Hi I am new to this site and the Gundog training, I have a six and half month old Rhodesian Ridgeback, After his first set of puppy socialisation classes I looked at a couple of different types of training for him ie clicker and very formal but found that he didnt concentrate and was very easly bored.

Robson needs formal training as he is a very freindly and bouncy dog acting more like a laborador than an aloof ridgeback, so i have been informed.

He has alot of energy to burn and loves playing with every dog he meets unfortunatly he doesnt understand when some dogs dont want to play!, he also like to chase and jump up which is not so good when its a jogger over the woods!

A freind suggested Gundog training, do you feel that gundog training is the way forward for us to go?

Im no expect and dont know much about ridgebacks, but any sort of training is beneficial to a youngster, if he didnt concentrate on clivker training then any training is similar in a way but without the click, you need to find something that keeps his interest and use that as a reward for good behaviour/training.

Does he retrieve items to you?  I teach my swedish vallhund the same as i teach my vizsla but without the retrieve, shes rubbish!, but she still responds to a whistle (most of the time) and will wait and move on or stay etc.

I think it will be trial and error for the training that suits you, maybe contact allan and have a 1-2-1 with him.

At 6 months hes still a pup and need to play and behave like one but also needs to respect you as hes going to get big and strong, short fun lessons are the key and dont over load him with to much at one time.

an easy basic training tool is "watch me" or "look at me", i use that all the time for distraction with mine when horses, runners, cyclists etc pass.

good luck