# New to forum...blinking problem?



## lamarsh (Nov 22, 2012)

Greetings, 

I have a 16 month old Vizsla and we have been slow to start his training, but as we move forward I have some concerns with his confidence desire to hunt. I am new to wingshooting and am surely at fault for any issues here. He came from an excellent breeder and has shown a desire to point, but has had problems the last few times we went out. We went to a quail farm at Thanksgiving and pointed on several birds, Whoa'd and was excited when I flushed the quail. But in a hunt test a few weeks later he was very nervous about the surroundings, gallery, and horses so he shut down. He was also not sure what to do when he was close in on the birds. 

I initially thought it was a confidence thing, so I went and got some quail to set up a practice run today in a low stress setting. He pointed on the first two birds, but when they took flight, he got scared and did not want anything else to do with finding any more birds. I then let him run with my brother-in-laws GSP who is a more experienced hunter thinking he would learn from seeing another dog work, but he just did not want to get close to the birds. Is he blinking? He does not appear gun shy and actually gets excited when he sees or smells the gun, but the birds seem to freak him out. He is definitely spoiled and a very sensitive dog, and I NEVER yell at him or force anything on him...any thoughts?

Thank you


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## zigzag (Oct 4, 2011)

Hmm. Have you used a trainer? How did you gun condition him? He is holding point for the flush, then your shooting birds for him. Has he been chasing birds after the flush? Somtimes when you shoot a bird and the dog is out in front of the gun the sound is much more intense. If you shoot standing in front of the dog the sound waves are completely diffrent. I am just throwing darts at a board here. At his age he should be on a lot of birds if you want to hunt him. Maybe a trainer and some pigeons. I am a big fan of pigeons.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

What did you and he do when the first two birds flushed and how much time was spent on intro to gunfire?
It could be something small that you didn't notice happen but he is associating birds with something he doesn't what to happen again. If I don't point them then it won't follow.
It also could be all the commotion of the trial. Horses, the galley and just lots of people if he was not used to them.
No matter how it happened you need to go back to square one on training. Sometimes we get to caught up on what went wrong instead of concentrating on the fix. You might want to have a trainer watch him in the field and give you some suggestions on how to move forward.


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## WillowyndRanch (Apr 3, 2012)

From the description, it sounds like he's become Birdshy for some reason. It could be related to the gun, knowing the shot comes when the bird flies - or not. Not knowing how he was introduced to birds and gun make it very difficult to know why he's displaying bird sensitivity. 

Has he had the opportunity to pick up and carry dead, then wing clipped live birds? Bird dogs need to have "Power over the bird" before any steady training.

It may not be too late, but I'd suggest getting with a good trainer ASAP as developing issues like this can get set pretty deep, pretty quickly. Don't take it as a personal failure - the best measure of a person is knowing when they need some help and seeking it out. The sooner the problem is addressed, the less time, effort and money it costs to correct.

Good luck!
Ken


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Our Cooper was originally afraid of birds when we adopted him @ 7 months old. We tried a bird intro with chukar & he was scared to death of the silly bird! The trainer gave us a dead, frozen chukar to take home & I let him play with it in the yard & praised him every time he put his mouth on it. We gave him tiny little quail to play with a few months later & he was all over them. Now he's just as bird crazy as Riley. It definitely wouldn't hurt to go back to playing with dead birds to build up his confidence.


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## Rudy (Oct 12, 2012)

8)

-10 Fearless


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## lamarsh (Nov 22, 2012)

Thanks for all the replies. I am not worried about personal failure, ego, etc. This is my first gun dog and somewhat of an experiment. I am not planning on collecting titles or ribbons, I just hope that with patience and some time I can get turn him into a solid hunting companion. Getting him with a trainer is going to be a problem since there are very few Vizsla owners where I live on the MS Gulf Coast. 

Let me give some background about his intro to gun and birds. As an 8 week old pup he chased around live quail and showed interest and confidence chasing it. At 10 months to a year I worked on gun intro with a shotgun, having a friend fire from 100yrds away and then working closer while watching his reaction as I pet him and encouraged him. No issues there, fired the other day with a 20ga and he would actually come up to me, tail wagging. In the last 3-4 months he has been around gun fire at several Hunt Tests and a blank gun during some field work. It does not appear to be a gun shy issue and I have been careful to take it slow. However, very little time has been spend with birds, I drove 1.5 hours last weekend to get some birds for training (I think I found a place less than an hour away). To me, this is where I have dropped the ball. As WillowyndRanch mentioned, he does not appear to have "Power over the bird". As some of you mentioned, I plan to spend more time with some clipped wing birds and frozen quail in a very relaxed setting before getting him back out and shooting. I think the bird release trainer might also be a good idea once he gains more confidence with the dead/clipped birds.

