Willowbriar Spaniels

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13/11/2024

A lovely hour spent with this young cocker today. Our brief was to work on engagement, because a lot of her commands she was ignoring and doing her own thing, but today handler and dog were really starting to look like a team, on just their second session! Not a keen retriever, we did find a small feather dummy that she liked, did some quartering and re learnt a sit, recall and not shying away from the lead 💪🏻

13/11/2024

Misdirected drive.

I met this wonderful little cocker yesterday. A typical hard hunting and very driven young man, he had got himself in a bit of a fix with obsessive mousing. This is something that can happen with very driven but honest little dogs, when their energy and drive to hunt/work becomes misdirected. Unfortunately this can then be very rewarding for the dog, as obsession takes over and then all attempts to engage with them become very difficult once they’re in “the zone”. The same can be observed in some dogs who have obsessive chasing behaviours.

This is very different to the “freelance” cocker who’s just taking the proverbial.

The first thing we needed to achieve was unrestricted off lead hunting that was under control. I showed the owners how the obsessive mousing was as a result of restriction (unfortunately this behaviour was not helped by the longline), so we got rid of that quite quickly. We could see how the speed at which we walked had a huge impact on the amount of ground the dog took in, so we changed pace often, if we walked briskly he bombed about at a great distance, if we stood still he started mousing, so I showed them how to keep a pace with him so he stayed at a good distance of 10 metres and under.

We also practised making him sit and give eye contact before he could be released. He grasped this seriously quickly because he was keen to get off hunting again. We also put in a verbal correction when he ignored recall, so that his owners could be confident that they could easily get him back on the lead. Again he grasped this very quickly.

Now that he will be able to exercise freely off the lead, he won’t have any pent up energy leading to obsessive habits (although this may take time to resolve itself fully) This will mean that engagement (meaningful breed appropriate engagement and not obedience for the sake of it) will be far easier and not a battle against an obsessive mindset.

It’s worth noting that there is a vast difference between self rewarding and obsessive behaviours, and restricting a dog further once he displays those behaviours will compound the situation.

I have to admire the dedication of his owners, who made a long trip to come out to see me and were totally on board with helping this super and very honest little chap and worked extremely hard with me over the two hours they were here.

Once his exercise requirements are fulfilled, he will be able to move forward with meaningful hunting and retrieving, and make the best out of his super drive and determination to work.

Well done Bosley and Linda Freeman 💪🏻

10/11/2024

Little Mole pup from this year’s litter out of Scout ♥️

09/11/2024

Lots of positives today with this little cocker on his hunting, retrieving and overall engagement, as well as working on his recall from interesting scents that sometimes take over! Overall excellent work 💪🏻

07/11/2024

Two lovely cockers today working on off lead confidence with the pup and the basics of hunting and retrieving with the older girl. Both made huge strides within the session!

06/11/2024

Fantastic day for Scout today! Lots of birds and some pretty challenging cover. Very pleased with her 💪🏻

05/11/2024

First time on game for the youngster! She didn’t do too badly 💪🏻

04/11/2024

Three cockers (all related) having a fantastic Gundog Training session - hunting and retrieving brilliantly, and having a great time. All of them do agility as their main sport, but there wasn’t much they couldn’t do when we put them through their paces today! Brilliant work, fun and relaxed 😎

01/11/2024

1-1 Gundog Training currently available in Hythe, near Folkestone. Any standard welcome! Specialising in cockers, breed appropriate training for pet and working dogs. Positive training methods based on play and rewards. Message for details.

31/10/2024

Youngster Kit training today 💪🏻

29/10/2024

Pups having a bit of a hunt about in the grass and finding their noses.

29/10/2024

Annie can now be let off the lead reliably in even the most tempting of situations! Her first year of training has definitely paid off. She is a pet cocker but has already been beating this season because she and her owners have enjoyed Gundog training so much 💪🏻

29/10/2024

Three lovely and very driven cockers excelling in their Gundog training this afternoon! Agility is their main sport but plenty of drive left over for hunting and retrieving! They have a lovely bond with their owner, which has been built up through play and engagement 💪🏻

16/06/2022

The only type of training suitable in this weather! Luckily we have plenty of water at Aldington!

16/06/2022

Super cocker with a fantastic work drive!

15/06/2022

Some of the images taken of training at Aldington by the amazing Ray Hood!

14/06/2022

One of our Springers at work

13/06/2022

Lovely little cocker Hugo

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Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00
Saturday	09:00 - 17:00
Sunday	09:00 - 17:00

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