Gun Dog Forum

My lab is now coming into his fourth hunting season. He is usually a killer on pheasants. I would wager he put up triple the birds that every other dog in our hunting group put up combined. I have never had a problem with him while we are out hunting, besides him hunting to hard and hurting himself. This weekend was the opener for pen raised pheasant here in Washington, and I had taken him out at night a few days before we could hunt, and he put up 7 and 8 birds in a short half hour walk both nights. So Saturday morning we get up and head out to the fields where we always hunt, he gets out of the truck and just starts messing around. Chasing other dogs around, stopping to mark every ten feet, wouldnt get off the trails. I chalked it up to the hard rain in the morning keeping all the bird scent down, even though it has never really been an issue before. We ended up scratching a limit for 3 guys, but it was a long day, and Deke only flushed 4 birds. So Sunday I get up and take him back out to the field, he hits the ground running, and starts hunting hard, as soon as he gets a hundred yards from the truck he gets on a bird, and he knows its there but wont commit to getting in the thick stuff where the bird is obviouslly holed up. We sit around this clump of blackberries for twenty minutes with him being birdy the whole way around it, he finally loses intrest and we move on. Within five minutes he is back on another bird, same issue, wont go in for it. At this point I start getting really frustrated so I just pull him off the bird, and five minutes later we hear a shot directly behind us at the same spot he got birdy. After this he reverts back to just walking on trails messing around. I decide to call it a day before I lose my temper with the dog. I can't figure out what he is doing, the dog is usually on fire, and has been since his first year out hunting. My only ideas are that when i took him out and didnt shoot any birds he somehow thought that no birds were going to get shot anymore, so he just shut down? We are running with a new pup this year also, but we split up right at the truck and go different ways, so I dont think that would have anything to do with it. Any Ideas on what I can do, or thoughts on what caused this would be amazingly helpful.

jmo but I'd bet something happened that you didn't see - a claw in the face a............

( I take my JRT to the dog park. He loved it. One day he started hiding under my chair instead of playing with the dogs/running. SOMETHING happened that I didn't see. 3 months later he is fine. )

"My only ideas are that when I took him out and didn't shoot any birds he somehow thought that no birds were going to get shot anymore, so he just shut down? " quote

I don't think that's it. A keen dog- like yours- wouldn't let that put him off.

I bet he'll come around fine.

I think Sharon's right, from what I'm reading. Something happened and he's a little bird shy. Do you have some clipwing pigeons or quail he can chase down and retrieve? It may pay to build his confidence back up on some birds that are small and don't fight back.

Was one of the other dogs in heat? Or about to come into heat ?

No dogs in heat in our group. He was mostly hunted alone, or a few hundred yards from the nearest dog. He just seemed to not really care about finding birds. I did just notice tonight that he has a decent scratch on his eye ball. Possibly from blackberries

That would do it! I wouldn't go back into the thick bush either. I'd see the vet ; could be a cut lens.

Far to low on his eye to be the lens. plus it doesnt seem to be bothering him, the only reason i noticed it is because it hit the light just right. Gave him some eye drops last night and most of the redness healed up. I cant imagine that him getting hurt would be whats going on, this dog has hunted through much worse injuries.

Heavy collar correction somewhere along the line?

That's what it sounds like to me, too. Or maybe a long training session of lots of nagging with the collar.

gonehuntin' wrote:Heavy collar correction somewhere along the line?

Quite the opposite actually, I charge his collar once at the start of hunting season and usually use the same charge through summer when we take him hiking. I would say I have shocked him less than ten times in the last four years while out hunting.

deke wrote:

gonehuntin' wrote:Heavy collar correction somewhere along the line?

Quite the opposite actually, I charge his collar once at the start of hunting season and usually use the same charge through summer when we take him hiking. I would say I have shocked him less than ten times in the last four years while out hunting.

Heavy collar correction does not refer to how many times but rather how severe and the other likely problem would be when and for what.

ezzy333 wrote:

deke wrote:

gonehuntin' wrote:Heavy collar correction somewhere along the line?

Quite the opposite actually, I charge his collar once at the start of hunting season and usually use the same charge through summer when we take him hiking. I would say I have shocked him less than ten times in the last four years while out hunting.

Heavy collar correction does not refer to how many times but rather how severe and the other likely problem would be when and for what.

Like i said I hardly ever shock him. Mostly if he runs onto the road and that was when he was younger. I am pretty sure I didn't shock him at all this weekend. If I ever do need to shock him I run it low about a three out of ten. He is quite smart compared to any other dog I have hunted over, the need for correction is usually at a minimum.

When you do figure out what's going on , please let us know. You've got my curiousity aroused now.

Sharon. I am taking him back out this weekend to a less hunted spot, with a lot less distraction. Will let u know how it turns out.

Has his behavior changed at home or in the kennel too? I just hope it's not a bigger health concern. When my dogs slow or seem disinterested I like to give them the benefit of the doubt first (they appreciate that )

mnaj_springer wrote:Has his behavior changed at home or in the kennel too? I just hope it's not a bigger health concern. When my dogs slow or seem disinterested I like to give them the benefit of the doubt first (they appreciate that )

Really tough to say with him, most of his time out of the field is spent sleeping. People talk about an off switch in a dog and this one is a very good example. He is much happier sleeping on the couch or watching people walk around the house, than running around like a maniac. That's why his behavior is so bizarre, there is nothing that I can point out that would make him not hunt. Maybe he is getting tired of chasing pen raised birds, maybe the moon didn't line up properly with the window the night before......

deke wrote:

mnaj_springer wrote:Has his behavior changed at home or in the kennel too? I just hope it's not a bigger health concern. When my dogs slow or seem disinterested I like to give them the benefit of the doubt first (they appreciate that )

Really tough to say with him, most of his time out of the field is spent sleeping. People talk about an off switch in a dog and this one is a very good example. He is much happier sleeping on the couch or watching people walk around the house, than running around like a maniac. That's why his behavior is so bizarre, there is nothing that I can point out that would make him not hunt. Maybe he is getting tired of chasing pen raised birds, maybe the moon didn't line up properly with the window the night before......

LOL and that about it when trying to figure out what's wrong with a dog.