Why We Don’t Rush Young Gundogs
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Why We Don’t Rush Young Gundogs: Building the Foundations First
When you bring home a gundog puppy, it can be very tempting to start thinking about everything you eventually want that dog to do.
You want a Labrador that retrieves beautifully to hand. A spaniel that hunts with confidence but remains under control. A dog that stops to the whistle, sits steadily, walks nicely to heel and eventually becomes a pleasure to take into the shooting field.
And when you see other young dogs doing impressive things on social media, it's very easy to start wondering:
Should my puppy be doing that already?
At Kugae Gundogs, we're in no hurry to produce a finished dog while it's still a puppy.
That doesn't mean we don't train our youngsters. Far from it.
Those early months are incredibly important — but rather than trying to tick off as many exercises as possible, we're interested in building the foundations that everything else will eventually sit upon.
There's No Prize for Having the Most Advanced Puppy
One of the biggest traps owners can fall into is comparing their puppy with somebody else's.
You see a six-month-old Labrador sitting perfectly at distance or a young spaniel apparently working beautifully to the whistle and suddenly feel as though you're behind.
But gundog training isn't a race.
We aren't interested in how many commands we can teach a puppy by a certain age. We're interested in what sort of dog we're going to have at two, five or eight years old.
Every dog matures differently.
Some puppies are naturally confident. Others need more time. Some have tremendous drive from an early age, while others develop as they mature.
Training the dog in front of you is far more important than following a timetable because somebody has told you what a puppy "should" be doing at six months old.
Let a Puppy Be a Puppy
Young dogs need an opportunity to explore, play and develop confidence.
We want our puppies interested in us, but we also want them interested in the world around them.
Particularly with a future working gundog, natural curiosity is something we value.
We want a spaniel that wants to get into cover.
We want a Labrador that's excited when it sees something to retrieve.
We want a puppy that's confident enough to explore different environments, surfaces, water and vegetation.
If we're constantly stopping a puppy, correcting it and worrying about perfect obedience, we risk taking away some of the very qualities we're going to want later.
We don't want to spend the first year taking the enthusiasm out of a dog and the next two years trying to put it back in.
Build the Relationship First
Before worrying about advanced training, we want the puppy to learn that being with its handler is a good place to be.
This is one of the reasons we don't rely on treats in our usual gundog training.
We want to develop the relationship between dog and handler.
With a young puppy, that can be through play, movement, a tennis ball, a puppy dummy or simply making yourself interesting.
When the puppy chooses to come back to you because interacting with you is enjoyable, you've started building something extremely valuable.
That relationship will eventually underpin recall, retrieving, heelwork and much more.
If the dog has little interest in you, all of those later exercises become considerably harder.
Recall Is One of Our Early Priorities
While we don't rush formal training, there are foundations we start developing from a young age.
Recall is one of them.
A little puppy naturally wants to stay fairly close to you. We can use that stage to our advantage.
Rather than waiting until the puppy is older, more confident and suddenly interested in everything 100 yards away, we can begin developing the idea that coming back to us is enjoyable from the start.
Keep it simple.
We're not expecting military-style obedience from a young puppy. We're simply beginning to establish a habit that says:
When my handler calls me, going back to them is worthwhile.
That foundation can make an enormous difference later.
Encourage the Retrieve
If we've got a puppy that naturally wants to chase and pick something up, we're pleased to see it.
At this stage, we're not worrying about producing a perfect formal retrieve.
We want enthusiasm.
We'll use puppy dummies, balls and other suitable objects and make retrieving an enjoyable game between puppy and handler.
If the puppy picks something up and comes towards us, that's something we can build upon.
The polished delivery can come later.
One mistake owners can make is becoming so focused on getting everything technically correct that the puppy stops enjoying the retrieve altogether.
With a young dog, we'd rather have enthusiasm that needs shaping than no enthusiasm at all.
Don't Be Too Quick to Stop a Spaniel Hunting
This is particularly important with spaniels.
People often worry when their young spaniel starts using its nose, getting into cover and becoming increasingly interested in hunting.
But if you've bought a working spaniel, that's exactly the natural ability you should hope is in there.
Of course, eventually that hunting needs to be under control.
The dog needs to work within range, respond to the handler and stop when asked.
But there's a time for introducing that control.
If we spend the early stages constantly stopping a young spaniel from hunting because we're frightened of losing control, we can end up suppressing the very drive we're eventually going to need.
First develop the desire.
Then teach the dog how to use it with you.
Pressure-Free Doesn't Mean Boundary-Free
This is an important distinction.
