# English springer spaniel training



## jeepin_85 (Jan 20, 2012)

Anybody out there do there own training and want to help each other out? I got a 1 yr old male coming along decent. Just thought id through it out there. Im im miami county just north of huber heights.


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## dodgeboy75 (Feb 20, 2007)

There is a Pheasant farm out in New Lebanon that had a guy training dogs that offered the use of a bird launcher. They also kept a couple of acres cut short for people wanting to train. I think his name is Doug. I usually go their 2-3 times a year just to get the dog out.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

dodgeboy75 said:


> There is a Pheasant farm out in New Lebanon that had a guy training dogs that offered the use of a bird launcher. They also kept a couple of acres cut short for people wanting to train. I think his name is Doug. I usually go their 2-3 times a year just to get the dog out.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire


When I first read this I thought, "What good would a bird launcher do? Springers are a flushing breed." Then I reconsidered. Heck, if Labs can be taught to point, why not springers? I bought a springer pup many, many years ago. I didn't see the guys ad on a grocery store bulletin board until late, and when I got there he had one pup left. Yep, the runt of the litter. Didn't matter. He had a great nose, and a heart bigger than anyplace we hunted.

I knew absolutely nothing about training a bird dog, but I took him out for walks "in the wild" every chance I got. He basically trained me. He naturally ranged pretty close, no more than 25 yards, which in a flushing breed is important. When they hit scent, you need to see it and recognize it for what it is. However, early on a strange thing happened. I had the dog, Bogey, maybe 14-16 weeks, out in an abandoned apple orchard dotted with big brier tangles. As we're making our way through there I look over and Bogey is locked in a perfect point, and I mean a point that would make any German Shorthair owner proud, on a tangle of greenbrier. I looked at this and, stupid me, wondered what the dog was doing. I took two steps in that direction and maybe the biggest rooster I have ever seen tried to get up out of those briers. Well, as soon as the bird launched Bogey went in underneath and, if I was willing to become a human pincushion, I could have caught that rooster with my bare hands! But, it was way before hunting season and completely illegal. It eventually clawed it's way up out of the briers and flew away. When Bogey came out of there he was all scratched up, but he was one excited and happy pup! 

Springers are a great breed, and I think they've become a little under represented out in the field these days. I'm always happy to see people afield with a springer. They love people, have a great attitude, are eager to please, and will go through a brick wall when they smell a bird. Mine's been gone for 25 years and I still miss him! We had some great times together. I wish you lots of luck with yours, and hope you have as many good times as we did.


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