Connected Canines

15/10/2026

Georgia hits the nail on the head again!

🐾 YOU’VE NEVER BEEN SHOOTING, BUT YOU WANT TO TAKE YOUR DOG? READ THIS FIRST! 🎯

So, you’ve got a gundog, you’ve been training away in your field, and now you fancy getting out on a shoot with your dog. Brilliant! But where on earth do you start? 🤔

TOP TIP: GO WITHOUT YOUR DOG FIRST!

Yep, leave the dog at home for this one. Go and watch, learn and get a feel for what actually happens on a shoot. You’ll thank yourself for it later!

🌿 IF YOU WANT TO GO BEATING…

Go to a shoot and learn the drives.

• What’s the ground like? Is it open, thick with cover, steep, wet or a mixture of everything?

• How much game is there, and how is it moved through the ground?

• How are the drives organised? Remember, not every drive is run the same way.

• What are the other handlers doing, and how are their dogs working?

👀 Here’s a little tip: WATCH THE DOGS THAT ARE UNDER CONTROL!

Not the one you can always hear the keeper shouting about, asking whose bloody dog it is, because its heading a full speed to the the flushing point! 🤣

We’ve all seen it!

Watch the steady, controlled dogs. What are they doing? Where are they positioned? How are their handlers managing them? How do they respond when birds flush, and what does good work actually look like?

There’s so much you can learn just by standing back and watching.

🌿 THINK ABOUT THE GROUND AND YOUR DOG.

Different ground suits different dogs.

Is there a huge, open drive where your dog could disappear into the distance? Is there a smaller area with cover where you think, “Ooh, I could start here!”

Be honest about your dog. What are its strengths? What are you still working on? Can you keep it connected to you when the environment gets exciting?

And think about the size of the shoot, too. A large, busy shoot might be far too much for a novice dog. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with finding a smaller shoot where you can build experience gradually while you continue developing your fieldcraft.

🐾 WHAT ABOUT PICKING UP?

Exactly the same principle applies. Go and spend time with the picking-up team before taking your dog.

Watch how the drives are run, how the pickers-up work together and how the dogs are handled.

Look at those steady dogs sitting at heel, watching everything going on without charging off every time a bird falls. Notice how they wait for direction and retrieve when asked, including those all-important runners.

Now ask yourself honestly:

Has your dog learnt those skills yet?

Can it remain steady while other dogs are working? Can it watch game without running in? Can it wait for its turn? Does it understand when to hunt, when to stop and when it’s been sent for a retrieve?

If not, that’s absolutely fine. It simply tells you what you need to work on before heading out.

🎯 BUILD YOUR WAY INTO IT.

You might be able to introduce your dog to a couple of suitable drives, depending on the shoot, your dog’s ability and the shoot captain or keeper’s permission.

You could then reward the experience with some sweeping, hunting or a few appropriate retrieves afterwards, giving your dog a chance to work without being thrown straight into the deep end.

Start small. Build confidence and experience. Develop your own fieldcraft alongside your dog’s training.

Then, if your goal is to work on bigger or busier shoots, you can build towards that as your skills and your dog’s skills develop.

And remember, being invited onto a shoot is a privilege. Always speak to the keeper or shoot captain beforehand, follow their instructions, respect the ground and never assume your dog is welcome to work just because you’ve been invited along.

💚 THE BIGGEST LESSON?

You don’t need to rush out and do it all at once.

Go and watch. Learn from experienced handlers. Understand the ground. Get to know what will be expected of you and your dog.

Then go away and train for the job you actually want to do.

Because a good day in the field starts long before you ever put your dog in the car!

👇 Over to you! Have you been out on a shoot without your dog first, or did you learn the hard way? Come on, we’ve all got a story! 🤣

14/10/2026

11/10/2026

08/10/2026

07/10/2026

06/10/2026

🐾 CONNECTED CANINES TREAT & CHEW CLUB 🐾
I’m pleased to introduce the Connected Canines Treat & Chew Club!
The club is a simple way to get your favourite treats and chews at a great members’ price. Orders are placed once a month, with a range of options available from everyday training treats to longer-lasting natural chews.
Being part of the club means you can stock up regularly without having to worry about running out — and benefit from the advantageous prices available to members.
If you’d like to join the Treat & Chew Club, just drop me a message and I’ll add you to the list. 🐶

05/10/2026

More training adventures with Griff! 🐾
This morning saw us attending another of the Shoot Preparation workshops with Develop Your Dog, and a thoroughly enjoyable morning was had by all!
I came home a very happy handler and owner. Griff has been struggling over the last few months with lining out and, in particular, having the confidence to follow the line I have given him when I’ve asked him to go to somewhere he has previously picked from.
Today, he managed it with very little fuss. I did need to support him with the odd additional cue, but those can be faded again. The important thing for me was that he had the confidence to go.
I also managed to get a couple of stops and casts from him. Not perfect yet, but progress is progress and I was really pleased with what he gave me today.
His steadiness wasn’t brilliant, but given that I’ve had a very disrupted and difficult time recently, and he hasn’t had everything he normally needs in terms of exercise and training, I really wasn’t surprised. We simply had to work with the dog we had in front of us today.
He did squirm under other dogs twice, but again, with several dogs attending that he hadn’t met before, I wasn’t surprised by that either.
And then, of course, there was Griff being Griff!
Having decided some time ago that he didn’t fancy picking cold game, he once again decided to prove me wrong and happily picked both pheasant and partridge. Apparently, deciding he doesn’t like something only applies until he decides otherwise! 😂
I was also really pleased with his response to the remote launcher. He saw multiple dummies being launched and was quite happy to turn away from them and retrieve from elsewhere. A really useful skill when working around other dogs and multiple distractions.
All in all, a really enjoyable and productive morning. There are still plenty of things for us to work on, but today gave me some lovely little wins — and a reminder that progress doesn’t always look perfect, it just needs to be there.

03/10/2026