hi all ive been reading over the posts for a while and would like to ask all gun dog owners is it best to start training them for track and feild and trials ect at a young age or is this something you could do (providing dog is fit and healthy) at any resonable age, have been looking over what is written and cant seem to find an exact statements on age but think this is something my ess would really enjoy any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
thanks, emma.

No dog is too old to train. So saying, dogs learn all the time so if you don't start reasonably early then the dog may not ever work to it's full potential. Like humans, they also take longer to learn when older. As an added disadvantage if you want one, any bad habits will be more ingrained in an older dog than a puppy.

So saying, we can only work with the dog we have now, not the dog we had last year or the year before. If you want to train, go out and do it! You will enjoy it and believe me, your dog will love it!

Gundog working tests are a great way to dip your toes in the water when your dog had a basic idea what it is doing. Being summer events conducted on dummies there is rather less stress than Field Trials.

The first step is to join a training group or club, one which accepts Spaniels. The instructor will be able to help with any training problems. Something like the Openshaw/Deeley video "Basic Spaniel Training for the Gun" (price £26-95) you would find interesting.

Best wishes, John

Thankyou very much for all the info john, Devon is three and a half nearly and is a very well behaved dog he has good recall to me and im sure most people would agree that in an ESS this is quite a good start..lol
i do think this is something he would enjoy greatly and will look into what you have said so thank you..one last thing the video you mentioned where would i be able to grab hold of a copy.
thanks emma.

Three and a half is not excessivly old Emma. Certainly you could have lots of fun with him!

You can phone Sporting Scene on 01494 871514 or look at their website http://www.sporting-scene.com

There are plenty of other videos around including the Spanial Championship but just at the moment I can't lay my hands on the adverts.

Best wishes, John

I have an 8 year old spaniel and a 7 month old spaniel.  The oldest one was sort of trained when she was younger but mainly just the basics.  I just didn't have anywhere to work her so just did the odd bit of retrieving.  However, when I met my husband, he came with a gun :) so we started training her seriously when she was 4.  She's not the greatest spaniel but she can certainly work well for us.  She's more of an alrounder and comes out beating, rabbiting and shooting with us.  We just had time restrictions on us and as we weren't working her every week, we were a bit slack but with a lot of enthusiasm and commitment, Devon will turn out to a be a good worker for you.    Good luck!            Helen (my enter key isn't working!)

They do say you shouldn't do anything other than basics with a spaniel until they are a year old.  With our cocker, we spent a whole year just doing sit, stay and recall.  By the time she was about 10 months and we started putting other little snippets into her training we didn't get any problems with her.  If there were any problems we just went back to basics (sit, stay, recall) for a few days.

I certainly feel that if you have got a good grounding with Devon in the basics then to move on further will be quite simple.  Just remember to go back to basics when you reach a stumbling point.

Good luck