Working Gundogs Training Course Terms & Conditions

These terms and conditions apply to all courses starting on or after 1st April 2010. By completing and submitting a working gundog training course booking form for a course that commences on or after 1st April 2010, you agree to the following terms and conditions of booking.

CONDITIONS OF BOOKING ACCEPTANCE

You must submit a course booking form online or by post, in order for your booking to go ahead. The booking form must be completed in by the person who will be handling the dog during the course (or their legal guardian if under 18 years of age) and the handler (or their legal guardian) must indicate their agreement to these terms and conditions. Payments received without a booking form will result in a reserved place, until they have filled in a booking form as well.  

CONFIRMATION OF ORDER /AVAILABILITY OF PLACES

We will contact you to confirm you’re booking once we have received your full payment and course booking form. We aim to email all those placing online bookings within two working days of receiving their payment. We try to update our web page immediately a course is fully booked.  If however, the course is already full when we receive your booking, we will contact you and refund any payment you have made in full.   

METHODS OF PAYMENT

You may choose to pay in full on online or by sending a cheque. If you have any difficulty paying online with bank details or type of card, please give us a call.

COOLING OFF PERIOD

You are entitled to a seven day 'cooling off' period following your booking to enable you to cancel if you wish. During this time you may contact us to let us know that you do not wish to continue with your booking, and we will refund your payment in full.

The following conditions apply:

i) The cooling off period ends at on the eighth day following your booking. The eight day commences immediately after the time and date of your original booking. If your course starts before this time, the cooling-off ends at the planned start time of the first session of the course

ii) Your booking is considered to have commenced when you make your first payment, or submit a booking form, whichever is the first.

iii) Cancellation during the cooling off period should be made in writing to 'Working Gundogs, 352 Fosse Road North, Leicester, LE3 5RS’ or by emailing workinggundogs@msn.com

CANCELLATION OR POSTPONEMENT BY US

Cancellation:  We reserve the right to cancel any course at our discretion.  Reasons for cancellation might include (but are not limited to) courses where numbers are insufficient or a trainer is indisposed.   If we cancel a course your payment including the booking fee will be refunded in full.

Postponement: We reserve the right to postpone any course at our discretion.  Reasons for postponement might include (but are not limited to) courses where numbers are insufficient or where a trainer is indisposed.   If we postpone a course we will refund your payment in full or you may choose to keep your place on the course at the re-assigned start date.

CANCELLATION BY YOU AFTER THE 'COOLING OFF' PERIOD

Cancellation by customers that have paid in advance: Once you’re cooling off period has ended, if you are unable to attend the course and let us know no later than 21 days before the start date of the course, we will refund your payment, minus the non-refundable deposit of £60.  We regret that we are unable to offer refunds for cancellations made within 21 days of the start date of a course.

CANCELLATION BY YOU AFTER THE COURSE HAS COMMENCED

No refunds are available to any customer who cancels or withdraws from the course once the course has started. Any complaints regarding the facilities, training methods, teaching quality, conduct of trainers, conduct of students or their dogs should be put in writing within 7 days of the event, such that it may be investigated immediately. We will acknowledge your complaint with 48 hours of written notice and we aim to give you a written response within 10 days. If your complaint is found to be valid we will issue a partial refund of the course fees.

VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographs taken by us: Working Gundogs instructors may occasionally take photographs or video during your classes. We reserve the right to use these photographs or video for publicity purposes. Photographs or video may be published on our web site and sent to other publications for them to consider printing, together with the names and details of awards achieved. If you do not wish your image to be used for this purpose, please do not stand in the photo! If you are happy for your image to be used, but do not wish your details to be printed, please inform us by email or writing to Working Gundogs as soon as possible. Details may be published or sent out as early as the first working day after the picture is taken.

Photographs taken by you: If you wish to take photographs of your own, during the course, please ask permission from your instructor. Their decision is final in this matter. If permission is granted, please respect the wishes of any member of your group who does not wish to be photographed. 

Copyright and reproduction: Working Gundogs expressly forbids the right to reproduce any part of our lessons in any form (e.g. on the internet, DVDs, photographs etc). Anyone suspected of filming or photographing the lessons for any purpose of publication, or investigation without the written permission of the Working Gundogs, will be asked to leave the course.

