Found It, Fetched It - Gundog Training for Family Life

Abbie Reed of Riverlily Working Dogs joins Jo to break down what a charity working test actually involves, from the admin behind the scenes to what your dog needs to be able to do on the day. They talk through the six tests you're likely to face, how judges assess you differently to an official working test, and why your own mindset does more heavy lifting than your training log.

In this episode:
What separates a charity working test from an official Kennel Club test, and why unregistered and crossbreed dogs are welcome
The basic skills your dog needs before you enter: steady to shot, steady to a thrown dummy, a clean retrieve, and a stop whistle
A walkthrough of a typical test day, from signing in and the exercise area to being called forward by the judge
The six common tests you might face, including the double mark, replacement blind, and the water splash
Why eighty percent of how the day goes comes down to the handler's mindset, not the dog's ability
How volunteering or helping at a test teaches you faster than training your own dog ever could

About Abbie Reed

Abbie Reed runs River Lily Working Dogs in Hertfordshire, where she's organised ten charity working tests over the last twelve years. She competes and picks up herself, and she's spent years watching handlers of every level walk into the test ring, which makes her the person to ask when you're wondering whether your dog is actually ready.

Key takeaways
You don't need a perfect dog to enter a charity working test, you need a dog who's had the basics installed and will have a go.
Judges at charity tests are more lenient than official ones, but they still expect a certain level of control before you toe the line.
A zero doesn't mean failure, it means you've found exactly what to train next.
Volunteering at a test teaches you faster than training alone ever will, because you get to watch dozens of dogs and handlers instead of just your own.

Resources mentioned
Riverlily Working Dogs — Facebook (Friends of Riverlily Working Dogs, and Riverlily Working Dogs), Instagram, website currently being updated

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.
📚 Not sure where to start with your gundog training? Grab the LWDG Gundog Progress Gap Map. Work out where you exactly where you are and what to work on next, no more guessing needed.

Jo and Claire Denyer tackle one of the most common worries handlers carry quietly: the belief that a dog needs to behave better before it is ready to see a trainer. They cover why the opposite is true, what so-called difficult behaviour is often really communicating, and how the most challenging dogs frequently become the dogs of a lifetime.

In this episode
Why your trainer needs to see your dog at his cheekiest, not his best behaved
The warning moment most handlers miss in the seconds before their dog disappears after a scent
Why difficult young dogs so often mature into the hardest working, most rewarding dogs
How watching other dogs at group classes and charity tests fast tracks your own handling
What displacement behaviours like scent marking and cushion humping actually mean
Claire's recent case of a golden retriever whose recall problem was nothing like it looked

About Claire Denyer
Claire Denyer is an LWDG Group Expert and professional dog trainer who works with handlers and their dogs every week, from group classes and one-to-one sessions through to behaviour cases referred by local vets. She brings a rare mix of straight talking and genuine compassion, and her whole approach is built on helping the handler, not just the dog.

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.
📚 Not sure where to start with your gundog training? Grab the LWDG Gundog Progress Gap Map. Work out where you exactly where you are and what to work on next, no more guessing needed.

Ten years ago, the LWDG was bringing in about two hundred pounds a month and felt more like a nice idea than a business. This week marks ten years of the LWDG and ten years of Claire Denyer's Family Dog Services, so to celebrate, Claire turns the tables and interviews Jo in a business blind date. They talk about the exact moments it stopped feeling like a hobby (a national award for one of them, a very muddy fall on her bottom for the other), the bit of the job they still find hardest, how training has changed over a decade, and where they hope to be in another ten years. It's funny, it's honest, and it's the story behind the brand you've been part of.

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.
📚 Not sure where to start with your gundog training? Grab the LWDG Gundog Progress Gap Map. Work out where you exactly where you are and what to work on next, no more guessing needed.

You trained it and you were proud of it. Then one day, in front of people, your dog looked straight at you and carried on sniffing. Recall going wrong feels personal, like the dog is calling you a liar. In this conversation, LWDG Group Expert Claire Denyer explains why recall almost never breaks where you think it does. Claire walks through how to rebuild it from the ground up, why the cheese-word panic never works, and how to use a long line as a way to talk to your dog rather than a way to hold them. If your dog has been stuck on the lead because you no longer trust them, this is the episode that gets you both off it.

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.
📚 Not sure where to start with your gundog training? Grab the LWDG Gundog Progress Gap Map. Work out where you exactly where you are and what to work on next, no more guessing needed.

If you've ever thought that giving your dog a flirt pole or a tug toy would stop them chasing squirrels, this one's going to shift something. Predation substitution training sounds like the answer, give them an outlet for all that chase drive. But as Claire Deyer walks Jo through in this episode, it's not that simple. Here's what actually works, why outlets alone fail high-drive dogs, and when PST becomes part of a real strategy instead of a band-aid. Claire's spent a decade rehabilitating dogs that chase on command and won't stop, and what she's learned will reshape how you think about drive, boundaries, and what your dog actually needs from you.

In This Episode
What predatory drive actually is and why it's normal (not a flaw) in working dogs
Why chasing a toy will never replicate catching a real rabbit, the limitations of outlet training
How dogs behave completely differently when you're not watching (and why this matters for prey drive issues)
The skills you need alongside PST: reliable recall, stop whistle, steadiness, and self-control
How gun dog training fits into predation substitution training
Why diagnosing the root cause matters more than picking a training method

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.
📚 Not sure where to start with your gundog training? Grab the LWDG Gundog Progress Gap Map. Work out where you exactly where you are and what to work on next, no more guessing needed.