If your gundog is working at an intermediate or advanced level, you may have started thinking about whether they are ready to work on their first shoot.
Seeing your gundog friends out beating and picking up, perhaps you experienced FOMO for the first time this shoot season, and you might even be wondering if you can get involved before it all comes to an end on 1 February.
But are they ready this time around? And more importantly, are you?
In this blog, we will explore what standards of behaviour your gundog needs for beating and picking up, what you need to know if this will be your first shoot experience, and finally, how the Royal Kennel Club’s Working Gundog Certificate can help ensure you’re both fit for the field.
Introducing your gundog to game and shot
Before you consider working your retriever, spaniel, or HPR on a commercial shoot, small syndicate, or rough shoot outing, you must have introduced your gundog to game and the sound of the shot.
While some dogs will pick up their first bird and deliver it to hand like they were born for the job, others will be more cautious about picking feather, and some will be overexcited and choose to run around or muck about with it.
Equally, some dogs will not bat an eyelid at the sound of a shotgun, while others will be more cautious.
Unless you want to risk causing irreparable damage and “ruining” your dog, these processes are not to be rushed.
We have recently covered both topics on the Teach Your Gundog blog, and so I encourage you to go back and read the resources available.
For how to introduce your gundog to game, click here.
And for an introduction to shot: the one stage of training you need to get right the first time, click here.
Are you shoot ready?
If you fell into the world of field sports by accident - it is very common to start with a pet gundog and soon find yourself fully immersed, wanting to work your dog - then you might be wondering if you have the proper knowledge to go on your first shoot.
In the UK, gamekeeping, land management, and conservation linked to shooting sports enhance our landscape and allow wildlife to thrive. From an economic perspective, according to BASC, over a million people are involved in British shooting, which makes a substantial contribution to the rural economy, valued at £2 billion annually to the UK.
However, it is not without its opponents. So, it is paramount that anyone looking to go on a shoot adheres to high standards, impeccable etiquette, and ethics.
Whatever your role, whether with or without your gundog, in the beating line or on a peg, to protect the future of shooting, you should always aim to act as a good ambassador for the sport.
This can be done by learning and following The Code of Good Shooting Practice created and endorsed by BASC, GWCT, CLA, and many more bodies involved in British shooting and conservation. Click here for the full PDF.
At a minimum, from a gundog handler's point of view, one of the Code’s ‘golden rules’ that you should be familiar with is that ‘game’ is food and must always be treated as such.
We must ensure that “adequate provision” is made to retrieve all shot ‘game’ and “dogs are an essential part of this process”.
As the Code explains, “respect for quarry is paramount.” Therefore, it is crucial that any wounded birds are dispatched swiftly and humanely and that all shot game is treated following the Guide to Good Game Handling so that it is always supplied to the end user in the best condition.
Click here for a PDF copy of the Guide.
Is my gundog shoot ready?
When it comes to assessing the behaviours your gundog needs for its first shoot, the Royal Kennel Club’s Working Gundog Certificate (WGC) is one of the best references.
The WGC aims to determine whether the handler-dog partnership is ready for the shooting field, with criteria designed to show that both you and your dog will be an asset to a shoot and will not interfere with the well-being of other people, dogs, or livestock.
Control:
To be deemed shoot-ready, a gundog should demonstrate self-control and refrain from barking or whining. Handlers should be able to communicate with their dog without giving excessive or continuous noisy cues.
Obedience:
Gundogs should be capable of walking to heel, off lead, and remaining reasonably close to the handler without running off. They should demonstrate steadiness by remaining at heel, sitting, or dropping to shot when other distractions are present, such as other dogs retrieving, game moving, being flushed, or someone shooting. Reliable recall is a must, and dogs should return to their handlers on cue.
Temperament:
While some of this will be genetic and related to how your dog was socialised as a puppy, to be considered shoot-ready, working gundogs need to be able to mix and work with people and other dogs without showing any undue aggression. Gun-shy dogs would also be given a ‘not ready’ assessment, and it is of paramount importance that dogs are introduced to shot before attending their first shoot day.
Hunting:
Gundogs must be willing and able to hunt effectively in difficult locations, such as thick cover and open ground, while remaining under the handler’s control.
Retrieving:
Before taking them on a shoot, your gundog must be able to pick up dummies from various locations, over obstacles, from land and water and bring them to hand. If your dog has a poor delivery, which could allow the wounded game to escape, you need to work on this first, as the birds’ welfare and ensuring injured birds can be humanely dispatched are always our priority. You will want to make sure your dog has picked feather before too.
Building confidence with the Working Gundog Certificate on Dummies
If you have already decided that your gundog is not yet shoot-ready this season, you might be eager to rectify this come October 2026.
The Royal Kennel Club Working Gundog Certificate is a non-competitive assessment designed to provide credible proof that a handler and dog have all the necessary qualities of a competent working partnership and are ready to fulfil the general requirements of work on a shoot.
To help bridge the gap between training and the shooting field, alongside its full Certificate, which is assessed on game, the Royal Kennel Club also offers an intermediate Working Gundog Certificate on Dummies.
This assessment will still test your dog’s control, obedience, temperament, hunting and retrieving with a simulated drive where dummies are thrown and shots fired. At the end of the drive the picking up dogs are sent for the marked retrieves thrown during the drive, while the beating dogs can sweep up behind the line of guns for unseen dummies. There will also be a simple marked retrieve from water and dogs will also be required to complete a marked retrieve from over an obstacle. Finally, handlers and their dogs will be positioned close together while a mini drive takes place (shots are fired and dummies are thrown in front). The dogs will then be left sitting while their handlers collect the dummies.
Working towards and passing the WGC on dummies is a fantastic opportunity to set you and your gundog up for your first shooting season, giving you the confidence that you have reached the right level to move on to working with game.
Working Gundog Certificate classes
New for 2026, Teach Your Gundog and Lead & Listen are excited to offer a brand new gundog course - a series of 7 morning group sessions teaching and consolidating the skills and behaviours required to take The Royal Kennel Club’s Working Gundog Certificate Assessment on Dummies.
The Working Gundog Certificate classes will take place at Oakhurst Farm near Loxwood, West Sussex. Your teachers, Jules and Silke, have successfully passed this assessment with their own dogs and have extensive experience running assessments on both dummies and live game.
In the first week, we will go through all the requirements and establish your baselines from which we will help you to prepare your own personal training plans for the course.
Over the following sessions, we will be looking at hunting, retrieving, steadiness, water, shot, obstacles, heel work, social walking, delivery and much more.
At the end of the course, we will have a ‘dress rehearsal’ to run through the whole assessment with you.
Jules and Silke will establish whether you and your dog are ready to take the assessment at the end of the course, and if we have sufficient numbers, will organise an assessment day for you.
Those enrolling should ensure that their dogs already have a basic retrieve, are comfortable around other dogs off lead, can swim and jump a small ditch or low obstacle, have a stop whistle and recall, and have been introduced to the sound of shot.
It is also important to note that while you do not need to have a pedigree dog, you will need to register your dog with the KC Activities Register if they are not Kennel Club-registered.
For dates and to book your space on the course click here: https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/products/working-gundog-certificate-classes
Photographs credit Alice Loder Photography