Understanding the term ‘part trained” when buying a working gundog.

Approximately 1 month ago the neighbouring farmers labourer knocked on my door asking whether I had a part or fully trained Springer Spaniel for sale. He currently enjoys ferreting and ratting and therefore has experience of working with dogs in this field including his own Terriers and Whipets. Although I did not have any Spaniels for sale at the time, we discussed the average cost of purchasing a part trained Spaniel that he could continue to train in preparation for working in the shooting field. The prices exceeded his budget so he advised me that he would wait and possibly reconsider his choice.

On Thursday evening he once again came to my door, but this time he was joined by his newly purchased Springer Spaniel. Despite the look of shock on my face at the time, he proceeded to ask “can you train this dog it’s run off on the shoot!”. I was not impressed by his decision to purchase the dog in such haste and provided him with some wise but very direct words. We had an extensive conversation about how to move forward with future training but I also advised that the dog should certainly not be taken out working until it has been fully trained and had the opportunity to develop a proper working relationship.

The following day I received the following text message, “he wouldn’t come to pickup this morning, he cowers in the kennel, he worked partridges in rush fields, ran off on next drive, lost him in the woods, worked okish on moor but chased sheep, will pick partridge”. I was totally taken back by the text and realised that everything that we discussed the night before had been a complete waste of time. I rang him to discuss the text message and air my views on the situation, to which he asked ‘do you want to swap for one of yours?’. I was really annoyed at this point as everything that he was doing was against my professional advice. Despite the dog being banned from the shoot, I suggested that he takes my advice in order to give the dog a chance, and proceed with the training programme that I had recommended.

This has left me shocked and annoyed especially as some people believe that buying a part trained dog means that the dog climbs out of the box with an instruction manual and is expected to do exactly what the new handler requires.

Posted: October 21, 2013