Good judgement needed when buying young dogs for spring training

Dogs don’t go on for ever and for many the end of the game shooting season will have signalled the retirement of many dependable shooting partners.

In our experience we increasingly find that more people are thinking ahead and ordering a part-trained youngster up to a year before it may be needed.

It makes good sense. Planning ahead ensures you can devote more time to finding a breeder/trainer with the type of dog you are looking for and it avoids making the wrong decision in haste. Good young dogs are notoriously hard to come by just when you want them.

For those who haven’t planned ahead, this is the time of year many will now be scouting around looking for a promising young recruit for spring and summer training.

Part-trained gundogs certainly provide a short-cut training package that many find more appealing than taking a pup through from eight-weeks-old. The time consuming puppy stage is past and the youngster is now either in the starting blocks and keen to learn or may even be further forward in his education.

Of course part-trained means different things to different people and dogs carrying this tag can range from those that have learned very basic manners and elementary obedience and retrieving, to others that are further advanced.

The most important things to bear in mind if you are looking for a youngster is to be perfectly clear about what you want and to know what your skills are as the dog’s on-going trainer. It’s also good to do some self-appraisal. Taking on a youngster with an engine like a Ferrari may seem like a good idea when you see him giving a blistering demonstration with his trainer, but have you got the temperament and ability to drive that kind of machine?

Probably one of the most essential requirements is having the nouse to assess the pros and cons of a genuine youngster. Some may be raw around the edges but full of potential; others may already be at the “push-button” stage but the automaton that almost looks too good to be true could be hiding issues that could well emerge later.

Buying a really genuine part-trained dog can be difficult. Primarily because the best are always in short supply.

I was asked by a very keen shooting man a few months ago if I was likely to have a youngster available in the spring, possible one that had not come up to my standard. I was quick with my reply. Any young dog that is not coming up to my standard in training would be found a good pet home and would certainly not be palmed off onto someone else as a future shooting dog.

While there can be exceptions triggered by unexpected circumstances, by and large it’s best not to be tempted by the youngster that’s on offer at a low price. If a young dog is worth its salt it has a corresponding value. Anyone trying to off-load a youngster on the cheap probably has an ulterior motive.

Remember that irrespective of how much or how little work a good youngster has done, any well-bred and genuine young dog has had at least seven months of input and investment given by the trainer. Its price needs to reflect that.

Bringing-on young dogs is something of a vocation to those of us who enjoy the job of training youngsters. Recommendation from within the gundog fraternity is probably the best way to help you make a start in looking for a youngster or for making sure you have one in the pipe-line for the future.

Some young dogs will, of course, be advertised in magazines or on the internet and while there will be certain genuine opportunities that are worth following up, it pays to be thorough in your enquiries.

We’ve all heard tales of young dogs being bought after appearing to “sing and dance” when giving a demonstration by the seller, only to be anything like as biddable or skilled in their early work when taken to their new home and under a different trainer.

Beware “dogs with probs” – the ones that appear to be achieving far beyond that which a mere mortal would expect at a young age and yet are being offered for sale.

I have often come across youngsters that have obviously been “fast tracked” to get them to a stage where they appear to have learnt far more than they should have for their age, only to come up with problems later when in the hands of a less experienced new owner.

So beware cleverly choreographed training demonstrations. If a dog is doing more than you would expect at a young age you have to ask why – and even more importantly why is it being sold if it is so advanced? So sticking to reputable or recommended sources is strongly advised if you are on the look out for a good youngster.

My advice is to look for a happy, well-balanced and sensible youngster - a dog that still has some youthful “joi de vivre” and yet is displaying a readiness to please and a genuine and unspoilt outlook.

Any demeanour that suggests a dog has been under pressure would be a concern to me.

So if you are in the marketplace for a youngster or part-trained dog this spring keep in mind precisely what you want. Youthful exuberance is no bad thing (something I still like to see in a young dog) if it’s in the right package, but steer clear of “empty eyed” youngsters whose enthusiasm has obviously been stifled by over-training or harsh methods of control.

Very often all that pent-up energy that appears to have been brought under control can explode into problems when the oppressive pre-sale training regime ends and you take over!

Training gundog youngsters that will become your “best mate” for many years to come is all about selecting a dog with which you can establish a bond and trust and on which you can develop the dog’s inherent working skills.

So if you are looking at youngsters beyond the puppy stage place a deal of emphasis on temperament and confidence. I’d rather see a young dog that comes up to you with a friendly and positive attitude rather than one where total subservience is actually masking hesitancy and caution rather than suggesting the dog is well-trained.

Jeremy Hunt
Fenway Labradors
jeremy@fenwaylabradors.co.uk
07798 826179

Jeremy is the owner of Fenway Labradors has been breeding Labradors for over 25 years and is based in Lancashire, England.

Jeremy runs gundog training days offering individual or small group training sessions, by the hour, half or full day.