Labrador Pegging Birds - How To Stop This?

[fabiomilitello 37]

Hi all,

 

I have been working my 2 year old labrador all season and he has been as good as gold. I work him on the beating line, he stops on the whistle, recalls, and takes basic casting hand signals when he's quartering in bramble.

 

However, on the last drive of the shoot I work him on, it's duck only. As you can imagine, its manic - ducks falling everywhere, being shot or just landing in ponds out of exhaustion.

At first, he was fine with this, but as the season went on, it seems he got more and more excited when it came to this drive. It's gotten to the point where I now need to keep him on the lead during the duck only drive, because he will run off to get retrieves without me sending him in - and worst of all, if a duck lands in a pond out of exhaustion, he will dive into it to try and retrieve it, and i can't get him out with all the whistle pipping and swearing in the world.

 

How can I stop him from doing this? In the off season I am going to work heavily on his retrieving, and hopefully a side effect of this will sort the problem out. But I'm unsure about whether or not it will work, and don't want him to peg another load of unshot ducks next season for me to find out!

 

 

[jangles 24]

If you allow the dog to run amok in a situation like this then you are teaching him to ignore you. If he thinks he can get away with it (which he does) he will eventually start to run in on other drives.You have already answered your own question - put him back on a lead ! Wait until all the excitement has subsided then quietly give him just a 'few' retrieves.

 

Jangles

[wilbur foxhound 480]

a dog would be best used for beating or picking up but not both as it can confuse them,the dog is basically running in it needs to see more duck landing and told no also when thedog is sitting and a bird lands close to the dog make the dog sit and you go and pick it up it may think it has to get every retrieve ,hope this helps

[forest of dean redneck 11,536]

Sounds the ideal start for lurcher breeding lol

[fabiomilitello 37]

If you allow the dog to run amok in a situation like this then you are teaching him to ignore you. If he thinks he can get away with it (which he does) he will eventually start to run in on other drives.You have already answered your own question - put him back on a lead ! Wait until all the excitement has subsided then quietly give him just a 'few' retrieves.

 

Jangles

He's been on the lead since he began getting brave about running about, and he won't be let off it now for the rest of the season. You should hear the whines!

 

I'm going to just do some strict retrieving training, and hopefully he'll get the idea that the duck drive doesn't mean he can just run amok.

 

Thanks for your advice mate

[jessdale 416]

The last thing you want to do is retrieve training. The dog can already retrieve! By repeatedly taking the dog to the duck drive you are training him to do what he wants. Why don't you put the dog away before the duck drive?. The dog now whines, which is a massive no-no, and something that is almost incurable. You want to train the dog heal work and steadiness until it is 100% doing exactly what you tell it to do. Then do it some more. Retrieving is the last thing you should be doing

[jiggy 3,209]

Bring him into a closed in pen with wing clipped ducks in it away from the shoot start off on lead until he settles to sit without lead similar to using a rabbit pen to steady a spaniel. There's to much going on at a shoot to try steady him there.

[hily 379]

The last thing you want to do is retrieve training. The dog can already retrieve! By repeatedly taking the dog to the duck drive you are training him to do what he wants. Why don't you put the dog away before the duck drive?. The dog now whines, which is a massive no-no, and something that is almost incurable. You want to train the dog heal work and steadiness until it is 100% doing exactly what you tell it to do. Then do it some more. Retrieving is the last thing you should be doing

agree with no more retrieving work on stop and recall + steadying situations.

[greenshank1 407]

Go back to basics , recall , sitting staying , walking at heel .

If he is only 2 , is this his first season of work ?

If it is he is still really young to do a full day , you have got to manage his opportunities, the last manic drive of the day with lots of gunshot and ducks dropping out the sky is not the place to have a young inexperienced dog. Sounds like this would test a fully experienced dog. Maybe skip this drive , keep him on the lead or at heel or ask to get put on the outside of the drive where he can't get too involved.

Set him up to succeed. Run him where you know he will get a flush , or one or two retrieves. Alternate working him off the lead and walking at heel throughout the day.

 

He's only young and it's easy to do too much too soon.

[kanigra 110]

My chocolate 2yr old cocker has done the same on a pheasant shoot. She's been doing brilliant on her first season. But a very wet day recently with lots of pheasants in a thick hedge. The birds were wet so we're running not flushing and she pegged one I couldn't get in the hedge to scold her. She came out retrieving the pheasant to hand looking very pleased with herself. I ignored her took the bird off her dispatched it. Training excercises since that have been her sitting up and me throwing tennis balls all round her and telling her to leave . Then calling her away or picking them up myself. Considering she is ball mad she's done exceptionally well. Will find out tomorrow if she's better. But I'll be working on it all through this summer. Hope this helps.

[wilbur foxhound 480]

My chocolate 2yr old cocker has done the same on a pheasant shoot. She's been doing brilliant on her first season. But a very wet day recently with lots of pheasants in a thick hedge. The birds were wet so we're running not flushing and she pegged one I couldn't get in the hedge to scold her. She came out retrieving the pheasant to hand looking very pleased with herself. I ignored her took the bird off her dispatched it. Training excercises since that have been her sitting up and me throwing tennis balls all round her and telling her to leave . Then calling her away or picking them up myself. Considering she is ball mad she's done exceptionally well. Will find out tomorrow if she's better. But I'll be working on it all through this summer. Hope this helps.

I'm sure every spaniel has done that at least once