Command and control in the field
Fran Ardley looks at how to direct your dog in the shooting field and the discipline you need to instil in it
Being able to direct your gundog in the shooting field is not only a useful skill but also a necessary one, unless, perhaps, you only plan to go beating. Many novice owners think that being able to send your dog left, right or back is something that you only need to teach one of the retrieving breeds. Wrong. Although you may not need to send a spaniel quite as far away as a labrador, there will certainly be occasions when you need to be able to direct any breed of gundog to a certain point, especially if you plan to go picking up or if you are going to shoot over your dog. There are basically three commands and directions you need to teach your dog: left, right and back.
In this article I will be looking at the most important command, the ‘go back’.
As with all lessons, I do not put an age on when a particular dog should be taught a particular skill; it all comes down to the dog’s personality and its ability to cope both physically and mentally with the task. The ‘go back’ exercise can put a lot of physical pressure on a dog, as you will be asking it to swivel almost 180 degrees to go out for a retrieve. As such, you really do not want to start teaching this until the dog is at least a year old and its bones, ligaments and muscles are well developed.
Why and when
You will not be able to begin teaching this exercise until your dog is completely steady to thrown dummies and can sit and stay at a distance from you for a reasonable length