Liability: Working Gundogs cannot be held liable for the actions of third parties, and therefore excludes to the fullest extent possible by law, any liability arising from a breach of this section headed “Video and photography” by any party.  

TRAINING ASSESSMENTS

Assessments are arranged in advance for each training course group. Entry to the assessment is optional, and your instructor will advise you as to whether you and your dog are ready.   

DOGS

Bitches on heat are not permitted on the training courses without email agreement from the instructor.  Such permission will only be given if all the other dogs on the course are also bitches.  Please do not book a place on a course during a period of time when you think your bitch may come into season.

Behavioral problems:  The instructor has the right to exclude from his course any dog which in the opinion of the instructor has behavioral problems which may interfere with the classes to the detriment of other students and their dogs.  This includes but is not limited to, dogs which are aggressive, or bark excessively, and dogs which run away (no recall). 

Health:  All dogs attending the course must be in good health and have up to date vaccinations.  The trainer may ask to see evidence of vaccination status before allowing access to his classes Please do not bring a dog to the course which has been in contact with an infectious disease within the previous 21 days. 

STUDENTS

Disruptive behavior: The instructor has the right to exclude from his course any student who in the opinion of the trainer, is behaving in such a way as to interfere with the proper running of the course, or with the rights of the other students on the course to an enjoyable and educational experience. 

British Shooting Show 2015

My Saturday activity turned out to be one of those spontaneous decisions, a result of a phone call from a close friend. February is usually one of those months with nothing planned and not much enthusiasm, after a long shooting season of competing and training.

Nevertheless the opportunity to catch up with a close friend who has probably shot over nearly all the best shooting grounds in the UK. Was a opportunity not to pass over, It was probably going to be a Saturday cleaning up and collecting feeders!. I mention this to my training ground landlord, who had the same thoughts as me. So all three of us set off from Leicester at 8.45am for the The Great British Shooting Show at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire.

The short journey of 45mins and no hassle parking was a great start with a short debate over the temperature for the day, we decided that as it was all under cover, just jackets or a fleece would be ok.

Not anticipating the long walk to the entrance, I did start to question my wisdom on my jacket choice that said the brisk walk in the cool air was refreshing passing a quasi lego land of buildings most of which had seen better days.

When entering the show, the temperature improved significantly and after a quick coffee stop it was off to the William Powell stand for an education in new and used guns. Like all good suppliers they have a bespoke range of shotguns to suit your budget. I particular enjoyed the conversation about a personal gun fit, which I now would regard as essential if spending over £2000!

Close by Cheshire Gun Room had the Nite Site Wolf on show, I have a LEDRAY torch beam mounted on my moderated TIKA 22-250 with Schmidt & Bender 8x56, I have a lot of light bounce, which is really annoying, so rather hoping this may be a solution to the problem.

Nite Site have produced a number of models

I still may have a problem, because Schmidt & Bender coat their lenses with a special material to optimise their performance in low light conditions, this coating interferes with the performance of this product.

I have a lesser quality sights on my 22, so this may well be the way forward but at a starting price of £450 it need to be right.

Since training spaniels, I have been on the look out for a fully moderated 20 bore, never found one at the show, but got to see a number of moderated 410's also a pump action certainly got me thinking of different options.

Rather pleased I left the plastic and shot gun license at home on the fire arms front may be applying for an auto or pump action soon?

Needed to move on a bit quicker as we had over 300 exhibitors in 5 halls to get round.

Just before lunch spent some time with  Legelelas safari's enjoy a beer and planned a trip for 2016! watch this space

Time for a spot of lunch, so decided to have that full breakfast we avoided at 9am.

In the afternoon lots more to see, they had a complete hall for the airgun enthusiasts, but the gundog signs drew my attention, so i decided to got and introduce myself to Andy Cullen of Laochin Gundogs, very experienced gun trainer who specialises in HPR's .

I have been following Andy's gundog work on the internet for a number of years with interest and he has been a member of my working gundog social media network for sometime.

Having been a Labrador trainer for a number of years and recently having some success with a working cocker spaniel, I have always wondered how ell I could do with a HPR! in the field trialling world.

Always being one for new adventures, I chatted with Andy, about recent success and sought his advice on training a Hungarian Wire haired Vizsla a breed I have had some success with on the training ground.

