Kemble's Field
Steadiness around Live Game Exposure Days
Steadiness around Live Game Exposure Days
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Prepare yourself and your gundog for the shooting season in a realistic, but relaxed and controlled environment.
These experience days are designed to help handlers and dogs put their existing skills into practice around live game, scent-rich ground, and simulated shoot conditions.
With opportunities to hunt in cover crops and woodland, proof steadiness around live game, and retrieve cold game, these sessions provide the ideal chance to build confidence, increase exposure, and fine-tune your dog’s behaviours ahead of the season.
While we’ll be on hand to support, answer questions, and troubleshoot where needed, these days are best suited to those with the basics in place who are now looking to advance their gundog’s reliability in the field by working in realistic conditions that can’t be replicated in a standard gundog training class.
Live game will be used in cages and launched as part of controlled scenarios, with starter pistols and gunshot included. No game will be shot, but cold game will be used for retrieves.
Our Steadiness around Live Game Exposure Days, led by Helen, are suitable for:
- All breeds of gundog, including retrievers, spaniels and HPRs, plus any crossbreeds or non-gundog breeds.
- Dogs which already have basic steadiness, hunting and retrieving skills and obedience, such as recall and a stop.
- Dogs which have already been introduced to shot.
- Owners who would like to proof their dog's existing behaviours around live game - whether for practical everyday life situations, or with the view to working their dog on a shoot.
- Handlers looking to work their dogs on a shoot for the first time, or are brushing up on skills before the shooting season begins.
- Handlers looking to take their Kennel Club Working Gundog Certificate on Game.
Across the three sessions, dogs and handlers will experience exercises tailored to the breed or role they intend to cover on the shoot (e.g. beating or picking up).
Retrievers / Picking up dogs:
- Walk-up scenarios alongside a gun
- Steadiness to flush and shot
- Retrieving cold game or suitable articles from cover
- Practising steadiness while standing behind a gun
HPRs / Pointing dogs:
- Hunting in cover and identifying scent
- Developing pointing skills and steadiness to flush and shot where appropriate
- Beating practice in preparation for shoot roles
- Retrieving cold game if appropriate for the dog and handler
Hunting Retrievers (Spaniels) / Beating dogs:
- Hunting through cover with real scent
- Indicating game and demonstrating steadiness to flush and shot where appropriate
- Beating practice in a realistic setting
- Retrieving cold game or suitable articles depending on ability
These experience days are ideal for progressing towards your fieldwork goals while giving your dog meaningful, positive exposure to realistic shoot conditions.
Not sure if this course is right for you and your dog? Please email hello@kemblesfield.co.uk
FAQs
What shall I bring for my dog?
For your dog you will need a limited slip lead, whistle, and a drying coat / towel for rest time.
You may also wish to bring with you a large quantity of high-value treats (something that your dog would not normally have as a meal, e.g cheese, sausage, cooked heart, liver, dried fish, garlic sausage, or chicken) or your dog's favourite reward.
What will I need for me?
Please remember to come dressed in appropriate shoot attire. Wear dark / green coloured clothes, waterproofs, and sturdy waterproof boots.
For the shoot experience days you will also need to bring a beating stick (optional), game carrier, priest, spare trousers for the end of the day, a vest or bag depending on your job.
Refreshments will be provided throughout the day, but you will need to bring your own lunch if it’s an all day event. You will be able to use our kitchen facilities including a microwave, toaster and fridge.
If you are booked onto a group shoot day experience you will be provided with breakfast, game-based finger food and drinks at elevenses, and a light game-based lunch at 4pm. Please let us know if you have any allergies, dietary requirements or preferences by emailing helen@kemblesfield.co.uk
I can no longer attend, what shall I do?
Please email hello@kemblesfield.co.uk as soon as you are aware you will be unable to make it. If you are cancelling on the day, please contact your instructor Helen (as well as emailing) on 07947 043330.
Please familiarise yourself with our cancellation policies before booking they can be found here: Terms of service
How do I get there?
Directions to Kemble's Field, Charlton, Worcestershire, WR10 3LQ.
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The postcode does not take you right to the door so please read the directions before setting off.
Follow Ryden Lane from the village of Charlton, drive past Whitehouse Farm on the left, through the national speed limit sign on the right-hand side, and then take the first track on the left. You will see a sign for Clicker Gundog. Drive down this track to the end and the entrance to the field is on the right-hand side. If you missed the track and reached the purple house you have gone too far, turn round and retrace your steps until you reach a track on the right-hand side, turn right here.
If you arrive early, the gate might still be locked. Please wait in the lane for your instructor to arrive.
Otherwise, please drive through the gates (and if they are closed, please close them again behind you) and park in the car park outside the building on the right.
Toilet facilities are in the building and will be open on arrival.
What do I do when I arrive?
After you have parked your vehicle, please come into the barn initially without your dog.
If it is a warm day, please cover your car first and open any doors / windows to ensure your dog is both secure but has ventilation. Dogs will not be expected to stay / wait in cars if it is hot and dangerous for them to do so.
