you may be aware due to previous posts that i recently acquired an 11 month old sbt....
training is going well but he has a fixation with flying birds...
he will recall fairly well near on 100%, encouraged with liver cake and without but as soon as he sees a flying bird he literally switches off head done and chases it....
I live very close to the beach and our morning work generally takes place there as it is quiet and generally dog free so i can let him off for a good run...
the problem has only been on the beach due to seagulls even just one flying up and around the shoreline sets him off.... he totally ignores me  despite the calling, waving of arm ,calling his name and running the other ways.
I know he needs more training and it is ongoing but has anyone got any ideas what i can try....it is worrying as i think he is never going to stop and disappear up the beach, he goes quite a distance from me....
he does eventually come back to me at a leisurely pace but if another seagull appears he is distracted again and off he goes....
I get to a point where i feel i am pushing my luck during the walk and resort to putting him back on the lead...
I dont scold him when he eventually returns, praise him up and give  him liver cake but i do feel by doing it this way iam rewarding him for running off and not coming when called...
any suggestions

My dog thinks birds expolde so he's a little scared of them.

He was six months old when a big firework went off in front of us and lit up the whole sky with a hude bang  and since them when he's seen birds flying he hides from them in case they do the same. I'm sure he thinks birds are fireworks now. But once they make a connection it's hard to break it.

I think chasing is the same be it birds dogs bikes or cars... keep the dog on a lead until the habbit stops.. you can use a long line to try to teach not to chase. It just takes time especially to break a habbit. Your dog and my dog could do with swaping some of their ideas and then we would have dogs with a nice ballanced attitude to birds!

I would imagaine that  you will have to become more "interesting " than the birds !
I would put him on a long line around 15ft easy to stand on when is  in flight LOL

I would get him obsessed with a ball or frisbie which he only gets to play with at the beach then put it away.
When he spots the birds show him the toy turn away and throw it  to distract get his attention back onto you.

One of my girls likes to chase the birds in the park we just shout "wheres your ball" she goes full circle back to us to play...with her favourite toy!

Roni

I can just picture the OP standing on the long lead when the fully grown staff takes off, and landing flat on her back on the beach!

thanks for the replies so far....i was using a long lead actually a horses lunge line when i first got him but i found the collar kept slipping round and the line ended up underneath between his fornt legs and between his back legs this resulted in lead grazes inside his thighs...did think a harness would be better as then line may stay on top....
I was also concerned about the sudden check effect when he was going flat out after the bird....
I have tried to make myself more interesting then the birds in the sky...he loves toys but when a bird flies over he becomes entranced with it and takes off....picture this mornings episode when a flock of homing pigeons flew over us on the beach and kept circling back aagain and again..buddy was in heaven ...i was just wishing they would p*** off!!!!
I think your are right about the chase aspect as i think he would do the same if it was a cat/rabbit etc doesnt seem interested in bikes etc but then hasnt been off the lead where bikes are....if they just stopped he wouldnt chase i am sure...
Am i doing the right thing by praising him when he does finely decide to come back....usually when my voice has gone

I have had the same problem with my dog - she is obsessed with birds.
I think partly it is an age/silliness thing in that they don't yet realise thay can't catch the birds and they haven't enough brain yet to be able to listen to you when the 'red mist' comes down.
I had to find a way of keeping her close to me - at first this was with a line like you describe and now I can control her with my voice and treats - but she is now 18 months and able to 'listen' to me a bit more. I do also play with her with a frisbee which comes out only when we're outdoors and that helps keep her mind off the birds. If I spot a bird ahead (part of the problem is solved by thinking ahead all the time - but it's tiring at first!) I can now distract her before she heads off. I can also stop her chasing as long as she hasn't gone too far away before I react. But she wouldn't have managed this at 11 months so I had to use the long line at that stage. I think you are right in always praising for coming back and a harness would be a good idea.

I think partly it is an age/silliness thing
yes... while they are young you are really getting a ballance in training them in the right way..but also giving them the right outlet for their energy and lots of fun... sometimes it just seems like slow progress but I think we get there in the end.

I suspect some is down to personsality.... some dogs do seem naughtier than others...just like with kids.

Hi ojoj1869,

A harness would be a much safer bet with a long line,  like you say you don't have all that distance and speed yanking on the neck should he take off and it's also safer for him not getting tangled up.  Yes I thin you are doing the right thing rewarding him when he does come back but maybe have a tiered reward scale.  If he comes back straight away when you call he gets lots of fuss and liver cake (I would keep the liver cake as a high value reward, or if he's already used to that maybe introduce something new just for instant recalls)  if he takes a couple of recalls the just a good boy and less exciting treat and when he comes back after chasing session just say good boy and carry on.  Also when he has taken off and you know he's not really hearing you try not to keep calling and calling as he'll just learn to ignore your recall that way, that's easier to say than do though I know :-)

Hope that helps.

Karen

I think partly it is an age/silliness thing
... in my case as well because my dog is 21 months old and I have frozen her in time at 18 months!! People will begin to suspect that I'm an imposter! :D
It was at 18 months she started to become more sensible though ...
(Unlike myself - getting more doolally with time )

Oh, i totally sympathise. Murphy my springer came to me at 10 months with no recall, but a total obsession with birds. A year later he is so much better, but we are still struggling with the birds, every time you think you are getting somewhere, he gets set back again. THe thing is that he will chase anything small and fast moving, but you can mostly control cats, dogs, etc, but birds are absolutely everywhere!! AHH!

I remember discussing this issue with my dog trainer and she said to me - due to the fact that chasing birds is self rewarding - we must avoid birds at all costs.  How on earth do you avoid something that is free range!  Put a sign in the garden - no birds allowed!!!   We still aren't totally over it either but it is better!

do any of you use a whistle??? thinking about using one for recall...out this morning on flexi lead(which i hate but serve a purpose!)birds flying over head try to get buddy,s attention , him just staring skyward....
I doubt he has seen much of the world in his short life, the little information i do have says he was brought up in a flat!!, so this new world to him is just soooooooooooooo exciting, out 3 times a day and children to play with in the garden inbetween!!!

If you have a dog with high prey drive, food is not necessarily going to override the thrill of the chase.

If it were me I would redirect this prey drive onto a ball on a rope which can be thrown, chased after and used to play tuggy with.

Whistles are excellent as unlike the voice are consistent and travel further but of course you still need to TRAIN the dog to the whistle.................. ;)