Teach Your Gundog

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Haslemere
Teach Your Gundog

Jules Morgan APDT 973, GTA co-founder
Gundog training for all breeds and levels
Covering Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex
(5)

Teach Your Gundog using kind, fair and effective methods of training. Member of The Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Accredited Training Instructor Animal Behaviour Training Council. Co-founder of the Gundog Trainers Academy.

03/11/2024

Capturing professional-looking photographs of your gundog requires a blend of technical skills and an understanding of your gundog's behaviour.

Like dog training, photography can be a fun and rewarding experience. With the right tips, plenty of practice, and patience, you can learn to take better pictures that showcase the beauty and working spirit of your gundog.

However, like dog training, dog photography is not without its challenges. Trying to achieve stunning, professional-quality images can be a steep learning curve and is not for everyone.

Consider leaving your gundog portrait and action photography to a professional for guaranteed, exceptional results.

If you'd like to create a visual legacy of your gundog that you can treasure for years, Alice Loder, who we use for photography, offers bespoke photography sessions.
Alice is a true artist who draws on a wealth of experience and deep understanding of gundogs to capture beautiful fine-art pictures of gundogs that anyone would be proud to hang in their home.

To find out more about booking a bespoke photography shoot with your gundog, head to www.aliceloderphotography.co.uk

📸 Alice Loder Photography

30/10/2024

If you are planning to take portrait photographs of your dog without an assistant, training your gundog to stay in one place will make it easier to capture those perfect shots.

If you’re out working on a shoot then your gundog should already have a pretty solid sit stay but you might also need to proof this to you doing odd things like laying on the floor, and making noises to attract your dog’s attention.

If you have been struggling to add some distance to your sit stay, here is a quick recipe for you to work on to help your photography.

Sit your dog on their place board in the heel position and cue your ‘stay’.

Step forward away from them using the leg furthest away. Take one step, breathe, and then step back, click, and pay.

Repeat stage 2, but take two steps away from your dog.

Repeat stage 3 but take an extra step, turn and face them, pause, and then return to the heel position, clicking and paying.

Build up gradually up the distance. Always return to your dog, click when you are at their side, and pay.

While you are building your distance, always remember that time in the stay position is also building, as they have to wait for you to walk away and return. So keep sessions short and end each one with a release and a break.

At measurable stages in the process, e.g. ten steps, begin to build up the duration, so that when you reach your final step, your dog will be confident and happy with you staying away for a longer duration.

Practise leaving your dog by stepping backwards away from them and returning to the heel position. Click and pay.

Build up to being able to walk all the way around your dog without them turning to follow you.

Always return to your dog to deliver your reinforcer for this behaviour. Dogs can find posing for portraits very dull, and some might not like the pressure, especially if you are trying to get a specific shot. Keep sessions short, always reward your dog and make the experience as enjoyable as possible.

If your dog starts to get stressed and you see signals like showing the whites of its eyes, ears back, or panting (when it’s not hot or it hasn’t been running around), then stop the session. Treat it like a training session - you always want to keep it fun and can always return to it after a break.

Want more photography tips? We have teamed up with Surrey-based photographer Alice Loder to provide you with some simple suggestions to help you capture professional-looking photographs of your gundog this shoot season.

To read the blog in full head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/surrey-dog-photographer-tells-us-how-we-can-get-better-pictures-of-our-gundogs-this-shoot-season

📸 Alice Loder Photography

27/10/2024

You don’t have to work your gundog for them to be a fulfilled and happy pet, but breed-specific training will guarantee they'll have an outlet for their natural instincts, helping you to control their focus and energy.

If you want a reliable recall, a dog that walks nicely on the lead and doesn't drag you to every scent, and a dog that can settle at home - you need to provide an outlet for their dog's need to hunt and chase and retrieve.

If want to bring out the best in your pet gundog, our foundation classes are designed for gundogs over the age of 8 months.

Ideal for dogs who are new to training, the classes cover the core behaviours including heel location, games to develop a rocket recall, a reliable retrieve chain, hunting patterns, self management and much more.

