Flushing Lab Running on Late Season Running birds

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BUSTA WOOSTER

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Looking for some advice for a 2 year old lab. Does a great job of quartering in the field and flushing pheasants. Tends to work birds within a decent 10 to 20 yrd range. However, towards the end of this pheasant season started picking up the pace on wild running phez. She would call off, but then would be 50 plus yards out. Looking for training advice in the off season of how to control the pup. Check cord? I have used a e-collar with only the beep in the field followed by verbal command. She has never been shocked in the field. I'll hang up and listen......thanks for the help!
 
My springer is a talented tracker. She quarters well and uses the wind but will drop her head and sprint after foot scent, which is great for hunting those wily roosters. What I do is blow my whistle, she sits, and when I catch up I release her to resume tracking.

It's been useful. Some birds get away, some don't. But if I forced her to stop tracking and only quarter I may lose more.

So my suggestion is to work on the "sit" command until it's completely reliable and use it when needed.
 
I will second what springer suggested. Teach obedience and whistle sit. Sounds like a great dog. All the good one's want to chase those running roosters. Comes in handy on cripples.
 
Great help! Thank you guys very much!
The pup was great with cripples this year. Had retrieves on cripples greater than a city block away. I did not want to ruin her ability to retrieve cripples, but I was somewhat lost on running live birds.
 
That's the trick. I never try to call young dogs off moving birds until I am sure they have that down well. Use it or loose it is a good analogy. Also it can destroy a good flush hammering on them for that. I just let them go and if they are 200 yards out so be it. The ability to do it is special. Not all can well. Teaching that hup, sit, or even turn whistle well is the ticket. You can use the low level collar to reinforce that. Let them take them for a while first however and just get your butt moving:thumbsup::D. If there is no doubt they have it, then start asking more from your dog. Too much crack down so to speak can make your dog blink or point. Which is bad behavior in a "flushing" breed.
 
I am not a big fan of the whistle in a pheasant field while chasing wild birds. You can do the same with the vibrate on a collar. If you do both while training, the dog should start to put the two together. then slowly eliminate the whistle. Some guys like to chase their dog through the field, that is not me. I have a pretty hard charger but like what was said above, there is a fine line between reeling the young dog in and killing his drive. Honestly i would much prefer your problem to the alternative of a boot licker. Drive is hard to teach.
 
I have started using the vibrate as well. We try to never make a sound in the field. If you are talking and using a whistle, you are not bagging as many birds as you should.
 
..."let the dog go 200 yards out"

That would never happen with my dog or dogs I hunt with, except chasing a cripple.

Once the dog gets the chase habit - rabbits, deer, pheasants - whatever, it's difficult to reverse.
 
JonnyB, maybe you're right. But I can understand the reasoning behind it. I want my dogs walking that line that divides control and "drive." I can imagine that some dogs that need more drive would benefit from chasing that far out, especially a young dog. That same dog would also learn a valuable lesson about foot scent... at the end of it is a bird! After that drive is built, then train for the brakes.

But everyone has their own philosophy and techniques. Some put the "go" in first then the brakes. Others put the brakes on then try to get some "go."
 
I have a buddy George who has an old Lab. He had a good nose and was from great stock. His sire was a big trial dog. He spent much of every hunt laying on the whistle and trying to reel him back in. There is a fine line that threads through several things and dogs are different. I have a fairly aggressive dog that just wants to kill pheasants. I think he would prefer to catch them himself and kill them, but he seems to be ok with me doing the killing and he just gets to hold them for a minute or two. I had to be careful while training him that I made him remember at the end of the day I pay the bills and he hunts for me. Honestly at times I think he doubts that. He would probably hunt in the next county if I let him. I keep him in shooting range most of the time with a couple vibrates. He knows what comes after that so he usually complies. When i hit it he turns and will check back. I don't think I could have screwed this one up he is a keeper. At 7 he has the same energy he had at 2. It will be sad to watch him decline.
 
Nice tribute to Buddy...he is a fine fellow and a joy to hunt with. Never hesitant to dive into the cattails. Seven years old! Can't say he has slowed any.

Looking forward to October.
 
During the off season work on thar whistle sit. Once you get 100% on that you can convert to either the tone or vibrate on the collar. Don't use a correction with the collar unless you know the dog is %100 on the whistle sit. You won't want the wrong association made between ignoring the whistle vs bird flushing. Also as tempting as it is yo get your dog right out and hunting don't do it until you are confident it does it's job to your standard. Good luck
 
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