Dog Has Lost Interest in Birds!

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diane303	Dog Has Lost Interest in Birds!	Lead	[-]
Posts: 1 (28 June, 2009 21:03:00) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : lost, interest, birds I have a 5 year old English Setter (FDSB) and I admit, I started her late. Last year and earlier this spring we finally got into the field for a clinic and she did great! Finding birds like crazy and pointing stylishly. I entered her in two Jr. Hunt Tests this spring and she passes both of them very respectably. Her first test was 3 - 7s and 1- 8 Her pointing was beautiful, her obedience was so so and she started out wanting to have a great run first and then got to business.) and her second test was all 8s. Not perfect by very respectable. She found her first bird before the bird field. This month we went to a clinic and when we went out in the field, she seemed to have lost all interest in birds. The first day (last week) was very hot and wet - she pointed one quail and was done - apparently overheated. Panting like crazy. I cooled her down and put her away. Today was the second day and it was beautiful out in the field with dry condition and lots of breeze. She had NO INTEREST! She ran out in field and was easy to direct but seemed to not even know about the quail. I even planted one out in plain sight and she ignored it. What happened? What could I have done to cause this. What can I do to get her back?
Eric Begbie		#1	[-]
Posts: 1879 (29 June, 2009 10:25:12) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Diane, I think that Des or MG are probably the best qualified on the Forum to give an opinion on this. Hope one of them picks it up.
Des ONeile		#2	[-]
Posts: 2489 (29 June, 2009 16:00:11) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	This could be down to so many things:- 1. This is a @++@ and whereas most bitches are in the prime of their life just before they break they are also quite likely to be way off form after a season, the worst period being their "puppy time" i.e. about nine weeks after. 2. If you used something to curtail her season she may not react as you would expect, even bitches that have had a particular drug used on them for years can have very negative reactions more or less out of the blue. 3. I presume that your shootng season ended somewhere around the same time as ours, 31st January. I will be starting training this week on 1st July and I don't expect my dogs to last more than five minutes. With the weather being so hot with us ths year, 25c this afternoon, and humid, I may have to pull them up even before five minutes and I will be taking 25L. (5 imp gal) to the hill with me and don't expect to bring that much back. 4. If the @++@ has been trained incessently she may just be fed up and a rest from training will do her good. These are just some of the more likely reason but there are many more. She couldn't be in whelp?
diane303		#3	[-]
Posts: 2 (29 June, 2009 19:57:34) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Thanks for the reply! She has been spayed. I decided to not breed her because I don't believe her conformation warrants breeding and she has has some medical problems. She had HOD as a pup and she has a kink in her tail (could have been stepped on my Mom). I have been working on the forced retrieve and she is pretty soft. We also train obedience and agility but we are on a light schedule right now because I don't really like chasing points for CH. Right now I'd really rather do field work. We have been working on Senior level skills (a good staunch point, don't chaise the flushed bird, retrieving, and honoring) and I'm afraid that I might have put her off birds by making it clear that she won't be able to catch one. This weekend was pretty ideal in the morning for bird work even though she doesn't do well in the heat. The only other thing that I can think of is that I sprayed them both mornings with a natural oil tick repellent (eucalyptus, rose geranium, citronella) that has a fragrance and it could have put her nose off on birds. She did hunt objectives out in the field and I gave her plenty of time and range but she just seemed to not be able to find anything (I know where the birds were planted).