You will also learn about your dog's personality, how to use a clicker and deliver reinforcement effectively, and how to engage with your dog to get them to focus on you.

Our foundation gundog training classes take place in Haslemere on the Surrey, West Sussex, Hampshire border.

No previous experience is required to join these classes to book today please head to: https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/products/foundation-gundog-classes-saturdays

24/10/2024

If you're photographing your gundog and you see a big old road sign, bin, or something else distracting in the background, try changing your position or angle.

If this isn’t possible, you can try to “hide” the distraction by shooting through something or holding an item in front of the camera - ferns or other leaves can be fantastic. This will give the effect of being slightly removed from the subject and, therefore, add a playful narrative to the end result.

Sometimes, the best image can be let down by a minor distraction you didn’t notice at the time. With photography, less is more when creating the most polished and clearly communicated feelings.

Want more photography tips? We have teamed up with Surrey-based photographer Alice Loder to provide you with some simple suggestions to help you capture professional-looking photographs of your gundog this shoot season.

To read the blog in full head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/surrey-dog-photographer-tells-us-how-we-can-get-better-pictures-of-our-gundogs-this-shoot-season

📸 Alice Loder Photography

21/10/2024

The eyes are the window to the soul, which also holds true in dog photography. Ensuring the eyes of your gundog are in sharp focus can make your photos more compelling and emotive.

After all, the eyes are often the most expressive part of a dog’s face, and focusing on them can bring your images to life.

If you are using your smartphone camera, simply tap on the screen where the dog’s eyes are located. This action tells the camera to set the focus on that specific area, and you’ll see a yellow square indicating the focus point.

After tapping to focus, you can lock the exposure and focus by holding down on the screen until "AE/AF Lock" appears. This feature ensures that the focus and exposure settings don’t change if your dog moves slightly.

If your phone has a portrait mode, you might also want to explore its capabilities. This mode automatically focuses on the subject's face and adjusts the aperture setting to create a pleasing background blur, making your gundog’s eyes stand out more.

If you have a mirrorless or DSLR, you will need to read the manual to learn about its individual focus system. You should choose the single-point autofocus option, which will give precise control over a small point where you want the camera to focus. You can move this point directly over the dog’s eyes.

You can change the settings to assign focus control away from the shutter button to a button on the back of your camera (called back-button focusing) to give you more control and reduce the chance of the focus area changing when you take the photo.

Want more photography tips? We have teamed up with Surrey-based photographer Alice Loder to provide you with some simple suggestions to help you capture professional-looking photographs of your gundog this shoot season.

To read the blog in full head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/surrey-dog-photographer-tells-us-how-we-can-get-better-pictures-of-our-gundogs-this-shoot-season

📸 Alice Loder Photography

18/10/2024

Heads up folks - for the next week or so I’ll be difficult to get hold of, grumpy, hysterical, jibbering, taciturn, and probably doing that laughing and crying thing at the same time - or is that just me 🤷‍♀️
I’m moving home - don’t worry, staying local and training will continue as normal.
Please bear with me, I’ll try to be nice.
See you on the other side ….roll on November ❤️

18/10/2024

If you're now working your dog, especially if this is your first year beating or picking up, you might be thinking that you don't need to revisit training until March.

But the shooting season isn’t the time to press pause.

If your dog is still young and inexperienced in the field, now is a crucial moment to stay consistent with your training, maintain and reinforce skills and prevent bad habits from forming.

You don’t want to wait to fix issues until the season’s over. You need to reinforce steadiness, keep your stop whistle sharp, maintain recall, and prevent sloppy delivery to hand.

So here's a gentle reminder to keep up your training, even while you're in 'working' mode.

15/10/2024

Unless you are cropping for an artistic effect, such as a head-and-shoulders portrait style image, capturing the entire body of your gundog in a photograph is crucial.

While it is absolutely something we have all done, nothing looks more amateurish than cutting off the dog’s feet, tail, or tips of its ears. This makes the photograph feel incomplete and awkward.

