# 7 year old brittany that doesn't like heavy cover???



## mtveit (Oct 19, 2007)

Hey guys I am new but have a problem with my 7 year old brittany. She has gotten more and more cautious as she has gotten older.

The Problem

As cover gets heavier she wants to be closer and closer to me and won't hunt.

I pheasant hunt and grouse hunt examples would be. We were out pheasant hunting last weekend and we got into some tall swampy read brush areas. She would only walk directly in front of me or behind me. I blame my self partly because I don't hunt with her as much as I should. I tried bringing her into some lighter cover and she started to hunt again. So I tried working areas that were on the edge of this swamp. As soon as she got into the tall grass where she couldn't see very far that was it. I brought her into the mature trees where the cover was light and you could see 80 yard and boom. No problems..

What should I do.

Mike


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

You would have to give more info about the dogs past hunting experience,intro to gun, training methods ect. to get any reasonable advice.


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## mtveit (Oct 19, 2007)

I solved the problem just needed some more work with the e collar.

I don't know how to close the thread??

Or if you can

mike


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

Ok how did a ecollar solve that??


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## gonehuntin' (Jul 27, 2006)

Strange thread. I don't understand how the collar would have made her go into heavy cover. I was going to suggest to you that you see a vet first, that at her age she may have a medical or physical issue. Or that she has never had much drive. Or, not in condition. Or, had a recent bad experience in heavy cover. Lot's of or's here with so little of her problem. The part that doesn't fit it the collar correcting it.


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## mtveit (Oct 19, 2007)

Basically what it came down to was that my e collar hasn't been working for about two years. Because she was trained to wear it and did what she was commanded to do I thought that she had gotten past the point of needing to correct her with it. I got my brothers working collar and in about 15 minutes she was back to working in front of me in any type of cover. I think she has been testing her limits and figured out that she wasn't going to get corrected by the collar anymore if she didn't do what I commanded her to do. Thinking back now and since the collar quit working this is when she started to do this She always has been a very smart dog. So when the cover got thick I think she figured out that she was just going to get yelled at and not corrected by the collar. Now with the working collar she remembered very quickly that the alternative to not doing what she was command to do wasn't what she wanted.

So she started hunting again.

Has anyone ever had a dog act this way to a dummy collar??

I thought the same thing as the above post. Maybe something had happened the last time we went out pheasant hunting in think cover but I couldn't recall anything. I also thought that that maybe it was because she was getting older and was more cautious.

I have to credit my brother for thinking of trying a working collar. I was about to find a trainer for some help..


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## gonehuntin' (Jul 27, 2006)

All dog's can get collar wise. What I'd be more concerned with is her lack of drive to get into that cover. Once she's in does she point birds or blink them? A collar can do many things but what it can't do is give a dog desire.


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## mtveit (Oct 19, 2007)

I will have to see on her next trip out if she is just running back and forth or actively sniffing for birds. Very good point though. I at least have tackled one problem

mike


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