If you have had a long journey, you are welcome to toilet your dog before coming into the barn. Please keep them on a lead as other training sessions might be in progress and keep to the edges of the field.
You MUST pick up all of your dog’s poo please, which must be bagged and put into the bins provided. Please supply your own poo bags and do not put any unbagged poo directly in the bin.
About Helen Phillips
Helen Phillips, the owner of Kemble’s Field, is a qualified teacher and an Animal Training Instructor (ATI) with the Animal Training & Behaviour Council (ABTC).
She taught a Canine Training and Behaviour Course at Warwickshire College at 2 levels for 6 years and was a business partner with Learning About Dogs in Gloucestershire for 10 years. She has a Distinction in the Certificate of Canine Training and Behaviour from Warwickshire College and holds the City and Guilds Certificate Level 5 in Further Education Teaching Stage 3 qualification.
She has achieved the Learning About Dogs Clicker Trainers Competency Assessment Programme (CAP) at levels 1, 2 and 3 with Distinction and is still an active assessor for the scheme.
During the 1990’s Helen instructed for the Evesham and District Dog Training Club and was pivotal in gaining the Club’s Kennel Club registration. She achieved the Kennel Club Good Citizens Dog Scheme (KCGDS) levels Bronze, Silver and Gold with her Hungarian Vizsla ‘Kemble’, who the field and business is currently named after. She also taught general life skills classes for several years at the club and taught all levels of the KCGCDS awards. During this time, she also took part in multiple demonstrations and appeared in the local paper advocating for the training of dogs using science-based and ethical strategies.
Alongside this Helen trained with Kay Laurence of Learning About Dogs for many years and taught a variety of the Clicker Training workshops at Wagmore Barn in Gloucestershire, where she was fortunate enough to have the pleasure of meeting and working alongside Karen Prior, Ken Ramirez and Jesus Rosalez Ruiz and the rest of the Clicker Expo teams. She was also honoured to present alongside Ken Ramirez and Susan Friedman.
Helen has been breeding Hungarian Vizslas since 1998 and spent a lifetime with dogs from crosses to Spaniels and HPRs, as a result, she has extensive understanding of living and working with hunting dogs. She now has the pleasure of enjoying a good day’s rough shooting with her dogs and the focus is on working on the small shoot she owns at Kemble’s Field. She currently shares with her husband Chris, two Hungarian Vizslas, Jack and Dibble and three Springer Spaniels, Wren, Teal and Lark. All dogs are engaged in working roles apart from Lark who is still enjoying the freedom of being a puppy. Helen has also achieved the Kennel Club Working Gundog Certificate on Dummies and on Game, with two breeds of dog HPR & Spaniel, she has competed in working tests and has participated in grouse counting. Currently all her dogs appear in the training video’s that are available through the membership of The Gundog Trainers Academy (GTA).
Helen's focus is on promoting the use of force free, positive reinforcement training techniques and strategies within all aspects of dog training and field sports in general. She has a strong ethical stance in respect of this and endeavors to promote this within the shooting field and is an advocate for encouraging pet owners with any breed of dog to explore their natural abilities and expression of natural behaviour for wellbeing.
Alongside Jules Morgan, she is also a Director of and designed The Gundog Trainers Academy Ltd (GTA), to meet the increasing demand for ethical gundog training with a robust qualification and assessment procedure. The GTA’s mission is to support, nurture and encourage high standards of ethical, science based, non-coercive and effective methods of training for gundogs. The GTA has just completed the rigorous assessment process and gained accreditation to the Animal Behaviour & Training Council (ABTC) and is now a Member Organisation as well as Ambassador Partner of the Pet Professional Guild (PPG).
She is a member of the Special Council for the Pet Professional Guild (PPG). Helen is an Instructor and Assessor at all levels for The Gundog Club an organisation that declared its force free policy in 2018 and she runs courses each year for all levels. Helen is also the author of the very popular ''Clicker Gundog'' book which draws on building a strong connection between dog and handler working as a team in the environment.
About Chris Phillips
Together with Helen, Chris manages the small shoot at Kemble's Field.
Chris is not only the game keeper, he is also the shoot captain and very talented chef.
It is thanks to Chris' hard work that the shoot experience days are made possible.
About Lynsey Moss
Lynsey Moss is a fully accredited gundog training instructor with the Gundog Trainers Academy and is one of only two instructors in the country to have achieved the GTA full accreditation on game as well as dummies.
At Kemble's Field, Lynsey manages the picking up team on our shoot experience days.
She herself has English Springer Spaniels which are trained as beating dogs and over a decade of experience working her own dogs, as well as teaching others.
Alongside the training, Lynsey is also a fully qualified veterinary physiotherapist with a BSc (hons) degree in Veterinary Physiotherapy. She is also registered with the National Association of Veterinary Physiotherapists and the Animal Health Professionals Register. Lynsey now shares the benefits of fitness and physiotherapy, providing extra insights, to keep working gundogs fit and healthy.
