Reassurance

[Bang'nsit]

Hi all.
12 months in and the cocker is turning into a lovely honest lad.
I want to flag up something thats making me scratch my head and hopefully I can get some help.
Set him off into the wind in various areas, woodland, grasses etc. and he has started to look up at me for guidance and the flow of hunting becomes laboured.
Is this lack of scent to get him going, a typical phase before the next leap of his confidence or my naff training?
He's an attentive lad that picks up on things quickly but I want to make sure I deal with this in the right way.
Thanks

[ips]

I don't know diddly but I thought that hunting into wind made them tighten up and hunt harder, mine certainly does. !!

[Rough_mut]

I would say its either continuous hunting and lack of scent. Or too many thrown retrieves and the dog is anticipating you throwing something?

[Judy]

Take him on to some gamey ground, stick your hands in your pockets and just let him hunt.

[Springfield Pointers]

Hi all.
12 months in and the cocker is turning into a lovely honest lad.
I want to flag up something thats making me scratch my head and hopefully I can get some help.
Set him off into the wind in various areas, woodland, grasses etc. and he has started to look up at me for guidance and the flow of hunting becomes laboured.
Is this lack of scent to get him going, a typical phase before the next leap of his confidence or my naff training?
He's an attentive lad that picks up on things quickly but I want to make sure I deal with this in the right way.
Thanks

When he looks at you just put your head down and keep walking. No hand signals, whistle or reassurance. Just say nothing and keep walking. Preferably not even looking at him.

[Bang'nsit]

Thanks for the replies.
Dont get me wrong, i prefer having an attentive dog but there have been couple of times where I thought you should know what your doing by now I'm inclined to put it down to anticipating a thrown dummy but wanted to hear some views on how to deal with it. Encourage, ignore, take somewhere else etc.
Thanks

[Springfield Pointers]

Attentive and responsive are two very different things. Personally, I can't stand a dog that stops to look at its handler all the time. The dog is there to hunt, not to keep watching for treats or dummies.
As mentioned. Just ignore it.

[Naj]

Stop tossing dummies when the dog is hunting.

[Bang'nsit]

Stop tossing dummies when the dog is hunting.

Thats why I love this forum simple answers to simple questions
On a serious note though. If teaching dropping to shot how do you get around yourself or someone else throwing a dummy?

[Bang'nsit]

Stop tossing dummies when the dog is hunting.

Thats why I love this forum simple answers to simple questions
On a serious note though. If teaching dropping to shot how do you get around yourself or someone else throwing a dummy?