We also have to get straight what we mean when we say bumped. To me, a bumped bird is deliberately flushed: the dog smells it, knows it is there and leaps in trying to catch the bird, then chases it. But lots of birds are a surprise to the dog and handler. Standing five and a half or six feet above the dog and with a relatively poor sense of smell, we have no real clue about the vagaries of air movement down below our knees in the grass or weeds, or how many molecules of bird scent were left on the grass or the ground.

On a day when the wind is blowing 20 to 30 miles an hour and the birds are very skittish, any dog might accidentally flush a bird he never smelled because scent never reached the dog’s olfactory epithelium — through no fault of the dog, I don’t consider this a bumped bird. If the dog stops to flush I consider it as good as a point and have no qualms about shooting it.

To those who hunt only wild birds (as opposed to game farm birds) and that includes pheasant , quail and grouse, both woods and prairie grouse, but especially pheasant where only roosters may be taken, solid points are not your standard every bird occurrence. A stop to flush is an accidental flush in my mind. So I limit “bumped” to a deliberate flush when the dog knows the bird is there and flushes rather than points.

This is a reason for not shooting because it reinforces a behavior you don’t want.

Similarly, chased birds, whether pointed or not, should not be shot because it reinforces out of control chasing and this is also something you don’t want. Shooting a stop-to-flush bird will reinforce behavior you do want so the bird should be shot.

Because the decision to shoot or not depends on the boundaries of the definition, the dog must be prepared before the situation arises. And that is what “whoa” is for and why it is one of the things taught early, along with walking at heel and “sit” and “stay.”

“Whoa” can be a voice command or it can be a single blast on a whistle, or both. The dog should obey both equally. To teach this easily, start with the word and when the dog has learned it, use a whistle blast followed immediately by the word. Pair the two a few times and then try just the whistle. The dog will obey it just like the voice if you have paired them enough for the dog to chain the two together.

Problem
I had my Lab steady when a bird got up, but I hunted with some friends whose dogs were NOT steady. So the first time I shot a grouse, my dog sat and watched the other dogs retrieve the bird. On the second bird shot, she broke and ran to beat the other dogs to it.

Now she breaks, especially if there is a shot associated with the bird.

If it is a hen pheasant and no one shoots, she will chase it some but I can stop her and bring her back. But if someone shoots, she is gone after the bird to retrieve even if it isn’t hit. How can I get her to stop chasing the birds?

I have not yelled at the dog when she takes off because I didn’t want to be in the situation where I could not follow through on my discipline. I just let her go and went out and met her then heeled her back to the spot we were hunting and continued on our way — no reprimand, etc.