Proper framing of your shots to include the entire dog and some sense of location, space and context, will quickly result in a more polished and professional end photograph that has depth and tells a story.

If you are struggling to fit your whole dog in the frame, try taking a few steps backwards. Always check the edges before you take the photo, and consider taking the same picture from different angles.

Remember that photography is all about being creative. Try not to get stuck taking your photos from the same position - don’t be afraid to play around with angles that “break the rules”.

Want more photography tips? We have teamed up with Surrey-based photographer Alice Loder to provide you with some simple suggestions to help you capture professional-looking photographs of your gundog this shoot season.

To read the blog in full head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/surrey-dog-photographer-tells-us-how-we-can-get-better-pictures-of-our-gundogs-this-shoot-season

📸 Alice Loder Photography

12/10/2024

It is a common misunderstanding that the more light you have, the better when it comes to photographing your gundog.

Bright, direct sunlight can create harsh shadows and overly contrasty images, which are not flattering for any subject, including our gundogs. If your dog is a lighter colour, you will also lose a lot of detail.

Those cloudless, bright, sunny days can be quite warm too, and we want to avoid taking pictures of our dogs looking too hot and uncomfortable.

Overcast days and sitting in the shade of a tree are the best ways to get soft and even light. If you have a black dog, you will find that cloudy sunshine will be the best condition for your photographs.

Positioning yourself and the dog so that the sun is behind them will create a bokeh and a lovely dreamy background, especially if the sun is shining through the canopy of a tree or some ferns.

If you can choose when to take your photographs, early morning or late afternoon, known as the golden hours, provide warm, soft light that enhances the natural beauty of your gundog and the environment.

Want more photography tips? We have teamed up with Surrey-based photographer Alice Loder to provide you with some simple suggestions to help you capture professional-looking photographs of your gundog this shoot season.

To read the blog in full head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/surrey-dog-photographer-tells-us-how-we-can-get-better-pictures-of-our-gundogs-this-shoot-season

📸 Alice Loder Photography

09/10/2024

Gundog breeds are amazing family pets, but their energy can be overwhelming especially if this is your first dog.

Even if you don't want to work your dog or take them shooting, gundog training works with, not against, our labradors', spaniels' and HPRs' natural instincts.

Our foundation classes are designed for gundogs over the age of 8 months to help owners of gundog breeds provide an outlet for their dog's need to hunt and chase and retrieve.

Ideal for dogs who are new to training, the classes cover the foundation behaviours including heel location, games to develop a rocket recall, a reliable retrieve chain, hunting patterns, self management and much more.

You will also learn about your dog's personality, how to use a clicker and deliver reinforcement effectively, and how to engage with your dog to get them to focus on you.

Our foundation gundog training classes take place in Haslemere on the Surrey, West Sussex, Hampshire border.

No previous experience is required to join these classes to book today please head to: https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/products/foundation-gundog-classes-saturdays

06/10/2024

One of the simplest yet most impactful techniques in gundog photography is getting down to your dog's level. This approach can instantly transform your photos from average snapshots to professional-quality portraits, even with a smartphone camera.

When you get down to your gundog's eye level, you see the world from their point of view. By kneeling, crouching, or even lying on the floor, you will create a more intimate connection between the viewer and the dog, making the photograph more engaging and personal.

It also draws attention to the gundog's face and expressions, capturing their personality and emotions more effectively.

This doesn’t mean you need to take all your pictures like this. Be intentional and brave with your angles. If you want to capture a cute, characterful image looking down on your dog, then stay above them and keep your phone horizontal.

This will make the dog's head and eyes the most prominent feature and can be great fun, creating a 3D immersive effect, especially when the dog sits in long grass, a flower meadow, or ferns.

Want more photography tips? We have teamed up with Surrey-based photographer Alice Loder to provide you with some simple suggestions to help you capture professional-looking photographs of your gundog this shoot season.

