Help with 1 to 1 training!

I've started my spring/summer training now, because the dogs are getting a bit bored now shooting has finished.

I know what I'm wanting to do with Blade, but he doesn't seem at all enthusiastic! I've chosen a field in a different place from the normal dog walking field, that is away from the kennels, so that the others don't distract him.

On the way to the field, he was bouncy, really excited to be out and didn't want to walk to heel, he wanted to be off and running around!

When in the field, I let him run around, to go to the toilet, as it's what he always does, then I went to the area of the field where I wanted to train. I did a bit of stopping on the whistle and recall, and all was well. When I started with the dummy training, he just lost interest. I just threw one of the dummies, waited until it landed, then sent him on it. I know he marked it and he looked keen, yet he mooched off in the wrong direction, before finally going to get it.

I'm not sure if this lack of interest in the dummy, is due to how much picking up he's done recently, and maybe he only wants to pick game.

I want to teach him left and right, so when I am picking up, or even beating, I can send him different ways.
I've started the training, with him sat about 2 metres in front of me, and I've thrown one dummy left, and then the other one right, both about 3/4 metres away from me. I've sent him on the left one first, but he runs to me, then needs me to tell him again to 'get on', then he'll go and pick it and bring it back, then he'll go out to get the dummy to the right no bother at all.

I can't work him out. When he's on a walk with the others, he runs around and is really bouncy and he's the same when we're out on a shoot day and it's just me and him.

I just don't know what to do. I want to start as I mean to go on, but I know that if I don't sort it out now, I'm going to end up getting really frustrated and lose my patience with him, which I don't want to do!

Has anyone got any ideas, how I can make it fun for him, and bring him out of his shell a bit when it's just me and him!

Sorry for the long post!

xx

I remember from what my old trainer used to say that dummies would instantly become boring the moment the dog started on game. Makes sense really...a nice smelly bird or a boring canvas dummy?

Try fixing some bird wings (or rabbit skin, which is a favourite with mine) to the dummy or lacing it with some bottled scent. You can get bottled pheasant scent (among others) at Turner Richards .com; suddenly makes the dummies so much more interesting!

Also mix up what you are retrieving with...instead of canvas dummies use plastic ones sometimes, use tennis balls, use those long shaped tennis ball Kong things on a rope. Keep it interesting.

I think dogs can burn out from too much training, so giving them a break for a while helps. With my Lab I would always do nothing the day before training or a shoot, so he was fully charged.