Advice on 2 yr old English setter

barleyman

I'v a 2 yr old english setter who up to last week had the making of the best dog i've ever owned. He quarted well and was rock steady on grouse and pheasant to a point where he was getting too sticky. I've been taking him out at least 3 days a week on either grouse or pheasant and had got him to the point where I was seriously excited about the coming season. But all that has changed in the last week, seems to me since he started meeting snipe, he now only half sets the pheasants and snipe and just keeps pushing them until they flush. It is very fustrating to see this happening after all the work i've put into him. Is there something that can be done to settle him down again?...before I go insane!!

arrowloopboy

I've had two English setters,put f all time into any of them ,just brought them out a couple of times at the start of the season.
When they were going well they were world class but they some days had minds of their own.I've put guys to shame that had put lots of work into their dogs ,and have to say as setting dogs go the English setter is head and shoulders above anything else.
I've brought my lad home after 8 hrs of hunting and he'd go himself then for a few more hrs,unreal engine in em.
Sorry i couldn't help.

deeksofdoom

I'm no expert, are you shooting anything for him.

If your bringing the dog out that much and he's setting pheasant, grouse and snipe and then your not shooting a bird for him, then I'ld say that could be your problem.

barleyman

No, I haven't shot anything over him yet but your the second person that has said that to me so maybe you have a point. I will try and knock a few snipe over him tomorrow to see if that makes a difference.

snipe02

barleyman wrote: »

I'v a 2 yr old english setter who up to last week had the making of the best dog i've ever owned. He quarted well and was rock steady on grouse and pheasant to a point where he was getting too sticky. I've been taking him out at least 3 days a week on either grouse or pheasant and had got him to the point where I was seriously excited about the coming season. But all that has changed in the last week, seems to me since he started meeting snipe, he now only half sets the pheasants and snipe and just keeps pushing them until they flush. It is very fustrating to see this happening after all the work i've put into him. Is there something that can be done to settle him down again?...before I go insane!!

dont bring him out for a week then shoot the next thing he sets .or at least fire a shot and give him a dummy retrieve he has not been rewarded for any of his hard work .best of luck with him

greylag

barleyman wrote: »

I'v a 2 yr old english setter who up to last week had the making of the best dog i've ever owned. He quarted well and was rock steady on grouse and pheasant to a point where he was getting too sticky. I've been taking him out at least 3 days a week on either grouse or pheasant and had got him to the point where I was seriously excited about the coming season. But all that has changed in the last week, seems to me since he started meeting snipe, he now only half sets the pheasants and snipe and just keeps pushing them until they flush. It is very fustrating to see this happening after all the work i've put into him. Is there something that can be done to settle him down again?...before I go insane!!

how ya getting on with english setter? i have 3 at the moment and have never used any other breed of dog for pheasant shooting for the last 25 years. when he has a cock shot for him on monday he will improve no end. i have always said it that an english setter will not settle down fully until they are 3 years old. i had a similar problem with a 2 year old bitch last season. i gave her a chance and she is working brill this year. be patient and let me know how he is working in a month after a few birds shot for him. trust me, if he is working as well as u say he is at 2 years of age i would buy him of ya myself, he will come good.

barleyman

I did as I was told and walked him on the lead all of last week. I took him to the mountain on Monday and shot a number of snipe over him which he set very well. He seemed to lose the run of himself after that and started flushing the birds again(think he gets to excited) so I walked him on the lead for about an hour and left the older dog run. I gave him another chance on the way back and he set 4 or 5 snipe and a running hen pheasant perfectly. I took a few hours of work yesterday to take him for another run and he set everything we met so I'm very happy!!

KareMart

Working with English Setters requires a different mindset as with other hunting dogs. Sometime you take one step forward and two back, specially before they are 3 years old. Keep the hard work and be patient. Make sure you shoot only those births that the dog has worked perfectly.
I currently have the same problem with my 2 year old Setter bitch.
Patience and consistency is the key to success.

Regards,

Karemart

irish setter

it shouldn't matter if you shoot birds over him or not. your right to pick him up if he gets wild because that lets him know that is not wanted. it's important to nip creeping on birds early and shooting birds when he gets it right helps because it show's him what to do to get results. next time he creeps give a shout for him to stay or drop him if you can and get up to him and make sure he don't move untill you give the signal.