You’re a Dog Trainer Now…

A short read about puppy readiness by Castiron Kennels and Mountain View Kennel. Both own, hunt and breed Picardy Spaniels.

If you own a dog, you’re a dog trainer. Like it or not it’s what you signed up for when you decided to bring that cute little Picardy Spaniel puppy home. Even if you’ve never trained a dog before, you’re a dog trainer now. Or you will be soon. And what you do in your puppy’s formative years and fear periods…there are 2…will play a large part in what s/he will be like for the rest of his/her life. If you make a mistake, and you will because we all do, your puppy will likely forgive you and recover. Unless of course you don’t recognize your error and make a correction. Training is a balancing act between cadence and volume that you can easily manage whether you’ve trained dogs in the past or not. Please remember this is all about your puppy, not you. Leave your ego at the door when you pick up your new family member. S/he could care less whether you shoot your first bird over him or her when s/he’s 6 months old or 16 months old…or even older. Keep things simple at first and advance at your puppy’s speed. Do your homework before bringing your puppy home and have a plan for training that will help you help your puppy understand what’s expected of him/her. And remember, as part of the Castiron Family you have lifetime support. If you have questions or a training issue please reach out sooner than later. If we don’t know the best way to handle a particular issue we’ll get in touch with our friends in Europe and solicit their help. Sometimes it takes a village…

Ric: “I made plenty of mistakes with Manny, my first Picardy, but we both learned from the experience and recovered. In the 7 years since he arrived in the USA he’s learned better what I need from him in terms of being a good citizen and a cooperative hunting partner, and vice versa. We still have our differences but who doesn’t. In the field I’d like him to work closer and he’d like me to keep up. At home, even when our females are in season, he’s a perfect gentleman. All-in-all we have a great relationship.

The most important thing I’ve learned training our 4 Picardy’s is that this breed is more sensitive than many other breeds and they will shut down if you use too much pressure or push them along too fast. Fortunately, Picardy Spaniels are smart and extremely food-motivated so they learn very quickly using positive reinforcement training techniques. Picardy Spaniels are apparently very forgiving, and in my case, it seems it’s possible to teach an old dog new tricks…”

Mike: “Training a puppy is hard work. But, six months of focused and consistent work will bring years of great times together. I’ve learned three things training my pups and not all were obvious at the start.

First, your puppy is watching your every move. It’s instinctual and hardwired. Their ancestors survived by being able to “read” their environment and take nonverbal cues from their pack and pack leader. If you don’t think that’s true, try putting your hunting boots on in front of my dogs. I got a great piece of advice about my first Picardy from her breeder, Ade Maurice, when he said, ‘Be the silent Frenchman’. Talk less, do more. Use lots of touch, gestures, and non-verbal approaches to training.

Second, control your puppy’s environment. Teach your puppy to love the crate and use it when things get hectic in your house. Use a lead to maintain physical control (and stand on it when you need two hands free). Think about what’s going on around your pup before you ask anything of him or her.

Third, manage expectations – for you and your dog. Decide what type of relationship you want with your dog and train for that. Take bits and pieces of advice from the ‘experts’ but trust your gut. Mold and shape instinctive behavior. Your pup will naturally do things that will make him or her successful. Catch them in the act and reward that behavior.”

Basic Training Rules for Picardy Spaniels

Picardy Spaniels mature slowly. As someone once said: “Sometimes you need to go slow to go fast.” No matter how smart your puppy is, or you think s/he is, don’t overload him/her.
Picardy Spaniels are fun-loving dogs. All work and no play doesn’t work with this breed. Period. We DO NOT recommend long, structured training sessions, but rather incorporating training into everyday enjoyable activities such as off-leash runs or backyard play.
Picardy Spaniels bond strongly with their owners. Train them yourself. Or, with help from someone where you do the majority of the training, and who is open to training protocols that differ from “the way they’ve always trained dogs.” Most people in the US have never even met a Picardy Spaniel, much less trained one.
Picardy Spaniels are extremely food motivated. A pocketful of treats goes a long ways in terms of helping your puppy understand the tasks and behavior you expect.
Picardy Spaniels are “sensitive” dogs. Yelling, swatting and force-based training techniques tend to cause this breed to shut down, ignore you and/or refuse to do what you are asking them to do.
Picardy Spaniels are smart. If they’re not learning what you’re trying to teach see above.
Training guides with methodologies that work well with Picardy Spaniels: How to Teach Gundogs to Train Themselves by Joan Bailey and Tips and Tales for Training Your Bird Dog by George DeCosta Jr.

Castiron Kennels and Mountain View Kennel are the only families in America who each own, train, and hunt 4 Picardy Spaniels. There are only ~320 Picardy Spaniels in North America, and Ric and Mike are some of the first Americans to import Picardy’s from Europe. Castiron and Horizon both donate their time help other US Picardy Spaniel owners with training, virtually and in person. Mike also owns Bird Dog of the Day, and Ric and Ellen sponsor the Picardy.org website for the US Picardy Spaniel Alliance.

Ric, Ellen and their Picardy Pack live in New Glarus, WI just 25 minutes southwest of Madison. A lifelong hunter, Ric has trained and hunted Small Munsterlanders, Gordon Setters, and for the past 7 years Picardy Spaniels. Ellen has an extensive background in animal genetics and a PhD in Reproductive Physiology. She bred and trained Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs prior to Picardy Spaniels. Since 2019 Ric and Ellen have traveled to Europe annually to meet with international Picardy Spaniels breeders to learn more about training this unique breed as well as to identify bloodlines that will broaden and deepen the gene pool in North America. In 2023 they attended the French National Breed Show and met with President Serge Guilbert to discuss ways to better track Picardy Spaniel breeding efforts and individual dogs globally. They are also the only breeder that has sent a North American whelped Picardy Spaniel back to France.

Mike and Lori live in Southwest Florida, but Mike takes their four dogs to Montana each Fall to hunt Prairie Grouse and Hungarian Partridge. Mike’s dog Tilly was one of the first in North America when she arrived in February of 2017. Lori fell in love with Theo on the breeder’s website and she brought him over to the States in 2018. Gus and Flirt are brother and sister and joined the pack in 2019. They were supposed to be trained up by Mike and sold as started dogs. That plan didn’t last until the airport exit before they squirmed their way into his heart permanently. Mike does the training and hunting while Lori focuses on the cuddling.