A girls’ gundog training day at West Wycombe

Photographs: Melissa Bastin

At the start of the summer, Amelia Kite, head of gundogs for The Country Girls UK, brought a group of handlers to the West Wycombe Estate for a full training day with me, supported by Sir Edward and Lady Dashwood and headkeeper James Norfolk, writes Jennifer Thomas.

The group arrived with a mix of spaniels and retrievers. Although all were part of The Country Girls UK, not everyone knew each other, so we began with introductions and discussed what each handler wanted to work on. Water retrieves, improved handling, confidence on blinds and tidying delivery were high on the list.

Handling styles and delivery to hand

We started by examining handling styles. Some handlers relied more on body language, others on voice, so we worked on consistency. Katrina Rainbow took charge of dummy throwing and placing. We focused on clean hand delivery on land first – no circling, no dropping – then transferred the same standard to water. Delivering neatly from water required breaking it into steps: steady entry, committed swim, straight line back and calm finish.

Once the basics were in place, we moved on to blinds, memories and marks in and over water. The dogs were capable, which meant we could stretch them. We focused on building confidence to run straight lines even when unable to see the retrieve. Some needed encouragement to commit; others needed help slowing down. We used marking white dummies and worked on the stop whistle, ensuring each dog understood that stopping meant looking at the handler before introducing them to simple left, right and back casts.

A relaxed atmosphere and trickier water work

Throughout the morning there was chat and laughter, with everyone comparing approaches and discussing how their dogs responded to different tones, timing and styles. It was a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere, and the girls supported one another well.

After a picnic lunch we headed back for more water work and trickier handling exercises to test clarity and control. The day was generously supported by Skinner’s, PureFlax and Muntjac Trading, which supplied equipment and treats.

The girls will be joining me again for another training day in October, and I’m looking forward to seeing them.