Chasing Birds

[Jonathan]

I have a 8 month old DD that has been great his first season on wild birds. He is holding steady to flush and retrieving great. At what point should i try to reign him in on the chasing after the flush? he has slowed down on the tweetys but when a hen pheasant or miss occures he is pretty determined to catch the flyers. Should I continue to let him run and learn on his own that he cant catch them, or try to hold him back. The max distance he will chase is around 200 yards but it doesnt seem to be getting any closer.

[romeo212000]

Just work on using a little light stim from the collar to turn him off of tweety's, and non-desireable birds. As far as steadying him to wing and shot, or even flush for that matter. Wait until well after this bird season and look into it this summer.

[Sharon]

He's not "steady to flush" if he going after the birds on the flush. How long is he pointing? Long enough to be considered "steady to point"? I would want to remember that he is 8 months old. Is he collar conditioned?

[Jonathan]

He's not "steady to flush" if he going after the birds on the flush. How long is he pointing? Long enough to be considered "steady to point"? I would want to remember that he is 8 months old. Is he collar conditioned?

He is steady until I flush the bird, which I am ok with. My question is am i going to create any bad habits that are hard to correct next year by letting him be a puppy and continue to chase birds i dont kill? I have only used the collar with light stimulation and the tone and the here command.

[Sharon]

I let my dogs chase until they start holding a point - however long that takes. Then they are on the CC for the point and the flush work at whatever age that may be. If you dog is pointing ( not flash pointing), then it's time to steady him up for the flush imo. I'm no expert . Maybe an expert will respond to your post.

[AZ Brittany Guy]

Sharon, I am no expert but I think you are right on. I would wait till bird season is over then start my yard work (whoa training). Once he knows what whoa is and you have transitioned him to whoaing on the ecollar, I would dry run (no check cord, no birds) him in the field and see if he stops on stimulation. If he is trained well enough to stop then he is probably ready to have the chase taken out of him on birds. Never stimulate when the bird is on the ground, just stimulate when the bird is in the air. You will need homing pigeons and a remote launcher. If you don't have that, then you will need to use a check cord, and a helper to flush the bird. Don't let him catch the bird or it will set your training back. This is just the Readers Digest version.

[kninebirddog]

Sharon, I am no expert but I think you are right on. I would wait till bird season is over then start my yard work (whoa training). Once he knows what whoa is and you have transitioned him to whoaing on the ecollar, I would dry run (no check cord, no birds) him in the field and see if he stops on stimulation. If he is trained well enough to stop then he is probably ready to have the chase taken out of him on birds. Never stimulate when the bird is on the ground, just stimulate when the bird is in the air. You will need homing pigeons and a remote launcher. If you don't have that, then you will need to use a check coard, and a helper to flush the bird. Don't let him catch the bird or it will set your training back. This is just the Readers Digest version.

Ditto stage one with young dogs cue for bird in the air don't put pressure on the bird during the learning stages

[Jonathan]

Thank you for the replies, I will keep on doing what I am doing.