I just started my young girl on birds a couple months ago due to access, and also I wanted to get some stronger foundations on her before adding birds to the equation. We trained/practiced holds with an old frozen bird.
We were able to get to a training day with live flyers, so worked my older dog on one and then borrowed it fresh to do marks with a club member in the "baby dog field".
Once she hits the bird with her mouth, she literally does a cartwheel. All you see is legs and feathers flying! We tried both long and short marks and it didn't matter, she still gets the momentum to throw herself a$$ over tea kettle. Turns out her sire does it as well, and the owner recognizes that these pick-ups have not been kind to his body over the years. I would love to avoid the additional wear and tear if I can.
I've not run into this before or even seen it before, so unsure how to handle it. Those I have asked have said it's not possible to fix. But, I'd like to try.
The only thing I can think of would be to toss birds in cover so she has to slow down but that doesn't seem like a long-term solution.
Thanks!
