My Cocker's first hunt. Help

Buster found every bird I dropped and chased every cripple down. That's all good. No lost birds in 15 tries. He loves chasing down cripples. Wow!

Problem is he never sees them down. When i take off to go get the bird he quarters in front of me using his nose and he intensely finds the bird. He has a great nose. Problem is he is not seeing them in the air thru shot and fall mainly because he is looking at me all the time. (And don't say because he has his eyes closed.) How can I get him watching birds. I've never trained a dog to sit by me and watch for birds. Always quail. He would be great for pheasant I bet because he would see them get up. You should have seen him when a 20-25 bird covey of quail blew up in his face when he was getting close to the downed dove. He was hopping over broom weed taller than he was to see them fly.

This was yesterday morning. Only picture I took. The collar is on 2 and nick mode is all that is required for him to hear me. A big jack rabbit caused this collar to be put on in the first place. I really need to know how to get him watching birds. What exercise can I do with him?

My springer used to do the same thing. Designed to flush but also great retrievers so they work the ground like vacuum cleaners!!!! Anyhow, i have worked with him by throwing the dummy and using the word "mark". Before I throw the dummy I "in my case hup him" Then I would "mark" him and make him sit for a bit before sending him for the retrieve. When I say mark he looks to the sky now. At some point I'm hoping he will look to the sky when my barrel goes up but for now I'm ok with saying "mark" I have done this almost everyday for two summers. Really helps him with crippled ducks.

Get someone to throw birds or bumpers for you and use a cue word.

Have your dog sit beside you, have the thrower say "hey, hey" to get your dog to look out, give your cue word (such as "mark") and then have the thrower throw the bird.

I took my pup on her first hunt yesterday. I just said "get ready here they come" and it didn't take long for her to start looking to the sky,

He does mark what I throw. I think the key thing is getting him to see something in the air before the shot. He knew when I said birds and then shot we were going to get it. He just never marked it. I'll get someone to help me throw and I'll use mark. Because I used find it or find the bird yesterday. He knew after he got his mouth on the first bird. He got better each time zeroing in on the down bird. Cripples were a blast to watch him get after. I wish I had filmed it. I just never do. My wife would have filmed every minute.

Get a five gallon bucket and a broomstick in the yard. Sit on the bucket and get him to follow you as you spin around on the bucket at heel. Command heel on left turns and here on right turns. Keep turning in either direction until the dog follows you and stays in position to see the shot at all times. Once the dog is proficient at doing that, lft the broomstick as though you were going to shoot and then have a helper throw a dummy from a concealed position while you point at it with the broomstick. Say "mark" while dummy is in the air, then watch your dog and if he sees the mark fall, let it fall all the way to the ground. Then send the dog using his name. Do not send him unless you know that the dog has seen the mark. You'll know when they have it down because they'll per up and focus every time you raise the broomstick or gun.

Do that a few times a day for a week and you should be good to go. Works good on labs, don't see why it wouldn't work for a CS.

If you live in an area where you can ise a gun and blanks instead of a broomstick it works even better.

Good luck!!!

My Son has a place close by we can use a gun. My backyard is a long L shape so I can do both. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks! We are about to head back out to the lease. I will work on that tomorrow and Monday. He picks things up real quick. His main fault is breaking due to his retrieving drive. Dearly loves retrieving. I'll worry more about the breaking early later. He's just over a year old and I have and will bring him along slowly.

Keep at it Bobby, he'll figure it out. The bucket trick sounds like it could work.

Yep. I never trained a pointer to sit...ever. This little guy has a ton of prey drive. Right now he would be awesome as a flushing dog. When he busted that covey opening morning I thought how cool would that have been to have that covey pointed and send him to the thick stuff to flush.

Bobcat. Keep working w him. I always use a dokin duck decoy w my dog. A wood duck cause it's smaller. Throw it high in the sky. Release him let him go get it. Eventually he will realize the bird is falling from the sky. Maybe have a partner hold his head in the general direction your gona throw the decoy, so the dog can see it fall. Once your dog figures out they're falling from the air your good. My dog watches the sky all the time. Keep hunting him and working w him. I'm on my second season now w my dog and she loves every second of it.

bobcat, I've got a retriever book with some drills in it, and one of them is to teach the dog to swing with the gun. PM me your email, and when I get home tonight, I'll photocopy that particular page and send it to you. sounds like you just need some work with your dog while working a gun by your side, with a helper throwing marks in the field. lots of reps should get it.

Thank you sir. PM Sent

If you keep taking him hunting he'll learn. It won't take many trips before he will see the birds before you will. All he needs is more time Hunting.

Great news on Buster finding all the birds.

There are great comments here. Just to reiterate, use a remote launcher or have someone else throw dummies(or birds) from a distance out in front of you. Use the command "mark", while your thrower gets the dog's attention by making noise (Ex. duck call). After you do this long enough, you can drop "mark" and the noise making. Your dog will get use to looking out ahead, instead of dummies or birds launching from heal. Experience also helps.

Search "Bill Hillman Marking" on youtube for some marking drills you can do by yourself. Bill utilizes the command "kennel" or "place" to remotely set the dog prior to setting marks.

Here is a video I did a couple of years ago utilizing two remote launchers and having Cassie at heel. At about 3:45pm, I have the camera adjusted so you can see her watch the field.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBBxhyTgQxQ

Very nice Sweese! Thanks for the tips. You too Scalebuster. He's smart enough to figure it out. I'm just wanting to shorten the learning curve.. I bet in a month or so he will be watching the sky for birds. I had 2 12 gauges shooting over him this past weekend and all that does it lights his fuse wanting to go find dead birds. If you say bird around him he stands up with ears alert. He's going to be a dandy.

Good stuff Bobby. Tel Jacob I said hello.

Will do David. Thanks

Buster looks like he's smiling . Looks like you both are having fun, enjoy it!

When I would miss he would look at me like wth dad.