Springer spaniel...

Shoot2kill

Lads i have a bit of a problem, a young springer i have is just over 7 months, she will sit and come back to me on command but i just cant get her started on the retrieving. I can throw out the dummy and she'll run out put the nose to it and walk away, wont even pick it up. Now i have tried working with her in small confined spaces with no distractions but she just wont pick it up.

Should i try to use a small dead rabbit as a dummy or does anyone have any advice or tips they could give me. Im afraid if she doesn't start soon then she could be a lost cause....:(

Any help, advice or tips would be very much appreciated.

LetFly

Hi,

I would try and find something that she will carry in her mouth. Maybe a rolled up sock, a knotted hanky, slipper, bird wing...anything that she will pick up. Start from there. If she is not picking anything up, you can try putting the item (old rolled up sock I usually start with) in the feed bin/bag for a while to get it nicely scented. Then try that.

The dog is still very yound so don't despair just yet. When you find something that she will pick then only use is very sparingly. By that I mean only 2 or max 3 retrieves in a session. The last thing you want to do is bore her with lots of retrieves. For the first couple of times I would even stop as soon as she picks the item up once. Give her loads of praise and leave it for an hour and try it again. Little and often.

Hope that helps.

Shoot2kill

LetFly wrote: »

Hi,

I would try and find something that she will carry in her mouth. Maybe a rolled up sock, a knotted hanky, slipper, bird wing...anything that she will pick up. Start from there. If she is not picking anything up, you can try putting the item (old rolled up sock I usually start with) in the feed bin/bag for a while to get it nicely scented. Then try that.

The dog is still very yound so don't despair just yet. When you find something that she will pick then only use is very sparingly. By that I mean only 2 or max 3 retrieves in a session. The last thing you want to do is bore her with lots of retrieves. For the first couple of times I would even stop as soon as she picks the item up once. Give her loads of praise and leave it for an hour and try it again. Little and often.

Hope that helps.

Do you really think there isn't much to worry about yet, see thats what i was thinking but then at the weekend i was talking to another lad who has all springers and he said she should be retrieving no bother by now, thats what really got me worried...

LetFly

Some dogs are natural retrievers and will carry anything from a very young age. Some are not so natural and you need to work with them to bring out the retrieving instinct in them. Once the pup starts to pick things and sees that it is pleasing you she will get to enjoy the experience.
It is something that you would want to start working on now though. Don't let it go to long. I have Springers that I have and do trial and my latest pup would not pick the dummy straight away...she did exactly as urs did...ran out...gave it a sniff and ran back to me. I tried her on the rolled up sock...teased her with it...drop it at my feet...she picked it. As soon as she picked it I put my hand gently under her chin and praised the be-jesus out of her as she held it...with a little help from me....very small doses at first. Once she is picking the rolled up sock I would put some newspaper into the sock to give it a dummy shape...try that...going back to the first step if necessary. Once that is successful I would put a puppy dummy into the sock and eventually just the dummy...followed by a dummy with bird wings on it, then a cold/dead bird and finally a fresh shot bird.
Small steps. Keep everything simple and the lessons short.

Shoot2kill

Thats some sound advice.. I'll start at it with her tonight.

I'll let ya know how i get on with her.

Cheers LetFly.

LetFly

Shoot2kill wrote: »

Thats some sound advice.. I'll start at it with her tonight.

I'll let ya know how i get on with her.

Cheers LetFly.

No problem at all. Hope it helps. Best of luck with your pup. Don't try to rush her and beware of people claiming to be "experts" and telling you that a dog should be doing such and such by a certain age. All dogs are different and learn different things at differing ages.
Let us know tomorrow how it goes this evening.:)

deeksofdoom

A tennis ball something that will bounce roll and she can run after it a rolled up sock as well the smellier the better.. If you do get her to come back with the ball/sock let her keep it in her mouth for a minute or so, this can be her reward for bringing it back to you. Give her loads of praise and let her enjoy herself.

Sometimes dummys can be a little too heavy for pups and if you take it off them as soon as they get back to you they will get pissed off.

I had the same problem with my springer and she's a great little retriever now.

ferret man

my mate ys gets the dummy and wraps it in a rabbit skin apparently he swears by this

lucy333springer

ferret man wrote: »

my mate ys gets the dummy and wraps it in a rabbit skin apparently he swears by this

+1

Very well said ferret man, on one line and straight to the point,
this work's brilliant.

Shoot2kill

Well guys, i tried the pup out again last night, brought her into the shed where there was no distractions. I tried her with a tennis ball, a rolled up glove and even a small sock stuffed full of nuts, still no joy. The only bit of action i got out of her was to tease her with it for a few seconds and literally throw it into her mouth, she then walked off with it about 10ft away from me and i called her back, she came back sat in front of me and i took it off her. I praised the the hell out of her and left her alone after that.

Id say its going to take along time for her to get the hang of what i want her to do but so be it. Im going to try the rabbit skin trick now to see if that has any better results. Ill keep ye posted.

s2k.

