Pottering Setter

[High Brass]

Need help. Have a 3yr. old E Setter that gets fascinated with ground scent. Not a big running dog, very biddable but when not fired up reverts to pottering with ground scent. When worked on birds with launchers or other training situations acts like the real deal. As a very young pup went through a lot of shoe leather running her on public land with no wild birds ( you guessed it Illinois ). She got to the point that when put in certain fields were she had gone birdless a few times Showed little interest in the search. I guess they are place oriented after all. When in a training situation with captive birds she acts like a differant dog. Do I have a way to correct the pottering? Or do I hope it just goes away when hunting and there are birds around?

Thanks
Bob

[Tall Boy]

Well you can either get her fired up about birds again, or teach her that trailing is not acceptable which is a toughy. Ive seen it done with an EP and beagle mix (cuttest dog ever, beagle body with an EP/beagle head and 12 o'clock pointer tail), that would get to trailing soon as she got outside and would pay zero attention to formal training. Finally got her running with a high head so she could actually hear and come back to reality. She wasn't a bird dog, just a pet that came to us for obedience, the usual working dog with an exorbitant desire to work and an owner not capable of meeting the demands. I'll look back and see how we got it done, I'm drawing a blanck right now.

Is the dog still fired up while trailing, or does she seem melancholy?

[kninebirddog]

This is why I do not like just running my dogs dry...
Your dog by how you post is saying if I know there are birds I am hunting...but new areas or if i do not find a bird right away..BORING..and commences pottering

You might try getting the dog on birds in all new locations even if it means to plant one or two..Get it where EVERY TIME you put your dog down it means BIRDS and stop the free runs...