Posie flushed pheasants on her own

[Petepreston]

For only the second time in her life, Posie discovered what pheasants are.

We were taking a walk around my Brother's land (25acres   ) when she caught sight of two cock pheasants and went tearing off after them. Boy, did they get a surprise! They disappeared behind a hedge and slowed down (I could see them through the hedge) which let her get within 3-4' of them before they took flight.

Later on the walk she caught the scent of a single cock (I could see it) and off she went, head down, tail up, and she tracked it into a copse then flushed it out. She kept trying to chase it after it had taken flight but quickly got left behind. Not ideal on a shoot, but we don't do that anyway.

She's not a working dog but she shows all the instinct for flushing, just not for controlled working.

As we were almost back at the start she caught the scent of the first two again, and this time she spent a little bit more time sniffing first but still flushed them into the open for me. What a waste that all I had in my hands was a walking stick - well not really, but I am still a bloke so I might have taken a shot if I'd had a gun.

I love watching her in her element. She really is a natural which is why I'm doing the KC novice handlers course. If I can give her some guidance on how to do what she was breed to do, I think she'll be a more balanced dog.

[Dan]

That's a good sign flushing the pheasants exactly what Brodie will be learning to do!
Ano you said she's not a working dog but would you not take her on a few days?

[Petepreston]

I'm not big on the shooting side so it's not likely that we would go. When we got her I did intend training her as a gundog that my brother could borrow, just so that she had a working activity. Seeing how she gets after even just one day of no walks or play (if I'm not well) proves just how much mental stimulation she needs.

I think she's a bit old and spoilt now to be a useful of in the field but I might see about my brother taking her into his fields with the gun sometime. She's certainly not unnerved by loud noises when she's outside.

I just love watching her in the undergrowth and log crop fields - she completely comes to life.

[Jonnydog]

My little working cocker Jess had it hard-wired into her brain to flush pheasants! She was never taught to do so but the instinct was obviously bred into her. To keep her happy she always needed a job to do, even if it was just carrying a stick.

[Emilyoliver]

My show bred cocker boy is very impressive. He's amazing at flushing pheasants and partridge - his body language is very easy to read once he is on a scent. And he's so thorough. Many times he's flushed pheasants from undergrowth/ hedges where he'd obviously scented them - I'd no idea there was anything there. Am constantly amazed that his instinct is so strong despite him not being from any working line. And I also find it so interesting that other birds don't interest him much - he just knows what he's supposed to be doing! 

[vixen]

Where I am staying there are LOTS of pheasants as they shoot round here in the season.
I try very hard NOT to let my non-working working girls flush the pheasants out.  Round here the pheasants have been put here for a reason and at this time of year they are on nests or have young.  I would be very unpopular with the farmers if I let my girls run round uncontrolled.
It is different for you Pete as you are on your brother's land. 
Fortunately it is very easy to keep my girls focused - I just carry a ball. 

[Petepreston]

There's no shooting around the area, Vixen, so it's not just that it's my Brother's land. Well, no commercial pheasant shooting, at least.

The other day she actually flushed one out of long grass at close range rather than tracking them down across the open field. She seems less interested in the hens, which is good.

[Emilyoliver]

The pheasants here are lone males wandering about - not in the conservation areas. My dogs aren't allowed to run riot, and are always under control in any shooting areas. He also doesn't chase them across fields, rather flushes them and then stops.