Hi, this may seem a bit strange but, I have a Weimaraner, she will be 3 in Feb and whenever we go on woodland walks she is totally focused on hunting, I may be wrong but just out of interest does anyone think it would be a good idea if she was to be tried for gun-dog training? I bought her at 8 weeks old solely as a pet and much as she gets tons of physical excersise  I feel she doesn't get enough mental stimulation apart from when we go into the woods, I'm just curious of other opinions and seeing if there's other options, thanks, Kimm

You could go along to group classes which most gundog clubs run after the shooting season. You do not need to take her on a shoot but enjoy training her with dummies etc. You can find a lsit of gundog clubs on the kennel club website which can be found here :

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/media/135927/ft_societies_list.pdf

The shooting season ends on February 1st and most clubs start the evening training around April time.

Good luck and enjoy.

Great!!! I'll have a look on the link you've gave thanks, much as I'd love to do actual shoots with her I couldn't due to work etc, but the classes seem an excellent idea.

Another thing to do is scent work classes which can be good fun for your dog.

Scent work? That sounds interesting, I'm in Edinburgh though not sure if we have anything like that, I'm also limited for travelling due to not driving.

Not driving could make it a bit tricky. However you could do some scent work yourself. Here is a link to a website where you can get a kit to get you going although you don't really need to go to the expense and could do searches round the house with a smelly item.
Here's the link
http://talkingdogsscentwork.co.uk/Talking_Dogs_Scentwork/Welcome.html
I bought some of the mice, only £2.00 each and they live in a tin with some catnip. It gives my dog a particualr smell to go for. I hide a mouse somewhere and set her off. She loves finding her mice. :-)

Thanks for that Jodie, I've looked on the site and just ordered the DVD and the scent kit box which includes a mouse, I've also ordered another mouse, for a horrible moment I thought you meant real mice! Thanks again for that, even if I just do it around the house to start.

>for a horrible moment I thought you meant real mice!

:-) :-)

Sorry, I just noticed I spelt your name wrong Jodi! ,-)

Just asked on FB and there's a FB group called Working Trials Events Scotland, that posts various events and classes, there's also a training class based in Pathhead , Tynewater Dog Training that do scentwork on a Sunday as part of trial training.

Great Celli, thanks for that, I'll check that out tomorrow :-)

I think you would benefit from some HPR training with your dog anyway, Kimm :) your best bet to find somewhere would be to contact your breed club probably. They will be able to teach you how to control her hunting if nothing else! You want a trainer that understands HPR breeds not just any old gundog trainer.

Thanks Tectona, all info and advice welcomed :-)

The best advice is to try one of the HPR (Hunt,Point,Retrieve) training classes recommended by your breed club: Try Here. These clubs specialise in training all HPR breeds including Weimaraner's. Prepare to get hooked. It is very addictive :)

Thanks I shall, I'm open to all options if it benefits her, thanks again everyone :-)

Hi guys, just to let you all know, I followed a couple of the links and suggestions from you all and now hopefully have things sorted, thanks again for all your help, think Bella will be even happier now she'll be able to use her brain as much as she does her body x

Great news, enjoy! :)

Please let us know how you get on :)