I was just interested to know what (if anything) people are doing to get their dogs ready for the upcoming bird season?
My older dog is almost 8 and has had a lot of training and has done a lot of hunting and so doesn't really need any pre-season sharpening. Instead I just focus on maintaining his fitness and weight throughout the year. My younger dog is 22 months and she just had an introduction last year and came out on about 8 hunts. I have decided that I will hunt her for at least the first half of the season as a non-slip retriever, I do a lot of walked up and rough hunting so normally have my dogs working just out in front of me. So with her she is heeling on every walk, I try to go somewhere with game once a week so she is used to seeing the pheasant flush, but remains by my side.
