From wild child to gundog

It’s incredible to see what can be achieved when an owner sets their mind to training their dog. When Maeve first contacted me, her black and white Springer Spaniel was a nightmare. Maggie was wild, running off and bouncing about all over the place.

Fast forward and after a year or more of lessons, you would never recognise Maggie as the same dog. While Maeve never intended to work her as a gundog, I used gundog training to keep her focused and channel her energy. In this week’s lesson, we threw a dummy into the next field for her to retrieve. As she was running through the hedge on the retrieve, she flushed a pheasant. A year ago Maggie would have been off after that bird and would have been impossible to get back. Not now. She continued on her retrieve and delivered the dummy back to hand. Maggie has transformed from a wild child into a gundog.

This is a fantastic achievement and I’m so pleased for the dog and the owner. It just shows what hard work, dedication and a commitment to training can achieve.

Posted: August 3, 2022