It isn't stubbornness, and it isn't you. It's how the gundog brain is wired. There's a two minute whistle fix you can start at home today, and I'll send it to you free.
From Sandra Lawton, multi award winning trainer behind 10,000+ trained dogs
A short training video and a complete step by step guide. Straight to your inbox.
A multi award winning trainer in the New Forest, and the creator of the Harmony Training™ method. Over 15 years my team and I have trained more than 10,000 dogs and their owners, and taught students who now run their own award winning schools across the UK, Ireland and Malta. But my whole approach started with one dog of my own.
If you own a spaniel, a cocker, a lab or any gundog breed as a pet, you know the feeling. You call, you wave, you plead, and your dog carries on as if you are not there. Nose down, ears off, gone.
I learned how that feels the hard way. My own journey started with a Flatcoated Retriever called Rolo. I didn't really understand what I'd taken on. He was bright, busy, full of instinct, and completely out of control. Walks were a battle. Recall was a joke. I felt like I was failing him.
Then I found pet gundog training, and it changed both of our lives. Rolo became the most incredible companion, and I became so taken with how it worked that I went on to train thousands of dogs and build an academy around it.
A gundog is bred to work at a distance, on its nose and its drive. When we don't give that brain a job, the dog finds one. A scent, a rabbit, the far side of the field. A self employed gundog stops checking in with you.
That's what recall failure really is. Not defiance. A dog doing the only job it can find.
The fix isn't shouting louder. It's giving your dog one clear signal that always means something worth coming back for. Nothing does that job like a whistle. It never changes tone, it never sounds cross, and your dog can hear it from a field away.
Imagine your dog ranging out across the field, having the time of its life, and the second you lift the whistle to your lips it spins and comes flying back, past the other dogs, past the rabbits, every single time. Imagine the busy beach on a Saturday, the woods full of deer, the footpath by the road, and your dog off lead and reliable in all of them. That isn't luck, and it isn't a special dog. It's a trained habit, and it starts with one whistle.
The exact first steps I give every pet gundog owner who comes to me:
"We've been training with Tracey at The National Dog Training Academy with our vizsla since she was a puppy, in the gundog puppy then the combi class. A huge help managing her exuberance."
"Finished yesterday, already want to go back! The teaching was super informative, led by two wonderful women who are super knowledgeable and very realistic. No question is a stupid question."
"The support we have received from NDTA has been invaluable! They gave us the opportunity to come and watch a class before we had even brought our boy home."
"We've had such fun at gundog training over the years. Being in a safe, confined field for training has been brilliant."
"Great people, they helped a lot and now I actually enjoy walking the dog!"
"The method Sandra and her team employ is the kindest method I have seen, and gets the best results."
"Couldn't recommend these guys highly enough! Sandra and team were brilliant, helping my dog learn at her pace."
"Really excellent, patient trainers. Our dog has made huge improvements and we have enrolled on another course."
"I have strangers come up to me and compliment me on how well behaved Teddy is!"
"I've been to 3 or 4 different training classes but yours is definitely the best."
"Fantastic trainers who have a passion for what they do. My 2 year old male has gained huge confidence."
"After a few one to one sessions on the common where the problem was, I gained a lot more focus and attention."
"Dog training is excellent, and you will not find better anywhere else. Well run classes, knowledgeable trainers."
The whistle is where it starts. Pop your email in and I'll send your free starter over now.