[Jukes Mum]

Opinions wanted please.
I have a very sensitive springer spaniel.
After working on the pheasant last season he was as bold as brass and won at his first working test in March without having seen a canvas dummy since the previous September.
He has done well this summer and has qualified for the World Series Finals this coming weekend. I have qualified for the finals before and I know that the tests involved are not really suited to him, so I have upped his training to work on some of his 'weaknesses'.
Anyway, I have managed to find a field to use which is mown, perfectly flat, square and fenced; almost identical to the ground at the finals. So I took him there on Thursday and, to put it politely, he was rubbish. He looked at me as though I was speaking Japanese and had never done any training with him before. He is very easily upset so I gave him a couple of really easy things to do to end on a high and then left him all weekend (no, I didn't leave him in the field, I mean I didn't do any training with him all weekend  ). Took him back to the field again last night and, same again, rubbish. I'm not asking him to do anything he does not usually do really well, but he is either ignoring me or is genuinely confused 
So, my dilemma is, do I
1) keep on with him, with the risk of him shutting down
2) take him back to train in areas he is happy with, but are nothing like the set up he will be faced with on Sunday
3) stop all training and just see what happens on the day?

I love this little chap ever so much and will still love him to bits if we are rubbish on Sunday, but there is a £20k prize at stake so I'd kinda like to give us the best chance!!

[doganjo]

Dogs are not very spatially aware, they can't link previous actions with a new place.  In a new place you need to really go back to basics - really really easy stuff, and gradually build up from there.  But you can progress from teh basics very very quickly.

You've done extremely well to get this far anyway - congratulations!!!   That's brilliant! 

[Jukes Mum]

I know that dogs don't generalise, and I do make a point of going back to basics on each new training ground and make sure they are used to working in a whole host of situations.
For this new field though, I didn't want to take this approach, as obviously we won't have the luxury of that on Sunday, but I think that I may have to to rebuild his confidence. If he's at all unsure whether he's doing the right thing or not, he will sit down and only budge if I recall him. Bless his sensitive little heart 

You've done extremely well to get this far anyway - congratulations!!!   That's brilliant! 

Thank you, I am very proud of him as I do still see him as the puppy, even though he's 3 now! 

Wish us luck- we may need it!

[Sbom]

He sounds adorable 

Good luck!!

[SallyintNorth]

I know nothing about training Gundogs at all, but from what you've said, there's something about the competition environment that suits him.  It would seem to me that if you have put the commands and actions in place, he'll have no trouble enacting them on the competition field.  So if it were me, I'd do the going-back-to-basics and, if he's willing and able, train some of the things he needs help with, in your square field, and expect that he'll be able to reproduce them at the Trial.

[Jukes Mum]

Liking the logic 
Think I may be going into last minute panic mode!

[Cosmore]

Is this extra training with the gun noise or 'dry'? I see you've used him for pheasants before.  It could be that if no bang, no real birds plus he's picking up on your possible anxiety and a new area that he's a bit confused/disinterested? My labrador will run a few times for the dummy and then decides it's boring and pointless. I found a dummy launcher to be the answer - the bang from the blank .22 simulated the real thing in his mind. Out of season I also keep him in trim with some pigeon decoying, he loves that. The only problem I've had is when recently I had a rat problem - I wouldn't let him retrieve the rats, the frustration on his face had to be seen! .

[Old Shep]

You are not going to train anything new between now and the weekend - I'd just go for it, presume you are going to be pants but give it your best shot knowing you'll bring the best dog home with you xx (and forget all about the prize money ;-) - you won't love him any more if he wins)  Good luck!

[Jukes Mum]

He is mad keen for dummies, with or without a 'bang'. I don't use the dummy launcher too much, but maybe I'll just give it a quick pop tonight :-)

 

You are not going to train anything new between now and the weekend

Of course you are right, I was just hoping to iron out a couple of issues, like me flinging my arm to the right means 'go right', not go 'rightish and a bit further forward' 

What will be will be 

[doganjo]

Don't forget to let us know how you did 

[Jukes Mum]

Update from the World Series Gundog Final yesterday.....
We were rubbish  Eliminating fault in the first round! Little dog jumped over the central barrier of the arena.
Months of work and all over in one minute. Good job I love him   

[SallyintNorth]

lol, the weight of expectation, eh?   

Never mind, I expect you enjoyed watching everyone else (and if gundogs are anything like collies, so did he - and he'd have learned a lot from it, too) - and next time, it won't be his first time at that level

[Cosmore]

Never mind, there's always another day! I'm sure you both enjoyed the day, better luck next time.
At least it wasn't like a case I read about - the man proudly stepped up with his keen and experienced dog, the dog shot off in the direction of the retrieve - only to completely ignore it, carry on and jump the perimiter fence and disappeared into the undergrowth - only to return moments later with a real rabbit in his mouth which he duly retrieved to his owners hand to the amusement of the judges and crowd and the embarrasment of his owner! Needless to say, he didn't win!

[Jukes Mum]

Ha! Surely he should have won for that 

Never mind, I expect you enjoyed watching everyone else (and if gundogs are anything like collies, so did he - and he'd have learned a lot from it, too) - and next time, it won't be his first time at that level

It was great to be able to relax and watch everyone else. Fortunately for me (not for them!) I wasn't the only one eliminated 
Hopefully next time I can qualify with my other spaniel, who is more suited to this sort of competition. He has qualified before and done really well x

[doganjo]

As in dog shows - you always take the best dog home!