[A.Oakley28]

I'm actively looking for a springer spaniel puppy this spring for my family as a hunting dog for my husband and myself. We're planning on training them to flush upland game as well as retrieve waterfowl.

I have limited experience training a Labrador with my grandpa as a kid, and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on particular books or dvds that can get us started.

Thank you!

 

[goonsquad]

Game Dog by Richard Wolters
Gun Dogs by Joan Bailey

Liked them both.

 

[rlpenn]

I'm actively looking for a springer spaniel puppy this spring for my family as a hunting dog for my husband and myself. We're planning on training them to flush upland game as well as retrieve waterfowl.

I have limited experience training a Labrador with my grandpa as a kid, and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on particular books or dvds that can get us started.

Thank you!

I recommend you get in touch with the Springer Spaniel club people. There are some field trials coming up that you should attend---there you can meet people and ask about training methods as well as finding a pup.

I am a retriever person, so I don't have the whole scoop. There is a field trial at Lee Kay near Salt Lake City this weekend (3/8/2014), you should attend and mingle. I have watched some of them, lots of nice people there.

Here is a link to the event this weekend: http://www.essft.com/2014Premium/spring_timpanogos.pdf

Also look here: http://www.essft.com/2014Premium/spring_utah.pdf

Get in touch with the club people, Brent B. in the link above (there you will also find his contact info) is very nice.

Good luck, it is tough getting started!

 

[A.Oakley28]

Thanks for the great info, it's much appreciated! Also, has anyone used the Dave Lissit DVDs for springers? I've seen positive reviews on other forums, but am not sure if I want to spend the money.

 

[massmanute]

I bought a couple of books on spaniel training.

Gun-Dog Training
Spaniels and Retrievers
Kenneth C. Roebuck

Hunting with Spaniels
Training your Flushing Dog
Paul Morrison

I put the title of each book on two lines to reflect the formats of the titles on the covers of the books.

I read the first of these books and skimmed the second. I have not trained a dog using the methods in these books, but the information in the books seems good to me, and both books get good reviews at Amazon.