Dog Training with a Shotgun on Monday

D

dead pheasants forever

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I've got a young pointing lab that's recently gotten more aggressive on the runners than I'd like. I'm planning to do some late season hunts where I'm not shooting unless the dog points or the bird flushes wild where the dog had no realistic chance to point, so I don't reinforce any bad behavior. My plan is to hit some WIHAs in NW Kansas on Monday. I understand that most hunters don't like passing on birds for the sake of dog training. Is there anyone else out there with a young dog that wants to meet up for some dog training in NW Kansas on Monday? I'm flexible on location and don't have anywhere in particular in mind, but Hill City is probably about as far west as I could justify for a day or overnight trip from Denver. If you're interested, let me know!
 
Your a week to late for me. Back to work on Monday. Have you taught your dog to the "whistle sit" yet? Also how old is this pup?
 
She's about 2. She sits and comes to the whistle. I talking about a situation where she crowds the birds and bumps them. I think she lost some cautiousness when she had some bumped birds shot over her.
 
When mine is on running birds and trailing, which is 99% of the time, I just give him a whistle sit then release him when I am in position. Some people call it teaching the dog to "hup". She knows those birds are going to get away from her so she wants to chase, basically hunting for herself. She should obey a whistle sit by your side or outside of gun range. At least that is how I train mine. Although his first season I let him chase. I wanted that drive above anything else, then put in the control the next season. With mine, I make sure that if birds are going to flush out of range, its not because he is out range and pushing them out of the field.
 
just my 2 cents........but going out now when the birds are wilder than hell and likely to run and flush (holding for a point, unlikely for your agressive lab)at a distance is a bad scenario for remedial training.

find someone with remote traps and get some quail and go back and reinforce what your dog should be doing. it will be time and money well spent, rather than hoping for birds to cooperate and making the problem worse....get some help from someone who works pointing dogs.....good luck...just my 2 cents.
again, good luck, you can get her back.
 
hunter94 said:
just my 2 cents........but going out now when the birds are wilder than hell and likely to run and flush (holding for a point, unlikely for your agressive lab)at a distance is a bad scenario for remedial training.

find someone with remote traps and get some quail and go back and reinforce what your dog should be doing. it will be time and money well spent, rather than hoping for birds to cooperate and making the problem worse....get some help from someone who works pointing dogs.....good luck...just my 2 cents.
again, good luck, you can get her back.[/QUOT

good point. Sounds like more frustration to me.
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Not shooting bird that are not pointed, with a pointing dog is not just training but is really how you should hunt the dog all the time. That is how you develop a solid pointing dog.

There was a good point made about late season pheasants. The roosters you are going to find in WIHA this time of year are going to be very spooky. The hens will be sitting for you much better, but you won't be shooting them
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I didn't mean to overstate the issue because she's really been doing well in general. I have worked her on pigeons in launchers and released quail with a trainer. She handles those pretty well. As those of you who have trained on wild pheasants know, there are some things that can only be learned through lots and lots of wild bird exposure. I'm just trying to get her into the field as much as possible before the season's over.
 
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