Teach Your Gundog Gundog Games with Jules Morgan

Gundog Games Workshops are designed to bring positive, choice based, ethical methods of dog training into the gundog world.

These workshops have been designed from the foundation level to encourage owners of gundog type breeds to explore the natural instincts and behaviours of their dogs and how to provide a suitable outlet for them.

They are suitable for all breeds of gundog whether you wish to work your dog in the shooting field, compete at working tests, or just enjoy gundog training as a hobby.

We use games involving food, toys, and play to build and refine the skills required of a fully trained gundog and handler partnership.

To help you decide which workshops to attend and to enable you to assess your dog’s training status, we have divided these workshops into levels.

The exact format is not set in stone as we prefer to adapt training to suit the individuals on each workshop so changes may be made at our discretion.

Training a gundog to enter the shooting arena or to compete at working tests and field trials takes most experienced trainers at least two years and a great deal of practice and dedication.

Therefore, we would recommend that, as you progress, you might like to repeat some of the workshops before moving on to the next level to help you consolidate previous learning.

Once we reach Intermediate 2 and 3, we will start to work with gunshot. Please contact me directly if you have concerns that your dog is gun nervous prior to booking so that I can assess and modify accordingly.

FOUNDATION:
Introduction of foundation skills for Gundog work:- focus games; heelwork; recall; stop; retrieve patterns; delivery.
Skill level required: No previous experience necessary but an interest in retrieving and hunting is desirable.
INTERMEDIATE 1:
Moving on from foundation skills we add distractions, duration, discrimination, transitions.
Introducing: off lead heelwork; retrieving; directional retrieves; memory retrieves; hunting cue.
Skill level required: Loose lead walking, complete retrieve pattern, delivery to hand not essential, basic whistle stop, reasonable focus working in company.
INTERMEDIATE 2:
Delivery; steadiness; more complex retrieving including blinds/memories; stop and redirect; marking; hunting pattern; introduction to shot.
Skill level required: Off lead heel, complete retrieve with delivery to hand (on land), stop whistle and recall from distractions, directional retrieves, good hunt pattern, can work in company off lead.
INTERMEDIATE 3:
Greater use of shot with starting pistols and dummy launchers; more complex retrieving with cover and obstacles; hunting with shot and retrieves; walk ups; water (if available).
Skill level required: Able to work in company off lead, good steadiness and focus with distraction, comfortable with shot, good hunt pattern.
ADVANCED:
Putting it all together with a variety of test and shooting scenarios to include greater distances; varied cover; multiple retrieves; distractions. Retrievers: off lead work, marking, steadiness Spaniels: hunting with distractions and shot.
Skill level required: Able to work in company off lead, good steadiness and focus with distraction, comfortable with shot, can transition from hunting to retrieving, can handle at distance.