Recall training two spaniels together

Training two spaniels at once is genuinely one of the trickier recall setups — they egg each other on, and the younger Cocker will often copy the Springer's bad habits before the good ones stick. Reliable recall is the single most important skill a dog can have, and with two dogs the usual winning combination is a high-value treat they both go mad for, plus a long line so you can practise safely without one dog bolting while you're focused on the other. To point you at the right products — how bad is the recall currently on each dog individually, and are you training them separately first or diving straight into joint sessions?

That's a really common trap with two dogs — joint sessions feel efficient but you end up with neither dog learning properly because they're too distracted by each other. The Springer at four has had years to rehearse ignoring you, so his recall needs rebuilding from scratch, not just polishing. The Cocker is still young enough that good habits will stick fast if you catch him now. Before I suggest a treat, do either of them have any food allergies or intolerances, and are they both food motivated or is one of them more toy-driven?

Perfect — food motivated spaniels are actually great to train, the problem is usually that the treat you're using just isn't high-value enough to compete with a rabbit scent. My recommendation is Forthglade 100% Natural Chicken Liver Treats. They're soft, smelly enough to cut through serious distraction, and small so you can reward repeatedly without filling the dog up. Use them exclusively for recall — never for anything else — so the word 'come' becomes a Pavlovian trigger for the best thing in their world. For the long line, a 10-metre biothane line works brilliantly for spaniels because it doesn't tangle in undergrowth the way rope does. Train each dog separately for at least two weeks before attempting any joint sessions — the Springer needs to have a genuinely solid response on his own before the Cocker is in the picture.

Use their names followed by 'come' — so 'Monty, come' and 'Barley, come' rather than just a generic 'come' for both. That way when you're eventually working them together, you can call one dog while the other stays out — which is a really useful skill to have. The critical thing is to never use the recall word unless you can back it up. If the Springer is mid-sniff 50 metres away and you're not on a long line, don't call him — you'll just be teaching him the word means nothing. Every single recall that doesn't result in the dog reaching you within a few seconds chips away at the cue. Guard that word hard.

Good plan — separate sessions first, long line always on until the recall is genuinely reliable, and keep those liver treats exclusively for recall. You'll likely see the Cocker improve quickly within a couple of weeks; the Springer will take longer but four-year-olds absolutely can be retrained. Once both are solid individually, start joint sessions in a low-distraction environment, call one dog at a time, and reward heavily. The Forthglade treats are on Amazon UK if you want to get them ordered today — search 'Forthglade chicken liver dog treats' and they come up straight away.