Prudence
Week one "The Foundation"
Week one "The Foundation"
Week one "The Foundation"
Week one "The Foundation"
Week one "The Foundation"
Week one "The Foundation"
Day 1: Introducing Pru
Prudence is just 21 months old, she has not had a lot of experience yet and is slightly unsure of herself. Over the next 4 weeks I will be building her confidence and working on the foundational Training with her and you can follow the whole journery right here.
Day 1: Patience and Steadiness is Key
My number one priority with any dog I train is getting the patience and steadiness as quick as possible, without it we can not really move on to the next stages.
Day 2: Building Confidence
Pru lacks a little confidence so I thought maybe if I brought my dog Drake into the mix today it might help her.
Day 2: Dummy Work Starts
Pru has good drive to retrieve but will dro the dummy around 5-6 feet in front of you and then returns expecting it to be thrown again. So I have to start this work or she will just continue to practice this behaviour.
Day 3: Dummy Work Continues
Like I said yeaterday Pru has good drive to pick up but her retrieve is not quite what we need from her yet.
Day 3: Whistle Conditioning
So along with the retrieve work today we started the Whistle Conditioning, its important to remember that I can't use the dummies for this due to her behaviour so we are using food to reinforce.
Day 4: Pushing for the Retrieve
So with the retrieve work today we had to really push forward as you can see on this video Pru is getting the dummy closer to me with each retreive I offer her.
Day 4: Pushing for the Retrieve
We did it, well Pru did it not me all I offered was the guidence. Starting with a static hold exercise we got Pru to hold for an extended period of time, the hard bit was to transfer that to the retreive. Took about 5-6 attempts but my girl Pru did it....
Day 5: Foundational Direction Work
We have consistency with the retrieves and the hold with the dummy I can now start to build on that foundation and start the direction and whistle work.
Day 6: Foundational Working Heel Position
I can not take credit for Prudence walking close off lead as that is part of her natural behaviour. But her positioning needs a little work as she does tend to get a little excited and breaks the heel.
Week Two "The Real Work Begins"
Week Two "The Real Work Begins"
Week Two "The Real Work Begins"
Week Two "The Real Work Begins"
Week Two "The Real Work Begins"
Week Two "The Real Work Begins"
Day 8: Directions
This week has to be about building on Pru's control, her attention to the whistle commands, hand signals and direction work.
Day 8: Helping Prudence
When it comes to gundogs on the working field, pressure plays a significant role in their performance. These highly trained dogs are subjected to various pressures during a hunt or competition, and how they handle it can make or break their success.
Day 9: Continuing the Direction Work
Hand signals play a vital role in directing your dog's movements during hunts or field trials, through consistent training you can ensure they understand what you expect from them.
Day 9: Defining the Directions
Reinforce your hand signals through repetition and reinforcement. Patience is key; it takes time for dogs to understand and respond accordingly to hand signals.
Day 10: Training in the Woodland
Training Pru in different places allows her to overcome some of this anxiety and fear related to new surroundings. It builds her confidence and teaches her how to navigate unfamiliar territory calmly and obediently.
Day 10: Working on the Reset
One thing you need to understand is that you can't force a reset on a dog. It's not like pressing a button and boom, everything is back to square one. It doesn't work like that.
Day 11: Hand Signals
Consistency is key when it comes to training your dog to understand hand signals. Use clear and distinct gestures that are easy for your dog to distinguish. Practice these signals consistently during training sessions, ensuring your dog becomes familiar with each one. Remember, you want to avoid any confusion.
Day 11: Hunting with Pru
When hunting with dogs, a lack of steadiness can cause unnecessary harm to the prey, and the dog can get injured in the process. A steady gundog also provides the handler with the opportunity to evaluate the situation and decide whether to take the shot. The ability to control a gundog is advantageous when dealing with multiple prey or when hunting in challenging terrain.
Day 12: A hard day for Pru
Its been a hard day for both Pru and me as the trainer, we have really pushed forward but it hasn't come without its challenges. She is going to have a few days off soon.
Day 13: Building from Yesterday
Its was a hard day yesterday as we really pushed Pru's ability to reset herself. So today we built upon that with changing up the exercises.
