KEY SKILLS 

TRAINING

COURSES

WE RUN COURSES

THROUGHOUT

THE UK

CLICK HERE

TO FIND A COURSE

NEAR YOU

KEY SKILLS

Welcome to the new Key Skills section of the website.  Here you will find information on the basic training skills needed as a foundation to gundog training and to many other dog sports and activities. Successful key skills training also forms the essence of any well-behaved dog.

• Introduction

• Heelwork

• Hunting

• Recall

• Retrieve

• Sit/stay

Our gundog Key Skills  consist of both Natural,  and Taught elements.

Natural skills: Fortunately,  working bred gundogs come 'ready made' with a set of instincts. With a little care and consideration,  these instincts can be harnessed and put to work.  Our three  natural key skills are retrieving, hunting and pointing.  Each category of gundog (retriever, spaniel, hpr, pointer) has the potential for one or more of these skills at birth.  The first two natural skills we seek to develop are retrieving and hunting

Taught skills  In order to harness  our dog's natural  talents, we need to teach him some unnatural skills.   These form the foundations of obedience on which  we build more advanced skills.  Our first three taught key skills are recall, sit, and heel.

• Graded training

• Retriever awards

• Spaniel awards

• HPR awards

• Training courses

MORE INFORMATION

About registration

Assessors

Clicker training

Equipment

Lottie's diary

Panel of advisors

Reference library

Trainers

Training articles

Training books

Training starter kits

Key Skills Links:

The links below are now live.   Just click to go to the section of your choice.

• Heelwork

 The following links will be made live shortly.  Check back soon for updates.  (15th July 2008)

The Recall

The Stay

The Retrieve

The Stop

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT ABOUT GRADE ONE TRAINING COURSES

What is the best way?  There is often more than one way to train a particular skill.  Some training methods are effective in almost all cases if used correctly. Some methods are only effective  in specific situations.  Where there are several different methods to achieve a particular result,  we help you to decide which is best for you and your dog,  the best way for one person may not be the same as the best way for another.

You and your dog.   The two of you are a unique combination.  Dog owners are unlikely to succeed using methods that they feel uncomfortable with, no matter how effective the method may be when followed properly.  This is human nature.  Dogs vary considerably in temperament.  One training style does not necessarily fit all.

Fashion and public opinion: There has been a huge swing in fashion with regard to dog training methods in the last few years.  Harsh or aggressive methods are ‘out’, heavy-handed methods are ‘frowned upon’ and methods, which avoid punishment or corrections of any description, are ‘revered’ by much of the pet dog owning community. However, modern, non-confrontational techniques, as many people are discovering, are not an easy option.   To be effective they require some skills which need to be practiced regularly, and they require effective management of the dog’s environment to a much greater degree than some of the more traditional ‘firm and fair’ methods used by many gundog trainers.  In each section we look at the advantages and disadvantages of both the currently fashionable and the more traditional techniques.  Harsh and aggressive techniques are not offered

IT'S NOT A COMPETITION