Appreciate some training advice

[perro flaco]

I have a 9 mos old shorthair.
She has been hunting wild birds (mostly chukar) this season - probably 20+ days. thsi si both with and without a gun.
She has had no exposure to pen birds.
She has great prey drive and is pointing for up to a few minutes (on best days).
Once one bird flushes however, she tears around flushing the rest of them.
I would like to work on steadying up her point and steady to flush and possibly shot down the road.
I know that some think that STF and STS may not be desireable in hunting situation but for the type of hunting I do I think it would be.

She has been doing so well that I really haven't done anything but simple obedience work.

When should I began working on steadying her up? I'm not opposed to a professional trainer as i know my limitations.

Thank you.

[GUNDOGS]

Hey perro flaco, I myself am not a professional trainer and im new to the forum. I will tell you I agree with you that if you know your limitations and think a pro would be beneficial go for it! Just from my own experience hunting birds for about 20 years not in field trials ect but more of a weekend warrior i could tell you first and foremost you need BIRDS and more BIRDS for training the dog and it requires alot of time and commitment to train a dog to be steady to wing and shot as im sure you already know. In my opinion theres no disadvantages and it gives you absolute control over your dog as well. A controlled dog is much more enjoyable especially if you hunt with others and they bring their dogs. A pointer that chases a bird is wasting time and any birds the dog puts up while chasing is lost opportunities. Another thing is theres only one thing worse than watching your dog jumping in the air trying to catch a low flying bird and thats catching it. I say if you dont feel you can do it yourself its worth the investment to get a pro. I had a buddy here in canada that trained my dog for me about 15 years ago but he passed away a while back, i went to every training session and soaked in as much as i could i didnt just drop him off and leave. The way i looked at it is i needed just as much training as my dog . Good luck, Brian

[perro flaco]

Thanks Brian. Good advice. I've gravitated to the school of thought that wild birds make good wild bird dogs but that may be a part laziness on my part and general disdain for pigeons. Quantity of exposure is not a problem, nor is her natural instinct to point. Its the finishing touches. I have seen those develop naturally (no traning) in a friend's english setter who has never been trained but has tons of wild bird exposure but that dog seems quite exceptional in many regards.

[Sprig]

being a pro trainer, i would say she is a bit young right now to worry about steady to wing and shot but it could definitely happen this year if the dog is properly whoa trained and e-collar conditioned and worked on birds in launchers. there is a step by step process to finishing up a dog to that level. its not hard to do but it does have an order to it. first thing is to get her completely steady on point (whoa training her).

[northern cajun]

su perro no es gordo

You have one thing right wild birds make a wild bird dog but you have to do your yard work to polish em up but always use the wild birds when you can.

Good Luck