Spaniels have been bred for centuries to hunt, flush and retrieve
Spaniel Savvy
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It was never intentional, but I am a little obsessed with Spaniels, and now over 70% of my client base are spaniel owners.
To me, they are the absolute BEST dogs, but also sometimes the worst, with their endless energy, ability to find trouble anywhere, and cute little 'who me' faces.
. My tipple is the Cocker Variety. The little jokers, the fast little comedians with an uber ego and a sense of great importance.
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My first Cocker arrived in the form of Sweep in 2009. I thought I was brilliant with dogs and really good at training them up to this point. With her very red pedigree, she humbled me quite a bit and I had to learn on the go, learn to let it go, and learn how not to let ‘her go’ fairly quickly.
Fast forward to 2024, I have been teaching full time for over a decade; The majority of my client base are owners of spaniels or spaniel crosses. I share my home with 5 cockers and a token collie to keep me sane.
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From a young age, Spaniels can show a keen interest in hunting and retrieving
Springer, Cocker, Sprocker, Cockapoo...
Even if you have a mixed breed and there is spaniel a few generations back, you could still have a little whirlwind on your hands.
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Owners often tell me they purchased spaniel after becoming aquainted with a lovely calm one, or so and so up the road has 3 and they are very chill. That is lovely, they do exist, a few centuries ago they may not have been super useful but hey ho.
Even if the parents do not work, does not mean the puppy will not want too, and this can manifest itself in a lot of pain in the ass behaviours for an owner who just wanted a nice walk once day.
Anyway, if you are reading this, you perhaps did not get a sedate one, you got one whose DNa is constantly telling him to ' get to work' . Hopefully this course will help you, to help him do so safely.
Spaniels In The Modern World
Humans develop all sorts of health issues these days because we are not ‘designed’ to sit at a desk all day/ work in a factory line that sort of thing? Across the globe there is an increase in physical issues as well as those affecting us mentally.
We are a species of hunter gatherers. We don’t really do that any more, its not the same nipping to Asda.
Lack of exercise, increase in stress, frequent confinement, inadequate diet effects so many people.
Similarly, a spaniel, without any breed specific outlets, can develop physical and mental issues, most commonly due to boredome, they can become destructive, hyperactive, anxious....and it severe situations reactive.
A group of spaniel owners starting them young, although its never too late to up your game, starting early with foundations is very beneficial.
What does this all mean?
This means, that quite often, your spaniel will work whether you want him too or not. It shows itself in the commonly referred to ‘Self Employed Spaniel’. You didn’t give him job so he found his own.
If he has no given job, or ability to self employ, you can get what are often referred to as ‘behaviorual issues’…but its often just an little creature who is utterly unfulfilled..getting his crazy out.
A self employed or frustrated spaniel will often
Hunt of his own accord, leading to all cues from his handler falling on apparently deaf ears.
Chase stuff. Birds, rabbits, squirrels, deer…the neighbours cat. Yeah they do that.
Run off after other dogs.
Vocalise: Barking, Howling, Yapping,
Destroy stuff: Always your good crocs never the crappy ones
Guard Stuff: Especially cockers, (needy, greedy, guardy)
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This can make them difficult to live with. The biggest issue is, once they stop listening, they can’t have the freedom they need to get enough physical exercise. Spaniels ‘can’ walk nicely on a lead but it’s a lot of work, and not the ideal life for a dog who is genetically inclined to be busy.
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Many pet spaniels are very fulflilled via Spaniel Specific exercise, you don't need to attend a shoot if thats not your thing. There is plenty we can do to 'fake it'.
Training for all seasons
Spaniel Savvy
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Spaniel Savvy involves a wide range of exercises and training protocols to engage your spaniel and teach him to work with you as a team. The fun starts to come ' from you' rather than you having to curb all of your spaniels adventures.
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We have to start with first things first, so initially things can seem a tad mundane in order to capture their focus. You may be asked to make changed at home, alter feeding and exercise routines and even remove some toys in the house..
Initiially we look at
eye contact
Super charging the recall
Management
Develop steadiness
Engage their nose
Learn about proximity
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As we progresS, we can get these little dogs really hung up on hunting and searching 'via' their human, develop their desire to retrieve and generally offer them more fulfilling options in life.
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Alongside this, we can work with real life distractions such as other dogs, open spaces, birds and livestock as well as day to day distractions like other dogs, food on the floor etc.
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We can work on Spaniel Savvy activities in private sessions or in the specific group workshops. It is opeN to any type of spaniel or crossbreed, or pretty much any dog behaving in a spaniel manner.
Over winter these are every 4-6 weeks, then summer Spaniel Savvy is offered as a 4 week course.
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1 hr
45 British pounds
45 min
40 British pounds
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25 British pounds
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40 British pounds
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40 British pounds
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40 British pounds