crackerd		#4	[-]
Posts: 771 (29 June, 2009 23:03:27) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Des has got this one pretty much to himself, Eric. I can only speculate and encapsulate it as "show dog" in spite of the FDSB (field dog stud book) registration. "Chasing CH points," "not breeding for conformation," AKC JH tests, agility and obedience (anathema, both, to field-bred setter aficionados)--just doesn't ring true to what I know of trial-bred setters. Also the force-fetching--in our big birddog trials, no retrieve required, only in AKC tests (and some trials). As they used to say on "Seinfeld" apropos another "breed split," "Not that there's anything wrong with that." But... Was about to ask, from the sentence structure, What's up with atomizing the birds, and are you preparing them for a funeral or to be pointed by your dog? But figured out only the dogs were getting a fragrant coating, which could, one supposes affect scenting. The dog needs more birds, less obedience, and altogether no agility--that is, if you're intending to have a real birddog and not one that runs hunt tests to "prove it." Good luck, MG
diane303		#5	[-]
Posts: 3 (30 June, 2009 03:13:52) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hey - first of all, I'm not trying to prove anything. Just taking her out in the field to do what she was bred to do, even though I am not a bird hunter. Yes I enjoy trialing my dog in stuff that she is good at and enjoy getting recognized for it. I mean - why do you field trial? I don't see that it makes a difference whether I'm planning to hunt in the Dakotas, Field Trial or hunt test. I was just wondering if anyone has seen a dog that went from reliably birdy to Nada and why it might happen. She had a great attitude from day one so I bought her originally as a companion. She comes from some decent blood lines - Stillmeadow Jim, Diablo Jake, Stokley's Gypsy's Clancy. She's not hard-wired birdy, probably because I didn't work with her in the field as a pup, but demonstrated talent and enthusiasm out in the field and I really enjoyed being with her out there and she has always found and pointed birds. I trust her and don't nag her even though she has a pretty large range. She's a real partner in just about everything we do. She did consistently well at the hunt test so we continue. If she acted like a bench setter and didn't show any natural ability or interest in being on birds, I wouldn't have bothered. We do enough stuff already. The field that we train in has a lot of ticks. A lot of tick born diseases, including Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, has shown up in local dogs. I shouldn't have sprayed her. My Pointer was not her crazy birdy self either. My pointer, I'm pretty sure was bred to do "big field trials" and I can't really trust her on foot. It's pretty much "I'm hunting - See you back at the truck when I'm hungry". I'm a dweeb about ticks - I'll just do a thorough tick check after I go home. What do you know about agility? My E. pointer is a rescue and it was the only thing that got her out of a totally funky shut-down state. Maybe when she finally shut down and didn't do well in a trial, they got a load of pups from her and cut her loose. I always wondered how hard she was trained to get the fantastic "whoa" of hers. It comes in handy on the agility course.
diane303		#6	[-]
Posts: 4 (30 June, 2009 19:08:36) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Des (and others), What in the H@<< do you mean by @*++@!!??? I've decided to not do any training and try to make it a good thing again. In a couple of weeks we're going out to the field with friends, birds and a few other dogs. A friend of mine who gets birds said that he would get some pheasant and that would be a good test for her. She has pointed pheasant after her first hunt test. Her point was so staunch that she was shaking and she just about exploded when it flushed. You would think that she had found a UFO. I've got a few opportunities up until Nov and then we will reassess. If she doesn't show much interest up until that time, I'll figure that she's just not birdy. You can't steer a parked car. Last Edited By: diane303 30 June, 2009 21:00:50. Edited 1 times.
Des ONeile		#7	[-]
Posts: 2491 ( 1 July, 2009 11:52:41) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	This forum has a very PC automatic language controller. The gobbyledgook in my post was where I tried to type B I T C H. I am afraid that I can't decypher H@<< or @*++@!!??? in yours.
diane303		#8	[-]
Posts: 5 ( 1 July, 2009 14:17:44) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Des, LOL! It let you use the word in plural! The @*++@!! is YOUR gobbyledgook and the H@<< - as in hell - was just me being goofy . This whole think just threw me for a loop because I GOT HOOKED on being in the field with my dogs. I was even considering learning how to shoulder a shotgun and go out hunting next time I actually got invited. Everyone was telling me to start training her retreive and steadyness to wing - and she just stopped. Well - if she doesn't show any interest by the time NOV comes up, it's back to the agility field.
Eric Begbie		#9	[-]
Posts: 1881 ( 2 July, 2009 09:23:03) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Problem is that Yuku is an American company and their profanity filter censors perfectly respectable language such as bitch and cock, which gundog owners use all the time. I have disabled the profanity filter and hope that posters won't abuse the privilege. Sometimes the Americans' misuse of the Queen's English gets quite funny. Over there the fanny is a different part of the anatomy from that found in the UK (although only by a few inches), and they don't seem to eat faggots the way we do.
crackerd		#10	[-]
Posts: 773 ( 3 July, 2009 01:24:36) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	And what's any of that got to do with losing interest in "birds" , Eric? MG
Eric Begbie		#11	[-]
Posts: 1882 ( 3 July, 2009 21:25:14) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	crackerd wrote: And what's any of that got to do with losing interest in "birds" , Eric? MG None whatsoever. The discussion had left that topic and centred (you might say centered) upon Yuku's weird American profanity filter.
crackerd		#12	[-]
Posts: 774 ( 4 July, 2009 01:02:01) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tongue was planted firmly in quotes, Eric. As, apropos of your lexicon lesson, there is losing interest in birds, and there is losing interest in "birds." Though my dog may some day be indifferent to the former, one's hopeful the dog's master shan't, vis-a-vis the latter... MG
diane303		#13	[-]
Posts: 7 ( 7 July, 2009 17:10:10) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Very weird in that the filter allowed the word "bitches" (plural) but did not allow the singular. In the UK, I suppose, this word can actually be synonymous with the word "birds". In which case a poster might lose interest in said "birds". ....well...whatever. I did get some quail wings to work with in the meadow behind my yard and Trudy (my setter) is still interested. I'm thinking that the quail were very young and molting and just didn't smell right to her or I messed up her nose by using repellent on her coat.

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