To read the blog in full head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/surrey-dog-photographer-tells-us-how-we-can-get-better-pictures-of-our-gundogs-this-shoot-season

📸 Alice Loder Photography

03/10/2024

No matter how frustrating training can be at times, we love our gundogs unconditionally and cherish the time spent with them out in the field.

Our gundogs provide us with a very long list of memorable moments during their relatively short time with us. For me, nothing is more special than those days out beating and picking up.

Capturing the essence of your gundog out on a shoot is undoubtedly a way to celebrate the hard work that you have both put in as a team and the special bond you share.

High-quality photographs allow us to relive the countless moments we spend with our dogs and share them with others.

Your phone's camera roll is already likely to contain more pictures of your beloved gundog than of your significant other. And we don’t want to discourage that!

We have teamed up with professional photographer to provide you with some top tips to help you capture professional-looking photographs of your gundog this shooting season, ensuring that each image does justice to these incredible animals, even if you only have access to the camera on your smartphone.

To read the blog in full head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/surrey-dog-photographer-tells-us-how-we-can-get-better-pictures-of-our-gundogs-this-shoot-season

📸 Alice Loder Photography

30/09/2024

Here's what's coming up at Teach Your Gundog in October and November...

PUPPY GUNDOG
All breeds under 8 months. No experience required.
Saturdays, 9:30-10:30, Haslemere
• 26 October
• 9 November
• 23 November

FOUNDATION GUNDOG
All breeds over 8 months. No experience required.
Saturdays, 10:30-11:30, Haslemere
• 26 October
• 9 November
• 23 November

BEGINNER GUNDOG
All breeds over 8 months working at Grade 1 level. Must have attended our puppy/foundation sessions or had a 121 session before starting.
Saturdays, 11:45-13:00, Haslemere
• 26 October
• 9 November
• 23 November

PROGRESSIVE BEGINNER
For all breeds that have graduated the puppy/foundation/beginner classes and are working at a Grade 1 and 2 level.
Fridays, 12:00-13:30, Loxwood
• 25 October
• 8 November
• 22 November

PROGRESSIVE GUNDOG
For all breeds that are working at Grade 2 and 3 level.
Wednesdays, 10:00-11:30, Haslemere
• 2 October
• 16 October
• 30 October
• 13 November
• 27 November

ADVANCED GUNDOG
Open to all breeds working at Grade 4 and 5 level.
Fridays, 9:30-11:30, Loxwood
• 25 October
• 8 November
• 22 November

Can't make any of the dates? Or want to focus on something specific? You can also book one to one sessions with Jules.

For booking and more information head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/collections/all

27/09/2024

Teaching the back behaviour is identical to the left and right directions. However, you will not just want to teach your gundog to go back - you will also want to teach them to turn on either their left or right shoulder, depending on the arm you are sending them on.

The reasons for this are that there may be a distraction drawing your dog away from the line, or the wind may be favourable to one side, and turning your dog in this direction would help them find success.

It could also be that the terrain is more difficult to one side, and so being able to turn them away from it would give them a better chance.

Only some people will choose to do this, and your gundog could still successfully learn to go backwards, so it is up to you.

To learn how to teach your gundog to go left, right and back, head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/how-to-teach-your-gundog-to-go-left-right-and-back

📸 Photo credit Alice Loder Photography

24/09/2024

"I have trained with many people over the last 11 years and finally found my way to Jules. Her knowledge of dog behaviour is the best I have come across, and she considers each dogs’ emotional requirements for the situation - something never usually considered. Her knowledge of the science behind positive reinforcement training is extensive - many people think they understand ’how it works’ but they don’t!" ~ Charlotte Godfrey.

I love working with such dedicated dog owners, like Charlotte, who are committed to understanding and nurturing their dogs' unique needs. Whether you're working with a challenging dog or starting fresh with a new pup, I'm here to help you tap into their natural abilities and achieve success together.

If you would like to book a 121 head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/products/in-person-121-with-jules

21/09/2024

The left and right directional casts are known as modifier cues and are often best taught together so that your dog can begin to discriminate the opposite cues right from the beginning.

