01/12/2023
Well we’re at the end of the first week for some and just the beginning of the first for another. So proud of Joa at how well he has taken to the brothers. Lynsey is at the end of his first week with us and Reece has just arrived beginning his. Reece is a return pup of the breeder so he’s seen a bit in such a short life away from the breeders. First vaccination, change of environment, diet etc to then come to us and do it all over again.
So what have we been doing in our first week ? Not a lot yet learning so much. The main thing is learning to settle. I can come across as a bit of a boring git, yet any of the dogs I raise I am proud that so many people wish they could have them. I can take them anywhere and people love them. The same will be said about Lynsey and Reece. They aren’t going to be hyperactive cockers that can’t switch off. Instead they will be relaxed and when asked. They will switch on that drive that’s been bred into them. For this to be, our main teachings are to settle. As pups they are more than happy to sleep if we allow them. As I type this on my left hand side Reece has his head buried into my leg whilst Lynsey is stretched out with his head over the arm of the sofa, Joa lying at my feet. Even a sneeze doesn’t disturb them. For me this is more important than teaching them to sit, or stay or anything else. I want them to know that with me, they are safe and it’s a good place to be. This is encourage when taking them out to the toilet. I don’t carry them out, I call them to come with me, which at this age pups generally love being with you, so I don’t discourage it or counter it by asking them to sit and stay as I step away. Just now it’s be with me, follow me, but don’t run ahead off me. I do very little training with my dogs, but I am teaching them a lot each day with preemptive thought. One thing I have not done in years is teach my dogs to heel. The boring sessions of putting a lead on a dog and walking up and down and turning here and there asking them to heel just doesn’t do it for me. I used to train military dogs to heel in a military style with my fingers tucked in under my thumb and march with dogs tight to my leg. Whilst turning tight turns and the dog sticking to me like glue. I don’t like it. I know it’s not like that at home, but even so I’m too lazy to be going out doing sessions concentrating on certain parts. So what do I do. I do what I call preemptive teaching. I ask myself, what do I want from my companions. First thing, good behaviour. It gets them far in life. The second is I want them to be my hunting companions also. So I look at what I need from them in this environment also and think when any of them are doing anything, should I stop that behaviour because it may affect them later on making it harder for them to join in with whatever. So heel work they are learning now. Not from putting a lead over their heads and controlling them this way, but by each time I have them out, to encourage their natural behaviour of wanting to be with me and follow. It’s far easier to guide a dog that follows than it is to reign back one that is used to running ahead. This is where I work with the dogs rather than working to a chapter by chapter journey. In the first week of Lynsey’s life he knows his name. So we’re on the road to a firm recall. He stays close by, so we are on the road to a dog that walks to heel. He’s learnt that the pickup is a nice place to be. He travels in it almost 200 miles a day. No training to the car or anything. It’s just another part of the day. His leaning to settle being encourage allows me to have 3 dogs on the back seat settled asleep, ready for a p*e break at the end of the 1 and a half hour journey. To then settle down again spending most of their days asleep. He’s learnt to sleep through the night settled. Though he did this from day one. And the same goes for Reece and Joa etc were the same also. I do have the alarm set for 3am to wake them and walk them outside to go for the toilet, come back inside to then settle again for another few hours before getting up, doing it again then having breakfast.
So we’re not doing much yet we are learning a lot.
