Keep hunting or not

[Glockbuilder]

My dog, a 2 year old GSP breaks on the flush
I had her to a trainer that used pigeons in the remote bird boxes & she was perfect when I picked her up.
Do I keep hunting her or go back to training. My concern is that I am instilling unwanted behavior .
Any help opinions would be appreciated

[gonehuntin']

First, see it she' still steady in the yard. If so, hunt her, leave the gun home or have someone else shoot and reinforce in the field. If she is no longer steady in the yard, go back to the yard until she is.

[zrp]

Do you kill the bird if she breaks? We're always training whether we intend to or not. Some people don't mind a dog that breaks. I personally don't like it.

[Glockbuilder]

I do kill the bird. I don't like that she breaks. Very dangerous & I don't want her shot

[hettmoe]

Do you hunt by yourself?

[Glockbuilder]

Yes, I usually hunt by myself. Took a friend last week. Every once in a while my son might go

[Francois P vd Walt]

Agree with gonehunting get someone else to do the shooting until the dog is steady!

Maybe spend a day with the trainer to see how and when to enforce the commands he taught the dog.

[DonF]

My dog, a 2 year old GSP breaks on the flush
I had her to a trainer that used pigeons in the remote bird boxes & she was perfect when I picked her up.
Do I keep hunting her or go back to training. My concern is that I am instilling unwanted behavior .
Any help opinions would be appreciated

Does your dog whoa? If it whoa's well, go in the yard and teach it to stop to flush. Also if you want better performance, higher degree of finish, quit worrying about shooting birds and work your dog. I think with their first dog most people do just what you've been doing, concentrating more on shooting birds that messing with a dog. Your dog did it before and it will again, just quit shooting birds for him he doesn't handle the way you want him to.

One more thing, did you get her to stand birds planted without a remote? Have to do it! generally it's a pretty quick step but when the bird quit coming out of a trap and start flushing on their own, the rules change. Your problem just isn't that bad.

[Lucky Dog]

My dog, a 2 year old GSP breaks on the flush
I had her to a trainer that used pigeons in the remote bird boxes & she was perfect when I picked her up.
Do I keep hunting her or go back to training. My concern is that I am instilling unwanted behavior .
Any help opinions would be appreciated

I'd contact your trainer and talk with him/her. Make sure you are not doing something counter to what they trained, then get some pointers on a refresher course for your dog.

[Scott Linden]

And don't worry - you can train all over again in the off-season. The world will not collapse, the sky will not fall.

[Glockbuilder]

Thanks for all the input
Greatly appreciated. I agree worry more about the dog & less about the birds

[Trekmoor]

I agree worry more about the dog & less about the birds

That is what I would do , I'd take the dog out hunting but would not even take a gun with me until the dog was steady to flush again ....and then I'd take things cautiously onwards from there. Dogs still enjoy hunting even if the game they find is not shot, make use of that to get the dog steady. I'd add some stop to shot training too with and without any birds being flushed. The shot becomes a command to stay where you are.

Bill T.

[CDN_Cocker]

I do kill the bird. I don't like that she breaks. Very dangerous & I don't want her shot

I think the obvious answer here is don't kill the bird. You're rewarding her for chasing.

[trueblu]

Maybe I missed something, but you say the trainer used pigeons and she was perfect when you picked her up. Did the trainer stop at pigeons? Did the trainer, get the dog steady to shot on pigeons, then move to pen quail? You have inadvertently skipped a bunch of steps-steady in the yard on pigeons, steady in the yard on quail, steady in the yard to gunshot, steady to flush, shot, kill, and fall in the yard, etc. First year is all about reinforcing steadiness in hunting situations, with one gunner and one shot, you as the handler, not shooting. I'd absolutely have not hunted her like that, but since you are already on your way to teaching her to break on the flush, I'd certainly stop hunting her and go back to the yard. Once you've got the dog broke in the yard, dead broke, there still is NO perfect or perfectly broke, THEN, next year, I'd hunt her alone, not with other dogs, not with multiple hunters, and handle the dog yourself. If she breaks, correct her, teach her what you expect. You are ingraining some bad habits that will be much tougher to correct later. Further, anything bad needs to happen in the yard, not while hunting!!

[blanked]

A dog that breaks at the flush will reduce lost cripples. You and your son need to have the discipline to not shoot if the dog is in danger. Same as if your hunting a flusher. Very common

[CDN_Cocker]

A dog that breaks at the flush will reduce lost cripples. You and your son need to have the discipline to not shoot if the dog is in danger. Same as if your hunting a flusher. Very common

I'm not sure I agree with this. A steady dog marks the fall of the bird - dead or crippled - better than one that is in motion as soon as it hears the gun go off.

[Neil]

Nearly every dog I have ever trained was still being fined tuned the day they retired, I was still training and they were still learning. Much of that training goes on while hunting. After the dog fully know stw&s, stf, whoa, and back, I reinforce with the e-collar. While hunting, I can shoot and remind the dog to be steady in seconds. I practice.

Hunt and continue to train -enjoy.