Thread: What can i do to progress my dogs training?

I have a GSP a bit over 18 months I'm training her for deer and ducks. As she was growing up, I would drag a piece of deer skin around and she would follow the scent on the long line. This was not done consistently as I was working with her on manners and basic good behaviour around school and sports. When she was younger, she would follow rabbit scents and chase rabbits when they were in sight if I wasn't keeping a close eye on her. I've done training with her, and I suspect when she has her nose to the ground, she is still sniffing out rabbits but now if she sees a rabbit she listens when I say, "leave it" and wont chase it. Lately she has been pushing the limit as I have been a bit slack reinforcing this. So, I will be more persistent with this before bad habits appear.

Over duck shooting season I took her round to my mate's place to see what she would do as she'd had no training to do with ducks. The first dam we got a duck she was a bit confused with what to do so my mates uncle went in and showed her the duck with a bit of calling she brought it back and dropped it on the bank. At the next dam they got another duck that landed in the grass, so we chucked it in the dam she jumped right in and brought it back with no calling necessary. At the third dam they got two ducks and the head had been blown off both ducks. She dived straight in and tried to collect both bodies at the same time. She realised this wasn't going to work so brought one back then went back for the other. She then went back out to collect the heads. I had her on a short lead and wouldn't release her until the shooters had finished firing. From then on, she's been super keen on ducks and when we were at home, I could tell she was searching the dam for ducks. I took her back to my mates again on closing weekend. All the ducks that were shot apart from one landed on the ground. She eagerly retrieved the duck from the dam and then we walked around the dam and encouraged her to find the others. She found them in the grass but would not retrieve them if they landed on the ground.

With her deer scent training I will drag a skin around then let her find it and in her down time she chews on deer antlers and hocks. I've taken her out a couple times when my dad and brother have gone hunting for deer. The first time we had set up on a bank in the trees my brother was getting ready to shoot at a deer above us meanwhile she seemed pretty interested in something below us that I couldn't see. My brother took the shot at the deer and missed so I took Tia to the spot where the deer was to see if she would pick up the scent, but she was distracted by the stock. After this it was clear she is not ready to go out and at this stage more of a hindrance than a help because she doesn't have the necessary training.

I was looking online for things that would help me with her training and I found the deer dog blueprint. Initially this looked perfect but after some digging there was varying opinions. I decided not to purchase this as it has a steep price and I need to save money. I am now wondering what my next steps are. I hope to get to the point where Tia will retrieve ducks from the ground as well as water. I also hope she will be able to work off the lead close Infront of me. She has a strong hunting drive but are my expectations to high? Any tips on what I can do?