If you are still working on your hand delivery and steadiness, you will want to consider using your place board and sending your dog to a marker post so that you don’t contaminate your retrieve chain.

Step one:
Sit your dog on a place board facing you, with a marker post out to one side, about 2 metres away.

Step two:
Raise your arm to your shoulder and out to the side of the marker post, palm forward, and cue your target behaviour. As your dog touches the post, click and pay back on the board. Repeat three times.

Step three:
Switch sides by placing your target post on the other side of your dog so that your dog is sent with your other arm. Repeat three times.

Step four:
Repeat this stage until your dog is going out to the target with commitment. At this stage you can add a food bowl at the base of the marker post and use a “get it” cue to send your dog left or right.

Step five:
Build distance on each side until you have reached the distance of 20m. Increase your distance from your dog until you are directing them from 3-5m away.

Step six:
You will now need a helper. Using the effect of ‘behaviour momentum’, do two repetitions sending your dog to a food bowl and then for the third put down a white or clearly visible dummy.

Step seven:
Fade out the place board and begin to add in your verbal direction cue such as ‘out’ (right), ‘away’ (left), ‘back’ (back). Remember the formula for introducing a new cue is “new cue, old cue”. So your arm goes out, and you say your new cue followed by your old cue (get it). Then, once you have fluency, you can fade out your ‘get it’ cue.

Step eight:
The final stage is to have both dummies (or food bowls if your delivery is not there yet) out at the same time.

To learn why you need to teach your gundog to go left, right and back, head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/how-to-teach-your-gundog-to-go-left-right-and-back

📸 Photo credit The Darkroom

18/09/2024

If you've passed your The Gundog Club Grade 3 field test, you might be wondering what's next.

These advanced gundog sessions are held at Loxwood, West Sussex with a focus on more advanced retrieving and hunting.

Open to all breeds of gundog, these classes will challenge handler and dog skills using the criteria required for higher Gundog Club grades as well as preparation for working tests and on-shoot scenarios.

Dogs will be working reliably off lead, steady to dummies and shot, good standards of retrieving and distance handling as well as hunting.

Pre-planted blinds, walk-ups behind spaniels hunting, a mixture of marks, memories and blinds, working in woodland, on water, in cover, and on pasture.

For more information and dates head to: https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/products/progressive-gundog-classes

15/09/2024

Before we look at teaching our gundogs how to go left, right and back, it’s important to consider the cues we use for the different types of retrieves, including marks, memories, and blinds.

We can then explore how setting the dog up gives them additional information about what sort of retrieve they're about to tackle and, finally, where directional retrieves fit into this.

Memory mark - Line up and verbal cue
Memories are a stepping stone to blind retrieves. The dog will have seen the dummy fall or be placed out, but there is usually a delay and/or change in location, so the dog has to work with you as a team and pay attention to where you are sending them.

The handler will line the dog up to indicate the direction of the retrieve and send them on their verbal retrieve cue. Depending on the distance and the time-lapse, the dog may start by running out a little less fast than on a marked retrieve and then suddenly speed up as they approach the area of fall and “remember” the mark.

Blind retrieve - Line up and verbal ‘blind’ cue
This type of retrieve is a full-on team effort between you and your dog, as your dog will not have seen the area of fall, and you might only have a rough idea.

The key with blind retrieves is to take your time and try to make it as error-free as possible. A confident outrun following a good, strong straight line will save you lots of handling later.
While you will still use your arm to line the dog up, many handlers choose to use a different verbal cue for this retrieve to tell the dog to run out with purpose and keep going until they either find the article or are stopped and cued to hunt.

Directional retrieve - Visual and verbal cue
We need to remember that directional retrieves are effectively an error-correction cue when we try to get our gundogs back on track when they’re struggling to find the area of fall.

Up to this point in your training, it is likely that your gundog has only been sent for a retrieve, be it a mark, memory or blind, from your side. In this scenario however, the dog will be facing you.

You also need to bear in mind that if we are sending them left, right or back, it is because our dog has failed to find the area of fall and doesn’t know where the article is.

