When will she stop chaseing birds?

[oldbeek]

My Britt is 20 months old. Been in training since day one. Still chases released birds for 1/4 mile. Should I just release the pigeon when she gets near the trap and say nothing? She is still not steady to shot. How do you get dog to stop on flush? Seen Higgins magic brush pile video.

[gundogguy]

The short answer of when you dog will stop chasing is when you force her not to chase. "Demonstrate, Force, Maintain standards". What you are doing now only gives her permission to chase. Each time she is allowed to pleasure her self with a long chase will only make the task more difficult. You need to show her exactly what you want her to do under the circumstances of a bird flying.
Watching video' is a good thing but at some point you need to convey to the dog what it is you want the dog to do. Literally walk the dog through the process adding force where it is appropriate to convey your message. Video of your sessions would be most helpful.

In the vid clip I'm working with an 8 month old Brittany, Dixie She is being gun proofed pointing birds and learning to be confident around moving birds, along with retrieving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8nCnPJCCIY

[aulrich]

x2

I am guessing you are just doing steadying drills that you see off of youtube, the big problem with that is they are not complete, the steadying (along with most other advanced training) is a process that is best done in logical small increments. Though there are probably more here are a couple of common published systems. All these systems incrementally move a dog through the steadying process, the biggest issue is matching what resources you have to what the system needs. I have access to homing pigeons and a helper so perfect start/finish worked well for me.

Training with Mo (Book)
Perfect start / finish (DVD)
Silent command (Huntsmith DVD)

[CDN_Cocker]

I think at almost 2 years old you are fine to start enforcing that she can't chase. Don't allow it. Position yourself where you can intercept or put a longe line on her. 20 months is a long time to get away with chasing

[polmaise]

What you are doing now only gives her permission to chase. Each time she is allowed to pleasure her self with a long chase will only make the task more difficult. You need to show her exactly what you want her to do under the circumstances of a bird flying.
Watching video' is a good thing but at some point you need to convey to the dog what it is you want the dog to do.

For those that are interested :
The quote above is more simplistic in words than achievement, although very true.
If the act is already been allowed then the best videos showing how it should be done are of no use!?
Let me ask you this ?..If the dog has not chased or allowed to chase then How does it know what the result is?..If the dog has been trained to hunt on scent and the stop whistle has been conditioned ,then surely the dog will stop on that stop whistle when hunting? There are 'some' that require the opposite approach ! ..That's probably why 'gundogguy' asked for a video clip of your dog?..
I took a young pup spaniel on his first hunt in the company of others on live game before he ever seen a bird or had a bird in his mouth! He hunted the ground with his nose 'like we done in training' and he stopped to shot, 'like we done in training' and he stopped to flush 'like we done in training' with the pigeons,and he remained in the sit/stop on the fall of the bird 'like we did in training' and he was cast to retrieve 'like we did in training' ,and he delivered to hand 'like we did in training' and we hunted on 'like we did in training' . .....A good day for all!
I have more than 100 that require a different approach , but then they have not had the same 'process' .
Or you could just keep doing what you are doing or watch videos of other folks dogs that do what you want your dog to do .

[setterpoint]

teach the dog whoa and enforce it. as long as you let the dog chase the longer the dog will chase. so take dog off birds whoa train then take the dog to the field use rope say whoa and have a helper throw birds out in front about 100 feet from dog and move in a little when the dog stands while birds are thrown if the dog moves enforce whoa. but make sure the dog knows whoa befor you start to throw birds

[kninebirddog]

This is where I have found Rick and Ronnie Smith whoa method works the best and does this with out taking desire or style from the dog.
http://www.huntsmith.com/article.php?id=15
http://www.huntsmith.com/article.php?id=16
These two articles are about the whoa post the smith method..Once you have the dog where you can do a very light stimulation and the dog stops then you can go into the field and wild flush pigeons you want to start this with out the scent cone of the bird and when the dog commits to the chase you can cue to stop.keep doing this till the dog stops on their own when a bird flushes. Once the dog is stopping on the flush of the bird where you do not have to use stimulation. Then you work into the wind with the scent cone ...when the dog is main lining on scent then flush the bird if the dog commits to the chase then cue to stop then one magic day the dog will begin to stop on scent ...It may take a long while but for those determined to chase dogs it is

Good Luck My stick it in over drive on a bird dog became one of my most honest bird dogs oce she got the message

[oldbeek]

Anybody but me read on this site. Let them chase and they will soon learn they can't catch them. Guess I should go with, never believe anything you read on the internet. Back to the drawing board! Going to work as Kninebirddog suggested.

[Big bloc]

I don't believe in chase. Never have and never will. Depends on the dog I shut them down at 5or 6 months maybe sooner. The CC goes on and does not come off until they drag it around like its not there. Only then I have full compliance it comes off. Good luck

[cjhills]

Anybody but me read on this site. Let them chase and they will soon learn they can't catch them. Guess I should go with, never believe anything you read on the internet. Back to the drawing board! Going to work as Kninebirddog suggested.

Personally, I do not Believe dogs chase because they think they can catch the bird. I think they chase because they think it is fun to chase. Some may stop on there own, but some will chase forever if you allow it.
Chasing early in life, if you need to build prey drive does not hurt. But after six months I put the smack down on chasing. The longer they do it the harder it is to stop....................Cj

[shags]

Anybody but me read on this site. Let them chase and they will soon learn they can't catch them. Guess I should go with, never believe anything you read on the internet. Back to the drawing board! Going to work as Kninebirddog suggested.

You can't take one small part of the breaking/development process out of context and expect to have a steady dog. If it were as easy as simply letting them chase for months on end there would be no need for training books, DVDs, or internet forums. Letting the dog figure things out on their own without any clarification by us works for some - probably a small percentage. Most dogs need more work.

In my experience the "let 'em chase" thing works to get a dog to point rather than to find and rip. Once he's regularly standing before ripping then you must read the dog to understand if he is ready for you continue the process. There are lots of methods for steadying, just pick one that suits you. Some whoa break, some use the whoa post, some use a checkcord, etc.

Good luck.

[oldbeek]

Thanks for the replies. I knew she had all the drive she needed at 3 months. Poor trainer ME! Took her out today with the flank collar and 2 pigeons and traps. First bird was approached upwind. Launched bird. Immediately as she started to chase, gave her a light stem and a low audible whoa. She stopped to watch the bird fly. Second bird same approach. Light stem only and she locked solid. She is really smart. Lots smarter than the trainer. Only needed direction.

[Sharon]

Great to hear someone profit from the discussions. Well done!

[oldbeek]

Seven weeks since last post. We put 3 bobs in a launcher. When she pointed it we launched the mini covey. Shot one and she held steady waiting for a fetch command. She actually watched the 2 birds that were not shot and flew in the opposite direction of downed bird. I got eye contact and with a hand direction signal sent her in the direction of the downed bird. She fetched it perfectly to hand. Then we hunted up the other birds in perfect style. It is such a pleasure to work a well trained dog. Next week I will run her in a brace with another broke dog. See if she will honor a real dog. She now honors the back up jack but is not impressed. Jack is too skinney.

[setterpoint]

when you make the dog stop

[gundogguy]

when you make the dog stop

5 very well stated words! +1