no desire

[grouse setter]

i have a 3 yr old ryman that has no desire in birds i think she had no socialization as a pup extremely soft dog it took her a long time to warm up to us or trust anyone. any ideas to try to build a fire in this dog. she is more active with a nother dog on the ground with her but if any action takes place she just kindof stays back. doesnt seem to be gunshy. working with her alone i can toss a dead bird and she wwill chase it and act like a cat sneaking up on it{not as in pointing it} or if she doesnt see me throw it she will she will find it. i think i know the answer here but i hate to give up on her. yhe wife and i got her as kind of a rescue more than anything else but she is such a pretty dog i hate to quit. had another dog on the ground this evening that pointed a bird, i killed it for her both dogs ran to the downed bird that was fluttering on the ground so she shows some interest wasn"t afraid of the wings i just dont know what else to do to turn the lights on. any ideas

[Sharon]

I've been in that boat. The choice is simple but painful. You keep the dog and keep working with her and enjoying her or you get rid of the dog . Don't worry about it every day. Make a decision and get on with it. I have a couple of field trial dropouts and a great hunting/trial setter.All the best to you and your dog.

[slistoe]

Get some quail and seed a field. Turn her loose and let her have a heyday. She can do no wrong. Chase, catch, eat - whatever. Get her fire going. Repeat in the same field. Repeat in a different field. Repeat till you are convinced you have done everything you can or you are happy with the way she hits the ground out of the box and hunts the birds. If she comes around you can worry about fixing any other problems you may have created.

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

Get some pigeons pull some wing feathers or clip them let the dog chase catch & even eat it if it wants should build desire then you can move on.Do this untill the light comes on & sounds like it should if she went to a down birds with the wings flapping just needs to chase & catch to build some confidence.

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

Slistoe beat me to it but same advice.

[Greg Jennings]

I'd cool it on the shooting too unless you know the dog was properly introduced to gun fire.

[grouse setter]

thanks to all. i do like the ideas of the pigeon and the quail in the feild makes sense. the gun didnt bother her but i agree maybe she should just absorb getting comfortable with the birds and get a fire in her before adding the gun 1 thing at a time as far as conditioning i got her at a year old and i dont think she even knew what the ground was kept in a kennel all the time it appeared she has come a long way but has quite a way to go as well. i get some what discouraged because she is 3 and i am accustomed to harder feild trail lines that start quicker. thanks

[Wenaha]

thanks to all. i do like the ideas of the pigeon and the quail in the feild makes sense. the gun didnt bother her but i agree maybe she should just absorb getting comfortable with the birds and get a fire in her before adding the gun 1 thing at a time as far as conditioning i got her at a year old and i dont think she even knew what the ground was kept in a kennel all the time it appeared she has come a long way but has quite a way to go as well. i get some what discouraged because she is 3 and i am accustomed to harder feild trail lines that start quicker. thanks

Kept in a kennel all her early life? Never exposed to birds or had much human contact? Poorly socialized? I would say that she will take some time to respond to you. You might keep exposing her to birds (as suggested) and kill a few birds for her and let her eat them. It can be tough to build desire in a dog such as this, but if you are committed and keep at it she may get there. But I would not expect too much - a poor early start can be difficult or impossible to overcome.

[DonF]

I had a shorthair in that was that way years ago. I took him in the quail pen with me and just stood there with him. He sat down next to me and just watched the quail. After about a half hour, he stuck his nose out at one going by. Did that a few more times, then tried to catch one. Finally after maybe 45 mins he chased and caught one. From there on everything seemed easy. BTW, that shorthair was 6 yrs old and had never before been out of a kennel!

I had another dog in here belonging to a friend that was pretty much a basket case but it was only about 8mos old, a rescue dog. He hated riding in vehicles, had no idea what a bird was and was a little gun shy. He would not go into grass above his knees when he came here. That was about a year or so ago and today the Duke is one heck of a bird dog and not shy of anything other than another dog growling at him. Don't give up on your dog till you've given it a real chance to get it's self in order.

About the gun. You said in your first post that she "doesn't seem to be gun shy". That means you don't know. Get her away from it and don't attempt introduction to guns till you have worked thru her other problems. Once your comfortable with her, then introduce the gun. I'm sure there's post's dealing with gun introduction in here some where, every dog site has several of those threads.

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

From what you explained I say your dog has the desire locked inside & I think the birds will be the key to open it.Just take your time let the birds make her bird crazy before you try to move on.Once the desire is unlocked you will have a 3 yr old bird crazy puppy & you need to treat her as such.You have heard the saying "You can't teach on OLD dog new tricks" Well that's false!!

Good Luck!
When the desire is unlocked you will have the biggest smile ever.
Have a camera ready!

[grouse setter]

thanks, these comments give me hope this dog has excellent confirmation color, she is a tri-color belton i dont think an artist could paint a prettier picyure of a birddog of course i am a little pejudice towards my favorite breed she has rhe classic low set ears, box muzzle and head and eyes of a classic ryman has an exceptional pedigree, and the gait of a classic setter/ i just hate to give up on her maybe there is hope

[A_LOTA_NOTA]

i have a 3 yr old ryman that has no desire in birds i think she had no socialization as a pup extremely soft dog it took her a long time to warm up to us or trust anyone. any ideas to try to build a fire in this dog. she is more active with a nother dog on the ground with her but if any action takes place she just kindof stays back. doesnt seem to be gunshy. working with her alone i can toss a dead bird and she wwill chase it and act like a cat sneaking up on it{not as in pointing it} or if she doesnt see me throw it she will she will find it. i think i know the answer here but i hate to give up on her. yhe wife and i got her as kind of a rescue more than anything else but she is such a pretty dog i hate to quit. had another dog on the ground this evening that pointed a bird, i killed it for her both dogs ran to the downed bird that was fluttering on the ground so she shows some interest wasn"t afraid of the wings i just dont know what else to do to turn the lights on. any ideas

How it the training going?

Tomorrow I will be picking up a 3 year old rescue dog. He is from New York City so I'm sure he is well socialized but has probably never see a bob before. So you and I might be in the same boat. My plan is to start him like a pup and get him on a lot of birds. He comes from good lines so the drive is there. We just have to get him excited about birds.