I am a total novice when it comes to dog training. I have a 14 month old Springer from reasonable working lines and is (IMHO) a very smart little chap.

I have been battling depression for a while and to give myself a focus I have arranged to take Archer for training with a local recommended trainer. I feel much better and getting out the house other than work is good for me and the little dog seems to look to me too.

First question threw me...do I want to train him for shooting or beating? I have no idea and felt too dumb to ask the difference! Can someone explain the main differences?

I have a dummy already (the other dog has done bits with my Husband) so other than his slip lead and my whistle should I take anything else with me?

Anything else that may help me?

Maybe not your typical gundog pose!

The main difference between a 'Shooting dog and a beating dog is that beating requires the dog to flush game from cover, the other is the dog picking up game after it's been shot. However, I feel it's rather an odd question to be asking of a Springer owner, I've worked springers for years and would expect my dogs to be as happy flushing game as they are picking it up. spaniels are one of the finest multi purpose gun dogs you can get, every one I know will perform both tasks with ease. On our shoot, if there is a couple of beaters spare the keeper might ask one or two of us to go 'Picking up for the day, we'd expect our dogs to be able to stand behind the guns and do what was required of them.

Thankyou. It makes sense to look at both aspects as he's happy to go into thick cover (unlike Tim nice but dim who hates nettle stings) and will bring me anything furry or feathery he finds (unlike Dimothy who just finds tennis balls )

Thankyou. Our heady heights so far is Grade 1 gundog training with the big dog.

Good luck with it, I'm just bringing on a four month Springer and also a seven month Golden reteiver. I've got my work cut out. Please keep me posted how he progresses. Cheers. Pete.

I'll just expand a little on what Pete's put, as there's also something called a peg dog, which is a dog owned/handled by a *gun* (ie someone actually shooting). Guns stand at an allotted peg for each drive, hence the term peg dog, this dog picks up the birds the gun has shot, and may also be asked, usually if someone likes the look of the dog and wants to see it working, to pick someone else's bird(s). The picking up team and the beating team each have different ways of working, it's the job of the beaters to flush birds/game towards the waiting guns, and it's the job of the picking up team, to retrieve any game shot, and in particular, any wounded game to ensure it's dispatched as quickly as possible.

Good luck with the training, it's very addictive, had my flatcoat pup out earlier for a bit of leadwork and a couple of retrieves, it's lovely feeling the training coming into place nicely

Thankyou. I had heard the term... I think I need a book on it. I am a bit OCD about checking stuff out.

It was the trainer you recommended btw, I forgot to thank you for your input. He's only 10 mins from where we are so combined looks a good shout.

He's a lovely little dog. Very calm and collected and wants to please so I thought it would be unfair not to give him a chance

Gosh that sounds sarcastic.... It wasn't meant that way at all but my iPhone won't let me edit it.

Chuckle, no worries, and I didn't read it as sarcastic at all, but I am rather thick skinned

Looking forward to hearing how you get on!

Warm waterproof clothing and an open mind good luck and keep us posted, we like to hear tails (tales) of young dogs learning the ropes