217. How to Teach Your Gundog to Do Nothing (And Why It Makes Training Easier)

You’ve finally made it to the pub garden. Your drink is on the table, your friend is halfway through a story, and your dog is up on their back legs trying to see what the table behind you has ordered. You’ve asked for a sit four times. You haven’t heard a word of the story, and you’re already working out how quickly you can leave.

Most of us try to fix that moment at the pub. Claire and I think it gets fixed much earlier, at home, by teaching your dog the art of doing nothing. This post covers why kennel dogs are so keen on their handlers, how to build a settle in your house and take it anywhere, and the one habit that undoes it every time.

Everything in this post comes from my conversation with LWDG Group Expert Claire Denyer on episode [EP NUMBER] of Found It, Fetched It.

Kennel Dogs Hang on Their Handler’s Every Word for a Reason

My dad’s kennels ran seven long, with four dogs in each. He could walk the length of them all day and the dogs would watch him, but not one of them threw themselves at the gate. They could see life going on around them, and they knew none of it was their business until he reached their gate and opened it.

Claire sees the same pattern. Working gundogs living in kennels spend most of their day doing nothing at all. Nobody is entertaining them, they don’t have a basket of toys, and they don’t have a person to follow from room to room. People often say kennel dogs hang on their handler’s every word, and Claire thinks that’s exactly why. When time out with their handler comes round, it’s the best bit of their day.

Most dogs in LWDG are pets first and gundogs second, so they live in the house with us, and that’s fine. The same formula still works indoors. When your dog has constant access to you and to things that keep their brain busy, the time you spend training together loses its value. If they’ve spent all afternoon attention-barking and bringing you toys, there’s nothing special about you picking up the lead.

Key takeaway: The less on-demand access your dog has to you indoors, the more your time together outside means to them.

The Settle Starts in Your Kitchen, Not at the Pub

When Arthur was a puppy, my husband and I sat down with Claire for a puppy consultation that we recorded as a masterclass. The thing she drove home was that Arthur should have a brilliant life, and he also needed to know that most of what went on around him wasn’t his business. So we set the house up for it. He had a crate and a run in the kitchen, and we all wandered around him. Sometimes he was in the middle of everything and sometimes he wasn’t, and he got happy with both.

Without really meaning to, I’d built him his own little kennel inside the house. While we were recording this episode he was outside in his kennel, completely chilled. If I bring him into the kitchen and shut the baby gate, he’s exactly the same.

Claire’s house works the same way. While we talked, Jeanie was on Rose’s bed, Rose was under the table and Dude was on his own bed. Her dogs know that once the laptop opens, there’s no point trying to get her attention. Being in her presence doesn’t mean she’s in their face.

Like everything else you teach, the settle has to be proofed and generalised, and you can only generalise something that already exists. Claire compares it to recall. If your dog ignores the recall, the first thing to check is whether they come to you in the house and garden. A dog who demands to be let out every five minutes and brings you a toy every five minutes has nothing to transfer when you get to the park.

Key takeaway: Before you ask your dog to settle somewhere exciting, check whether they can settle in your kitchen while you get on with your day.

A Settled Dog Is Not a Dog in a Stay

There’s a difference between a dog who is relaxed in an environment and a dog who has shut down and is forcing themselves not to be a nuisance. Claire drew a line here that’s worth sitting with.

An obedience stay is something she asks for a safety reason or a training reason. She would never take a dog to the pub and put them in a stay, because that dog isn’t settled. They’re sat there waiting for the next command, still on duty and still watching her. What she wants is a dog who has decided there’s nothing for them to do and has gone to sleep under the table.

That’s why her puppies go to the pub as part of their training. The lesson is that being with her doesn’t always mean they’re doing something together. Sometimes she’ll ask them to settle and that’s the whole job. I see it with Arthur too. He’s young and still excited in new places, but if I sit down and say “settle, buddy”, he knows this bit doesn’t involve him for a while, and he lets himself relax.

Stop Rewarding the Settle Out of Existence

This is the mistake Claire sees most. Your young dog has finally settled at your feet on a bench in the park, or under the table at the pub. Then your hand goes to your pocket, out comes the food, your dog is straight back up and you’re at square one.

