniel introduced to its early training, dont rush and build on each step as you go-the manuals will have told you the pitfalls to avoid in the early months- if you do your homework youll discover that a pup born about november will be at a nice stage when the long evenings come in, giving you plenty of daylight and good river conditions for starting water work take your time and dont lose your head cos you will be tempted:D-its a great and steep learning curve -but you will get there if you approach it right;)

aw cool, thanks alot, I cannot thank you enough atm with all this help, i think the main worry I have is that I will buy a dear pup and end up not trainnig him right and he/she will either pick up bad habits or it will be a horrible dog because of my training, another querrie I have, does a pup only come round in it's third seasan? a man told me that.

foxshooter243

EastTyrone wrote: »

aw cool, thanks alot, I cannot thank you enough atm with all this help, i think the main worry I have is that I will buy a dear pup and end up not trainnig him right and he/she will either pick up bad habits or it will be a horrible dog because of my training, another querrie I have, does a pup only come round in it's third seasan? a man told me that.

youll hear all sorts of stuff where a dog is concerned, I would always have a pup of 12 or 14 months having a short run out around the end of january, i its first season is very short, also I wouldnt have a gun, i would get a mate to shoot because my full concentration is on the dog , too many dogs are messed up cos they are rushed into the field too young and not steady-when the next season comes round you will have had a chance to iron out the faults that you will have detected on his short first season ,and you will have had another summer, by this time your dog should be in great shape...dont worry about the shooting, a good dog is a great pleasure in itself.

EastTyrone

foxshooter243 wrote: »

youll hear all sorts of stuff where a dog is concerned, I would always have a pup of 12 or 14 months having a short run out around the end of january, i its first season is very short, also I wouldnt have a gun, i would get a mate to shoot because my full concentration is on the dog , too many dogs are messed up cos they are rushed into the field too young and not steady-when the next season comes round you will have had a chance to iron out the faults that you will have detected on his short first season ,and you will have had another summer, by this time your dog should be in great shape...dont worry about the shooting, a good dog is a great pleasure in itself.

aye I hear that too, they all say that the 1st retrieve is magical lol, just like ababies first steps :P hahaaha

foxshooter243

EastTyrone wrote: »

aye I hear that too, they all say that the 1st retrieve is magical lol, just like ababies first steps :P hahaaha

true enough:D--its game fair time shortly so look around you first, and if you go to a trial or two try to make a contact;)

good luck