Problem: I have a wonderful German shorthaired pointer, approximately 21 months old. I would not trade her for the world, but when we go into the field for pheasant hunting she will not leave my side. My son-in-law refers to her as a "sticky dog."

Last season she would run with no problem. Other than having her spayed I have no idea why she will not leave my side. What is the reason for this behavior and how do I correct it?

Solution: Before I can tell you how to encourage her to search, we have to figure out what started the problem. As you know, when a dog goes out in the field, there are millions of things that can happen and any of them alone or in some combination could influence the dog's behavior or changes in it. How much influence any one thing can have also depends on the temperament of the dog.

Spaying alone would not change the dog's enthusiasm for hunting, but the reason she was spayed might. And the spay itself is a pretty invasive procedure so the dog could still be in pain and not want to run. Has your vet given her a clean health record and told you she is ready to run? These are the first questions that need to be answered.

Now for the dog herself. Describe her temperament--is she a very sensitive dog or is she a hard, stubborn dog? Did she run at all after her surgical procedure or has she been reticent and subdued from the moment she was healed up? What is her attitude when walking at your side? Is her tail up, head up and alert, or is she subdued, tail down, head down and dragging, or is she fearful, tail down, looking around with sort of a freaked out expression?

Are her eyes wide, large pupils, nervous looking, are they droopy, staring at the ground, or are they clear, alert looking?

Has she had a shock collar on as a means of training her or trying to push her out? How does she act when getting into bird scent? Has she been on planted birds, pigeons or other birds that can fly? If allowed to chase a flushed bird, how does she respond? Does she have the same lack of enthusiasm for birds as for searching? Has she been punished in any way for catching a bird?

What was her retrieve training like? Does she do it willingly or was she forced by ear pinching, shocking, etc.? How does she respond to shooting? What things have you done to try to get her to reach out farther? Have you done all the training or has someone or several people been working with her? Have you seen her parents or any of her littermates? If so, how are they?

I am not trying to lay blame; I am trying to determine a cause so we can fix it. Therefore, try to answer any of the questions above that you think could have something to do with her change, or that describes it. And if you can think of anything else dealing with her personality, her training, her breeding, her home environment, no matter how farfetched it might seem, let me know about it so I can try to get a handle on what is going through her head and why it's there so we can get a start on fixing her up to be the dog you had last year.