my dog chasing birds after they flush!

N

ndphezhunter

New member
I have a 8 month old brittany, and I take her out a couple times a week to go run and find some birds... She has all the desire in the world but maybe too much... lol. when a bird flushes she will chase the bird for almost a quarter mile before she gives up. I have been keeping her on a 50 ft check cord the last couple of times thinking it would help, but it doesnt. How do I break her of this without using a shock collar. Will she just stop doing it on her own once she realizes she cant catch them? She knows commands but once we get in the field she completely doesnt listen... help
 
young dog

when i start really putting pressure on a dog id exactly a year.Your dog has great desire i love when they chase like that.Is your dog just chasing song birds or quail what? they will stop when you introduce them to real birds but it takes lots of them!But i have a 2.5 year old pointer and a song bird will fly over and she still kinda wants to chase but she dont.Now as to not minding out in the field do you not want to use a collar ,dont have one what,about 1 2 maybe 3 times of smoking that dog with a collar when not obeying trust me he will learn real quick! Are you using a whistle to try and turn him come in to you ,tell me what your yard work is, and the forum lots of help on here for sure.
 
Your dog is only 8 months old. I have always been told to let them chase a little away. It builds bird drive. Are you using a whistle or voice only? If not trained to whistle this is the time to do it. After about a year old then start with cutting down on the chasing. They usually learn by that time, they can't catch the birds and stop or cut down on the chase. I would make sure my dog knew "whoa". When you give them the "whoa" command and they don't do it. With a Brittany, use the lowest setting possible on your e-collar and use the "nick" setting. Brittany's are naturally soft, a little correction goes a long way with them. A few times of the e-collar and they learn quick to stop. I hate to use the e-collar when birds are involved, I'm afraid they will think it's the birds and quit hunting.......Bob
 
It is called the steady process. Like Bob said it is good to chase for a bit. Which is most likely enough already. You will have to start the steady process in the yard and get the dog as they say "line steady". Then progress from bumpers to dead or frozen birds, clip wings etc. When you can keep her steady on flapping clip wing pigeons, you will go to flier pigeons close on the line. Shot when steady, corrected and missed birds when not steady. When she has that down you can go to planted birds and correct with the collar and miss when not steady, or shoot and send for retrieve when steady. You have to let some fly away in training as well after the steady process. and praise the good behavior too.Its hard to explain it all to someone, but works very well to get the dog to stay put once the bird flushes,gets shot, then you send the dog using its name or a command after the fall. "NO bird" when missed, hen etc. and keep hunting. There is good info out there on the steady process and ways to go about it.
 
I had this trouble with my lab Ruby. I trained her for 4 years without a shock collar. Every once in a while she'd take off on a missed rooster or hen and not obey my whistle sit or come commands. I worked HARD on this. Eventually wiht the longline I was able to get her to stop in training, but she always needed one good correction at the start of every training session to get her to sit on teh whistle command when after a life flushed bird. Eventually, she cleared the best piece of pheasant cover I've ever been on, and I gave in and ordered a shock collar. At 1.5/5 she responded to the collar in training session and we worked on whistle sit. In the field she needs a higher level of stimulation (2 or 2.5) but I've only ever had to hit the nick ONCE - since then she sits on the whistle and come back to me. We now have more enjoyable, relaxed and productive hunts because I'm not yelling, frustrated, or having to constantly chastize her or apologize to my hunting partners. Good luck with it. Remember, she's still a pup and I'm sure that there is lots that you can do with patience, creativity, hard work and good advice.
Cheers,
-Croc
 
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Thats right , take your time. The biggest thing is no more birds till it's time. You have all summer. Most can be steadied in a month or so. Some will take longer. And a few steady very quick in a couple weeks. Just have to take it as they progress.
 
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