 Training
Conway Kennels has been in the business of training hunting dogs for over
thirty years. In addition to the hunting dogs, Conway is the home of over 30
Field Champions and Canadian Field Champions. While we have proven ourselves in
the competitive sport of field trailing, we have never forgot our roots:
providing customers with the best-trained hunting dogs in the Northwest.
Hunting Dogs
Our philosophy is, you as owners can throw them all the bumpers you want at
home, but due to the fact you usually do not have access to land or birds that
becomes our main focal point. The secret to training great hunting dogs is
simple, get their bird drive going strong and then teach them what rules and
standards to hunt by.
We understand that some of you may only go hunting 4 or 5 times a year and
the rest of the time your dog is a pet around the house. It is your best friend
when you have had a bad day at work, and the kid’s best friend when they are
having enough trouble just being a kid. Your dog is an integral part of the
family. Keeping those thoughts in mind, we have an obligation to give your dog
every chance to become a average or above average hunting dog. We certainly do
not want to waste your money trying to make something out of nothing but in
realizing you are going to keep this dog for its lifetime we better work really
hard at not only making it a good hunting dog but also a good citizen around the
house.
Not every dog is a great natural hunting dog. Just because Willie Mays was a
great ballplayer doesn’t mean his kids will be. They may opt to play the piano
or teach school but have very little interest in baseball.
Anybody can train a really good dog, but really great ones are few and far
between. In the last 30 years I have trained nearly 6000 hunting dogs and 5% of
those hunting dogs you could classify as great, the remaining 90% of those dogs
were just good dogs that needed a sense of direction. After being trained and
hunted for a few years they became way above average hunting dogs and eventually
developed into great dogs. That leaves the 5% that we can not do much for no
matter how hard we try. Your chances of getting an average or above average dog
are really pretty good if your puppy is given the right socialization and home
life and a chance through a good training program.
Our Hunting Dogs Program
 The hunting dogs are here for two months their first year. The result is by
no means a finished dog but they are far enough along for you to hunt with them
that first year. We do have a progression plan for the first two months but it
can vary from dog to dog.
If it is an average dog with no special problems, at the end of two months
the dog should be:
- Hunting the field properly. (quartering and not either heel hanging or
hunting out too far)
- Delivering birds to hand on both land and water (not because it wants to
but knows it has to)
- Steady enough to shoot a single in the water
Week One
The first week of training emphasizes the dog’s adjustment to the kennel and
to the dog trainer. There are walks in the field and learning to
get on and off the truck. During the first week, we provide a basic introduction
to birds to see if they are birdy. If that all goes well then we introduce them
to the gun. (Remember there has never been one born gun shy -- it is a man made
problem.)
Week Two
If all is in order we get them shot over with both the blank gun and the
shotgun and start planting them some birds to get them out in front of us
hunting. We know there OB is sloppy and there retrieving skills are not good but
we still want to make sure they have some push before we start working on those
skills.
Weeks Three, Four, and Five
If they are plenty birdy and everything is going fine we can start doing some leash work in the yard and start teaching them to deliver to hand.
Their fieldwork and yard work should be starting to come together. Then it is time to start steadying the dogs for a single retrieve. We collar
condition all the dogs we train, as a majority of owners now opt to use the collar to maintain and re-enforce known commands.
Week Six and Beyond
After the beginning field work is begun, the training program is adjusted
based on the dog’s progression. From this point forward, we want participation
from the owner, and would like them to come once a week to train with us until
the dog is ready to go home. This gives the owner the opportunity to work with
the dog and follow the progress more closely in the last two weeks of training.
After the dog is home and adjusted, we would like the owner to come back for two
more workouts with the dog. (There is no charge for these two supplementary
workouts.)
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