chasing pheasants

[Bigcat1]

Took the dog out yesterday on his 2nd hunt- very pleased with his nose, retrieving, and working in range. Flushed two birds that I couldn't shoot at and the dog of course took off on a dead run to get them on his own. Any tips or strategies to keep him from doing this? Thanks for any suggestions.

[bear204]

get your self an e collar

[fish2live]

you start by using a shock coller and when this happens or a hen gets up you say no bird and call it back if it doesn't listen give him a tick this is what i do with my lab and works good she still wants to chase thinking it may fall out of the sky at anytime but, when i give no bird command she stops and comes back. hope this helps

[ReelTimes]

Not sure what kind of dog you have. It is easiest to train on this in the off-season with pigeons or chukar. E-collar works well and as others above noted, you can give him some juice if he doesn't comply with your command. Obviously, you don't want to have to yell at your dog during pheasant season or risk the remaining birds running into the next county. Some prefer to train their dog to be steady to flush, and then send the dog for the retrieve. This also works and prevents chasing. Personally, I have not trained mine to be steady to flush and there are pros/cons to this but it is sort of the gold standard in spaniel trials, etc.

[MWard4400]

Bigcat,

I would not use a E-collar just yet If this is was the second trip for the puppy, Puppy can hardly do any wrong his first year hunting. Let the pup chaise birds.... he may even figure it out that he can't catch them....Then work with a fairly long check cord under a controlled condition (game farm). A couple trips to the game farm on a check cord and puppy should start figuring out that chasing birds does not work.

I would be cautious with the collar, to much E-collar can stop the dog from following sent.... dog learns that following sent leads to flushing bird, dog has fun by chasing bird = dog getting shocked..... no fun for dog.

You know your dog better than anyone and will be able to figure out how soft or hard to be with his/her training.

Mark

[weathermaker]

Bigcat, I had a springer puppy mant years ago who loved to run, I read a few books on training and found a pretty effective method. Take him out let him stray alittle and hide from him. When he realizes you are not close he will come looking for you,he will find your scent and find you.Dont give him any praise for finding you or punishment for running just be passive and go about with your walk.. I did this a few times and my springer,who loved to chase the birds would only go out as far as she could have eye contact with me. Worked for me give it a try. Phil

[springerspeed]

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I would be cautious with the collar, to much E-collar can stop the dog from following sent.... dog learns that following sent leads to flushing bird, dog has fun by chasing bird = dog getting shocked..... no fun for dog.

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That is one of the best equations I have ever seen

[Bigcat1]

thanks for the valuable input guys. I think a good plan will be to try the hide idea, work the check cord, and use the e-collar as a last resort. It gives me some direction- it takes time-but the dog has a great nose, the kids love him- so I just need to remember we are running the marathon not the sprint. Thanks again everyone. Good luck hunting this coming weekend if you get out.

[browndog]

Maybe teaching the dog to sit on the flush would work. Start by teaching the dog to remote sit first, this could be done with the aid of an e collar with out the hazards of the dog assiocating the nick of an e collar with the bird but instead the nick of the e collar with the need to sit. After the dog is sitting remotely with a whistle tweet introduce the flush of the bird and then the whistle sit, do this a few times and the dog automatically sits to the flush.

[JDM]

Stay away from the e collar if you don't know how to use it. You can create a lot worse problems than what you have now. Your dog just has a lot of desire, which is good. When he chases, yell "No" "Here" and whistle for him to come to you. After flushing more birds and getting more experience, they usually figure out that they are not going to get them anyways. This is one that usually works itself out, as he should want to hunt for you, not for him. If it continues to be a problem, you will get on him for not coming to you when called, not for flushing birds. Obedience commands should always be followed, not matter what.

[Ely Lake Expert]

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Took the dog out yesterday on his 2nd hunt- very pleased with his nose, retrieving, and working in range. Flushed two birds that I couldn't shoot at and the dog of course took off on a dead run to get them on his own. Any tips or strategies to keep him from doing this? Thanks for any suggestions.

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Yell real loud and hope they listen.