"Hi, I'd like to know if what I'm doing is right. I have two Springer spaniels that I'm trying to teach the stop whistle to. I am doing this by walking them on the lead and stopping with a blast on the whistle and a little tug on the lead to get them to sit. Is this the right way or is there something else I should do? Regards, Andy."

H&C blogger and gun dog expert Howard Kirby replies: "Hi Andy, I recognised your name from Facebook so have seen your Springers in action. Now you have got your pup sitting to the whistle on a lead, you can try getting him to sit to a thrown dummy. Show him the dummy and get him to sit in front of you. As he does, pip the whistle and throw the dummy making sure the pup dosen’t run in after it. As soon as he looks at you send him for the retrieve. If you get this right, he will start to associate the sound of the whistle with stopping and looking at you in anticipation of being sent for a retrieve. This can slowly be worked on so that you can teach him to sit to the flush.
 
Keep us informed as to how you get on.
 
Best wishes,
 
Howard."