Andy, introduced me to Julian Apps from Harrigoss Gundogs who has many years experience training HWV, I found the conversation very interesting, looking forward to exploring future possibilities!

At this stage I had lost my companions, thank goodness for mobile phones, caught up at a coffee stop then onto view some bespoke gun boxes and Perazzi.

Had a very enjoyable tasting session at Bruadar is a perfect marriage of single malt Scotch whiskey and honey, balanced with just the right amount of sloes.

My Schoffel fleece is looking a bit worst for wear, so was about to treat myself and discovered Alan Paine equivalent at half the price, I presume after a few washes I will discover if it really is a bargain, certainly looks as good as !

Made such a saving also purchased some new over trousers, barb wire had destroyed my duck dry leggings, rather disappointed they tore so easily.

It wasn't until around 3pm, I was reminded by text that it was valentines day, a day that should be significant  in my calendar being the start of 37 year relationship, which prompted me and my 2 friends to vacate a head of the traffic, stop off on route for that valentine Rose, card and chocolates to appease my disappearance for the day.

Feeling guilty, decided to book dinner at a regular Italian, had to use all my influence as a gundog trainer to get a table at 6pm, very lucky the mangers gundog needs training next month!

Revised Puppy Breeding Restrictions in Wales

From April 30th 2015, any person breeding three or more litters will require a licence, and accompanying that licence will be strict enrichment and enhancement programmes for puppies.

Coupled with the licence comes a strict minimum staff-to-dog ratio requirement of one full time member of staff to every twenty adult dogs. However, local authorities will have the discretion to lower this number should they feel it justified, eg if there are a number of litters on the ground and a variety of breeds with varying needs. Local authorities also have the power to appoint “others” as “inspectors”.

Originally, when there was a coalition Government in Wales there a move to pass an exemption for hunt kennels but a Labour administration rejected the motion and re-introduced hunt kennels to the equation. The regulations themselves have been laid and subsequently withdrawn on three occasions and have been at the forefront of four Ministerial portfolios.

Minister Rebecca Evans has confirmed that hounds kept in packs will not be subjected to guidance which would have required each hound to have an individual bed and at least two filled water bowls.
Rachel Evans Director for Wales said “This is a significant step forward to removing the stigma Wales has for so called “puppy farming”.

The regulations are not ideal, as we are missing the vital component of microchipping which will follow in 2015.

Stewart North Gundog Trainer Produces his 8th Field Trial Winner

It has been 2 years since producing my last field trial winner and on Monday 10th November 2014, I was fortunate to win the Northern Golden Retriever Association 14 dog AV All Aged field Trial with Ballagan Handa of Northglen (Tilly).

I have long believed this Black Labrador Bitch is the best game finder in my kennel, but she has always been slower in gaining gundog awards when compared to my other Black Lab Bitch FTW Russlayne Bracken of Northglen (Poppy).

Several training friends have questioned my wisdom, in pursuit of field trial awards with Tilly, she has always been a good hunting dog but the the handling skills of the dog and handler have fell short of the required standard.

Despite these results in the field trialling world, Tilly has never failed to deliver when out picking up, she has the ability to turn an good day into a fantastic day! there was one occasion when she picked 25 runners and over 50 dead birds in one day.

Many handlers would have probably given up on Tilly, but I was never convinced I had given her sufficient training time, in 2012 my other Lab (Poppy) was successful winning 3 field trials, and in 2013 my working cocker demanded more of my time which produced 7 field trial awards.

There are only so many hours in the day and my priority always needs to be on my clients dogs, whilst trying to compete at the same time. After making a decision to retire Poppy from field trailling this enable me to concentrate on my next best prospect, which was Tilly.

I was very close to winning back in August on her very first 2014 field trial, but we messed up on the final retrieve, we then went on to collect a couple of certificates of merit and again failed in other field trials on the last bird, a pattern which was beginning to frustrate me!

Like most hardened field triallers, we spend stupid sums of money and hours in pursuit of that elusive win, frustrated by poor performance, controversial decisions or just plain bad luck.

Occasionally we get an award, which serves as encouragement to work harder and pursue good fortune on the next occasion and if we are fortunate to win, it makes it all worth while.

