ES pup out-running her nose?

[dawgmama]

We've always had German Wirehairs, and of the 6 we've had, only one took a while to develop her pointing instinct. Our new Setter pup(6 mo. old), from hunting stock, is very birdy, and VERY fast. On planted quail, on the cc, she pointed, but wanted to jump in, and we allowed her to chase and shot the blank pistol. She unfortunately did catch one, but we just pretended it was a shot bird and had her retrieve it, and continued on.

We have since switched to hunting her on woodcock, as she is not as likely to catch a wild bird. When she "bumps" and chases, we call her back to the site of the flush, and have her stay, then "fake flush", release her, and keep hunting. We have had a couple of real points, and have shot the bird and she did a super job of finding and retrieving. Yippee!

My question is, do Setters mature more slowly than the Continental breeds, and are we going about this the right way? It seems that the Wirehairs were fairly staunch, right off the bat. My husband thinks she shouldn't chase much anymore, while I think that she is still a pup, and will just continue to improve (I hope) . We never shoot at the birds she bumps. Is there any way to slow her down? WOW! is she a "barnburner"! She is a 30 pound dynamo! However, she usually keeps an eye on us, quartering nicely between us. Will bumping all these birds create a problem, or as I've read in so many posts, will she finally decide to point more than bump 'em up?

[ssjetset]

you're doing fine, chasing is not a problem but intentionaly busting birds is,hard to control a hunting situation so I would get some stronger scented birds to plant for her such as chuckar, tether the bird so you can use it day after day and plant the bird in a release cage and let it sit for awhile to accumulate a good scent cone in the area ,bring her into it using a check cord and the wind to your advantage if she points great have the other person flush the bird let her chase to the end of the cord and then pick her up,then just go pick up your bird and do it again the next day. Drills work, if she does'nt point stop her when she gets birdy ,kneel by her side and have your partner flush the bird ,don't worry about style or flagging or any other goffy behavior all you want is her to stop dead at the scent of the bird, keep your mouth shut until she completes the task and then praise her.

[dawgmama]

Thanks ssjetset, I will copy your post, so I can show my husband, and keep it by the release cage so I can read it right before we work her, and we can work the bird correctly. I think sometimes we didn't leave the quail out long enough to leave a bunch of scent, and it was usually warm when we worked her, so scenting wasn't as good as it will be now that it is cooler out. I know she has a good nose, as she has had no problem finding the dead birds that she has pointed and that we have shot. She just gets so "fizzed" up out in the field!