Training Classes

Basic Training

Gundog Assessment

We train people who have working gundogs, and also people who have working bred dogs but who don’t want to work them.

For this second group of clients, correct training is essential; a working bred dog is one who has come from working parents, and who has a long line of working ancestors. Such a dog will probably have a genetic predisposition to behave in certain ways; for example, a retriever will always want to have something in its mouth, will pick up anything and everything, and will want to bring you anything they can find. A spaniel will want to rocket around through undergrowth, and all working bred dogs will usually have very high levels of energy. Even if you don’t want to work your dog, these natural instincts cannot be ignored. You cannot remove or surpess a gundog’s natural behaviours, and so if you want to have an obedient dog who walks nicely to heel, comes when called off the lead, and is well-mannered around other dogs, you need to harness these natural instincts. Our training methods will help you to understand what makes your dog tick, and show you how to bring his natural instincts under your control.

When we meet a new clients, we always start with a one-hour Gundog Assessment. This is a chance for us to assess whether or not your dog does indeed have working instincts. If he does, then our style of training will suit your dog very well, and we will be able to take you on as a client. If your dog doesn’t have these natural working instincts, as is the case with many show-bred working breeds, then our style of training wouldn’t suit you. Lovely as all these dogs are, if the dog has no desire to retrieve or hunt, then gundog training is simply not going to work!

For those with working dogs, the assessment is a chance to discuss exactly what you want to achieve with the dog, what particular issues you have, whether there are specific things you want to work on.

This initial meeting is also a chance for you to meet us and make sure our style of training will suit you.

Assuming the assessment is sucessful, we will either suggest private obedience lessons, or for people who are further along with their gundog training, either private or group gundog lessons.

Further Training

You’re nailing the obedience and you are loving training your dog. Now we can start getting into the nitty gritty of gundog training. We offer both private and group gundog training sessions….

Group gundog sessions

Group classes are a great way to train gundogs, because when you are actually out working your dog, it is often in a group setting - for example, on a shoot day, or at a field trial.

We group our clients together so that everyone in that class is at around the same level in their training and has roughly the same goals. That way, a new class member doesn’t feel left behind, and existing class members needn’t worry about being held back by a new class member. We organise group classes based upon what our customers at that time want. Classes can be based upon the age or the breed of dog (e.g. advanced puppy class, retriever class), or we can run technique classes if a group of handlers all want to work on the same thing (e.g. water work).

Gundog Training Days

£240 /day for a group of up to 8 handlers.

We offer full training days (10am-4pm) for groups working towards field trials & working tests. The ideal group size is 6 handlers, but we will accommodate up to 8.

A handler is welcome to bring more than one dog. We can, for example, do a novice session in the morning and an open session in the afternoon – the day will be tailor-made to meet your needs.

The cost is £240 per day for the whole group. Two or more consecutive days can be booked if you wish. This is especially popular with groups travelling from abroad.