I have a 14 month old Irish Setter. He is good about heeling on or off lead EXCEPT is he sees a bird (any bird). He will go for it without regard for the lead and though normally I work with him using a Dogra 175 collar set on 50 with good results, even turning it up to 70 or 80 does not seem to phase him if he goes for a bird. That level otherwise would make him yelp. Any advise for adjusting stem level for such a distraction or other ideas would be most appreciated. Could not find a similar question with my searches of the forum.

Thank you,

Stanley

Stanley, setters are hunting dogs as I am sure you know. Just wondering,have you ever tought of teaching him to hunt and taking him out? sounds like he is dying to do what he was bred for.
If you have no desire to hunt with him, have you had an opportunity to take him out regularly around a lot of birds and kind of desensitize him to them? Expose him to them over an over of course on leash where he can't get to them and reward him for ignoring them (which seems very difficult to me considering he has such a desire to hunt), but it could probably be done. I am hoping someone on the forum could help you out with this one.
I am sorry I do not know what you would do with the stem level.
God bless you

Stan,
Welcome to the board.
On your setter, does he run them helter skelter or does he want to hunt and point? Do you do any retrieving, be it though games or otherwise? What is the regime for exercise, work, and play for this high energy dog?
In case you haven't scrolled all the way though the forums there is a section dedicated to the e collar and it's use. It's my understanding the mod of that forum is the guru of the e collar.

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

A lot of dogs, when in drive, can completely tune out and ignore a high level ecollar stim.

You say he goes without regard for the lead. Are you holding the lead? Do you correct him at all?

Is his reaction automatic.. as soon as he sees the bird he springs into action? Or does he look, pause momentarily, then react? Is he primarily a companion or do you do any hunting activities with him?

How did you introduce the ecollar and how long have you used it with him? I would keep him on the lead. This sounds like an OB under distraction problem. The issue is the recall, unless I am mistaken. He blows you off for the birds. Keep him on a long line, he cannot blow you off. Work on your recall.

Has he had any training/work under distraction? If not, I would build him up to the birds for actual OB like sit down etc but start working on the recall on long line (and you can keep the ecollar on him) and lots of positive, have treats and toys to really encourage him to come to you.

I agree with Jennifers post, however I am interested in hearing the answers to Randy's questions as well.

I know if we do not keep our lab well exercised and stimulated by other things he will break and look for birds.
It does sound like you have a dog that wants to hunt as well and that is great. I have not seen a nice working setter in a long time.

I would go back to basics with the dog and work on obedience and add distractions slowly (not that you can predict the bird thing) but you can stay away from those areas while you do some basic work with him.

And yes, this is a good question for Roni, she is great with the e-collar.

Hi Stanley and Welcome: Before I can answer you question, could you please give me a little background on the type of training that you have done with your dog and how you have introduced the collar to him. Timing is very important with all facets of dog training so this will help me help you.
Thanks, in advance,
Roni

 Quote: roni hoff

Hi Stanley and Welcome: Before I can answer you question, could you please give me a little background on the type of training that you have done with your dog and how you have introduced the collar to him. Timing is very important with all facets of dog training so this will help me help you.
Thanks, in advance,
Roni

Guinness was a rescue at about 10 months old. He completed a good beginner obedience class (6 weeks) and just now completed a novice obedience class (8 weeks). He is a star "in" class and with some distractions (toys, treats, people), he sometimes gets in drive with other animals (for play, not aggressive) and over prey (birds, rabbits, etc.)

I introduced the collar about a month ago, taking it on and off several times a day and mixing in other collars too, for the first 2 weeks as the e-collar training advised. I then have mostly used the nick and sometimes continuous stem for problem areas, like counter-surfing jumping on people when they first arrive or taking something that is not his. I moved from there to working on recall with the collar, based on the method Ed suggested in the DVD. All of that has been working really well.

When he sees a bird, he will usually freeze for a moment, then either stalk it or bolt after it. If he is on heel, I can tell him to leave it and he may balk a little, but if he is just "free" (but on a long lead, with the collar too) he seems completely oblivious to the stem at levels higher than what he would yelp at otherwise.

Your advise is most appreciated. That applies to everyone on the board, BTW.

Thank you!

Jennifer,
I meant to thank you sooner for your insight and advice on the question I had. Your point about Guinness pausing before he goes into drive was on the money and has helped me get his attention BEFORE he goes into drive and reacts. He is much better and can be trusted off lead, making my life much more confortable. THANKS again!