Bird snafu during training how do you handle?

[bamanicksbd]

We have switched from pigeons to quail training wise. Getting ready to move up to derby division nbha. Working on steady to wing and shot with blank pistol. Nick is a year old will retrieve some when he feels like it. Planning to do trained retrieve this summer.

So early on with quail i used tip up release with good results. Have a good source for mostly good flushing and flying quail. Leading up to trial next week ive been "dizzying" the birds and tossing them into likely cover areas like the bird guys do at trials. As lots of you know how dizzy is too dizzy is very hit n miss. Some flush and fly well but some just try to run and others flush but only fly a short distance and sit down. So this past week has been a train wreck. One bird ran then circled and ran right dead on into the dog. He remained steady until the bird ran into him then he says he acted in self defense. Lol I did not want to be harsh with him with the bird in his mouth so the best I could come up with was to say "dead bird" and we pretended like he retrieved it. Best I could do on short notice.

Didnt cause any real problems he pointed and held the next bird. So today we get a beautiful point and hold. I let him stand for a cpl minutes i could see the bird hunkered down under a clump of grass. I kicked around some and poked around with my diy flushing whip. Nick held staunch so I flushed the bird. It got up i fired my 209 blank and it looked like the dang bird didnt know it was a blank. It dropped right back down. Nick has stood for all the above and now he is looking right at the bird. I had fired and almost just called dead bird and let him go get it but i could see it was running in an open area and I didnt want to encourage chasing a running bird. Of course i praised him and then got him by collar and tried to get him to go in opposite direction. Well he is too smart for his own good. He knows exactly where that bird went and thinks im crazy for now wanting to go away from it. He says "dang bd are we bird hunting or not?" " There is a bird right over there and Im gonna go show you again right where he is." And he proceeded to do just that. So, yes he is disobeying a direct command but he is also amped up and bird crazy and wants that bird. I dont want to be harsh and create an issue where there isnt one and I really dont want to discourage him wanting the bird.

So here is the question. In these situations during training where the bird has ideas that are not consistent with the game plan how do you handle them? What do you do to try to make the best of the situation?

Any ideas and input greatly appreciated.

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[shags]

In that first instance you rewarded the dog for doing something wrong. The rule is "no grabbing birds", correct? He grabbed it and got to keep it. Bad bamanicksbd! Bad boy!

The way I'm reading the situation, I would have taken the bird out of his mouth without saying anything, and in a firm manner with stern body language. Hard to explain, but the attitude is " my birds until *I* say you can retrieve and not a second before". Then firmly set the dog back to his original position. Most of the time I go through a fake flush and a shot then collar the dog out of there and on to the next bird. Depends on the whole scenario.

The second situation was a delayed chase. Works in a hunting situation, not so much in competition (I don't know about nbha, their rules might be different from the games we play). Your dog disobeyed your command to go with you, doing his own thing instead. So you go over there, grab his collar, and pull him outta there. I usually add "Whaddayadoin'?!" Get a sensible distance away, release the dog away from the scene of the crime and stay on him until you're sure he isn't going back on you.

The thing is to be firm but not angry. Correct the wrong behavior, make him do the correct behavior however belatedly, then move on to the next bird. On really bad days where the dog can't pull himself together and does a couple poor bird contacts in a row, sometimes it's better to just quit the birds and finish up with something you know he can do, like heel to you, so you end the session on some kind of positive note.

Don't get sucked in to the thing where you don't correct around birds ever. That works for little baby puppies, but there comes a point in development that the dog knows but maybe forgets or disregards the correct behavior so you have to remind hin. If you don't get rough you won't spook him off birds if the desire and trainability is there. Some dogs can take a little bit of physical correction, like a shake of the collar, but not a harsh word or vice versa. Do what works for your dog.