Does anyone else struggle to walk their dog during pheasant season?

[Badgershy]

The buggers are absolutely everywhere at the moment. We do 2 walks through private land (which you're allowed to walk in) but they do shoots and have these huge fenced off areas full of pheasants which of course they escape from.

My dog is an 18 month old terrier spaniel Cross with questionable recall at the best of times. We manage him pretty well on a long trailing line but when he's on the scent of something I have to hold the end of it. He's been like a thing possessed this weekend, so so strong, so hyper, darting from side to side, pulling at full strength, completely deaf to me, out of control really. He brought me to tears at one point as I just couldn't get down a steep bank with him. Thankfully there was no one around to watch me scrambling down it on my arse. I returned to the car feeling like a complete failure of a dog owner after passing a few other walkers with their dogs trotting along nicely off lead.

I dont know if I'm looking for advice, sympathy or someone who's experienced the same. I think the answer is to avoid these areas while there's so many pheasants about which is a shame.

And when we got home he just couldn't settle, he was up and down, couldn't get comfortable in his bed, wouldn't start to nod off then do a little yip and be wide awake again. He eventually squeezed himself under the sofa and slept under there for a few hours. Totally over stimulated.

Have you tried a halti? I used to walk a very scent driven dog with no manners and a halti with one lead and a body harness with a long line lead worked a treat. He would walk to heal with the halti all the time. I feel your pain the phesants are eveywhere at the moment!

You need to do desensitisation training, work really hard on his recall, I’d forget the long line for now so that you can instantly turn him and walk the other direction as soon as he pulls towards a pheasant. Remember he is also a teenager now too so they often forget their own name at this age. Lots of hard work and consistency will pay off. Recall needs to be rock solid tbh. I’d avoid pheasant walks until you have recall nailed and then trial it with other distractions, then pheasants.

Yes! My beagle did it last week - he was yelping and baying like a mad thing 🤣

I have to keep him on a short lead in woodland at this time of year and generally he's okay then - he sniffs a lot but knows he doesn't stand a chance of getting anywhere!

But mostly I avoid the woods - I do field or beach walks instead, or we go up into the fells. Tomorrow we're off through the fields and down farm tracks - he has to be on lead due to livestock but there's loads of sniffing opportunities which should tire him out nicely

Pheasants turn my normally well behaved with near perfect recall dog into a frantic beast. Her eyes change and she looks possessed. I'm avoiding any particularly pheasanty areas for now

Time for steadiness training. He needs to just learn to sit and look at them, while you walk away, and then recall to you. Do it on a longline if you can't trust him. Eventually he should find them very boring.

I'm doing this with my young dog at the moment: sheep and poultry. She was eyeing distant roe deer today, but she had to just sit there. Fortunately she was on a lead.

Also, while revising recall (do it often, everywhere you take him, and reward reward reward - the book 'Total Recall' is helpful here), try and teach the stop whistle. It can be easier to get a dog to stop (and maybe even sit) during a pursuit than turn around and run back to you.

Don't feel bad: you're trying to get a handle on the situation, and some dogs have more prey drive than others. Also yours is still fairly young so you have the time to turn him around.

Dogs should be on leads in the countryside during ground nesting bird season no matter how good their recall is. Even well behaved dogs can scare birds from their nests if they come across them.

Can you not find a different walk away from the pheasants?

I live rural pheasants are around months of the year. No amount of desensitisation will stop my dogs. The buggers fly in my garden. I walk a longline due to prey drive. Mine can sniff them out a long way off. Every dog is different. A long line is an option as you have many months of pheasants yet in the year.

We have got other walks we can do. His prey drive is so strong, he was sitting watching one walking up the path in front of us at one point and he was shaking and whimpering. I've never seen so many, I hate to say it cause I've always thought they were beautiful birds but they felt like vermin, just everywhere, swooping over our heads and squawking in the distance.

I've worked so hard on his recall, from day 1. Through his teen stage last year I went right back to basics and was out with him every day drilling it in but I just can't stop him when he's in that hunting frame of mind. You can see it's like a red mist comes over him and it's all he can focus on.

Thanks for all the advice.

Oh and like a PP says no amount of training or desensitisation work will stop mine yelping and baying - once he smells a pheasant he goes deaf and blind to everything. It's like his brain shuts down.

I could stand there with the worlds' most tempting fresh steak and he would ignore me completely!

If your dog doesn't have a strong prey drive or isn't a hunting breed, it's very easy to say "you just need to train them!". In reality it's not that easy.

Beagles are a nightmare for it and I know some who have gone off for over 24 hours because they've smelt a pheasant and tracked it for miles!

