Too excited when training

[kc95gt]

I took by 7 month old GSP out last weekend for her first time with live birds (she's played with frozen ones before). I planted the birds in brush out in a field according to the techniques on The Perfect Start DVD. The problem I was having is that she was too excited about being out in the field and seeing birds around to slow down and sniff out the birds. She would just run around like crazy, often running right by the bird. It wasn't until she caught sight of the bird after I would direct her back towards it that she would stop to point it. What can I do to get her to search with her nose instead of running around until she sees one?

[Sharon]

At that stage of training, that is very common. Just keep doing what you are doing. The Dog needs learning time. I'm assuming you keep the dog in the car until you are finished planting.

[ultracarry]

Don't let the dog see the bird until later. You do not want a dog that has to see the bird to point. This will cause problems.

The second a dog even turns its head as if it is spending it the dog should swing to a stop or get that head sideways and stop. Then again it depends on the breeding the dog came from and the desire of the dog. Throw away frozen birds and use good flying birds that are free to fly away if pressured (even if they are carded). Don't let the dog run free unless they are already collar conditioned and pointing reliably.

[Trainer8307]

I spent some time this afternoon working on a similar situation with some 5 month old pups. I usually let pups learn to recognize bird scent and hunt on johnny house birds. However, this time of year, snakes and scenting conditions are to bad to use that method. I chose to use pigeons and check cord the pups in on them. I had pigeons in remote launchers and had virtually no success. These are nice well bred pups but had never been on birds. There was adequate breeze for me to know they were in the scent cone but none of them acknowledge a bird was in the area. After working two pups, I abandoned the remote launchers and started putting the pigeons head under his wing and spun it around to dizzy the bird and then placed him in cover adequate to conceal it. This allowed more bird scent to be available. The next pups did better but not great with the exception of one female that slammed the bird. That's when I had a realization I was guilty of not thinking about. We know these pups are suppose to be bird dogs but unfortunately, they don't come here knowing they are bird dogs. We have to put them in situations to develop their instincts. These pups had to be smelling the bird scent but had no idea what they were smelling. A yelping pup on the dog wagon was far more appealing than to be out there on a check cord in 90 plus degrees. I check corded the pups in to the dizzied bird and if they didn't point it, I let them get close enough to see it and smell it. They all froze on point. I held the check cord close so they could get near but not actually catch the bird when they tried to move in. As the bird awoke, I would let out more slack until the bird flew. Then, I dropped the check cord and let the pup chase the bird as far as they wanted. I'll do this another time or two and I fully expect them to start pointing on scent alone but what I realized today was they had to be smelling the bird but no light bulb came on as to how it applied to them. One point of caution, be sure you are in a safe place if you do drop the check cord and let the pup chase. Some of these little guys will really put down a race after the pigeon and could get in a danger.

In your situation, all I want to accomplish is getting the pup bird crazy and building excitement. If you have homing pigeons and a loft for them to fly back to they are a great tool. If not, find a few plain pigeons that you can keep caged. A simple method to work with birds like that are to tether them. Some people use a piece of card board attached to a leg that will pull the pigeon down when it flies. Others will tie a short piece of garden hose but I have seen pigeons lite in trees and get tangled with the hose. There was nothing that could be done to get it down. I use a 2 x 4 about 10" long with an eye hook screwed into it. I have a small brass snap attached to the eye hook with about 30' or 40' of tangle free decoy line. On the end of the decoy line I attach the ends off a double duck call lanyard, one loop for each leg. You will probably loose the springs but you can still make a loop and slip over the pigeons legs. This little apparatus works like a portable pigeon pole. Get in an open area with low but adequate cover. Plant the pigeon out of sight and check cord the pup in. In all likelihood, he will point it in a few attempts. I would do this only a few times. You will have to read the pups reaction to see if his interest is growing. The goal is for the pup to be really fired up and that's when you put him up. If you don't get that reaction, only work him in to it 3, 4 or maybe 5 times. If he isn't getting excited, try it again later. I never allow a dog of any age to grind and grind on anything until they tire. Putting up an excited dog is the ultimate goal, not one worn out.

This is not a great method but about the best I can do this time of year. Many training situations are artificial. This one is a little more than normal but it does work most of the time. There is not substitute for turning a pup loose and letting them find game on their own with no involvement from the handler to help them figure out they are bird dogs. Good luck!

[Soignie]

1. Get rid of the frozen birds they are of no use to you/her unless/until you force break her to retrieve.
2. Let her run around the field exploring the sights and smells and burn off some energy then put her up before planting/releasing your birds and putting her back on the ground and working her (with a checkcord) on the birds.

[birddogger]

Relax, it was her first time out.

Charlie

[kc95gt]

Thanks for all the advice. I like the idea of letting her run around and burn off some excitement first before planting the birds. And yes, she was on a checkcord the whole time.

[birddogger]

Thanks for all the advice. I like the idea of letting her run around and burn off some excitement first before planting the birds. And yes, she was on a checkcord the whole time.

Yes, that is good advise and is what I do. What I normally do is plant the birds and run a pup in an area away from the birds before bringing him into the birds.

Charlie

[gittrdonebritts]

Some dogs may need to run for awhile before you can get them to slow down and listen/ pay attention, I like to road the dogs before I do any training, some will focus better if all there steam has been let out, Last winter ezzy and I took a young male out for his first trip to the field all year and what did he do.... took off and started running all over the place didn't find him for at least 2 hours but when we did he got a drink and we took him out again and he was ready to listen and hunt for us and we ended up shooting a bird for him, he just needed to get the cob webs cleared and burn some steam no big deal. your dog is young just give it some time and patience and all will be fine.