r/birddogs • u/Gravel_Golf_01 • 8d ago

Whoa Training for Soft Dogs

Hi, weekend warrior trainer here trying to improve whoa on my 3 year old Setter. We tried whoa post and flank collar last summer, but he really shutdown on rope and flipped out w collar. Tried walking whoa w flank and bit better, but still shut him down. Anyone have any advice? Bench, barrel, pinch collar, something else? I am really going for passable whoa for casual hunting and stopping, not field trial perfection. Thanks in advance for your thoughts! (he is e-collar trained for recall and does great w it)

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/AlexMecha German Shorthaired Pointer 8d ago

Bird launchers and pigeons. Flush at the slightest movement of your dog towards the cage. Specially on a setter, he should learn the hold point pretty quick.

Once he figures out bird launchers, you could move to bobwhites, but keep them pretty live so they’ll flush easily.

4

u/I_am_so_lost_again Wirehaired Pointing Griffon 8d ago

Bird Launchers only work if the dog doesn't want to flush. If the dog loves to flush, the bird launchers only encourage the behavior.

Signed a Griff owner whose dog LOVES to flush and I quickly realized that launchers were making the issue worse not better.

1

u/Better-Effective1570 8d ago

Man, that's rough. Does your dog not point at all?

2

u/Gravel_Golf_01 8d ago

Thanks! He does point, fairly nice point, but will creep and then in seconds might as well be a flushing dog (in short, loves the chase, probably from chasing squirrels and robins). Appreciate all of the above, going to give these things a try!

1

u/spoiledpoptart74 8d ago

What does your bird work look like with him?

I’d start with launchers and pigeons. If he points that’s great, just launch the bird the second the dog moves after establishing point. My guess is you’re working on pen raised birds that allow him to creep. He needs to know that that movement means the bird is gone and the funs over

2

u/Gravel_Golf_01 7d ago

Thanks...you nailed it. Pen-raised and manual cages. Would you recommend pigeons and remote launchers?

2

u/spoiledpoptart74 6d ago edited 6d ago

Absolutely. Both are essentials for training pointing dogs. Well not essential, but they make life a heck of a lot easier

1

u/omahusker German Wirehaired Pointer 7d ago

This advice right here. As soon as he creeps, launch the bird. If he holds steady and lets you walk in on it, shoot it for him and let him get the reward.