So taking these points into consideration you’ll begin to understand why It is vital that our left, right and back cues are taught in a way that gives our dogs confidence.

To learn how to teach your gundog to go left, right and back, head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/how-to-teach-your-gundog-to-go-left-right-and-back

📸 Photo credit Alice Loder Photography

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Videos

Get It, Don’t Get It

The “” game is the foundation exercise we use in our classes to teach your gundog about self-control. It will become the backbone of all your steadiness training. There are a lot of layers to this process and many more steps to go through, but you need to teach this first. The main rules of this game are, no more than 10 repetitions in one session before having a break, and no more than two or three sessions in a day day. Also keep it random as it is important that your dog does not try to predict what is going to be cued. To read the step by step instructions head to https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/how-to-teach-your-gundog-steadiness

When teaching the stop whistle the first thing you will need to do is capture the stillness behaviour. In this video, you will see me practising with Otter - extending distance and making sure we don't introduce a creep forward. In this month's blog I've put together a step by step recipe on how you can do this. To read it in full head to: https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/how-do-you-teach-your-gundog-the-stop-whistle

This is one of Otter’s favourite games, although I did play it recently with Raffle at a presentation I gave to the Dogs Trust. The stalking game is a beautiful game of self-control and partnership. There can be an air of competition between you and your gundog together with the anticipation of which article will be retrieved. Excellent self-control is also needed to turn away from the other anticipated item. It's a hugely fun game for both dog and handler. You may need to start this game on a lead or a handle fob until your dog understands the game. Step one Throw one article about 20 yards away. Then, begin walking with your dog as if you are stalking. The key here is to act as if you are really stalking towards the article, so think slowly and steadily. You can even lower yourself to their level and move your shoulders like they will be moving their front legs. Let your dog focus on the article ahead. When their eyes lock onto the object, you can release them with a “get it cue”. Step two Progress to two articles in opposite directions, 180 degrees apart. Start stalking towards one, then randomly turn and begin creeping towards the other. Do not rush your dog. They might find it difficult to turn away from the original target at this stage. A steady fob will help with this. Once they do and they commit their focus to the second target, you can release them to retrieve it. Step three Once you have built some fluency in step two, you can add more articles to this game and have some real fun stalking towards articles before turning to stalk another, and maybe another, before releasing your dog. To read more about playing with your gundog, head to: https://www.teachyourgundog.co.uk/blogs/news/can-you-play-with-your-gundog

Want to make a splash?

Does your dog lack confidence, consistency or calmness when working around water? We created two workshops dedicated to specifically water work. Using tried and tested positive and force free techniques, a variety of gundog specific games and a good dose of fun. Small groups ensure plenty of individual learning opportunity and 1:1 teaching. Open to all gundog breeds. Introduction - 15th July 2023 Improvers - 12th August 2023 Location : Loxwood Venue ___________________________ 🐾 Enquiries and booking please visit our website. 🦆 1:1 tuition, group classes, workshops All content © Alice Loder Photography #gundog #surreydog #surreygundog #dogtraining #hampshiredogs #gundogs #shooting #fieldsports # #gundogtraining #gundogs #gundogsofinstagram #gundogtrainer #gundogoftheday #gundogoutdoors #mygundog #gundogintraining #gundogsofinsta #gundogtrainingequipment #gundognation #gundogcentral #gundoglife #gundogsquad #muddydog #girlswithgundogs #haslemere #haslemerehounds #loxwood #fernhurst #hindhead #haslemeredogs

Water workshops

We love seeing those beautiful doggies 😍🐶 Don't forget you can share your photos too, send them to our social pages 🥰 #gundog #gundogtraining #gundogs #gundogsofinstagram #gundoghunting #gundogtrainer #gundogoftheday #gundogoutdoors #mygundog #gundogintraining #gundogsofinsta #gundogtrainingequipment #gundognation #gundogcentral #gundoglife #gundogsquad #muddydog #girlswithgundogs #haslemere #haslemerehounds #loxwood #fernhurst #hindhead #haslemeredogs