Week 3 Already
Week 3 Already
Week 3 Already
Week 3 Already
Week 3 Already
Week 3 Already
Day 15: Got to get Pru ready
Week three already, so I need to keep pushing Pru as she needs to become stronger, reset quicker and learn not to take everything said to her personally
Day 16: Pru really need to want it now
She needs to want to pick up more than I need her to pick up. I can't force it but I can encourage it...
Day 16: Mixing up the Retrieves for Pru
The weather was kind to us today and we got a lot done and we got the chance to video some of her new found retrieval skills..
Day 17: Building that Determination
Building Pru's confidence and retrieving has been an adventure in itself, but building her willpower to hunt no matter what and then retrieve is a completely different story.
Day 17: Memory Retrieve
To help build that determination to hunt no matter what I have started to introduce a few memory retrieves.
Day 18: Continuing the Memory Retrieve
We have continued to build that determination and introduced a few new multiple dummy memory retrieves today.
Day 18: From strength to strength
We have broken through that anxiety, that depredation Pru has shown and we have seen the turning point today with her.
Day 19: Beyond the foundational work
We are now starting to see the real Prudence, the true Prudence, the working Gundog Prudence...
Last Week with Prudence
Last Week with Prudence
Last Week with Prudence
Last Week with Prudence
Last Week with Prudence
Last Week with Prudence
Moving on to Blinds
Blind retrieves are one of the hardest to teach. You need all the foundational whistle and directions in place first before you ever start to teach the blind.
Second Blind of the Day
Over the next few days I will be adding a few blind retrieves into the training sessions to start to build her ability.
Back on Common Ground
Its been two weeks since I first took Pru to Woking to pick up Nelson. I took the oppportunity then to take her up on the common to do some training. Today we took Nelson home and again I took an opportunity to take Pru up on the common. What a difference, her confidence was high, very focused and ready to work.
Last few days with Pru
We are coming into the last few days with Prudence now so I am just putting her through her paces in different enviroments now.
Hunting with Pru
Picking up and standing to Peg is great but some of your work is going to be hunting so you need to train your dog to listen and stay as calm as possible while hunting.
Increasing our Memory Retrieves
The process of memory retrieves involves training the dogs to return to a previously marked location to retrieve an item, even when there are multiple distractors present. The ability to perform memory retrieve enables dogs to retrieve game without relying solely on you to direct them.
Different line Memory Retrieves
As a gundog trainer I can use various methods to teach the memory retrieve and with repetition, the dogs learn to mark the areas and rough locations where the dummy was thrown even when you walk off in different directions. By reinforcing the memory of precisely where to retrieve, dogs become more reliable in their tasks.
Stop Whistle Drill
Although I want to nail the stop whistle with Pru, I am also very aware that this type of drill will and does reduce her casting and hunt drive.
Last Video with Prudence
Pru is ready to go home, so from where she was 4 weeks ago she is a different dog completely. He have had to work very hard to build her confidence and set the foundational training but that said she is way past foundational now. I am looking forward to watching her progress as she start a whole new chapter in her life now....
I am going to really miss her
Testimonial From Adam & Sue Pru's Owners
After following Paul for many years on Social Media and earlier in the year asking for his help with our Rescue Dog, Pip, we decided to invest in Gun Dog Training for our young working Labrador, Prudence.
On first meeting Paul, his calm and relaxed approach stood out a mile with his kind nature and knowledge, building trust immediately with us and our dogs. We opted for a one-month residential for Pru to ensure she received the best possible care, consistency and routine with her training.
The daily video uploads and 121 calls were helpful to keep us up to date on her progress. We had no doubts, but seeing the amount Pru learned quickly was amazing. Pru has gone from a pet lab with basic training to a confident working dog already using her new skills.
Importantly, Pru is still Pru in day-to-day life. She walks with our other dogs and snuggles up on the sofa, but when out in the field, she knows her job and does it well.
Paul should be incredibly proud of her and his ability in the work he does. We want to thank Paul for his guidance and support and look forward to seeing her progress further
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