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'Beating spaniels' - should they be trained to retrieve?

by Pippa Mattinson

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The Gundog Club has recently been contacted by a concerned student over the inclusion of retrieving in our  Grade One courses for spaniels.   The student had heard that teaching her spaniel to retrieve might compromise her dog’s behaviour in the beating line and encourage her dog to chase game.  This is an important question and deserves proper consideration.

Should we include retrieving for our Grade One spaniels?  Should a 'beater's dog' be taught to retrieve.  Pippa Mattinson explains why she thinks retrieving is important for all spaniels, including those intended for beating.  And why an early start is vital.

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The Spaniel’s role 

Spaniels and retrievers have different strengths and roles. Our level one grading recognises this by having different requirements for spaniel heelwork and patience on the ‘stay’.  As we work up through the grades the hunting part of the spaniel’s role becomes increasingly important.  By grade three, the spaniel who passes his field test must demonstrate an effective hunting pattern and control during hunting by the handler.  So, if hunting is the spaniel’s primary role, why do we include retrieving so early on in the course?

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Establishing an early retrieve

The spaniel is a dual-purpose dog. His primary purpose is hunting and his secondary purpose is retrieving. He has been bred with these priorities in mind. Because of this breeding, the hunting drive of the dog often takes precedence over retrieving.  It is therefore very important that retrieving is established early on in the spaniels training.  Failure to do so can result in a spaniel that will not retrieve.  This is something all successful spaniel trainers agree upon.

Here is a quote from Mike Smith’s book ‘Springer and Cockers’.  The Author  - Mike Smith of Mailscot Spaniels  -  is one of the U.K.’s most respected gundog trainers. His book is widely regarded as the best spaniel training book on the market.  The quote is taken from the first paragraph of his chapter on ‘Puppy Retrieving’ and really sums up why we need to get our spaniels retrieving at a fairly early age.

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“Under no circumstances whatsoever should you later progress to hunting your spaniel if his retrieving is not up to standard.  If you do so it is likely that the hunting instinct will dominate and the retrieving deficiencies or faults will persist forever more”

So what about spaniels who will be used for beating?  Won’t teaching them to retrieve encourage them to chase game as our student feared?

The ‘stop to flush’

It is very important that spaniels are taught not to chase game.  However, we do not prevent a working spaniel from chasing by ‘not allowing it to retrieve’.   That would be counter productive to the purpose of the dog as I will explain below.

We teach a spaniel not to chase what it has flushed, by  training the spaniel to ‘sit (or stop)  to flush’.  This aspect of spaniel training (stopping on the flush) is an advanced skill not  taught until later in the scheme.  

It is facilitated by ensuring that the dog is not introduced to game too early on in training.  In other words,  we do not allow our spaniels to have contact with game,  especially in the exciting environment of the beating line, until training is well advanced.  A good stop whistle and recall response must established,  followed by training a ‘drop to fall and shot’ long  before the dog is  finally  taught to 'drop' to a real live, over whelmingly exciting, flushing bird or rabbit.   

The dedicated Beater’s dog

 It is true that some spaniel owners who use their spaniels for beating, do not teach retrieving, perhaps because they feel this reduces the likelihood of them having difficulties achieving a ‘stop to flush’ later on.  

However this is a personal choice, and not the method which should be used to produce a rounded fully trained working spaniel whose job is both to hunt/flush and to retrieve.   

It is also worth bearing in mind that the prey drive of the majority of working spaniels is extremely intense, many such spaniels will instinctively chase a flushing bird or rabbit whether or not the dog has had any experience of retrieving, as many pet dog owners will testify.   Failing to train a spaniel to retrieve will not prevent any well bred working spaniel  from chasing game. Only good training will do that.

A beating dog is sometimes regarded as one step down from a 'proper shooting dog'.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Beating is one of the most demanding and testing aspects of spaniel work to be found in this country.  It requires a high level of steadiness and control.   This takes time and patience.  Many young dogs are taken into the beating line too soon  - control of the dog may easily  be lost before the whistle is blown at the end of the first drive. 

Most spaniels will not be ready for the beating line before their second birthday.  Even then, caution is advised and an assessment should be made of the temperament and readiness of the dog.  Rough shooting and picking up are good ways of introducing a spaniel to a shooting environment and ensuring high standards before introducing the dog to the rigours and temptations of the beating line.

The retrieve as a reward

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of retrieving for all gundogs (apart from setters and pointers) is the value of the retrieve as a reward.  Some of the basic training required to produce an obedient gundog is by necessity rather repetitive, and the training required for some skills is potentially quite negative (the stop whistle for example) The use of the retrieve as reward in training should not be underestimated.  Without it training for any spaniel (and his handler)  would be a lot less fun.

A truly dual purpose dog

The Gundog Club would be doing a disservice to the true dual purpose role of the working spaniel if we used methods which did not develop the retrieving potential of the dogs on our courses.  We would also be producing spaniels which were incapable of being used for rough shooting,  or competition.   To produce a spaniel which can only be used in the beating line and is incapable of retrieving would not be acceptable.  Nor would failing to teach a spaniel to retrieve ensure steadiness to flush in the future.

Our graded training scheme therefore includes early retrieving, both for spaniels and HPRs.  The exact retrieving requirements for spaniels, are set out on our Grade One spaniel page and in the Grade One handbook

If you would like to know more about the graded  training scheme  or about training spaniels for beating, rough shooting or competition, why not visit our reference library and browse through our training articles.  Training guides can be purchased here:

 http://www.thegundogclub.co.uk/shop/books/index.htm

If you would like to contact The Gundog Club to enquire, or comment, about any aspect of our graded training scheme or  courses, you can telephone 01428 717529 or email admin@thegundogclub.co.uk