LetFly

Hey there.
I would take that as a success for the first night. Now that she has picked something and held it in her mouth....stick with it for a few days. Don't try her with anything else until she is doing it right with the first item. Keep teasing her with it..but instead of throwing it....just drop it a few feet in front of you while u hold the pup. When she is wriggling mad to get after it...let her go and say fetch. When she picks it up...don't take it from her. Put your hand under her chin to keep it in her mouth and praise her like mad as she is holding it. Then gently take it from her and praise loads more. Only do it 2 or 3 times at a go. She will soon get the hang of it I bet.
Good luck.

elius

I no its an old post but another method my grandad used was to put the dummy in a pair of tights along with pheasant feathers he use to tie a long piece of string to it send it flying into long grass a gently pull the string. The dog would pick it up, Try to run off and he would gently pull her him back in with the dummy in her mouth as she they wouldnt let go when returned she would be rewarded with a treat and after a good few sessions like this she would return on her/his own accord.. simple but affective.. Father was telling me about this last night...

Shoot2kill

elius wrote: »

I no its an old post but another method my grandad used was to put the dummy in a pair of tights along with pheasant feathers he use to tie a long piece of string to it send it flying into long grass a gently pull the string. The dog would pick it up, Try to run off and he would gently pull her him back in with the dummy in her mouth as she they wouldnt let go when returned she would be rewarded with a treat and after a good few sessions like this she would return on her/his own accord.. simple but affective.. Father was telling me about this last night...

I was thinking along those lines myself.. Ive nearly tried everything with her at this stage but the rabbit skin dummy seems to get her going best.

Slowly but surely as they say.

Shoot2kill

Alrighty....

here i am back to ye again with the same god dam problem... No retrieve since sunday!! My patience is wearing very thin now if im honest and as Ive said before im normally very patient with dogs. The rabbit skin dummy has just stopped working, she has lost all interest in it. No matter what i use now she just sits on her ass looking up at me. She doesn't even respond to a small bit of teasing, just sits there with her mouth closed as if to say 'get that thing away from me'.

Am i out of luck or what lads? Has anyone ever had a springer before that just will not retrieve, because ive never heard of it.

stevoman

maybe you have a very intelligent dog thats too cute for it own good??? try shooting a pigeon or two over it and see what happens.

iv a cute little bitch at home that wont touch a dummy or anything of the sort but drop a bird over her and she gone like lighteneing. she's so bloody eager she's damaging the game with her hartd mouth!

EPointer=Birdss

You could try force tetch training as they do in the US.
I don't condone it or have I ever done it but it's an option if you are at your wits end.

Have you fired a few shots around her?
She might react different to birds if you have her on them.

A friend uses live chickens with their wings tied in a small space. Cruel I know but it gets em mad to go & chase & when they catch em he gives the recall. Has worked for him & the chicken just looses a few feathers... Danger of her trying to eat the chicken though if the recall isn't strong or if she's a soft dog a flapping noisy chicken could put he off birds.

Frustraing situation though...

Shoot2kill

Frustrating is an understatement, i feel like giving her a kick up the ass some nights.. My plan for saturday is to shoot a pigeon or crow or something to see if it'll get her going. I mean she is a smart dog and does everything she's told, just not fetching. She's even barking in cover and when told to stay i could go away out of view for as long as i want and she wont move til she hears the whistle so you can understand why this is frustrating me so much.

I have one guy alright who guarantees me that if i leave her with him for a few weeks he'll get her going but its expensive craic going down that route and anyway id be much more proud of her if i managed to get her going myself.

Thanks for the comments lads and anyone that can add to these please dont be shy.

foxshooter243

Shoot2kill wrote: »

Alrighty....

here i am back to ye again with the same god dam problem... No retrieve since sunday!! My patience is wearing very thin now if im honest and as Ive said before im normally very patient with dogs. The rabbit skin dummy has just stopped working, she has lost all interest in it. No matter what i use now she just sits on her ass looking up at me. She doesn't even respond to a small bit of teasing, just sits there with her mouth closed as if to say 'get that thing away from me'.

Am i out of luck or what lads? Has anyone ever had a springer before that just will not retrieve, because ive never heard of it.

steady up!..if you lose your patience it will achieve nothing, your getting some good advice about trying her with different things to lift, find something that she is interested in enough to lift and work from there.
Springers have been traditionally bred for their hunting ability, not for their retrieving ability so it may come about that you just happen to have a springer with zero interest in retrieving, as EPointer I think pointed out there is a method called forced retrieving which folks use but has mixed results, I dont hold to it simply because if every dog needs forced retrieving to be used in its training and then they are bred from, your simply passing on an inherant weakness down the line.

Another point to remember is that dont compare your dog to anyone elses, its a different animal..after all we dont get all worked up when your 5 year old isnt reading as well as a 5 year old across the street, your dog is the same, as one of the lads said if you can get it to lift anything its a start...Kieth Erlandson the famous spaniel trainer reckoned that he had given up on a dog on retrieving and one evening when the dog was 3 years old he was crossing a ditch and seen a pigeon fly past, he shot the pigeon and the dog made off and made his first retrieve..it may come to it that your dog never retrieves but bear in mind that its primary purpose is to flush game:)

Shoot2kill

Dont worry i dont intend on doing anything too drastic with her. At the end of the day she's an intelligent dog, and like you say foxshooter243, her purpose is to huint cover which she is doing well for a such a young dog.

Weather permitting on saturday im going to shoot a bird over her and see what her reaction is. I'll let ye know how i get on with her and thanks again for all the comments they are much appreciated.