How to work a GSP on open ground in a HEADWIND and achieve good ground cover. The dog is our bitch FT CH Aytee Isadora. Dont worry if you have a puppy, this shows you the pattern and range that you will eventually achieve. What you do with a young inexperienced dog is the same, simply scaled down.

How to work a GSP on open ground in a CHEEKWIND and achieve good ground cover.  The dog is our bitch FT CH Aytee Isadora. Bear in mind that a young dog may work closer because of confidence or different ground, but the pattern should  be the same.

An example of why the STOP WHISTLE training is so important especially when a GSP is a distance from you and needs to show steadiness . The dog is our bitch FT CH Aytee Isadora.

The split retrieve is an important part of direction training and starts with a left and right..

Walking your HPR obediently to heel off the lead at a shoot will take training across many months while they are growing up. But persevere, it is well worth the effort when you can relax in the knowledge that they will remain quietly by your side.

As your heel work training progresses keep doing some regular work on tracks or roads rather than open fields, to help your HPR improve.

Being able to leave your HPR and know it will not move is a really useful lesson for him to learn. Gradually increasing the length of time he is left and in increasingly distracting situations must be built up slowly to keep his confidence.

The split retrieve is an important part of direction training and this shows lefts and rights. Through a very simple start, working methodically through left, right, forward and back your dog will eventually be able to be sent in any direction to find a blind retrieve.

Memory retrieves in increasingly demanding situations. Give the young dog a seen over a new obstacle in training and then follow it up immediately with a blind. This will give him confidence. Later you can start with a blind alone.

Young or immature dogs are often playful with a dummy,  picking it up by the end and swinging it around.  Using a heavier dummy, for instance a hare replica, can help to teach the dog to pick up and carry the dummy in the centre  giving you a much better delivery. 

Here German Pointer Jerzi is pointing a bird, ready to flush. Your approach before and your treatment after, are important in not disturbing the bird and helping to keep the dog calm. For him to watch the bird away and remain steady is important if he is to mark the fall and do a safe retrieve.

As your dog gains confidence in water introduce cold game into the retrieve and work hard on getting the delivery right. He must not drop the bird as he shakes on exiting the water. Help him achieve by choosing easy entrances and exits to the water.

Take care how you introduce your dog to its first retrieve on game.
Cold game is a good way to start.

Keeping your dog steady but still very keen, particularly with water retrieves, is always a challenge, but dont sacrifice enthusiasm in favour of obedience. Increase the dogs confidence by varying entrances and distance from the bank and as soon as possible throw the dummy over to the far bank rather than into the water and always encourage your dog to swim back rather than run round.

Working your dog on game to perfect both your skills and your dogs is essential. Don't rush the job and make sure the dog is completely steady before allowing him to flush the bird. Try not to flush it yourself on your approach.

If you do the water test at a competition and swim across a pond for the dummy or a bird, you shouldn't be penalised for your dog running back to you round the pond but I believe that the dog that swims straight back will get more credits for taking this route and is also less likely to drop the dummy/bird. I try and get my dog into the habit of doing this.

There is a lot of training that you can do when out on a walk. These GSP's are helping to train each other for listening and steadiness. The dog at the back strains it's ears, waiting to hear its own name and then comes racing in past the others. Try it, they love playing the game and it is good for them and fun to do.

Plan new experiences carefully and you are unlikely to have setbacks in training. This young GSP is given plenty of chance to become confident with her first birds which will set her up for future success.

The use of a double pip to turn your dog when he is hunting is not the only way that this whistle signal can be used. It can also become a way to move your dog when he is on point and if he does not respond it will tell you that he is staunch and is holding the bird

Once a GSP starts to point and is holding a point well I start to teach them to flush the game on command.

Most HPR's prefer to hunt for game rather than retrieve. During early stages of training it is important to teach obedience and enjoyment around retrieves to avoid later problems.This 9 month old has now moved from training in a small enclosed paddock to working free in a variety of locations.

HPR dogs need to learn how to point and handle birds and they can only do this with exposure to game.

This 9 month old dog has proved itself on its first cold game pheasant retrieves and is now being given other species to gain confidence and experience.

Filmed over several months I wanted this video to demonstrate that in its first season a young dog needs considerable exposure to every quarry and to unfamiliar terrain, so that it can learn its own craft and perfect its own skills before it can be competent.

Hunting a young GSP on game is essential for balanced training, but only when obedience is sufficiently in place for the experience to be a good one. Sometime having the influence of an an older dog can enhance that experience too.

9 month old Mavis is starting to learn about hunting grouse and is here working hard in difficult conditions in a January gale. Able now to hold a point, she follows moving birds, but if they flush she will give chase. Much to learn but she is enjoying herself.

If your gundog is a lover of swimming and retrieving, steadiness can become an issue, particularly when they are young and in training. This video shows how to deal with some of the pitfalls so that your dog learns to be calm and steady at the waters edge.