help with point

[Mike Sertich]

HELP. I have a 3year old Brit. Great insticts and wonderful to be with in the woods. However, he has "happy feet" and doesn't hold his point. I have tried many things with him but to no avail. I am fairly new to hunting over a dog as I just returned to hunting after 40 years. Any tips ould greatly be appreciated. Thanking you in advance.

[jigging-matt]

Mike, have you taught him WHOA yet? I have a 8 month old Brit and that is what we are working on. I sure am excited about getting him in the field soon. He has been doing pretty good on his training. If he hasn't had any training on whoa that would probably help alot. I'm sure there will be some very good information from some others on the site. Enjoy the hunt.

[Mike Sertich]

I have worked him on the "whoa" He is good when we do it in the yard, but gets after the bird to quickly. By the time I get to him, he has flushed the bird. Did it at least 6 times today. I got one good look at a bird, but held my shot as I was watching the dog. He was super excited. Fun to watch though. Great dog.

[Heidi]

My 3 year old Brittany sometimes will creep on a bird.

If I am a ways behind him and trying to catch up, I will

give her a few ticks with the e- colar. Associate this

with a quick tug on the leash and the whoa command when

in training. I was told this and it seems to work.

Good luck this year. My second Brittany is looking forward

to his first year out.

[gspman]

First of, congrats on getting back in the saddle.

Put that dog on a checkcord and lead it into the bird and make it point and stand there. Then get a training partner to kick around out in front of it. If it moves, pick it up and place it where it was. The dog needs to learn to be staunch and not move until the bird goes or you release it. It sounds like you've been reinforcing some habits in your dog that you don't want so it may take a while to get the message across. Bottom line: absolutely do not shoot a bird that the dog intentionally takes out. You are only rewarding it for "bad" behavior by doing that. My dog gets this bug up her butt once in a while too and when she does the bird flies away and she gets chewed out. If you are really struggling then take the dog to a pro.

[setterguy]

I've used the push technique too. While the dog is on point, come in from the side (of course) and push forward on the dogs butt...almost making the dog tip over. Most times they will force back, in turn teaching them to be tall, and rigid on point. While the dog is on point, get some paper plates and start zinging them around. Over the dogs head, right by its nose, make that dog understand that is is not OK to move while on point.

[Blaze]

Some good advice above.

If you can pair up with someone who has a bird launcher, that would be a good tool as well. Let the dog run and as soon as he shows signs of hitting scent, launch the bird. It will help him stop at scent and hold for fear of busting the bird.