Re: Today, I'm afraid the sun doesn't shine out of... Yes, the whole gundogs should just be puppies and have fun for six months is all fine and wonderful if he lives in a kennel outside with a pack of other gundogs. Most of us need to be able to live in close proximity with the dog so they need some bloomin training! I'm just so pleased to now have some like-minded people, locally, that I can be involved with and learn from their own experiences. (You guys are my non-local support group!) Thus far, I've been reading as much as I can, watching training DVDs and muddling along figuring it out the hard way. I've received a lot of good advice and some real duff advice from so called experts. I've had to try and filter out the crap as best I can. I decided that the puppy classes weren't right. My wife takes him to agility, but we've agreed in no uncertain terms, that we do not take any training advice from the woman - she is a nightmare - and we do it purely for Monty's enjoyment. I take a lot of abuse from friends telling me that he doesn't need training, we've had dogs all my life and they're all fine (they won't drive in the car, one runs away all day on walks, the other barks all day). I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't even do the reading and learning I've been trying to do - from my puppy classes it seems that nobody really bothers trying to train their dogs at all. I think we (this forum and people who want to have well trained dogs) are the minority. I also have very high expectations since I can't stand annoying dogs and I really, really like extremely highly trained dogs. Plus, and probably most importantly, I know how difficult Spaniels can be... I just really, really want to do it right. Anyway, pleased as punch as you can tell. Hope it lives up to my expectations.
Re: Today, I'm afraid the sun doesn't shine out of... I'm sure you'll have a ball and it'll be a great experience I agree, age appropriate training should start when the pup comes home.....things like 'wait for your dinner', follow me and come when called, don't jump up, sit, settle quietly during human meals... All with heavy positive reinforcement and starting with the tiniest baby steps of course, but training nevertheless. Anyway, roll on the weekend! Try to take some pics for us!
Re: Today, I'm afraid the sun doesn't shine out of... Fabulous! As supportive as this forum is, it could never replace a real-life environment where you can be with other spaniel owners. They're mental challenging dogs and you're absolutely doing the right thing trying to channel Monty's energy in the right ways.