When we talk about taking pressure off a young dog, we don't mean allowing the puppy to do whatever it likes.
There still need to be boundaries.
The puppy still needs to begin understanding what is acceptable and what isn't.
But there's a big difference between guiding a puppy and expecting finished-dog standards from it.
If a youngster makes a mistake, we don't need to turn every mistake into a confrontation.
Sometimes the answer is simply to make the exercise easier, help the dog understand what we want and try again.
Training should progress as the dog's understanding develops.
Keep Training Sessions Short
More training doesn't automatically mean faster progress.
Young dogs have limited concentration, and once they've mentally switched off, carrying on for another 20 minutes isn't necessarily achieving anything.
We would much rather have several minutes of good, enjoyable training and finish with the dog wanting more.
This is particularly important when you're introducing something new.
Keep the exercise straightforward.
Give the puppy an opportunity to succeed.
Then finish.
Tomorrow is another day.
Over weeks and months, those short sessions begin to add up.
Don't Rush Steadiness
Steadiness is obviously extremely important in a working gundog.
Eventually, we need a dog that can see a bird flush or a dummy thrown without automatically believing it has permission to chase it.
But we don't need to turn a very young puppy into a statue.
Before we worry too much about stopping a puppy from retrieving, we want it to want to retrieve.
Before constantly stopping a young spaniel from hunting, we want it to want to hunt.
Control can be introduced progressively as the dog develops.
There's a balance.
We don't want a completely uncontrolled dog, but neither do we want to create a youngster that's frightened to make a decision because every bit of enthusiasm has been corrected.
Exposure Is Part of Training Too
Not every useful lesson looks like a training session.
Taking a young dog into different environments can be hugely valuable.
Here at Kugae, our dogs have the opportunity to experience grass, woodland, hedgerows, cover, fields and water as they develop.
They're experiencing different sights, smells, surfaces and situations.
For a future working dog, that confidence matters.
We don't want the first time a dog encounters thick cover, water or an unfamiliar environment to be when we're suddenly expecting it to perform an exercise perfectly.
Early exposure allows those things to become normal.
Again, though, we don't need to introduce everything on the same day.
Build experiences gradually and watch the dog in front of you.
Don't Train for Social Media
It's worth remembering that what you see online is usually a tiny snapshot.
You might watch a 30-second clip of a young dog performing an impressive exercise, but you don't necessarily know what happened before or afterwards.
You don't know that dog's temperament, experience or how much training went into producing those 30 seconds.
Your puppy doesn't need to keep up with somebody else's puppy.
The question isn't:
"What can I get my dog doing by six months?"
A much better question is:
"Am I building the dog I want to have in the future?"
When Should You Move On?
We don't work purely according to age.
We look at the individual dog.
Does the dog understand the exercise you're currently asking for?
Is it confident?
Is it enjoying the work?
Is it mentally ready for a little more?
If the answer is yes, we can gradually progress.
That might mean adding a little more distance, introducing a distraction, asking for slightly more steadiness or beginning to develop another part of the dog's training.
If things suddenly start falling apart, don't be afraid to go backwards.
Making an exercise easier isn't failure.
Sometimes it's exactly what the dog needs.
The Dog You're Building Matters More Than the Puppy You Can Show Off
Ultimately, our aim isn't to have the most impressive six-month-old puppy.
We're trying to develop a confident, enthusiastic and controllable adult dog that enjoys working with its handler.
That takes time.
There will be good days and bad days. There will be stages when you feel as though everything is coming together and others when your youngster seems to have forgotten everything you've ever taught them.
That's part of developing a dog.
Get the foundations right.
Build the relationship.
Encourage natural ability.
Introduce control progressively.
And don't be in too much of a hurry.
You have years ahead of you with your dog. There's no need to try to train all of it in the first few months.
Need Help With Your Young Gundog?
At Kugae Gundogs, we work with puppies, young dogs, family pets and working gundogs at all stages of their training.
Whether you're starting with your first gundog and want to get the foundations right, or you've reached a stage where recall, retrieving, hunting, heelwork or steadiness is becoming difficult, we can help you work out the best way forward.
We offer assessments, one-to-one training, group training and residential gundog training from our training ground in the Lincolnshire Wolds.
📞 WhatsApp: 07505 014363
📧 Email: info@kugaegundogs.uk
🌐 Website: https://www.kugaegundogs.uk
You can also follow Kugae Gundogs on YouTube for training advice and to see the reality of bringing on our own young dogs — including the successes, the mistakes and the stages in between.