The Art of Long Distance Retrieving

We all love to see dogs working on those challenging birds – and even better when they pull off a great retrieve, but maintaining control at distance is essential – not just to achieve the retrieve as efficiently as possible but also to avoid impressionable youngsters developing bad habits because they decide to go “self-employed”.

The world of field trials sets a high bar in terms of just how far some dogs are expected to work. Those that can confidently work on birds dropped huge distances from the handler are an impressive sight; and as any aspiring field trial handler knows it’s essential for their dogs to be able to operate in this way which is why distance work is an important part of their competitive training programme.

The average gun wants a reliable, well-trained dog but for those who train their own it’s the long distance work that is often the trickiest part of preparing a young dog for his role in the field.

Because there is so much more effort and skill needed to achieve the control of dogs working at distance from the handler it’s often something that gets neglected. The problem is that there will come a day when a bird falls way beyond the distance your dog has ever worked before and you make a decision to send him.

In most cases you will just be trusting to luck that the dog did mark the area of the fall; with fingers crossed the dog will leave you with gusto as he takes off on his maiden voyage far into the far green yonder!

Don’t be tempted to ask too much of a young dog

If all goes well he will have drawn on his experience gained when working much smaller distances and may even respond correctly to guidance from the handler. His return with the bird will be a triumph for you both – but be prepared for disappointment.

For those approaching the main game shooting season with a young dog there is still time to brush up on some distance training. It’s something that’s best done as a two-handed exercise so that you at least have another pair of eyes monitoring what’s happening when the dog is a long way from you – and can help with throwing the dummy or firing the launcher.

But if that’s not going to be feasible it’s worthwhile having a plan in mind for a shoot day should the situation arise where you are presented with a much longer retrieve that your dog is used to.

Human nature being what it is – and with a keenness for others to see how good your dog has been trained – a lot of young dogs are sent for retrieves that are far too demanding in terms of distance. In reality that situation will probably take you by surprise so how can you employ damage limitation?

Firstly it’s important to be self-disciplined and not to launch your dog into a situation into which it will most likely flounder. A dog clearly out of his depth in terms of his ability to do the job he has been asked to do will react in one of two ways. He will either throw in the towel and head back having had his confidence undermined or charge around independently taking no heed of you and having no real idea of where he is going or what he is looking for.

Be ready to make some quick decisions

Of course one of the biggest issues of sending dogs for long retrieves before they are ready is that the lack of control you have is made even worse by the impact of other dogs that will also be working after the drive is finished.

Although you may have sent your inexperienced dog a long distance, luck may be on your side if you have a dog that can keep focussed on the job and cope with being a long way away from you when he is left to his own devices.

But all too often that’s not the case and so added to your dog’s confusion will be the influence of other dogs working nearby. Their presence in itself is usually enough to distract a dog trying to locate a bird or follow a line it’s unsure of but all too often a more experienced dog will move in on your dog’s work area and that’s just what you don’t want.

If the older dog is successful and your dog is frustrated, you certainly don’t want to witness your dog trying to rip a bird from the mouth of the successful interloper.

The long distance retrieve, when attempted too early, can undue so much of the good training that has already been achieved and even create more problems that you didn’t have in the first place.

So faced with a bird down a long way from you and with the drive ended you need to make some quick decisions. Firstly, see if any other dogs are heading off for your bird and if not - and you really feel like having a go  for it -  try if possible to deter others from getting their dogs into that area.

The longer term view is more important than the urgency of the moment

Assess if you think your dog marked the bird. He will have more commitment if the bird was marked but if he has been confident at un-marked retrieves at shorter distances this is an opportunity to ask a little more of him. But at this point I must stress that if he is genuinely going to give this his best shot you do not want his efforts to be marred by another interloping dog.  So be very mindful of that.

Another of your quick decisions must be to weigh up the distance. The initial assessment may be that it is too far or that there are hedges, ditches, walls or fences in the way that are going to add extra questions for him to solve that may deflect from his efforts.

So decide if you should send him from where you are or whether you should walk him up closer to reduce the distance a little and perhaps avoid a fence or other obstacle. Remember that the sole purpose of what you are doing is to work at distance – the jumping and clambering must not be allowed to get in the way.

All good working gundogs have to learn to work at distance from their handler and to be responsive to commands, but so often I see dogs launched into the vast unknown, clearly with some vague notion that out there is a bird to be found.

But if those first early long distance retrieves are tackled with a degree of forethought and with the improved longer term skill of the dog in mind rather than the urgency of the moment, a more confident and accomplished retriever will be a joy to shoot over.

Jeremy Hunt is GunsOnPegs' dedicated gundog writer and is also the owner of Fenway Labradors. He has been breeding Labradors for over 25 years and is based in Lancashire, England.

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

jeremy@fenwaylabradors.co.uk
07798 826179