DOING WHAT COMES NATURALLY ★
Dr Jacqueline Boyd advises on how to make the most of your gundog’s amazing skills.
The domestic dog has an impressive range of abilities. But look closer at different breeds and types, and you’ll see that while there are some commonalities, there are also some clear differences.
In much the same way as our dogs can vary in shape, size, coat type, and colour, their innate skills can vary too.
Last month, we looked at the skills and characteristics of gundog breeds and types — the retrievers, the hunters and flushers, the pointers and setters, and the all-rounders, who can turn their paw to virtually anything! These skills are, in many cases, hard-wired.
It is important to realise that many of these behaviours are inherently rewarding for our gundogs too. The urge to retrieve can mean there is always something being carried in their mouths. Those bred to use their noses to find game will still relish the opportunity to follow scent and hunt, sometimes to the detriment of a recall!
Activity and movement are also characteristic — gundogs were not bred to spend most of their waking hours doing very little. That is not to say they do not (or cannot) relax; they can, although sometimes they need a little help in being convinced that down time is a good idea. This can be achieved through good training, combined with mentally and physically stimulating exercise.
The spaniel who hunts and chases birds is simply following what his biology has programmed him to do. The Labrador who swims out to retrieve virtually any item off water is similarly following his genetics. Our
“Gundogs were not bred to spend most of their waking hours doing very little.”
“Embrace these skills and provide appropriate outlets... ”
role as care-givers is to recognise this, and instead of trying to stop our dogs doing what is entirely natural for them, to embrace these skills and provide appropriate outlets for them, to be rehearsed and maybe even enhanced, in a safe and fun way.
Understanding and appreciating these hard-wired behaviours can help us find a whole range of jobs, activities, and disciplines for our gundogs’ varied skill sets and energy levels. We need to find ways of working with them that complement, rather than contradict, their innate characteristics. By harnessing those natural instincts, we can develop a genuinely happy and harmonious partnership, even in our gundogs who might never hear or see a gun.
RECOGNISE WHAT IS REWARDING
Knowing what is rewarding for our dogs is fundamental to effective and ethical training. Sometimes, we forget that some of the behaviours our dogs demonstrate are hugely fun, rewarding, and even relaxing for them — scent work is a fabulous example of this!
Being physically active, using their noses, finding and retrieving items are all rewarding behaviours for many gundogs.
It is quite possible to incorporate any or all of these as rewards, in addition to the typical rewards of food, verbal praise, and physical touch. Indeed, one of my own spaniels would rather work for a tennis ball or training dummy than for food, such is his retrieving instinct. This means, I can cleverly use access to his retrieve as a great reward for any ‘job well done’. One word of warning though — if you are using retrieve as a reward, make sure you have also trained your dog to return and release the retrieve to you — to hand is also correct rather than dropping it on the floor!
REWARDING RETRIEVES
One important job that the working gundog has is ‘picking up’, which is hunting for, finding, and then retrieving any shot game. You can train great retrieves by making bringing back and releasing the retrieve rewarding. Too often we try to grab an item from our dogs’ mouths when they are young. This can make them reluctant to either bring it back to us, or to release it. Instead, encourage your dog to you and gently fuss him first, before seeking to hold the item in his mouth and asking for a release. When he does this, immediately reward, either by giving the item straight back to him or providing him with something else to carry. Very quickly, he will learn that there is real value in both bringing things to you AND giving them to you.