Hi everyone,

I am new springer spaniel owner , Sophie is 17 weeks and housetrained along with the basic "sit down" training but I would like to know what is the best way to train her please.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Gillian

Hello Gillian

I have a 5 month old springer and two cockers 1 and 2 yrs old that are trained for field trials and working.
I also do one to one basic obedience lessons.

I find with springers that they want to work for you and please you and cockers are more of a stubbern dog that takes a little bit more work to train.

At this stage i would work on bonding with the dog lots of play incorporating training and keep it fun.

Use positive methods.
Always end your training on a positive i.e if your working on recall and you get it right with 3 good recalls stop there and the correct command will sink in far better than 10 sketchy recalls etc...

A lot of people in the gundog world dont like the clicker but for basic obedience they work well.

Also keep training little and often.

10 minutes 3 to 4 times a day is far better than an hour as the dog will get bored and make mistakes.

Hope that helps a bit..?

If you have any questions just ask..

chris

Hi,

Thank you for replying to me. I have started training her 10 mins 3 times a day. Can I ask though, do your springers dig holes in the garden? What can I do to stop her from doing this? I have tried filling a kong with food to keep her busy, we play with her constantly, bring her for long walks a few times a day but nothing seems to be working.

Looking forward to talking to you again :-D

Gillian

Hi Gillian and welcome to ST!

Angel wasn't so much of a digger but a squasher of flowers Any flower growing promptly got laid on. The only time she digs, is if she shes me plant something , so haven't really got much advice on how to stop digging. My garden is a mess now (but that may have to do with my gardening skills!)

Try asking the question in either Springer Behaviour or Training, someone is bound to have the solution EDITED - sorry just seen you already have - gosh im on the ball this morning

Good luck and hope you enjoy the forum

Sam and Angel

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. Sophie also has been helping clear out my plant pots lol...my grass is a mess but there is alot of moss etc so I need to get it sorted out as soon as possible before the weather changes.

Gillian

Hi Gillian


Welcome and cough cough (that means piccies of the little princess please )

You are doing well to have her housetrained so young. Someone else on here is just awaiting his puppy and the words gundog whistle and crate are being frequently mentioned.

My answer to digging was to hard landscape the whole garden

Look forward to hearing lots about you and your family.

Cath

Hi and welcome. WIth regard to training, I am using clicker training, and have been since Vinnie came to live with me. He responds really well to it. I have only taught a couple of important basics so far - 'sit' and 'come' being the main ones. He comes best to the whistle (especially when we're out). I have also taught him paws (by accident!) and to catch biscuits.

I want to do gundog work and training with him and was advised to do only very basic training until he is at least six months old - just let him get on with being a puppy!

Have you looked into puppy training classes near you? You'd probably learn some new stuff and also it would be very good socialisation.

Also, you mentioned 'long walks a few times a day' a day but don't forget that at only 17 weeks, exercise should be very limited to save joint/bone problems later on. I can't remember the recommended amount per month but I'll have a hunt on here and see if I can job my memory!

Good luck.

Edited to add: just had a hunt and it's 5 mins per month of age, so would be max of 20 mins per day at Sophie's age.

A reply I found in a thread about another 4 month old pup from a knowledgeable member is below:

recommended is 5mins per month they are old per day. so a 4 month old pup gets 20 mins a day...

now, of course u have to let them out for wee wees and pootling round the garden will be ok, but no mad charging round or play.

too much excersise at too young an age can damage muscle and bone growth.

i know its crazy but it is in a springers nature to never tire, they have such a love of life, just take it easy...better to stimulate their mind with kongs/toys - tires them out just as well!!

Hope that helps.

Hi and welcome to ST we also have a pup Poppy is 18 weeks now and I agree with the little and often rule when it comes to training
We also found using a dog whistle is a great help for recall. Just pip it 3 times when you are putting her food down and after a while she will relate the three pips to food and so when you are out on walks she will come to you when you pip as she thinks that it means food time! Do try this around the house and the garden first before you try it out in the fields just to make sure she knows the command.
Also a great book we found was the perfect puppy guide, its got lots of information about training and other aspects of having a pup. You can also find quite a few books that are just springer based and they offer alot of advice too. If your not much of a book person ask on here as everyone is so helpful!

While Bella is not a great digger she started to dig where the ground was soft, as in the flower beds. To stop this we covered all the beds with the material to stop weeds and then covered it with lots of bark. She never digs now but we never got her to ignore flower pots and if I fill one she immediately either gets in to dig the compost out or turns it over. I have started using hangign baskets for colour inthe garden instead. Not usre what to do if it is the grass she is digging

If i was you i'd give up on the grass! As I said on an earlier post...I've got 9 potholes in my grass,what with two 18 week pups, I think i'll let them enjoy it while they can Then next year replan my garden, it's too late in the year to bother!

Tracey x 2