What to Bring
Whatever level course you're on with us, you'll need to bring along the essentials...
We do stock some of the training kit in our store,
such as training lines, whistles and lanyards, tug toys, and various sizes of dummies.
The Essential Kit List
- Leads, Collars, and Harnesses:
A 2m standard lead clipped to a regular collar or harness.
No slip leads for puppies or young dogs that pull. No extender leads. No choke chains or ecollars. - Treat Bags and Food Rewards:
We recommend using a treat bag, but if you want to use your coat pocket to hold your rewards, that's also fine - but you may find it's difficult to access quickly.
Bring High-value food rewards that you are happy to use so long as they're of sufficient value to your dog to maintain their interest (e.g., chicken, cocktail sausages, cheese, liver), cut up into pea-sized chunks. - Clickers:
As positive-based trainers, we recommend using a clicker as the best way to communicate with your dog to let them know they've done the right behaviour in order to encourage them to repeat it.
A clicker isn't essential, just a recommendation. You can use a verbal marker. - Poo Bags:
Please ensure you bring a supply of poo-bags to clean up after your dog and take away with you after class.
Many clients bring a tupaware box to but their used bags into for the journey home to mask the smell.
- ACME Gundog Whistle:
We're big advocates of using whistles as early as possible in training.
The pitch of the whistle is denoted by the number on the whistle and also relates to the distance at which the dogs will be working from the handler:
210.5 is typically used for Spaniel owners
211.5 is typically used for Retriever owners
212 is typically used for HPR owners - Training Lines and Long Lines:
We do recommend using a 3-10m training line in the early stages of training when working at a distance, on steadiness and around other dogs. It can reduce unwanted behaviours from forming and encourage the right ones.
We recommend either lightweight paracord or biothane lines, ideally without a handle, which could snag or cause injury. - Tug Toys:
We do encourage play with your dogs as a method to strengthen your bond with your dog, as a reinforcer, and to encourage the retrieve pattern.
We are big fans of the real fur (Rabbit and Sheepskin) Tug-e-nuff range, which you can purchasehere - and you'll recieve 10% off your order.
- Water Bowl and Water:
For hygiene reasons, you should bring your own water bowl and water for your dogs, especially during the summer months.
We do have water on site if you run out. - Clothing and Footwear:
Our training classes are held outdoors all year round and in most weathers - so please dress appropriately.
No flip flops.
There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.
Bring towels and drying coats for your dogs in wet conditions. - Retrieve Articles:
We harness your dog's retrieve from our puppy courses, so you'll need an age-appropriate training dummy.
For puppies, you can start with items such as a rolled-up pair of socks, a ball, or a canvas puppy dummy.
For beginners and more junior dogs, we recommend either the junior dummies or 1/2lb dummies.
If you go too big/heavy too quickly, you can put a young dog/beginner off, so don't be tempted to jump straight in at the 1lb size.
Additional Kit
For those on our Foundation Gundogs Courses and above, you will need to bring:
- A Placeboard:
For the Foundation and Beginner Gundog courses we use placeboards each week. They are raised platforms and are an excellent training tool for developing some of the key skills, such as heel position, stop at a distance, steadiness, recall and much more.
You can purchase ready-made placeboards from various suppliers; one supplier we recommend is Anglian Dog Works, where you can purchase them here and get 20% off your purchase.
Alternatively, you can make your own with a decking tile or some plywood and a carpet tile/astroturf.
Typical dimensions are 40cm x 50 cm, about 5-8cm high. - Steadiness Collar / Training tab:
For the more progressive courses, and where you've got your dogs working off lead, a steadiness collar/tab is a useful transition between long-line and off lead. They allow some control over your dog without the distraction of something trailing. - Game Bag or Training Vest:
For those that get hooked, and start to become a collector of various dummies of all shapes and sizes, a game bag or training vest is handy to carry your training kit, rather than a supermarket carrier bag, rucksack, or tote bag that are left on the ground and act as a distraction, or you have to keep going back and forth between.
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This is at no additional cost to you, and we only recommend products we have tested and use ourselves.