Think back to those kennel dogs. Nobody ran out with a high value treat every ten minutes because a dog had lain down, because it would have got them straight back up again. When one of Claire’s dogs settles, she says “good girl” or “good boy” very quietly, and that’s it. No food and no belly tickle, nothing that undoes the work the dog has just started doing.

Years ago I asked my uncle what to do about one of my dogs. He told me to go to the park, and I was ready with my notebook. Take the dog, he said, and take a pack of sandwiches. Then sit there and eat your sandwiches. That was it. He didn’t mean feed the dog the sandwiches. He meant eat them yourself and ignore the dog. I honestly thought he was winding me up, and he was completely right.

Key takeaway: The reward for settling is the settle itself. When your dog finally lies down, let them be.

Let the World Pass Your Dog By

Handlers often underestimate how much a new place asks of a gundog. Our breeds are fascinated by scent, by movement, and by people and other dogs, so every new place is a big box of exciting things. If you go from new environment to new environment, your dog is having the best day ever, every day, and very little of it involves you.

When I take Arthur somewhere new, I try to introduce him to it with a settle first, so he’s still and the environment passes him by, rather than him moving through it. If you’re walking briskly through a busy town, distance, duration and distraction are all changing at once. So I’ll go to our local busy town, sit him down while I eat my sandwiches, and then do the same in the next town. Over time the idea of a busy place generalises, and when we go somewhere new he treats it like every other place he’s been.

Claire’s point is that this gives your dog more freedom. Well-behaved dogs are welcome in so many places now, and nobody wants their dinner flying off the pub table. It’s also enrichment in the truest sense. A licky mat at home while you go off for a picnic with friends doesn’t come close to a dog who can come with you for the day, take in every scent around them and have the best time while you eat.

Key takeaway: Practise your settle somewhere busy before you ask your dog to walk through somewhere busy.

Questions people ask about teaching a gundog to settle

Won’t teaching my high drive dog to do nothing take away their drive?

No. It’s one of the things people say most about high drive gundog breeds, and Claire’s answer is that it’s rubbish. Your dog needs appropriate exercise and breed fulfilment, which can come from all kinds of training and exercise. When those needs are met, they can absolutely chill. Claire’s Labradors range from two and a half to twelve and a half years old, and every one of them settles for the same amount of time every day.

How old does my puppy need to be before they’ll settle?

You start teaching it from the beginning. In the early months you’ll be in and out like a yo-yo with toilet training, and you’ll be doing age-appropriate exercise and training in little chunks two, three or four times a day. Alongside that, use a crate or a pen so your puppy has downtime where they’re just being, in the same space as you but not up to mischief. Claire finds that by somewhere between nine and twelve months, most young gundogs who are getting the outlets they need can chill pretty naturally.

Should I give my dog a treat when they settle?

Leave the food in your pocket. If you reach for a treat the moment your dog lies down, you disturb them and they’ll be straight back up. Claire says “good girl” or “good boy” very quietly and leaves it there. The settle is its own reward.

My dog follows me everywhere in the house. Is that a problem?

It can show up later as a dog who disappears once they are off the lead. Claire describes the Velcro dog who follows you to the toilet and the bedroom, then gets let off the lead and heads for the nearest dog or person, because they’ve had you all day. What you want is a dog who’s happy for you to move from room to room while they stay chilled. Then when you pick up the lead, they switch on, because that’s your time together.

Doing Nothing Is a Skill You Can Start Teaching Tonight

If your dog is the one bouncing off the walls in every new place, you haven’t done anything wrong and you haven’t got the wrong dog. Nobody tells you that a gundog living in a family home has to be taught that most of family life isn’t their business. Kennel dogs pick it up by default, and ours need to be taught it on purpose.

It starts somewhere really ordinary, with the baby gate shut in the kitchen while you get on with the tea, or a bench in the park with a sandwich in your hand and a quiet “good girl” when your dog finally lies down. Once your dog can do nothing at home, you can take that settle to the town, the vets and the pub, and your training time starts to mean something to them again.

Our membership doors are closed for now, but the Switch Off and Settle Down course on our resources page gives you five days to put the foundations Claire talks about in place, with Claire and our other experts training in it. Pick one spot in your house tonight and start there.

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