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At the most basic level of steadiness, a dog must sit and stay. Top gundog trainer Tom
West explains his technique, and why it is essential to further training.
I probably think it is one of the most hardest things to teach a dog. A dog is a pack animal.
It wants to stay with the pack or the pack leader. It is natural for it to want to be
with you and not left on its own. Though when you are doing this you have to take it very
slowly, everybody wants to see how far away from the dog they can get and it is not. What
you are teaching the dog is to have confidence in you and being comfortable with being left
where it is, it knows it is coming back. So again I would start with the dog on a lead,
it goes to fidget, anything you can run your hand down the lead , check the dog, give it
the command, let it know what you are expecting. Take your time. There is no rush and you are
building the dog's confidence up in you.
Tom runs Westhala Gundogs near Perth in Scotland. Visit WesthalaGundogs.co.uk. This series on
gundog training tips is brought to you by Skinners Petfoods, maker of the Field & Trial
range of gundog feeds. Visit SkinnersPetfoods.co.uk