More Stocked Pheasants in NY
 

I've had Grayson out for these birds and he is doing well. Still working on retrieving, not sure how to assist him in learning to retrieve. He will pin a bird with an open mouth, but he wont pick it up so far. He does well with finding and pointing and holds tight at the flush, but he wants to chase the bird at the shot. It sure is a lot of fun seeing him develop!

Hixie,
congratulations with your dogs progress. My brittany will mouth a bird, sometimes bring it part way back. Sometimes he just leaves it. The last 2 weeks or so I have been hunting with a friend who has a 2 year old female brittany. About 3 hunts ago, my brittany cash started picking up birds and bringing them right to me. On one point, cash had pointed a woodcock and lucy the female brittany was honoring. The woodcock flushed hard to my right, cash and lucy rushed to the bird, cash got there first and trotted around for a while. I called him over, he gave me the bird, I gave him a treat, and we sure had a nice moment. I called the breeder of my brittany and asked him why he suddenly started retrieving. My breeder said my dog cash got tired of lucy picking up his pointed birds. I will see how he does alone without lucy, but in the last couple weeks, he sure seems more eager to do more than mouth a bird. Good luck, I read a bunch of articles on retrieving, my best moments have been with cash out in the yard and I will toss a retrieving dummy and when he fetches it back to me we have a good moment together, sometimes a treat. I wish you the best, your dog is looking good.

Ted,
There are tons of dog training books to help you. I'm not a trainer but have trained a good number of GSPs and even one Setter. I do a lot of yard play for retrieving training. A Knog Toy with a rope thru the center works well for distance throwing. I use only one or two commands -FETCH or FETCH IT UP. It is a game they love to play. Usually I wear out before they do.
Steady to wing and shot is a whole different ball game. You can't train and hunt at the same time. You will need a long (15' ) check cord, someone to hold it when the dog goes on point and a second person who does the flush. Pen raised birds are many times used. Don't let the dog catch the bird!!!!! They like it too much and it is a hard, bad habit, to break. I'm a hunter not a field trialer so I only work on the steady to flush.
In the field if the dog will pick up the dead bird but not bring it back I excitedly command FETCH or FETCH IT UP while running away from the dog with much animation . I don't know why but it works.
Not a great training lesson here but it could be a start for you.
Bob Jurewicz

Thanks guys, sounds like good advice and ideas which I really appreciate. We've done the yard game and continue to do so. He loves to retrieve and on occasion he will take a victory lab around the yard, but he will always come in when I use the FETCH or FETCH IT command. He will also pick up ANYTHING, any object that he encounters that interests him. Except, of course for pheasants, grouse and woodcock so far. He has always had a very soft mouth on objects that he is carrying and my sense is that he doesn't want to injure or damage the bird. He will mouth them but he won't pick them up. I'll do some research and keep at it. Thanks again for the interest and advice.

Have you tried just throwing a wing?

Ted,
I forgot to tell you that I use wire and twist around a pheasant wing to attach to the throwing dummy. My breeder told me to leave the wire stick out just a bit and it would teach him to have a soft mouth. It doesn't sound like that will be a problem for your dog. Congratulations again

Bob’s suggestion of running away is spot on. He wants to be with you.

Work on getting him to carry and hold a bumper or whatever when walking at heal for a half a dozen steps to start and you’ll be on your way. Gradually increase the number of steps and your well on your way. Just quit with him wanting more, that’s about the time you think one more and we will quit. Woodcock for some dogs aren’t pleasant.

Ted, with Grace when she was less than 6 months old I got a retrieving dummy. I had a load of grouse tail feathers and Kathy stitched them to a piece of cloth then I wrapped it around the dummy, applied liquid training grouse scent. We made a game of it... I would hold her, throw the dummy and holler BANG while holding her. Ten seconds after it hit the ground I would let her go. At the moment she is about to pick it up I command COME! or FETCH! Almost every time she would pick it up and run back to me. She was 5 months old when she retrieved her first grouse. But she’s one of thise dogs you read about that will not retrieve a woodcock. She retrieved her first half-dozen but she won’t anymore. She’ll pick it up and drop it right away and stand over it and tell me “You want it so badly, You pick it up!” She still retrieves grouse very well.





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and some times a pup comes along that never has to be trained and her name was penny....charlie

Throw the dummy in the hallway with no way to go but back to you. Make it fun with reward and praise. It starts in the house before outside. No reward unless they come all the way in.

Then outside in another controlled area with no other choice but to return. Till it is automatic.

Then there is the other way....but it is best avoided...