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I suppose training starts the minute your pup is born or the moment you get your pup. It is all about conditioning that young impressionable mind that is your dog. You may ask, “well how important is that?” Let me tell you about a couple of instances that I came across.

I once went to view a litter of Springer Spaniels

When a new litter is born I try to raise them in those first 8 weeks as fearless and as bold as they can be.

The litter is born and the pups are nursed by their mother inside my home. They are raised with the constant noise of family life, right there in the background (we are a family with 3 boys).

Can we over train our dog? I feel we must allow our dog a certain amount of independence. That independence will one day come into its own. So the question is: does training take that independence out of your dog?

In my experience, training my own dogs and seeing other dogs work, and judging dogs

On my last post I talked about over handling to the point of losing the natural game finding ability of your dog. I know when I first started training dogs many years ago, there was something magical when my dog first stopped and looked back for help.

He was running out for a retrieve when he stopped, spun around and stood and looked at me. As if to say 'right Dad, we are a partnership now, what do you want me to do?'

I think the most important thing I gained from the afternoon was that there is always scope for learning and that retriever training is progressing and moving all the time.  Paul has a very open mind and a very patient approach to his training which works well when dealing with Novice Handlers and Novice Dogs. As he worked with us that afternoon he gave a structure with which we can carry forward to our training sessions in the next few weeks.  We will most certainly be calling on him again before the end of the Summer.