by Doris Ehret (reprinted from Tailfeathers, newsletter of the Flat-Coated Retriever Club of Illinois) Greetings everyone. My name is Doris Ehret, and I am addicted, you might say, to the field. I obtained my first Flat-Coat in 1989. Gus was a natural in the field and was a favored hunting companion as he often went “on [...]
By Joe Hamzy My experience in training puppies to track is limited to my own dogs. All are Flat-Coated Retrievers. Kelsey was two when we started tracking training so she doesn’t count as a puppy, even though she acted like one. Rory started tracking at 6 months old. The others started at six to eight weeks [...]
By Sally J. Terroux Flat-Coats are slow maturing dogs (usually 3 to 5 years) but even in the "mature" Flat-Coat there usually remains a spark of joy and mischief. One of the leading authorities on the breed, Dr. Nancy Laughton of Great Britain, refers to the Flat-Coat as a canine Peter Pan. This is an endearing [...]
By Mary Young This article discusses some basic training ideas that may be helpful in developing your Flat-coat as a hunting companion and perhaps also in preparation for organized events such as hunt tests or working certificates. Some guidelines for young puppies… If you have acquired a young Flat-coat puppy, the time to start training your [...]
By Maria White On June 4, 1874, a group of dedicated sportsmen gathered in Chicago for a field trial. Before that trial, they held an exhibition, comparing their dogs to each other purely for beauty’s sake without regard to their hunting ability. They recorded the results of that exhibition and thus the dog show was born. [...]
By Frances Powrie, Judy Cerney & P.J. Lacette When a cuddly Flat-coat puppy first arrives in your home everything your new companion does will be cute and funny, but soon your 10-lb. puppy will be a vigorous 50 - 70 lb. bundle of energy. You will find that teaching basic obedience commands from the beginning will [...]
By Webb and Leslie Anderson Early agility training is a great way to exercise your young puppy’s mind and body. However, you must always be careful not to ask him to do anything that his body is not yet ready for. And remember that early agility training should be a game for puppy, lots of fun [...]