Also going through the "Perfect Start" DVD from Perfection Kennels in MO. Anyone have any experience with them? They have a week long start/finish combo with your dog and I am seriously considering it in the Spring. Anyone done this class with your dog?

Thanks for your feedback...greatly appreciated.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

lamarsh,
At two years old I sent Bailey off to a professional trainer for three months to go through the "breaking process." I knew I didn't know how to do it right. I didn't see Bailey for over 6 weeks as the trainer and he bonded.

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2010/06/bailey-is-at-summer-boot-camp.html

Sometimes it is best just to let a professional take your dog through this tough transition. It has worked well for Bailey and me.

Professional dog men, who KNOW Vizslas, like Ken, understand how much pressure a Vizsla can take and can read the dogs from 1,000s of hours of training. Something that you and I would like to say we understand but in reality don't.

If you're serious of having a **** good brag dog, then the investment in a professional trainer that takes your dog for a few months is well worth the effort.

My .02.

RBD


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

You can search with google Perfection Kennels in MO. 
It will come up with different discussions from the Gun dog forum and others.
I would still look at going to trainer with a dog that's bird shy. Plenty of us have hit a bump in the road on training and used a pro. You could still order the videos and read books so that when he gets back you are more prepared.
I just wouldn't wait to start working on his problem. The longer you wait the more time it has to sink in.
There is something to be said about getting right back on a horse that just bucked you off. The longer you wait and think about it, the less chance you will ever get back on it. The same holds true with dogs and their fears.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I found this on the gun dog forum under Bird Shy Dog.
http://gundogforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=13732

by dustertoo » Wed Dec 31, 2008 4:35 pm 

I bought a two year old bird shy, slightly gunshy (about like you describe yours to be), neglected female German Shorthair a year ago. This dog was from a friends kennel, and I wanted her because of her breeding and frankly, I felt sorry for her. She was owned by an older gentleman who lives on a postage stamp lot in the middle of town and had no place to take her to run. The dog was kept in a four foot wide kennel with a garage wall on one side and a privacy fence on the back and other side...her view of the world was a four foot chain link gate, and she was absolutely wild when let out. The gentleman couldn't handle her, and had called my friend to find a home for her or he was going to have to .......... My friend was very hesitant about me buying the problem dog...and he didn't even know about the bird/gunfire issues.

I was very cautious introducing her to game and gunfire, but she was sensitive to both. After a while she was finding and pointing quail and pigeons, but would almost back away as the birds flushed. I let her chase many without much positive effect at the flush...still ducking backwards, but gaining intensity on point. I had a friend fire a blank pistol way off to the side while she chased...her reaction was the same as you describe...stopping, looking back and returning to me. I spent a small fortune on birds trying to just let her gradually get over it, before finally breaking down and sending her to Jon Hann at Perfection Kennels in Northwest Missouri, for a couple of months. 

I got her back in late February after a long stretch of ice storms in Northwest Missouri that had to hamper training conditions. Long story short, Bonnie earned her AKC Senior Hunter Title in April, and her AKC Master Hunter Title in October. I started running her in National Shoot to Retrieve field trials a few weeks after she finished her Master Hunter title, and she won her first NSTRA field trial her third weekend out. She is hands down the best bird dog I ever hunted behind, and I couldn't be happier. All this and plenty more surely to come, from a dog that someone else had given up on.

I know every dog won't recovery the same as mine did, but I give a ton of credit to a darn good trainer in Northwest Missouri. 

Good luck with yours.
Dave
dustertoo Location: Please ADD LOCATION 
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## WillowyndRanch (Apr 3, 2012)

The South Louisiana Vizsla Club is not that far from the MS Gulf as I recall from my military days in Biloxi and weekending in LA. There's folks there that have some well trained dogs and can put you in touch with the local Pro. 

Here's Adele's contact info:

South Louisiana Vizsla Club
Adele Neupert
[email protected]
(337) 981-4566
www.southlouisianavizslaclub.com 

I'm sure she could help steer you in a good direction if you choose not to go a bit further and send your dog off for a bit.

Good luck!
Ken


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