If you love shooting with your favourite four-legged companion (your gundog), whether you use a 22 air rifle, or anything else, if it important that you properly train your dog. Training regular domestic dogs can be difficult, and training gundogs is even harder, but this does not mean that gundog training can be neglected.
In addition to the usual commands taught in dog training, such as sit, heel, stay and lie down, gundogs are also required to learn additional commands, with gundog owners generally wanting their dogs to be able to recall and retrieve their game.
Training a gundog takes a lot of hard-work, determination, patience and persistence however can be incredibly rewarding, therefore it is definitely worth the time and effort that it takes.
When gundogs are not trained proficiently, the following problems can occur:
- Gundogs nor having a natural drive to recall dummies
- Gundogs not being interested in dummies
- Gundogs dropping dummies too soon, taking them in the wrong direction and/ or refusing to give them to you
Luckily for all Browning shotgun and gundog owners there are now many techniques available to improve their gundog’s behavior and technique, including but not limited to the following:
- Practice makes perfect, you should train your gundog as often as possible so that they can get used to what they are supposed to do
- Use treats to reward your gundog, always giving treats from your hand and not your pocket. You need to ensure that you dog understands why he is getting treated so that they can continue to work hard going forward
- Consider clicker training for your gundog, this is quite advanced though so only attempt this once you have mastered treat training
- Practice with dummies! You should purchase a wide variety of dummies so that your dog can get used to retrieving things of all shapes and sizes
- Consider professional gundog training – There are in fact professionals available to help you train your gundog
- Utilise dog leads when training your gundog, using leads when your dog gets too excited or distracted, this will help you to keep your dog calm
- Never forget to praise your puppy for their great work
- Allow your gundog to spend time around other, possibly more experienced gundogs so that it can learn from the best
Solware Ltd
If you want to learn more gundog training tips and techniques, or perhaps are interested in purchasing gundog training equipment we highly advise that you visit the Solware website where you will be able to find everything that you are looking for and more. Solware is one of the UK’s leading shooting equipment suppliers, offering everything that is needed for shooting and more, all at the industry’s most competitive prices.
