Dog 1, Tbone 0

[T Bone]

Went out for a quick chuckar hunt Friday evening. I'm moving in slow motion due to a deep bruise on my heel from the sheep hunt.....

Bonnie my GSP starts getting birdy and locks up tight in some rocks about 60 yards uphill from me. I start circling around to come in from the side so I'm not shooting uphill over the dog. I guess I didn't move in fast enough because the covey flushed. I didn't even shoot as they were still far away. Then I see Bonnie running toward me with a bird in her mouth pleased as could be!

She plucked one out of the air on the flush! I hope she's not ruined!

Maybe I'll leave the shotgun at home and just take the dog....

 

[JoseCuervo]

Congrats on the good aiming.... to Bonnie...

I had a Britt that would grab about 1 bird a year. I never figured out what was the deciding factor on him grabbing the bird, unless it was after I had missed 3 in a row...

 

[Calif. Hunter]

It's generally not a good thing to let the dog catch the birds. It can lead them to busting point. You want them to hold point even after the birds flush - this keeps you from shooting the dog accidently as it jumps in the air after a flushing bird. How much formal training have you done, Tyson? I would suggest some reinforcement of "Whoa" in the presence of birds - pigeons, dead birds on a string, etc. - to steady the dog on point. The big reward for the dog should be the retrieve - but after you have shot the bird.

 

[T Bone]

Cal Hunter,

I hope this incident didn't ruin her. I havn't trained as much as I should but she's pretty good about holding.

I'm hoping that she being a young dod, the 1st hunt of the year combined with she was in the middle of a covey of 20+ birds pushed her over the edge into chomping a bird out of the air.

I'll hit the training pretty consistent before I take her out again. Maybe this incident can be erased from her brain.

T Bone

 

[Ovis]

You gonna mount the bird for her?