Olive Ridge English
Springer Spaniels

In regards to ability and training, I personally have hunted with or owned any bitch or stud dog that you will see here unless that dog has been a field trial winner/champion in the UK or championed by the AKC.  I like to personally evaluate any dog that I have on this site.  I've seen different training styles, but I've adopted what works best for me to develop the full potential of each pup and that's what I breed for.

I look for a strong desire to hunt, biddability, a focused mentality, and an even temperment in my breeding stock.  I believe that with these traits, proper training falls in place much easier.  These basic building blocks are keys to the development of a nicely finished gun dog for rough shooting or trial situations.

Besides personal experiences and trial by fire, I recommend Edward Martin's series "Spaniel Training Master Class" that covers three key times in a dog's life; puppy to 8 mos., 8mos to adult, and adult training/working.  Other videos that I would recommend are a four part video series by David Lisett of Buccleuch Gundogs and a two part series by Ian Openshaw and Martin Deeley.  There are two in that series; Basic Spaniel training for the gun and Advanced Spaniel training for field and trials.  These series are available through Sporting Scene Sporting Scene Videos

A good book for you book worms out there is Gundog Sense and Sensibility by Wilson Stephens and Joe Irving's Training Spaniels.  Both can be found at Amazon or usually ordered at any book store.  There are a lot of good video's and books out there on Spaniel training.  I just listed ones that I've enjoyed the most.