Lab too excited during drives- advice needed

[Polmaise]

phew! !!

[coco]

To avoid any confusion- and Appologies to polmaise , I did write a previous version of my predicament, but when I read it back thought it was too waffly and not very concise, so deleted and resubmitted. Hope this explains some posts!

[Polmaise]

Thanks coco!
I was beginning to think I was being persecuted there for a moment!!!
So glad ,some-one as honest as your self! has explained for those that would read what they want to believe in certain circumstances

[Judy]

To avoid any confusion- and Appologies to polmaise , I did write a previous version of my predicament, but when I read it back thought it was too waffly and not very concise, so deleted and resubmitted. Hope this explains some posts!

Only if you deleted any replies to your post too.

[Polmaise]

And the hits keep coming
I heard Tom Cruise saying that in a movie once
Good night every one,and a good new year,and I wish you all well!

[coco]

I checked to see that no replies had been posted before I deleted, as I would have either left as it was it contacted the posted directly, we must have deleted and posted at nearly the same time! Again, so sorry for any confusion, and to appreciate all the help that I been given here to date!

[Rascal]

Just to clarify, having looked at the admin logs coco you deleted your post and there were no replies posted to it full stop. They were not deleted by the admin team.

Rascal

[coco]

Dare I ask what Robert wrote in his original reply? If he could sense of my rambling original questions, I would very much value the response.

What my dog does, as soon as the beaters start and a gun is fired, is intense attention on any birds flying, and then focuses on where the first bird drops, and is this that she whines and quivers for. Maybe this is just a normal part of her training/ experience? But I can't send her unless it's a runner as the shoot don't send any dogs for dead birds until the drive is over.
She did retrieve a runner 2weeks ago and I wonder if she now thinks that every bird dropping is about to move- can they possibly think like this????

If I did join the beating team, just worried that she might still want to go out a retrieve a bird should she manage to see it fall, maybe being in the middle of the beating line might obscure any such views.

I am basically feeling embarassed by the whining, and don't want to continue to make it worse. Do any other shoots have dogs like this? And do people wish they would be left at home?

Jacqui.

[Judy]

If there was an original reply it would be on here! The Moderators keep all removed posts in a separate area for reference, it isn't there. There is also a Moderators Log which we have access to, this cannot be altered by the team and shows us everything which has been edited or removed and who edited or removed it although it doesn't show the original post pre editing so we won't know how much you rambled on! There is no mention of another post besides your first one. I spent some time looking last night.

It depends on how noisy the dog is as to whether others wish they had been left at home. A quiet whinge is fairly common and acceptable, an all out yodel is not. One of my Flatcoats used to yodel during the first drive of the day, I would stand as far back as I could and work her as much as I could, luckily the rest of the day she might have a quiet whine but nothing to upset others. She was the dog everyone called for when they couldn't find a particular bird so she was allowed her little foible. I suppose the answer is it depends on the shoot.

Try to train your youngster with other dogs this summer so she is used to seeing dummies fall and other dogs retrieving, it does help when it comes to the real thing. I don't think you can tell whether a dog will be quiet or not until you actually take it picking up though, I've had quiet sensible dogs which whined from the very first drive and hyper fruit loops which were quiet as mice on shoots. I wish I knew what starts them off, I might be able to make some money out of it!

[James]

it could be a temperament thing, some dogs just boil over and its very hard to stop and sometimes impossible. Not the answer you want but the truth, theres no point in dressing it up so at least you know what you're up against. I have seen a lab that has a constant but soft whine sorted out by giving it something to hold like a tennis ball, it looks odd but it worked. What we did was simply teach the hold (didnt take long) at the start of the drive give the dog a small dummy or tennis ball, this didn't stop it marking. I must point out that the handler had more than one dog in the team, so when a runner needed to be picked asap he sent one of those. If a bird could be pick quickly with little fuss, he took the ball and sent the dog then again took the bird and gave the ball back to the dog. Over a few days picking up he slowly got the dog to do more during the drive as and when he could, sweeping wasnt a problem as the dog had something to focus on. The dog learned that not everything was for him over the season and he was happy to watch the others work without whinning, it did take a long time but sadly this dog was a got to trot type and a very good game finder so worth the time to try and put right rather than just finding a different job for him.
Im not saying this willl work for you, but it just shows you to think outside the box because you may never stop it but you may be able to manage it better