Board and Train
The boarding school for gundogs
Through our board and train process you can learn what our dogs, our clients, and their dogs have taught us and all of our trainers trainers over the past 20 years. Each dog teaches us something new.
We have had the following breeds come through our board and train process: German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP), Deutsch Drahthaar (DD), English Pointer, Brittany’s, Weimaraner’s, Vizsla’s, English Setters, Irish Setters, Gordon setters, Labradors, Golden retrievers, Springer and Cocker Spaniels. We have also been lucky to host some of the rarer breeds in South Africa such as Flat-coated Retrievers, Curly-coated Retrievers, and Chesapeake Bay Retrievers.
Your dog will be right at home with our experienced team.
A man can learn to train any animal so long as he’s learned to train one other animal first. The other animal is himself. If a man can handle himself, he can handle anything.
- Delmar Smith
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The Board and Train process
All of our training is based on the German Hunting Tests. Although the tests are for all-round dogs, we still apply the same standards where applicable. For example, some setters and pointers are more than capable retrievers and perform well in water too, but as a general rule of thumb they can not complete the full German Testing standard.
We do not have unnecessarily high expectations of dogs that weren’t bred for specific function. We will train your dog for what it was bred for.
Each dog goes through an individual assessment to determine where they are at, and what is required. The first step in the process is for the dog and the assigned trainer to go through a bonding process, and then the training will commence.
Our basic Board and Train process is as follows, depending on the type of hunting dog:
Hunt, Point and Retrieve dogs:
A 3 month training program that covers pointing, obedience, steady to wing and shot, backing, and retrieving.
Spaniels:
A 3 month training program that covers flushing, steady to wing and shot, obedience, and retrieving.
Pointers:
A 2 month training program that covers pointing, obedience, backing, and steady to wing and shot.
Retrievers:
A 2 month training program that covers obedience, steadiness, marking, retrieving, water work, and honouring.
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Why choose Board and Train?
Through our Board and Train program you will join us in the experience of owning a fantastic, disciplined, and well trained gundog.
There is very little as rewarding than going for a day’s shooting with your best friend at your side, experiencing and enjoying the hunt together. The exhilaration of the point, the presentation of the francolin to hand, retrieving a duck from what seemed an impossible position in a marshy reed bed. It is all in a days’ work for a well trained and experienced gundog.
To train your own dog takes consistent effort and repetition, repetition, repetition. For many of us it is hard work setting the foundation behaviours and never mind when we fail to join a puppy class and suddenly need to sort out a now totally disobedient “teenager”. We have seen that in group lessons there is a definite phenomenon of explosive start and fizzled out finish. Many people never finish the full course. So Board and Train is a perfect solution! Your dog is trained on a daily basis with regular sessions throughout the day by our experienced team.
With our Board and Train the dog will stay with us for the training process, and once the training is completed, you will join the trainer for a day out with the dog, to see what they have learned and can accomplish. You will be shown how to handle the dog, so that you can be a complete team.
Included is a follow up program with more lessons over a period of time. We highly advise to take part in these as we can help with any issues, or questions, that you may have picked up. It is important to remember that we are dog trainers not miracle workers, the training we do will last if you follow up at home and we transfer the leadership skills to you, but each dog is still an individual.
If you are considering sending your dog for our Board and Train, come and visit our facility in Hartebeeshoek and watch the trainers work with the dogs that are currently in training, see the kennels, and the process that we follow.
