Your Questions Answered: The Best & Worst Dog Breeds to Train

I have recently been interviewed by a client as part of their studies. The Q&A session covered many questions I am frequently asked and so I’ll be posting the answers over the next few weeks here on the blog.

What is your favourite breed to train?

Going back to my Megs, who was my princess, I would say Labrador all the way, I love my Labradors. German Shepherds are great, good bond, very disciplined and a strong work ethic. I love my Spaniels – Springers not Cockers. They are multi-faceted, you have to work harder with them than with a Labrador but that builds the bond. Recently, in the last 12 months, I’ve trained my own Border Collie, Skye, to work on my farm and I would say the bond is as good as with a Springer.

What is the hardest breed to train?

This applies to both gundog and behavioural training – the HPRs. If they are not trained right from day one, they create more problems for the handler, they run off, they don’t listen. Behaviourally, Wirehaired Vizslas and Pointers have a lot of aggression issues, they are a difficult dog to have and in the last three years, they are the dogs that I have seen most as a result of dog attacks. The owners of these breeds treat them as so called ‘velcro dogs’ – they read online they need to be loved all the time and then the dog ends up manipulating the owner and becomes aggressive. This creates a viscious circle, more love, more aggression. In 2020 I had three dangerous German Wirehaired Pointers come to my kennels.

Gundog training isn’t just about working a gundog, it’s the behavioural side of working a dog. They need to be good in the house as well and this is where you see a problem with Cocker Spaniels. Aggression is very prevalent in Cockers, I’m working at the moment with four virtual clients (training lessons via Zoom) with aggression issues. Because Cockers are small they put them on their knee, over love them and then they resource guard and get snappy.

There is something called idiopathic behaviour – a genetic problem that is caused by overbreeding for the colour – we used to call it Cocker Rage for Golden Cockers. It’s found in other breeds too – German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Dobermann Pinschers. Dogs can be born with it and it is dormant – as long as you discipline your dog from day one and train it, it never appears. If you don’t, the dog becomes aggressive and will attack you.

Next up…top tips for training puppies

Posted: April 25, 2022