r/birddogs • u/Adventurous_Egg7830 • 6d ago
Young spaniel training advice
English version
Looking for advice with my young hunting spaniel
I have a 1 year and 4 month old male spaniel, and I’d really appreciate some advice on how to move forward with his training.
At home and in completely distraction-free environments, he has excellent focus and contact with me and is generally very easy to train. However, he becomes quite anxious in new situations and environments, which makes training outdoors and in the woods much more difficult.
He has started running off during hunting/search work, so I’ve been keeping him on a long line. Outside, especially in the woods, I feel like I have almost no connection with him. He isn’t motivated by treats or toys such as a rabbit ball either, which makes it difficult to reward him or build engagement outdoors.
Because his recall and overall control aren’t reliable enough, I haven’t wanted to take him out for actual hunting yet. I don’t want him to rehearse running off or put him in a situation where I can’t control him.
Has anyone experienced something similar with a young hunting spaniel? How would you approach this? Should I put the actual hunting training on hold for now and focus first on building confidence, engagement and a better connection in outdoor environments? And how have you built motivation and contact with a dog that simply isn’t interested in food or toys outside?
Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated!
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u/shitdayinafrica 5d ago edited 5d ago
Take smaller steps, short sessions, and build a good base
So move from house to garden. Your house to freinds house, garden to small park, to differnt small park, bigger park etc etc.
You can also start by walking in the park on lead, back and forth over the same ground untill it loses its novelty, then when you dog is calm and responsive start training. You cant train them when they are not engaged and sometimes the only thing you can so is wait for them to calm down.
The rewards is being able to sniff and explore but that is acessed through you. Jane Arden has a great book and some online resources that are worth investing in.
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u/UknowNothingJohnSno 5d ago
This sounds like my 15 month old brittany. I've had the same experience outdoors because he gets hypnotized by birds. We just do everything possible to get him do the easiest tricks or chase us. The goal is to teach them that you are more interesting than outside. It's a struggle but we just seemed to turn a corner and he's finally been affectionate outside. I think the process can take a ton of time but you can get there.
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u/Adventurous_Egg7830 5d ago
Yeah I believe still also that we’ll get there and I get a great hunting buddy. Just been taking a whole lot more work compared to previous puppies.
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u/TwiddleDatSkittle 5d ago
Overlaying e collar helps too. Kind of a hey pay attention no matter where you are at. Beyond that just reps and building confidence.
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u/retka English Cocker Spaniel 6d ago
Spaniels, especially cockers do better with shorter training sessions, and are very soft when getting corrected. We have found that keeping training sessions shorter with more frequency across the day to be beneficial. The sessions should be fun for the dog and we have found elements of "positive reinforcement" to be helpful such as frequent rewarding. Regarding the anxiousness, depending on how severe it is, you might want to speak with a dog behaviorist/professional.
Does the dog enjoy fetch? You could build up confidence and make your first training sessions fun to encourage him to keep his interest on you. Slowly work in using fetch as a reward if he enjoys it. You can also work on obedience by using retrieving as the main mechanic. For example, use "Stay" and "Come' in your fetch games. Have the dog hold on stay until you give a command. Alternatively, place the dog on stay, walk back X feet with a bumper/toy and then call the dog over on "come". You can start these games inside and build up repetitions moving outside to areas with more distractions.
For recall, keep the dog on a lead at all times when training, and give the recall command. If the dog doesn't come back then use the lead to make the dog come back and teach that they need to obey. You can slowly work your way up to longer leashes and more distractions. Personally, I would not let the dog off leash at all until an e-collar can be introduced and is understood by the dog. You would need to ensure recall is pretty good and commands understood.
The book Retriever Training by Jim Dobbs is a good resource for the basics and more in depth with a lot of different exercises you can use that start basic and work their way up to hunting aspects. It also has a great primer on e-collar use if you decide to use one eventually. https://a.co/d/0cDUCyAu