ABOUT THIS EPISODE
If you have ever watched a trial-level training video and come away convinced your retriever is miles behind, this one is for you. Beating, picking up and competition all start with exactly the same foundations. Where they split is what surprised me. Abbie Reed has trained thousands of dogs through her work and twelve Labradors of her own, and she runs a picking up team alongside her competition dogs, so she lives all three jobs every season. She explains why her competition dogs never hear the words "find it", why her most anxious Lab became her best picking up dog, and why a dog that runs in on a shoot day can simply have a lead slipped on. We also get into whether a Labrador can hold their own in the beating line, the one trial skill every picking up dog should have, and why training to trial standard is a choice, not a requirement. Listen before your next session, because it might change what you are actually training for.
Thanks for being here.
If this episode gave you something, a laugh, a lightbulb, or just the feeling that someone gets it, that's exactly why we make it.
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