My neighbour has a 7 month old Cocker Spaniel bitch and she said she might work her. She thinks she can't start gundog training until the dog is 2 years old. When I suggested that this might be incorrect and that she could start now, she was positive the information she had been given was correct. Helen
Re: Spaniel question for Heidrun Helen, I wonder if your neighbour possibly misunderstood the info she was given. Most gundogs, spaniels and other breeds, will start their working lives around 2 years of age, give or take a few months, but they will have had months and months of training before they'll get anywhere near a shoot. Different trainers do different things, some start from the moment they bring the puppy home and some wait for the pup to reach about 6 months or so before they start any serious training. Here is a photo of me conditioning Caddie with some early games of hunting close around my feet. It obviously all depends on the dog and the trainer but I would think that 2 years is too old for a novice trainer to start training a spaniel for the field. Too many bad habits will have set in by then.
Re: Spaniel question for Heidrun Heidrun, I think she did misunderstand but when I tried to help she was insistent that she could not start training until she was 2 years old. I suggested getting intouch with the few local gundog trainers in our area to check it out, so can't really do any more. What a lovely photo of Caddie. Hope she has recovered from her op bless her. Thank you for the information. Helen
Re: Spaniel question for Heidrun Hi Heidrun What a really beautiful picture of you and Caddie working together.
