finishing school

natdog

lads anyone know a good trainer for my irish setter he will be 2yrs in august and he is a good dog but still weak on holding a set and then when the bird is flushed he chases it but will return on the call.
have shot birds over him this season and he retrieved most of them.
If there is anyone in the leinster area that finishes dogs could you let me know and what kind of money would you be talking

EPointer=Birdss

natdog wrote: »

lads anyone know a good trainer for my irish setter he will be 2yrs in august and he is a good dog but still weak on holding a set and then when the bird is flushed he chases it but will return on the call.
have shot birds over him this season and he retrieved most of them.
If there is anyone in the leinster area that finishes dogs could you let me know and what kind of money would you be talking

Train him to drop if you don't want him chasin on the shot.
Do it in the yard, move it into the field & then do it with birds.

Buy yourself a decent checkcord.

I personally don't as my fella has the bird back to me in no time & I like it that way but others like steady to flush & shot. Esp. if going the trialling route which I doubt you are at this stage.

I generally shoot on my own or with an experienced buddy & we never shoot low birds no matter what so factor out the risk element.
Also if you have a runner it needs to be a good dog to track em down, quicker he's on him better chance he has.
(My opinion i know a few others have their own preferences)
Have a look at the videos to see what I mean by been on em in no time.

As for steadyness on the bird, stop shooting em until he is steady. Your only encouraging it sure.
Now he may settle down with age but he may not.

Do a bit of reading mate, don't waste your money... :cool:

natdog

thanks for the reply have done some reading but the variation on opinions is unreal

irish setter

this is a problem i see a fair bit in irish setters and can have many causes and some are man made. e pointer makes good points about teaching him to drop and getting the recall spot on in the training field away from birds. if you haven't been using the check cord on him as a pup i wouldn't start now as you could spoil him. you could try to get your hands on a bird to plant. if he was shot over pigeon may not do as he might not point them. if you can get a pheasant and plant him in a controlled situation and work the dog into the wind towards the bird. the trick is to be close enough to get to him before he breaks and hold him back, stroke and praise him, pick him up and walk away. the way he is thinking now is he points the bird, he flushes the bird when he feels like it and its all good because as soon as he flushes he gets to chase and you prob fire a shot and sometimes the birds fall so he thinks he is doing it right. thats why it is important for you to drop him when he flushes and only shoot when he does it right.

natdog

thanks for the reply i think i will keep working him myself hes a great dog just didnt want to make a mess of him myself i have all summer to get him right.