The Spaniel Annals

working and living with performance spaniels

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about

I’m a retired English instructor, now devoted full-time to training, showing and enjoying my spaniels in many sports.
I’m an English college instructor by trade, a dog trainer by vocation. And lifelong baseball fan.

Month: February 2010

  • Scent Work Part 2

    In Scent Work Part 1, you saw two springers, Kani and Rozzie, at the opposite ends of their training in the scent discrimination exercise.   Reardon’s right in the middle stage.  He’s had literally months of developing confidence with cheese strips on the articles.  The cheese strips have been gradually faded to where they’re really just a dot of…

  • Scent Work Part 1

    Human beings are always fascinated by the dog’s ability to use his nose.  While our primary sense is our sight, the dog’s nose dominates his perceptions of the world, through scent receptors that are thousands of times greater than ours.   So training a dog to do scent work is really diving into a world we…

  • Sunday Fun Match

    Sunday we  headed to a fun match held by our local spaniel club.  In a “fun match,”  we get to practice our obedience exercises in a show-like setting, with volunteers acting as  judges and stewards.  It’s not the real thing, but a busy, well -run fun match has much the same feeling as a show.   This match was…

  • The Natural Retrieve: Intensity

    The more I’ve worked with different breeds, the easier it’s become to recognize some of the signs of a natural retriever.  Unfortunately not all hunting breeds have retained this ability, like the show-bred English Springer Spaniel and many setters.  In my recent introduction to the Irish Water Spaniel, I’ve found an intensity for retrieving in…

  • The Natural Retrieve: definition

    I’m plotting a series of articles on the natural retrieve  for the Springer Spotlight, the parent club’s national publication,  so bits and pieces will be showing up here.  Spaniel field trialers speak confidently of their spaniel’s “natural retrieve,” lauding it as a mark of superiority over spaniels that must be taught this seemingly simple task.   By “natural,” they mean the retrieve behavior seems to be in-bred, presenting…