THE CLASS OF 2016 (the puppies...)

YEN, PADDY, ARCHIE, MINNIE, KIT, ARI, MONTY & PADDY

Puppies Puppies everywhere and didn't they all do well !!

Saturday saw our very first puppy class. Held alongside our normal Sunday morning Novice group, the puppies had their own "safe" area in which to get accustomed to the sites, smells and noises of a Gundog training session, including the odd resident !!

The classes are designed to cater for puppies who are just "street legal" after their inoculations up until they are 5 months old, when hopefully they will leave to join the Novice group.

At this tender age we are focusing on socialising our pups and becoming the most important thing in their world ... so that they will RECALL !!

Everything we do with our pup must be fun. Fun is the best way of learning, whether it's starting the recall, the retrieve or later on, hunting our spaniels.

So, find yourself some space get down on the floor and play. A tennis ball makes a great game. Your pup will be interested to see what you have in your hand and by moving the ball around and gently teasing our pup we know it will make them want what we have ... now let them have it. Roll the ball away a short distance, let you pup chase after it and and as they collect the ball, start the recall, call puppies name in a gentle tone .. no shouting, yelling, harsh voices, you need to invite your puppy in, make being with you a good place to be.

And once pup is back, NO snatching or grabbing for the ball / toy. Stay relaxed, this is a youngster, it doesn't yet understand the rules, so we let it show us the ball, let it be proud of it's retrieve and then as all starts to calm down gently take the prize. If your pup is a little reluctant to come in, and after some encouragement still wants to "show off" then gently collect your youngster place it gently on the lead, wait until all is calm and then start again, but remember, don't play the game too much. The more they want the ball, the more fun you are to be around.

Now time to relax again. Some of you noticed that a few of the pups played quite hard, this isn't anything to worry about and is just how puppies interact, they would play the same way with their litter mates and it's all about social interaction.

An hour of constant stimulation is enough for any pup. Time to take our littles ones home for a well earned sleep.

For those that have older dogs and are part of our more advanced groups, "just because they can doesn't mean they should" .. let them be puppies, don't worry about any steadiness and we only really want to be introducing manners such as sit around 4 - 5 months remember that's only 16 weeks. No Pressure and all good fun.

I look forward to seeing you all soon, when no doubt your pups will have doubled in size !!!