I was extremely pleased to win with my best picking up dog! a term I am proud to use and is what a proper retriever is all about in my opinion.

Tilly is now 6 years old, which for some handlers is far too old to be winning a novice or all aged field trial stakes, but it shows a dog with experience can always deliver results.

Never give up on good dog!

This pup going is going to make someone very happy

Its only a few months ago, I was concerned that I may have missed the opportunity to cover my top gundog who is now 6 years old "Russlayne Bracken of Northglen" aka Poppy, she is such a lean fit dog it was difficult to know she was pregnant until the 6th week. Then on the 15th June she surprised us all giving birth to 10 pups, 7 bitches & 3 dogs.

She has been an excellent mum, very chilled when we have visitors, the pups and mum have been in the home, in the kennel, out in the garden, picked up and put down hundreds of times by large adults, small adults, large children and very little children, they have experienced traffic noise, the hoover, excellent weather, poor weather, a variety of surfaces and more recently had the whole 1 acre garden to explore.

The all went to the vet for an inspection this morning and not one of them was travel sick!

The burden of some many pups, has its consequences on mum, such that we started weaning early at 4 weeks, that largest pup is now 3kg(just eaten) at 6 weeks. It would have been a little embarrassing to show mum off 10 days ago, look liked a malnourished bag of bones. Thankfully a diet of puppy food, corn oil and fish the recovery has been amazing, I have even started training her again, so hopefully we can build some stamina back quickly. She is certainly keen enough after a long break .

This was a repeat mating, not only because of proven working ability and a certified health history, the previous litter of 8 in 2012 all sold within 6 weeks and we have 8 very happy Labrador owners after 2 years, who have not experienced any serious health issues and all have adorable companions.

We have had tremendous interest again with this mating and only have one yellow dog pup to sell after 6 weeks.

We are one of a few Kennel Club Assured Breeders, who subscribe to breeders code, and have been independently inspected to ensure our breeding stock is healthy, our facilities are of an excellent standard, we have documention covering buyer assessment, health, working ability, registration, training, vaccinations, worming, socialisation, grooming, diet, exercise, 24 hour service, contracts, warranties, free insurance to make sure will deliver better results than most other breeders.

We are still learning and hope to improve on this service, but the fact we are finding suitable homes across Europe and here in the UK gives us confidence we are on the right rack.

We have pre sold more pups this year than in any previous year, and looking forward to hearing how they progress.

Should you be interested in sharing in this success, please register online via this form.

What should you be doing with that Veteran Gundog?

Getting the most out of your gray-muzzled veteran, means recognising his limitations and managing him intelligently. You should avoid extremes of any kind: unusually hot or cold temperatures, steep and/or broken terrain, dense cover, and prolonged time out on the shoot.

It’s important to remember that what doesn’t decline with age is your dog’s desire to hunt; if you let him, he’ll push himself until he literally drops. It’s just the way good hunting gundogs are made. So you have to be the brains of the partnership and stay vigilant for any signs that your companion is starting to labour. If you’re going to err, err on the side of caution. Slip a lead on, head for the vehicle, and live to retrieve/hunt another day.

When your gundog attains senior status—around eight or nine for most sporting breeds—you need to pay increased attention to diet, exercise, and veterinary care.

It’s very important to give your senior gun dog an annual exam before the shooting season. This enables your vet to note any health changes as they occur and take the appropriate steps in response.

Probably most common age-related issues are weight gain and loss of mobility.

Owners should keep their senior gun dogs lean and exercise them on a regular basis out of season. High-quality nutrition is very important for senior dogs; if you spend a little more on food, you’ll spend less at the vet practice

Diets rich in Omega-3 fatty acids can help alleviate osteoarthritis symptoms as can feeding supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate.  Treating gundogs whose symptoms are more acute, glucosamine-based injection may be recommended. Another osteoarthritis medication with a proven track record is Rimadyl, which has the advantage of being available as a tablet.

Make sure your experienced warrior has a warm, dry, draft-free place to lay his weary bones at the end of the day. He’ll benefit from a good night’s sleep.

Working Gundogs celebrate 3000 facebook LIKES!

We are celebrating this achievement with FREE Pre Training Assessments during JULY 2014, to book please complete online form