I took Annie my 8 mth old GSP out to Top Flight this morning for her Wednesday field training. It's her first time in an unfamiliar field with lots of birds compared to the 5 birds we usually work with. I had Leon put out 20 birds, hoping to find at least half of them. We worked the field and she pointed and retrieved 3 birds on our first pass. After a break, she found a group of 5 and 7 birds. We only shot few of those birds. Most landed in an over grown fence line. Annie ran up and down that fence line pointing, circling, and pointing some more. The wild rose vines were so thick we could not get the birds out. Working with just one young pup, how should I approach this situation? I'm thinking about taking a walking stick with me next time to poke in the over grown vines.

At the end of the morning I think we found most of the birds and brought home 8. So I say it was a successful day.

We brought back less than a third. You did fine. Great pictures.

That sounds like a great hunt...

Good looking dog...

Sounds like she did great. And she is a good looking dog.

Thanks guys. I'm proud of her and she is doing very well with training.

How do you get birds out of thorny vines? She tried to get in there, but couldn't get deep enough to make the birds run out. We had to pick some thorns out of her after the hunt. I tried to step in as far as I could, but they just run to the next group of vines. Leon said only a flusher will dive deep enough to get them out. I'm thinking about taking a big stick next time.

Wish I had your problem as my dog will not hold long enough for me to get there.

I guess yea a long broom stick might do the trick. Will there be a shooter and a broom stick holder?

We work on whoa everyday at home and bird work once a week. She is finally whoa off the check cord and will hold till I release her. She has caught a few birds that try to run on her, but if the bird holds she holds. She is still a pup.

I took a buddy as a shooter and I also carried a gun as backup. But I knew when my buddy showed up in fancy running shoes and a high dollar 12 ga o/u he would probably miss more than he hit. And that was a very good assumption.

I saw a light weight aluminum telescoping hiking stick thats 24" expands to 52" and I could clip to my belt and use in these situations. I just hate that she found so many birds that we could not get. We probably left 10 birds in the brush.

Yea they like that thick stuff in between the fields. Good looking pup.

I repeated my results as well as yours to a friend who guides at Brazos Valley. They have different conditions, but he said that he got back at least 90% of the birds he put out depending on the shooters. He said that a flushing dog was the key.