We have a pheasant that lives in our garden. My Labrador has become so used to him he is now oblivious to pheasants or any other birds for that matter. I guess desensitisation works.

Again, it depends on the breed and the type of dog you have, I think.

Prey instinct is so strong in some breeds that there's nothing you can do to stop it once it kicks in.

Hang on @sunflowersandbuttercups, we (I include you in that) don’t know how strong a prey drive OPs dog has. people suggesting training and desensitisation are making very normal, sensible and obvious suggestions. Of course there is no perfect solution for every animal and some dogs will never be pheasant safe, but that doesn’t mean no one should ever suggest these things for any dogs just because it wouldn’t work for yours!! No one is criticising your dog by suggesting these techniques that don’t work with him. No one is being blasé and saying “just train them”. We all realise it takes a lot of work and isn’t always successful. It’s a starting point. Jump off the defensive please.

Mines like that with cats - she's great with everything else but sees a cat and everything goes out the window. The noises she makes is like a hound that's just got a scent (she's a terrier) You're probably best just walking elsewhere and avoiding the trigger altogether as there are so many it will be hard to slowly desensitise, if that's even possible.

We have a pheasant that lives in our garden. My Labrador has become so used to him he is now oblivious to pheasants or any other birds for that matter. I guess desensitisation works.

Labradors are a retrieving breed, they tend to be able to get along with pretty much anything. A terrier or hunting breed can be another matter. They are hardwired to chase.

Why don't you do a bit of gun dog training. When the shooting seasons starts up next year you'll be able to offer your services to the shoot as a beater, which you and your dog will love. If he has got such a strong sense of purpose its a shame not to put it to use.

@sunflowersandbuttercups we work with what we have. If you choose to have a hunting dog, then you know you are in for a lot of training and patience. (I have one myself, so know only too well). It isn't really good enough to say once instinct kicks in there is nothing you can do, especially where other people's livestock is concerned.

I think it's perfectly acceptable to just keep your dog on a lead in certain situations. I'm positive for example that mine wouldn't chase a sheep or would be easily recalled but I will never put that to the test. Keep your dog on a lead around other people livestock I'd say.

@Overdueanamechange hang on a minute, where did I say or imply that I just let my dog run riot?

I keep him on a lead around livestock or around pheasants and deer. Please don't try and and make out that I'm an irresponsible owner who can't be bothered to train their dog - it's totally unnecessary and not at all what I said.

What I did say was that you can't train the instinct out of a dog - which means you avoid the area where the prey is or restrain your dog using an appropriate lead, which is what I always do.

@UhtredRagnarson my point is that some people say "oh, just do x!" as if people haven't thought of it already.

Yes, desensitisation is a great idea but what OP describes (the red mist and the shaking) means her dog is unlikely to respond to anything once in the "zone" - so training is pointless, you just have to manage the situation which you do by using leads or avoiding the area altogether.

I think it's also perfectly okay to be a bit defensive - I always hear people say "just train your dog! All you need to do is desensitise them! I managed it with my (totally different breed to yours) so there's no reason why you couldn't do it too!" and it's frustrating.

Training the hunting instinct out of a beagle or a foxhound is nigh on impossible - all the training in the world goes out of the window once their nose switches on and their ears turn off!

@midnightstar66

I think it's perfectly acceptable to just keep your dog on a lead in certain situations. I'm positive for example that mine wouldn't chase a sheep or would be easily recalled but I will never put that to the test. Keep your dog on a lead around other people livestock I'd say.

Exactly this, which is what I do too.

I don't trust my dog around livestock, pheasants, deer or rabbits so on the lead he goes. Much safer for everyone and far less stressful too

my point is that some people say "oh, just do x!" as if people haven't thought of it already.

No, they say it as if the OP hasn’t said that she has already tried it. If she said she had tried it then no one would suggest it.

Yes, desensitisation is a great idea but what OP describes (the red mist and the shaking) means her dog is unlikely to respond to anything once in the "zone" - so training is pointless,

Really poor to suggest she shouldn’t even bother trying IMO. This could make all the difference to her dog and their walks. People aren’t wrong to suggest things just because your experience hasn’t been good.

@sunflowersandbuttercups just reading back my comment scratching my head, wondering where I said you were an irresponsible dog owner, who lets their dog run riot?

[quote Overdueanamechange]@sunflowersandbuttercups just reading back my comment scratching my head, wondering where I said you were an irresponsible dog owner, who lets their dog run riot?[/quote]
You said "it's not good enough to say there's nothing you can do once instinct kicks in".

Which implies I just let him do what he wants because of his instinct. I don't. I keep him on a lead so that he's always under my control, or I avoid those areas completely.